That night, far from all the turmoil, Riah tossed beneath her sheets, her mind caught between sleep and something deeper,the air in her room felt strange heavy, charged as though someone was there, watching, the silver glow of the moon bled through her curtains, tracing soft lines across her skin,she turned, restless, her breath hitched,a whisper drifted through the air, low, velvet, unmistakable,"You keep calling for me, Riah."Her heart stopped, the voice that voice she knew it. It slid through her bones, smooth and deep like honey over ice, Lucian. There he was standing by her window, a tall figure half swallowed by the moonlight, eyes burning like frozen stars, he didn't move, he only watched her expression, unreadable, as if he'd stepped straight out of her dreams and into her reality.
Riah swallowed hard, "H-how— how are you here?"
His lips curved, faint, dangerous,
"I don't just appear," he said softly, "You call for me." The words rolled from his tongue like a spell dark, tempting, impossible to deny, she shook her head "That's not true," she whispered, but even her voice betrayed her.
"I don't… I didn't—"
"Didn't you?", he took a slow step forward, and the air thinned around her, his presence filled every corner of the room his scent, that same mix of rain and woody smell something ancient, wrapped around her, grounding and suffocating at once. Her pulse drummed in her ears, "why do you keep showing up?" she asked, voice trembling, he tilted his head, his eyes locked on hers as if reading every thought she tried to bury,
"Because," he murmured, "you keep wishing I would," She drew in a shaky breath, torn between fear and something far deeper longing,tell me why I keep longing for you no wait what am I saying this is just a dream," she muttered, trying to convince herself, clutching the sheet to her chest. Lucian's lips twitched, almost into a smile. "If this were just a dream," he said, voice low, "you wouldn't be trembling like that", her cheeks flushed, she couldn't look away, the air around them buzzed, thick with tension the kind that burned, the kind that asked for surrender, then he moved closer, the space between them barely a breath, he raised a hand, slow, deliberate, his fingertips brushing her cheek, she gasped softly, her skin alight where he touched her, he smiled at her expression. "you shouldn't call for me riah," he whispered, his voice softer now, almost pained. "Because one day… I might not stop coming." Riah looked up at Lucian catching his gaze, " what if that's what I want,?"Riah replied with confidence she never knew she had,with her soft concerning gaze, Lucian whispered,
eyes gleaming like a storm barely held at bay,
his voice with concern
" you shouldn't want that little vixen, I tend to be very possessive,demanding and obsessive,
And when I want something, I don't stop until it's mine, no good for a vixen like yourself." He reached for her chin, his thumb caressing her soft delicate lips, leaving her dumbfounded, he was so close now that she could feel the hum of his presence, the way his energy wrapped around her like heat and moonlight. He leaned in, his breath ghosting over her lips, as if wanting to steal a kiss, he was so close she almost thought he'd kiss her — but he didn't, he pushed himself back observing her as though memorizing her every curve, every flicker in her gaze.
"You think you can call me and remain untouched?" he whispered. "You think you can wake up and forget me?"
His thumb finally grazed her chin—light as moonlight, but it made her tremble,
"No, Riah… you call for me, and the bond answers. You dream of me, and I find you. Every time. Even when I shouldn't."
He tilted her chin up, eyes burning with something deeper than desire—,
"And when you wake," he breathed, voice barely a whisper, "you'll still feel me. Not on your skin—" his lips hovered over hers, a hair's breadth away "—but under it."
The dream began to fade, the light dimming around them, but his words lingered in her chest like a spell she couldn't undo,
"You shouldn't want me, little vixen…" his voice echoed faintly, fading into her heartbeat.
"Because once I belong to you… I never let go."
Riah woke with a gasp.Her room was dim, washed in the pale light of dawn, but the air still trembled—like it hadn't quite let him go, her sheets clung to her skin, warm from a body that wasn't there. Her pulse thundered beneath her fingertips, each beat echoing his words,
"You call for me, and the bond answers."
She sat up slowly, breath unsteady, brushing trembling fingers across her lips. It felt absurd, but she could swear she still felt him there—the ghost of warmth, the whisper of his breath, her heart whispered his name before her lips could.
"Lucian…"
Silence answered her. But it wasn't empty,it listened. The air seemed charged, humming faintly, like a secret waiting to be spoken. The shadows near her window quivered for a heartbeat then stilled, she pressed her palms to her face, trying to steady herself. "It was just a dream," she murmured. "Just a dream." But dreams didn't leave marks, dreams didn't make your skin burn where invisible fingers had traced, and dreams didn't whisper your name back, because just as she forced herself to lie down again, eyes heavy, she heard it soft, low, andimpossibly close, "You shouldn't want me, little vixen…"
Her eyes flew open. No one was there. Only the faint scent of rain and smoke—his scent—lingering in the air, and for the first time, Riah wasn't sure if she had woken up at all.
Meanwhile….Lucian stood in the silence of his chamber, eyes shut, hands trembling as though the dream still clung to his skin, he could still feel her — the tremor in her breath, the way her soul had called his name through the dark, the memory of her voice still echoed, soft and defiant, "What if that's what I want?" Lucian's jaw tightened, he paced, dragging a hand through his hair, trying to shake off the scent of her skin, she had said the one thing he had feared most, he had looked in her eyes when he'd leaned close enough to taste her fear and want all at once,
"She doesn't know what she's asking for."
He could feel her presence lingering in the corners of his mind—warm, fragile, alive. The bond pulsed faintly between them, invisible but undeniable, every beat of her heart was a soft pull on his own,Lucian exhaled slowly, but it came out like a curse. "You shouldn't have called me, Riah." His voice broke the stillness and low. But even as he said it, his fingers flexed—as if remembering the curve of her face, the way her breath had hitched when he'd leaned close, "Because now I can't stop hearing you."He closed his eyes, and the world tilted. For a fleeting second, he saw her again—not in a dream, but through the bond itself. Sitting up in her bed, clutching her sheets, whispering his name like a prayer she didn't know was being answered, something inside him cracked, he reached for her in the dark—not with his hands, but with something far deeper. And when his fingers brushed the edge of that invisible thread connecting them, he felt her pulse against it as it felt was warmth, It was danger, It was everything he shouldn't want, but that what he just needed.
Lucian let out a shaky breath and whispered to the empty room—"If you call me again, little vixen… I won't just come. I'll stay."