3/5/2026, 9:25 PM
![[Image: de30rbh-3b0683a6-441b-43e3-821f-97de2c91...kDaKDynxTk]](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/9de0281f-9de0-407a-a8c3-cff68eced06b/de30rbh-3b0683a6-441b-43e3-821f-97de2c917037.gif?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiIvZi85ZGUwMjgxZi05ZGUwLTQwN2EtYThjMy1jZmY2OGVjZWQwNmIvZGUzMHJiaC0zYjA2ODNhNi00NDFiLTQzZTMtODIxZi05N2RlMmM5MTcwMzcuZ2lmIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.X3AR7ztue9yyAPqjXnKt7hzjl9ocfI1zPkDaKDynxTk)
his attention drifts and returns like a compass needle refusing to settle. it should be irritating. it is irritating. infuriatingly so—it makes the heat under her skin flare like claws raking up her belly. it is a dizzying, dazing feeling.
she draws a slow breath through her nose and immediately regrets it, angling her head away to pretend at studying the far bank. every breath she pulls in tastes wrong—too warm, too full of him and yet not enough.
far from home, too—she adds, practical. a retreat into the only language she trusts.
is your.. dawnbreak not to your liking?
her tongue presses hard to the back of her teeth as she stares out over the water with him, jaw working once. the river rushes loud enough to cover the faint hitch in her breathing, but it does nothing to hide the minuscule twitch in the tip of her tail, the constant shift of her ears back to him. a strange tell.
if you stare any harder,she says without looking at him,
you’ll burn a hole through me, seutonius.
