Fangs and Fur- Beta Read Along
All rights reserved. Copyright © 2025 by LA Magill. All distribution rights reserved for the exclusive use of Wicked Women LLC.
The inevitable suction swept Dili off her feet. Her heart skipped a beat at Hadrian’s straightforward words and sultry stare, and the vortex opened immediately beneath her. Thankfully, the vampire’s reflexes were in top condition after feeding, and his arms wrapped around her waist just in time. If Hadrian had been a fraction of a second slower, she would have left him behind in that memory with Naddahdat by accident.
Dili and Hadrian emerged once again on the riverbank by the fishing hut. The dissipating whirlwind of air gusted her dress around their legs. They stood so close together. His thick arms wrapped tight around her, pulling their bodies flush together. Huge hands curving around her hip and up her back held her snug. The chill from his bare chest seeped through her dress, only making her cheeks hotter.
She could not deny the need that had warped her from Naddahdat back to her private oasis, but she could not accept it either. Dili had never been the jealous type when in love, so the irrational blip of envy had shocked her just as it shamed her. Then, when Hadrian held her eyes and told her feeding would be better with her, an untameable burst of desire forced open a premature vortex.
Dili understood why it had happened. The pocket moved in tune with her subconscious, folding with her most primal urges. She couldn’t control the Creation magic itself.
She still felt incompetent anyway. It was her pocket, and Hadrian was her responsibility, and she’d almost lost him again.
“If I didn’t know better, I might have assumed you just tried to ditch me,” Hadrian said, in a tone too quiet for banter.
Dili shook her head slightly, bumping her nose and cheek into his skin. He sighed, and his fingers squeezed around her hip before he let her go. They each took a step back from one another, but Dili noted Hadrian stayed within arm’s reach.
They stood under the patchy shade of a tamarisk tree. Noon-light blazed deep orange behind Hadrian, edging stretches of skin and strands of silver hair with an amber glow. She scrutinized the frown he tried to hide, then noticed he avoided her eye contact as much as she was avoiding his. His unnatural reticence finally snapped through her brooding.
She realized the timing of the premature vortex was worse than she’d thought. She had told Hadrian that she could trigger the change in memories. From his perspective, he’d all but asked to feed from her the next time, and in response, she’d opened a vortex. She might as well have thrown her arms up and run as fast as she could in the opposite direction.
“I lost control,” she admitted. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
He chanced meeting her eyes. A dull wariness filled his dark gaze. She couldn’t read his expression.
“Lost control of what exactly?” he eventually asked. “I need to understand so I’ll be prepared if it happens again.”
Dili cleared her throat, then chose her words carefully. “Myself. I told you I can trigger moving between my memories, but it’s not a conscious choice. The pocket only moves me when I need to be moved. It sounds simple, but it’s not so clear-cut.” Dili paused, giving Hadrian the chance to speak, but he just stared at her.
She didn’t want to further shake Hadrian’s faith by sharing how little she could control the pocket. She also didn’t want to reveal the highs and lows of her emotions that had primed her for the magical misfire. But just like within the pocket, what she wanted couldn’t compare with what she needed—and the magic had been quite clear.
“I miss Toad and I dread every minute Naddahdat spends in my home unsupervised, but even though I need to go home…” She licked her lips. “Even though I need to go home, in that moment, you said it would be better with me. And I, uh….”
For all her bravery, words failed her when Hadrian’s dark eyes lit with emerald fire. He clenched his jaw, his fangs coming down over his bottom lip. Tension corded through his thick neck and flared across his wide back. His fingers twitched toward her, but he didn’t make a move.
“Say no more, please,” Hadrian ground out.
His visceral reaction to the truth thrilled her, but she heeded him. He’d heard the unspoken, anyway. It was written in every quivering line of his body.
But in truth, no matter that she had needed Hadrian to herself in private at that moment, she refused to act on it. Not until she’d confessed everything Hadrian deserved to know now that she remembered.
Dili could have uttered the rest. Could have unburdened herself. Could have cleared the way to explore physical needs she could not suppress, but she couldn’t push the words out before Hadrian moaned.
“Please, Dili,” Hadrian practically growled. “I regret falling into your pocket and dragging you in after me. I don’t want to be the reason we stayed, too.”
His desperate restraint fueled Dili’s desire, but shame at the secret she couldn’t voice cooled her physical urges. She dropped her chin and turned away from him. He let out a stuttering sigh, then paced away from her, groaning.
“You were charmed,” Dili said firmly. “Naddahdat stripped you of your will. You bear no fault for this, Hadrian. I’ll allow moping since we are stuck in here, but not misplaced remorse.”
Hadrian’s continued muttering was incomprehensible.
“And while I cannot really control the pocket, I promise you: I will not leave you here,” Dili said. “Whatever may come, even if we are separated again, I swear we will go home together.”
Hadrian cursed. He stalked back in front of her, but she kept her gaze averted. She caught the toes of his boots in her periphery. Intensity radiated off him in waves.
“Together,” he repeated in a voice so guttural she had to glance up at him.
The vampire loomed over her. His arms were crossed over his broad chest. Her gaze snagged on his bulging muscles before looking up into green eyes as desperate as they were dark. He scowled.
“Might you find something I could wear?” he asked dryly.
“I’m sorry I should have thought of it sooner,” she said.
Hadrian grunted as she rifled through her right pocket. At least he didn’t make some quip about how she wasn’t doing well with controlling herself now, either. She retrieved the largest sleeveless tunic she had, a cheap undyed cotton that had turned a faint shade of brown. Countless stains and repairs marked the centuries of wear and tear.
As Hadrian pulled the tunic on, Dili kept fishing through her pocket. She pulled out another plain cloak—but it was the second to last one besides her own. She also grabbed a pair of leather bracers with long lashings, a short decorative sword in its scabbard, and a piece of chert rock.
Hadrian took the cloak, but eyed the rest. “I take it this means you expect trouble?”
“It’s what I have that might fit and might help,” she said. “I don’t know what we will encounter on our way out.”
After thinking it over for a moment, Hadrian took the bracers and the flint but waved off the sword.
“I can tell it’s ceremonial,” he said. “Pretty, but breakable. I’m decent with a spear if you have one.”
Dili shook her head as she tucked the sword back into her right pocket, thinking. The only weapons she had stored were more bejeweled gifts she guessed would be similarly unhelpful. She was about to offer her sturdiest butchering knife for lack of a better option when her hand bumped against cold, curved metal. She grinned.
“What about this?” Dili asked, holding out the heavy-duty crowbar.
She had forgotten all about it because it wasn’t hers. Vanessa had forgotten it outside Dili’s cottage several years back after they’d failed to change a flat tire on her old truck. Somehow, it had never been the right time for Vanessa to receive it on all the times Dili had remembered to return it.
Hadrian took it and hefted the thirty-inch long carbon steel in his hands. He swung it once, then held it tight as he rolled his wrist a few times. He grinned.
“This will work, but I hope we won’t need it,” he said.
“So do I,” Dili said.
The vampire took a deep breath, then let the crowbar hang at his side. Keen eyes studied her expression.
“What next?” he asked.
Next chapter on Friday, February 20.