Sally's POV
Warmth surrounds me, cocooning me in the most perfect sanctuary I've ever known. My head rests against the steady rhythm of his heartbeat, tucked securely beneath his protective arm. Nothing in this world feels safer than being wrapped in Karl's embrace.
His chest rises and falls in the peaceful cadence of deep sleep.
The fragments of my dream still cling to my consciousness. Part nightmare, part beautiful fantasy. I had been holding a child, a little boy with Karl's eyes and my stubborn chin. The most precious thing I'd ever seen.
"Can we have pizza?" a familiar voice pipes up nearby, shattering the remnants of sleep from my mind.
Reality crashes back like a tidal wave.
Philip.
The impossible transformation.
Karl.
I bolt upright, a string of curses tumbling from my lips as I stare down at the man beside me. His torso is bare, the sheets pooled around his waist, and my treacherous gaze drinks in every sculpted line of muscle before I force myself to look away.
