The next day, I woke up in a lumpy bed with a sore back and a throbbing headache. My entire body felt stiff after wandering around in the cold, and now that it was finally warm again, it was complaining like crazy. Cautiously, I tried to stretch to get my blood circulation going, but my arms didn't get far before they bumped against the enormous warm body lying next to me, and soon sporadic memories began to resurface. 

The word "toy" had taken on a whole new meaning during the night, not that I minded—quite the opposite, I thought as I admired his furry, muscular torso with my fingertips. With a low growl, he lifted his arm and pulled me closer, pressing my naked, half-sized body tightly against his. 

"Are you going to answer my questions now?" I grinned, running my fingers through his long beard. 

With a sigh, he opened one eye and looked at me for half a second before closing it again. "So, you're a morning person, huh," he groaned sleepily, burying his face in the pillow to fall back asleep. 

"Morning is pushing it; it's probably almost lunchtime," I teased, pressing one leg between his so that I was lying even closer to him, soon feeling him start to harden against my stomach. "So... what are you really?" I persisted. 

"Horny," he replied with a smirk, pushing me down onto my back into the mattress. I rolled my eyes as his lips began to explore my neck and laughed, "I already knew that." 

"I'm not human; that's all you need to know," he whispered in my ear before playfully nibbling on my earlobe. 

"Are there even humans here? Where are we?" He suddenly stopped and looked down at me with amused eyes. "You're in Paris, but not in your Paris." 

I stared at him in confusion, "What do you mean?" 

He leaned down and let his tongue glide over my lower lip before continuing, "What do you know about magic and parallel universes?" 

I raised an eyebrow and held back laughter, "I expected a serious answer." 

"That was a serious answer," he replied without his usual smile, and for once, he actually looked serious, which made my heart race. 

"What the fuck, Magnus," I gasped, panic in my eyes as I pushed him away from me. 

He shrugged and reached for his clothes scattered on the floor. "You wanted an honest answer."

 "But... what the hell do you mean?" 

"You humans think you're at the top of the food chain," he continued, turning his back to me as he pulled the gray T-shirt over his broad shoulders, "but in reality, you are among the weakest creatures on Earth, and that's why we don't care much for you." 

"We?" I asked cautiously. He turned to me on the edge of the bed and gave me a crooked smile.

 "Are you sure you want to know?"

I sat up and noticed his eyes sliding over my exposed body with a hungry gaze. "Call it survival instinct," I smirked. 

His enormous smile broke across his face again, and he looked at me approvingly. "You're smart."

 "Not smart enough? Otherwise, I wouldn't have ended up in this mess," I sighed and flung myself back onto the pillows. 

"Are you looking for someone?" he asked, even though I had already told him. 

"My girlfriend vanished into an alley and disappeared," I explained while staring up at the ceiling. "I followed her, and suddenly I ended up here, as if I stepped into the wardrobe and ended up in fucking Narnia." 

"That's a pretty good analogy," he laughed, and I immediately let out a groan and buried my hands in my face. 

"Are there mean witches here too?"

 "Yes," he chuckled and leaned over the bed, moving my hands so our eyes could meet, "and far too kind-hearted lions," he continued laughing, leaning down to press his soft lips against mine before pulling one of his large shirts over me and moving me to the kitchen. 

"There are various kinds of magical beings," he said a moment later as he dished a generous portion of scrambled eggs onto my plate. "We once lived alongside you, but as you began to ravage the world with technology and factories, many of us retreated and went into hiding."

"That's understandable," I admitted, shoveling a forkful of food into my mouth and realizing just how hungry I was. 

"The little folk, the ones you call gnomes and fairies, still live in the forests. Some choose to come into the city, but they are usually quite grumpy and mean." 

"Stay away from the little ones," I repeated, and he nodded in agreement. "And those with sharp teeth?" I continued, raising an eyebrow. 

"Vampires." 

I dropped my fork onto the plate with a clatter. "You're joking!?" 

"Unfortunately not," he grumbled sourly. "Vampires, witches, wizards, shapeshifters, and the occasional werewolf." 

"Fuck me," I sighed, feeling my appetite completely vanish. "And what's the difference?"

 "Between shapeshifters and werewolves?"

 "...and witches and wizards." He piled his plate to the brim with eggs, bacon, and bread before sitting down with the largest cup of coffee I had ever seen. "Shapeshifters are born, and werewolves are made. Witches and wizards practice magic; some are good, and many are evil." 

I hesitantly picked up my coffee cup and stared down into the black liquid for a moment. "You want to know what I am," he stated, and I nodded slightly, meeting his gaze over the rim of the cup. "You said you hunt humans..." 

"I was joking," he chuckled contentedly. 

"So you're not a werewolf—" 

"I am a guardian," he interrupted playfully. I tilted my head, waiting for him to continue. "Guardians are here to create balance between our worlds; simply put, we make sure you  stay outside the border, vampires keep to their quarters, and the others mind their own business."

"So you're like a cop?" 

"Something like that," he replied, taking a sip of coffee. 

"Is that why you found me?" 

His face lit up, and he nodded happily. "Exactly." 

"So you can help me get home?" I asked, taking a sip of my coffee. 

"I can." 

"But?" I asked quietly. 

"No buts," he smiled. "You'll wake up at home with no memories of this place. You'll wonder where your girl is, of course, but you'll probably call the police and report her missing like a regular person." 

It hit me in the heart—damn, Lexie, where are you? "What do you think happened to her?" I asked, sadness in my voice. 

"There are a few options," he mumbled, looking down at the table. "But you should go home; I'll take care of it. It's my job."

 "Why does it feel like you're hiding something from me?" I muttered sourly, poking at the scrambled eggs. 

"I have my reasons," he replied simply, clearing the dishes from the table and walking over to the sink. 

Then it suddenly hit me what the wounds on her arms were. "She had bite marks," I whispered quietly, but I immediately noticed he heard me. 

"Where?" 

"On her wrists." 

He nodded and let out a sigh. "That's what I suspected."

 "What?" I asked in a harsh voice. "What did you suspect?!" 

He turned around, leaning against the kitchen counter, crossing his legs and casually placing his hands in his pockets. His long blonde hair curled slightly and cascaded down over his shoulders, shimmering in the morning sun, and I was struck by how damn beautiful he was. "I never noticed when she crossed the boundary between our worlds." 

"Which means?" 

"That she received an invitation." 

I rubbed my forehead and shook my head. "You mean she knows someone here?"

 "Probably a vampire," he replied far too calmly. It felt like my heart stopped, and I suddenly had difficulty breathing. What the hell was going on?! What was Lexie doing with vampires? Were they sucking blood from her? Did they force her, or did she let them?! Thoughts swirled in my head until I felt like I was going to faint. I abruptly stood up from the table and took a few unsteady steps back, but I didn't fall. Instead, I felt a pair of strong arms around me, pressing me against his chest. 

"Breath, Dominic, breathe," he murmured in my ear, and immediately I felt a calm spread through my body. 

"I want to help you find her," I finally managed to say. 

"Sorry, kid, I work alone," he replied, but I felt his grip tighten around my body. 

"What the hell am I supposed to do then?" I snapped, trying to break free from his arms, but he held me in a firm grip until I calmed down. Finally, he sighed heavily and pressed his lips gently against my temple. "Why are you trying to calm me down? Why do you even care?!" I barked in frustration.

"Because you're lost here."

 "Is this a regular thing then? You bring lost humans to your home and fuck them all night?" I muttered sourly, but he just laughed. 

"No, Dominic, you're an exception." 

In a way, that made me happy, pleased that he actually seemed to like me and that it wasn't something he did with just anyone. But on the other hand, the whole situation was like nothing I'd ever experienced. Why did I care so much about what a stranger thought of me? 

"Calm down, I have an idea," he said with a smile. Suddenly, I wished it didn't involve a Men in Black-style erasure of my memory, leaving me completely unaware of Magnus' existence. 

"Will I still remember you?" I asked cautiously. 

"Do you want to?" he asked, lines from laughter crinkling at the corners of his eyes. 

"Preferably."

 "I'll do my best," he said with a playful grin, backing me toward the bed.

His lips crashed against mine as we fell down on the bed again and I was practically shaking with anticipation as our bodies pressed against each other. His hands explored my body, shredded my clothes. This was what I had been craving. This was what my soul had been yearning for, what no girl had been able to give me. This blond man I'd just met was able to awaken my body in a way no one else had ever managed to do before. 

I closed my eyes, enjoying the sensation of his hands and lips as they nibbled on my skin and explored my body. When I open them, he was watching me. "You're beautiful, he breathed. 

I sighed a little, knowing full well I was not. 

"Bloody hell, take the compliment Dominic," he chuckled and moved down to kiss my neck. 

"Make me," I teased and a low growl erupted from him as he filled me. I cried out and arched my back off the bed, biting my lower lip to gain some sort of control. 

"Watch me," he growled. 

I shut my eyes and attempted to relish in the feeling of his pace. He was relentless and it was exactly what I had been craving. What I needed. 

Suddenly he stopped and my eyes fluttered open. "Now, tell me you are beautiful and maybe I'll let you finish," he said, with a humorous glint in his eyes. I was a mess, desperate for friction as I gaped at him and cursed under my breath. "Say it," he commanded against my lips. 

"Okey.. okey!" I moaned as he filled me once more. I couldn't take it. My body trembled with need for this giant man moving against me. "I'm beautiful! Thank you for the compliment!"

Watching him through my eyelashes I allow my lips to part in a sigh of fulfillment. I needed to be dominated as much as he needed to claim me. 

"Good boy," he whispered, a grin noticeable in his voice as he leaned down to kiss me. 

I attacked him, my hands knot in his long hair as I yanked his face to mine. Our teeth clashed as I tasted him, wanting all of him. He responded by giving me what I wanted and I moaned his name over and over again. 

For once I felt no need to hurry to the end. I wanted to last in that moment for as long as I could—knowing I would probably never see him again. But he was right, I would never forget him.