Startled, I shook off the fog of slumber as I registered the assault taking place on my body. "Ada-" I started to question the frantic nature of my love's explorative touch when I felt an unmistakable pressure against my core.

"Shhh," he whispered as his fingers traced my mouth before slowly pushing his arousal into me.

Gasping, I began moving with him after taking the briefest of moments to let my body adjust. Thrilled to engage with him this way, I let him lead and found myself quickly overtaken by his fervor.

With a boldness unknown to me, nimble fingers explored my body, clutching at my curves as if to keep me from escaping. As the sweat formed and breaths shallowed I sought out Adam's face, wanting to share this moment as thoroughly as we could.

"Look at me," I pleaded when his gaze dodged mine. I was so close.

With eyes closed, he kissed me with a frenzied passion as he finally pushed me over the edge. Tears rimmed my eyes as I felt my muscles tense around him. Exhaling deeply, our gazes finally connected and he donned the cocky smile of a predator victorious.

"Mmm, thanks love; I needed that."

Heart stopping, I tripped over my own feet, the sheets, anything in my way, as I scrambled to dislodge myself. Standing naked and sullied, I couldn't help but stay as I stared at my husband.

That was not his smile. That was not his voice.

But that was him. He was right there before me, quizzical look locked on me as I stood frozen in the stillness and the dark. At a loss for words, silence grew thick; suffocating.

With an inhuman fluidity, I watched, paralyzed, as the figure before me began to rise from the mess of tangled bedding. Too slow, he lifted his form, as if the weight was mounting. Landing a heavy foot on the floor with a slap, I felt the adrenaline spike again and shook myself from my catatonic state.

"Stop!" I screamed, hands flying out in front of me. "What's... Adam?" I felt my throat thicken with a nauseating combination of terror and loss. As scared as I was, I couldn't flee. It would be like leaving half of myself behind. No, no matter what delusion he, or I, or both of us were experiencing I couldn't run.

Shushing me, my husband stepped forward. "Evie, don't be afraid," he whispered. The moonlight creeping in through the bedroom window highlighted the wicked smile still plastered to his face. "He's safe."

Hot tears cascaded down my cheeks in the wake of a feather-light caress. As his touch reached my lips, he dared prod my mouth. "I look forward to taking care of you both."

Suddenly, Adam's touch shifted from teasing to desperate as he crashed to his knees with a gasp.

I followed him, concern overriding any sense of self preservation. "Adam?" I called, my voice thick with the plethora of emotions I was failing to hold back.

"Evie?" Eyes rimmed with unshed tears stared wide at me. "I-"

He didn't continue; and I didn't try to make him. Visibly shaken, I focused on getting him back in bed and refused to let go even after he finally fell asleep.

***

A champagne sky, warm and promising, lighted the morning as I continued to stroke the blond strands atop my lover's crown. He had drifted off easier than I had expected, but there was no such luck for me. I hadn't bothered to look at the clock; there was nothing that was more vital than addressing whatever was happening to the most important person in my life.

I had spent the last few hours rationalizing and speculating until my head hurt. There was no use running through it all again without the insider perspective I required to unravel whatever twisted mystery I had fallen into. Alas, there's only so much reasoning one can do with their own brain. As a known worrier, there was no fighting the replay of events that I was beginning to cycle through once more.

It was haunting. That voice would be my new nightmare fuel. Not because it was monstrous in any way, but because of the way it had come out of my husband's mouth. He was supposed to sound like my Adam and no one else.

Honestly, it seemed like a reasonable thing to expect. The person you devote your life to should stay the same person, flaws and all, without question.

Yet, the question remained. Who else was in my husband's body?

A gentle stir set my heart racing. What would have normally been the most casual of actions set me on guard, tensing as the subject of my focus began to wake. An inner war waged as to whether or not I should put space between us but my aching heart held me close.

Hazel eyes fluttered open with all the innocence of a newborn. Immediately searching me out, Adam stilled, eyes becoming glossy with unshed tears. "What's happening to me?"

His fragile voice shattered my frozen state, allowing me to embrace him. He felt perfect. His warmth, his smell, I just wasn't right that I couldn't trust any of my senses. "It's okay, it's okay," I said, the reassurance in my voice stunning even myself. But it felt real. There was something telling me that we would be okay.

We stayed like that a moment before he pulled back and dragged his hands across his face. "I feel like I just had the worst nightmare of my life... but it wasn't a nightmare, was it?"

"No," I answered quietly.

"He... he touched you."

There was a pregnant silence that thickened the air.

"He... touched you how I couldn't."

I sat up straighter. "What?" Rage edged my confusion. What the hell was he talking about?

"Evie, I have to tell you something."

I took a deep, slow breath and kept my mouth shut. If I wanted to hear what he had to say, he needed room to speak.

"I screwed up. I didn't know what I was doing. I... think I made a deal with the devil."

My jaw dropped. Adam, my Adam, that didn't believe in hocus pocus made a 'deal with the devil?' "I- I don't understand." Shaking my head softly, I felt the nausea rise as I began to question everything.

"I've been dealing with... something- someone." He took a steadying breath. "I was having a really hard time with... well, you know."

"No, I need you to spell things out for me. No assuming. No guessing. I want it letter for letter like you are at the state spelling bee championship."

Adam nodded. "Okay. That's fair." He began fidgeting with the edge of the sheets. "I've been having a harder and harder time being physical with you." He paused and met my eyes. "And you know it's not you. I'm fighting with my body. You turn me on so much but I can't take care of you like I used to. I didn't think for a second that what I was doing was real. I just, I don't know, I thought I was working through something in my head; like it was some psychological block I had manifested to work through.

"There was a voice and I thought it couldn't be real. Honestly, I was more worried I might be cracking up on you. But it was real and it promised I'd get what I want and what I wanted for you. I just didn't realize it meant I would be a spectator."

Letting his confession sink in, I tried to accept his words at face value. I needed to believe him and how couldn't I after what I had experienced. "So you were there? Watching?"

Adam nodded, his blond hair catching the light of the ever rising sun with the motion.

"It was... incredible."

I cocked my head in his direction. "That's one way to describe it."

Bright eyes filled my gaze as he moved in close. "You were like, well, I don't feel like I've ever seen you like that."

"What do you mean?" I asked, nerves lighting up with shame.

Adam cupped my cheek with a loving touch. "All I wanted was to find a way to give you that." His features twisted into a bittersweet smile as he continued. "And I suppose I did."