---
Sekhmet exhaled. The blood no longer made him want to attack. At least not strongly enough to overpower the redirected desire.
Elena watched him carefully.
"Better than before?"
"Yes."
Then his gaze returned to her.
Elena realized almost immediately that she had solved one problem while making another significantly stronger.
Sekhmet stepped closer.
She placed one hand against his chest again.
"Still controlled?"
He looked down at her.
"For now."
"That answer could be better."
"It could also be worse."
"True."
Sekhmet lowered his head and kissed her on the neck. This time Elena was the one who pulled him closer.
That simple action changed something.
Until then, Sekhmet had been treating the entire situation as something Elena was enduring because he needed help.
Her choice to pull him toward her made that thought harder to maintain.
She was participating because she had decided to. It was not because the situation had forced her.
