A smalltown baker and a guarded alien rider share a spark that makes them irresistible to a mindmapping hunter. To save her life, she must consent to a bond that will mark her forever — and change both of them.

Molly Spears has rebuilt her life around flour, fire, and fairground routines since Spencer died. She knows every gate and shortcut at the Cody rodeo — until a stranger’s dart bricks a question into a trailer wall and a bronc rider named Dakota Drake steps between her and danger. Dakota isn’t simply a man; he is something older and stranger, carrying a spark that touches Molly like electricity and binds them together.

When Molly starts hearing nother thoughts and strangers with tooclean boots begin circling, Dakota must admit the truth: a collector can map the link between them through skin contact and use her to find him. They have hours, not days, to decide what they will sacrifice for safety. Molly can choose to mask the bond — to let Dakota overwrite the surface pattern of their link and make her read as his — but consent will change everything between them and make her a target in a new, more dangerous way.

For fans of protective, slowburn romance with high stakes, Bound to Cody asks: will a woman choose safety wrapped in someone else’s name — or reclaim her path and risk everything to stay herself?