Reclaimed (Shadow Beast Shifters, #2)(55)

It took me so long to get my breathing under control, Shadow’s hold keeping me upright. I leaned into him. “You want me to return the favor?” I was all but face to cock with his massive friend, and I wanted nothing more than to run my tongue over the moisture beading on the end.

“There’s no time,” he said, sounding disappointed as fuck by this.

I tilted my head back to see his face. “We’re almost there?”

He nodded, and the softer side of him was shelved again. I’d never met a man who reveled so much in giving pleasure, without just taking it for himself. Shadow’s mate was one fucking lucky lady. If she could just put up with the dominant side of him, she’d certainly never want for anything in the bedroom.

I really hoped the bitch was dead. Such a terrible thing to say, but my possessiveness of Shadow had reached new heights.

And I couldn’t fight a true mate bond, if that was what he wanted.

“I’ll get dressed,” I said shortly, my head filled with thoughts of him and another woman. It was enough to quench any lingering need to continue this fun foreplay.

My clothes were scattered across the stone, thankfully not near the water, so they were fine to wear. Moving away to give myself a little space, I found black lace underwear, which fit perfectly of course, a pair of jeans, and a plain black shirt.

When I padded back to Shadow, he was dressed as well, his fitted black shirt that matched mine—cute couple alert—showcasing the distracting perfection of his body.

“Boots,” he said, handing a pair across to me.

I was already wearing socks, so I slipped on the black biker boots, zipping them up my calf. Shadow had similar black shitkicker boots on, and since he was over seven feet tall again, they just added to the height towering above me.

He was vibing badass demon god today, his face grim as he stared out into the mists again. Maybe he was seeing something I couldn’t, or maybe he was just waiting for the inevitable end when we landed?

Meanwhile, my legs were still weak, the new magic panties no doubt damp, and that was all I could think about while I stared at him.

“Sunshine,” he warned, not turning to me.

“I’m stopping,” I said with a laugh. “But it’s almost cruel to show me everything I’ve been missing and then tell me I can’t have it again. A girl has needs.”

His lips twitched, and some of the stoic calm faded from his face. “We’ll take care of those needs later. For now, we’re about to reach the end of this road and find out exactly who decided to commit suicide today.”

Take care of those needs later… Hot. Damn.

More and more, it seemed that this thing between us was not going to be just a single night. Maybe I’d squeeze in a dozen or more orgasms before our inevitable parting. Could I sacrifice my will to fight for that long? If it was just in the “bedroom,” then, yeah… I probably could.

The thought that we weren’t quite done yet was enough to allow me to focus on the current situation.

The mists finally started to clear in the distance, and I stepped right to the edge of the stone with Shadow.

“How dangerous is it in The Grey Lands?”

His grim expression was answer enough.

I swallowed roughly. “Wow, well, when you put it like that, I am filled with so much hope for the future.”

When he didn’t say anything again, I shut my mouth, trying to mentally prepare for a possible forthcoming attack. The whirring under our feet halted, and I felt the moment we touched down to our new destination. The misty swirls faded like they’d never been there, and I swallowed a gasp at what lay beyond.

The Grey Lands evoked a certain mental image, one I’d already assigned to the name. I’d expected it would be a broken, barren, possibly desert terrain world.

But I was so far off, I wondered if Shadow had made a mistake in his estimate of where we’d been heading. “These are The… Grey Lands?”

From what we could see, our platform stopped somewhere close to the large front gates. The village that lay beyond was a winter wonderland, filled with snow-topped trees and picturesque lakes—frozen over and perfect for skating. There were many scattered buildings made from a shiny silver material, and it was almost Christmassy, even though there was no tradition or holiday like that here.

Basically, the view before me was about as far from a “grey” land as a place could be…

Shadow didn’t answer, just wrapped an arm around my shoulders, jerking me to the side. The projectile that had been shot our way narrowly slid past, and I looked down to see that it was a blue, crystallized net. A net that had been heading right for me.

“They want you,” Shadow bit out. “Of course they fucking do.”

Reacting faster than eyes could track, he slid behind me, grasping on to the side of the silvery netting and yanking on it hard. There was a brief moment of struggle, but Shadow won—shocker, right?—and a creature was hurled into sight. It scrambled back, and when it got to its feet, it was almost as tall as Shadow… not to mention built like a linebacker. Kind of explained how there was any struggle at all.

“What do you want?” Shadow roared, hauling the being up in his hands.

The face that stared back was not like Shadow’s or mine. It was not like any of the others I’d seen in this world, either. I was struggling to categorize it accurately, but at best guess, some sort of mix between animal and human? Not how I expected a clordee would look, but more like a… Dr. Seuss character.