Reclaimed (Shadow Beast Shifters, #2)(67)

As I dropped one foot into the deliciously warm water, another tinkle sounded through the room, and this time an aggravated huff escaped me. Turning my back on the enticing water that I was clearly not going to get into, I waited for this intruder. Naked, because I was about done with today.

Shadow appeared in the doorway and when he saw me, his eyes flared. “Sunshine?”

As his gaze drifted down the long, bare length of my body, his expression darkened. He then looked around the room, but there was no place to hide anything here. “Are you alone?”

I snorted. “No, not even remotely. I just threw the cat-dude I fucked down the piss hole. He should be fine though; cats always land on their feet.”

Shadow’s nostril’s flared. “You better be kidding.”

My hands ended up on my hips because I needed to get this point across with a serious show of body language. “What’s the issue?”

Shadow, who looked stupid huge with his heavy soled leather boots, stepped toward me. One fucking step and he was in my space. There was no way I could back up, or I’d end in the bath, so I just had to hold my breath and hope I didn’t cave. Easier said than done with his fire power running over my skin, and that spicy, darkly tempting scent of him invading my senses.

“Because. Little wolf. You belong to me.”

He said every word with a little pause between them, really cementing his statement.

“But you don’t belong to me?” I choked out. “You belong to Ice Queen Ixana, and she’s probably going to be super unhappy about you standing here while I’m naked.” My voice lowered to a whisper. “Better run home before she finds out.”

Shadow’s arm snaked around my waist, and like he had so many times, he brought me smack bang into his body. There was no pain this time, but I remembered it all too well from our arrival here.

As he slowly dragged me up, using just that one arm, I forced my face to remain impassive, even though my hormones were doing a fucking happy dance on the inside.

“Who said I don’t belong to you, Mera?”

It took me way too long to register what he’d just said, and I kept running it through my head, wondering if I’d misheard or misunderstood. Or was this one of those mean trick questions…?

His lips tilted, so obviously, my expression was amusing him. Nice, since I felt like I was about to self-destruct inside. Shadow leaned over me, running his nose along my throat, and up my cheek. My head dropped back before I even knew what I was doing, giving him more access.

“We are irrevocably linked, Mera Callahan,” he rumbled against my skin. “A bond built in fire and shadows.”

Fuck. This was everything I’d wanted to hear, but at the same time it wasn’t.

He still owned me, and I was still the possession.

And he still had a true mate.

Shadow’s lips pressed against my throat, and I groaned before reality slammed back in and I fought him. “Don’t fucking touch my skin with lips that have kissed her.”

He growled, shaking me so my head jerked up and our eyes met. “These lips have touched nothing and no one but you.”

I snorted, not sure whether to believe him or not. “What about oral sex? Surely, you’ve had your mouth on those lips.”

The thought of him touching another woman like he had me, made me want to claw some bitch’s eyes out, but I was also realistic. He’d known me like one millionth of his life, and in those other years, he’d clearly not been celibate.

He growled close to my face. “Never. We don’t kiss any who are not our true mate…. anywhere. I’ve had more sex than you’ll know in ten lifetimes, but never have I used my mouth to fuck a cunt like I did yours. Never have I tasted such sweetness, and I’m starting to think you put a fucking spell on me because I can’t even remember my life before you came into it.”

Holy shit. I was so fucking turned on, I felt like I was about to self-destruct. My body was like jelly as I tried to wrap my head around what he was saying. He’d never had his mouth on a woman. Except me.

I mean, I’d seen his face that night in Faerie, and he’d been super torn about what he could do. He’d been determined not to let me lose my virginity, so he’d had only that choice.

He could have used his hand.

Involuntarily, I moved against him, the memory of my multiple orgasms thanks to his talented tongue all I could think about.

Shadow laughed, a darkly seductive sound. “You’re lucky I have somewhere to be, or I would tie your naked ass to my bed and make you come a thousand times on my face.”

He licked across my skin, tasting me with kisses and nips, and I jerked my hips against him.

“Wait.” I gasped. “Somewhere to be?”

He rumbled again, and I wasn’t sure he was going to answer, but apparently, the bastard had more control than me as he lifted his head with a sigh. “Angel and our mists are here. It’s time to head to the wall with Ixana. She wants to show us where we will be traveling to gather the shadow creatures.”

Just her name made me see red, some of my arousal fading. “Why should I help her?”

He knew I was dead serious, and as he set me on my feet, I tried not to mourn. My vagina was crying, though. Pretty much literally at this point.

“Ixana has answers to what we need to know,” he told me, and it was my old Shadow back for a moment. “She might even know what it is that draws you to this world, and if she doesn’t, something tells me the answers will be in these lands. Where the wild creatures roam.”