Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters, #1)(50)

I flipped him off, because why not, right?

His eyes darkened, and as he started toward me, he grew in size.

“Ah, fuck. She’s gone and done it now.” Lucien groaned. “Shadow is going to beast out and we’ll all have to pick up the pieces. Just leave her alone, man,” he called out. “She’s too beautiful to tear apart.”

“Silence,” Reece demanded. “This is Shadow’s property, and he will choose what to do with it.”

So I flipped him off as well because fuck you, dude.

Len was in hysterics at this point, half out of his chair as he held his stomach and laughed. “Fuck.”

He snorted. “I hope Shadow brings home more stray humans for us to play with. This is the most interesting night I’ve had in ages.”

“Enough!” Shadow rumbled, and it was almost impossible to understand him with so much beast in his words. “Get the fuck out. Now.”

His friends didn’t sweat his mood swings, taking their time getting to their feet and finishing off their drinks. Half of them waved or saluted goodbye and left the lair. The other half probably thought Shadow was going to murder me tonight and they’d never see me again.

And they might be right.





27

Once the room was near empty, I noticed Reece was still there, posed in what I was dubbing his look . Arms crossed, face expressionless, eyes stripping me to the core.

He was most definitely Shadow the second.

“It’s fine, Reece,” Shadow the first rumbled. “I just need to put a wolf shifter in her place.”

Shadow one and two exchanged a brief look, and it was clear that enough years of friendship existed between them for wordless communication.

Reece shot me a commiserating stare but said nothing else as he left the room.

Alone with Shadow, everything felt a touch scarier; the beast looked like he was fighting an internal battle. “Why that dress?” he finally bit out. “Red is a trigger for me. In many ways.”

Great. I glanced at the long, red curls that were trailing across my shoulders. “That wasn’t in the rule book,” I told him. “You should print a copy for the next person you kidnap.”

“You obey rules?” he asked, some of the fury and rage in his voice fading.

I shrugged. “Only if I agree with them. It’s not like I’m trying to be completely obstinate for no reason, but I have a mind of my own, and I choose to use it.”

He was in front of me in a heartbeat, too fast for me to even anticipate the death that was coming for me. Despite my bravado, I trembled as he leaned down to trace his hands over my body without actually touching me. I couldn’t breathe, or think, or even speak as his heat caressed me, sliding across my bare skin and down under my dress. The tips of my nipples were so hard now that just the sensation of the silk against them had me biting back a groan.

There had to be something fundamentally wrong with me, that even while I was trembling with fear, anticipating my last breath, part of me was turned on by the brute of a beast. The taste of his power on my tongue was intoxicating, my legs clenching as need filled me.

My wolf whimpered in my chest, and it was a ghostly echo of how she’d reacted to Torin.

Shadow was enticing to both of us.

“Something on your mind, Sunshine?” he asked, another wave of heat rolling through me.

“Fuck. You,” I managed to choke out, thankfully not sounding as turned on as I was.

His chuckle was dark and unamused. “You don’t do that, apparently, and maybe, just maybe, I’ve figured out exactly how to get you to fall into line.”

Yeah, no. Never happening. I mean, I liked dick—in theory—as much as the next heterosexual woman, but I would not be that chick. Not today.

It took every ounce of willpower I possessed to step away. “You’ll never tame me that way,” I told him, proud of myself for not letting a single waver enter my words. “I will never break.”

Bend, yes. But breaking was a whole different story.

I took off then, sprinting as fast as I could in a dress with heels. For once, Inky wasn’t right on my tail, and I was grateful that I might have a night alone. I needed a moment away from them. From the intensity.

When I reached my room, I slammed the door behind me, leaning back and breathing deeply. A few minutes later, I knew Shadow wasn’t coming after me, and that had to mean one thing: his suggestion had been a test. Another one.

I couldn’t tell if I’d failed or not, and even though his power cascading over my naked skin had me wanting to climb that beast and fuck him until I screamed, I was proud of myself for saying no.

The balance of power was already too skewed between us, and if he ever took me completely, he’d own me in ways that I couldn’t allow.

Instead, I would do what any strong, proactive, horny-as-fuck woman should: get myself off tonight and tomorrow find someone else to lose my virginity to. Taking the power from Shadow completely.

He’d made a big mistake using his power against me that way. It had woken a dark and dangerous need I’d been suppressing for too long.

Stumbling into the shower, I tore the dress off, using my shifter strength when I couldn’t reach the zipper. It was a shame to ruin something so beautiful, but it had been ruined by the events of tonight anyway, and I needed it off.