Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters, #1)(61)

That was what had caught his attention? Not the fact I was ready to ferret out all his secrets?

I shrugged. “I haven’t decided exactly who, but I’m perusing the selection for sure. I mean, a girl has needs.”

His eyes dropped to the way my breasts, barely caged in the skimpy white tank, were pushed up against his chest. “Is that right?”

Fuck. Me.

Was it hot in here? Had he burst into flames again?

“I forbid this,” he finally said.

Whoa, wait a freaking second…

“Not a chance, dude. My personal life is none of your business.”

His lips were so close to mine that I could almost taste him. If I darted my tongue out…

“What if your virginity is the reason you had the purity and innocence to make it past the blocks on the Shadow Realm?”

I scoffed. “Firstly, a virginity is not what makes someone innocent, and trust me, Shadow, I’m far from pure. Secondly, there’s no way you think my virgin status is a factor in this; you’re just trying to make life difficult for me.” I jabbed him in the chest, barely making a dent since we were so close.

“Not gonna happen. I’ve waited long enough.”

A contemplative stare crossed his face and I wondered what bullshit he was thinking up now. “No one will even look at you twice if I give the order, you know that, right? You’d have more chance of losing your virginity on a deserted island with birds as the only inhabitants.”

I didn’t even want to touch that visual.

“Are you challenging me?” I burst out, all the while telling myself to just shut the hell up. I was giving him all the ammo to roadblock my plans. If I’d just kept it to myself, he’d have been none the wiser.

“You are no challenge,” he shot back. “You live on my fucking will alone. What makes you think you can best me in any way?”

That was it. “I bet I can lose my virginity in the next two weeks.”

You are the dumbest fuck, Mera.

Cruel amusement danced in his eyes, and I resisted the urge to gouge them out. “You bet? And what are the stakes?”

Abort, abort. “If I win, you let me go back to my pack and see my friends.”

“And when I win?”

Arrogant Shadow Bastard.

“On the small chance you win, what do you want?”

His smile was nothing short of freaking terrifying. “If I win, you will submit to me in a way you haven’t so far. No more fighting. No more research. You will return the books you think you’re hiding under your bed and accept your place here. At the bottom of the barrel.”

Jesus. The prospect of that sent a bone-deep chill through my body. My soul actually ached at the thought of losing my will to fight. He would take it from me, I saw that in his gaze, but I’d laid that bet out, and now I couldn’t back down.

“You’re asking too much,” I choked out. “The stakes are uneven. It’s not fair.”

His head angled to the right as he considered my words. “Who told you life was fair?”

I scoffed. “I know better than most that it’s not, but in this situation, I won’t take a bet that skewed in your favor.” I shook my head. “Nope. If you win, I will stop fighting as hard, but I won’t submit to you completely. Not the way you’re asking. You’ll just have to accept as much as I can give.”

His lips pressed together, thinning out their fullness, eyes still assessing me. “Fine. You’ll never win anyway, but I’m curious to see you in fight mode. Let the games begin.”

He released me, but I didn’t let him have the upper hand this time, wrapping my arms around his neck and jerking his face closer to mine. “You’re going down, asshole,” I seethed, my legs wrapped as tightly around his waist as my arms around his neck. I ground myself against him, feeling the hot pulse of pleasure inside. “I’m ready to fuck my way out of this state, and I won’t let anyone stop me.”

His growl was low and furious, and before I could think through my combative actions, he spun and crashed us into the shelves behind me, so his big body could completely engulf mine. My back ached, but not enough to stop the moan from emerging at the vibration in my pussy. His power was like a high-quality vibrator, especially when I was feeling it through every line of my body.

“You belong to me,” he rumbled. “Every single part of you. Until I decide it doesn’t.”

His hands were under my ass to jerk me harder against him, rubbing my clit in a way that I knew was deliberate. Another moan escaped, even as I wanted to rip his face off.

“Are you going to be the one who wins me the bet?” I gasped, on the verge of coming.

He laughed. Actually fucking laughed, and if it wasn’t for the hard cock pressed against my core, I might have thought him completely unaffected. Physically at least, he wasn’t as blasé as he often appeared.

Not that it mattered. He’d do everything in his power to stop me winning the bet, and I would do everything in my power to win it. As he’d just said: let the games begin.





34

Later that night, as I lay in my bed, my breaths still harsh and uneven, having just made myself come so hard that sweat coated my body, I tried to figure out what had happened in the lair.

One minute fighting, the next dry humping, and the bet…