Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters, #1)(86)

Unlike me, who did not want to die via plant mouth. As a virgin, to boot. Like… fuck no.

When I was done with the botanical garden adventure, I stopped walking, and Len looked back with raised eyebrows. “Can I eat food here?” I asked, hungry and irritated that I was being forced into another prison courtesy of Shadow. Whether it was to keep me safe or not, I was a grown-ass shifter and should be consulted before some caveman-fucker dragged me off by my hair.

The least they could do was feed me.

“I’m curious to see how our food affects you,” he finally said, silvery eyes examining my face, like he was searching for a flaw. “But let’s not risk it. I’ll venture back to the library and procure some sustenance.”

Do not roll your eyes at the overly dramatic fae prince. He has plant sentinels.

“I would appreciate that, kind sir.” I half-bowed with a chuckle.

He didn’t laugh as I expected. Instead, his face serious, he stepped toward me and dropped his head down to press a brief kiss to my cheek. When he pulled away, I blinked at how stunning he truly was. The silver shimmer of his magic, the perfect planes of his face, and the charm he exuded with little to no effort made him quite devastating on hormone-riddled females.

“Stay safe, gorgeous,” he said softly. “Don’t touch the plants.”

He moved like one of his leaves, drifting along a brisk wind. In a single graceful leap, he left, and I was alone in this garden of… well, Eden. Killer plants and all.

Tiptoeing my way back to the stone bench that I was almost certain wouldn’t devour me, I decided to wait there to save myself from accidentally being murdered via plant. It was softer than I remembered, and as I stretched out, leaning back on my arms, I closed my eyes and let the warmth of this world embrace me. It was the perfect temperature, not humid or too hot, but like a spring day. As nice as it was, though, there was this undercurrent of magic in the air, and that told me that this climate —just like the plants—wasn’t quite real.

Was all of Faerie like that? A world so infused with magic that the natural aspect was lost to whatever the fae wanted to create? And did it really matter? Humans tried to control their world with technology, most of which didn’t work out too positively, if their general unhappiness was any indication. Maybe the magic in Faerie was more successful with its end results.

The calm of the air had me closing my eyes and stretching out across the platform. I shouldn’t have been tired, but the urge to nap overcame me, and even though it was probably a ploy of this garden so it could consume me, I decided to give in to the temptation and let the haziness wash through me.

Naps were a god’s work. What god, I had no idea, but surely, even Shadow loved to nap. I had to believe that even sociopathic beasts needed downtime too.

For an unknown period of time, I remained in my cozy snooze fest, and it wasn’t until a warm hand pressed to my cheeks that consciousness returned. Still disoriented, I groaned softly as that hand moved along my neck, down the center of my chest, and over the planes of my stomach, stroking the bare skin where my shirt had risen.

Fire burned along with that touch, heating me to my core, and as my back arched, a breathy groan escaped. In the same instant, my brain clicked on to the fact that I was being touched by someone… or some thing unknown.

My eyes jerked open and in the second it took me to look around, I found I was completely alone.

Or… I choked back a gasp as Shadow came into sight. He was nowhere near me, and even as fast as he was, I didn’t think he could have moved that quickly. He was back at the entrance, sheltered between the sentinel plants, his hands pressed to each of their trunks, like he was greeting his favorite puppy.

What was it with those guys treating these plants like favorite pets?

“Shadow,” I called out breathlessly, my body still burning and aching. It felt deprived, like we had gotten so close to the good part just as it had been stolen from us. “What are you doing here?”

With a final pat on the killer plants, he strode toward me. It took him a couple of minutes to reach me, cementing my thoughts that he couldn’t have touched me.

Since he was in his most giant height, I had to crane my neck back to see his face. It felt like weeks since I’d glimpsed his darkly masculine features, and just the sight of his mop of hair and full lips had me getting up to my knees and throwing myself forward toward him.

“I thought you were dead,” I said, my voice husky and muffled as I collided with his chest. “The fire was out.”

Shadow remained statue-still as I held him, and a moment later, sanity caught up to me—I was hugging the fucking Shadow Beast. Just as I went to jerk back, his arms moved, and he enclosed me in a hug.

Wait… what?

My soul screamed as he squeezed me in his firm grip, and I found myself a little choked up. A hug from Shadow was like finding the rarest, most desirable stone in the world, and for the briefest moment, I’d held it in my hand.

He pulled away just as fast, but it had happened, and as my heart pounded against my chest, I knew there was no way I could deny being affected by him. I mean, he’d always been the cause of a raging fire in my body, hormones going buck wild at his mere presence. In the early days, I’d written it off as Shadow being the most badass, sexy ass dude I’d ever seen. I mean, anyone would be into that, but it had been a superficial interest.