Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters, #1)(91)

He stalked closer to me, energy riding across his skin as he shed the beast. “You are the first being in a thousand years to be able to touch the Shadow Realm,” he told me in his deeper-than-should-be-possible voice. “I don’t know how or why… You’re like nothing I’ve ever found in my lifetime, and I don’t know what to make of you.”

Moving forward, I was unable to fight the urge any longer. Shadow had broken the control he’d had over himself, and in doing so, called me so strongly, I could not resist. His gaze was cautiously curious, watching closely but not stopping me. Right before I touched him, a low melodic tune drifted in through the library.

Shadow froze, his head jerking toward the window, where the view from what we could see was nothing but a purple haze of sky. “Fuck!” he said in snap. “Len, you idiot.”

“What is it?” I got out, fear choking my voice.

He growled, his entire chest rumbling. “It’s the Faerie lunar moon. Their five moons will converge into one, and upon this land, the time of fertility will begin.”

Forcing a rough swallow down my parched throat, I took a shaking step toward the window.

“Time of fertility?”

The music increased, louder, faster, and I groaned, my weakened knees giving out on me as I hit the floor, my body inexplicably alight with pleasure and pain. The low burn of arousal that I often felt was nothing compared to this new surge of want and need in my body.

“Gods,” I cried out, my legs trembling as my hands slid down my body, heading right for my aching pussy in a desperate need to relieve the tension.

“Mera,” Shadow said, stepping closer. “You must fight the temptation.”

My hands shook, and I could tell when I forced myself to sit up that my panties were soaked as fuck. The material rubbed against my clit and I legitimately almost came.

“I can’t fight this,” I said with a whimpering cry. “It hurts.”

The ache was like a stab in my stomach, and no matter how I moved or twisted, nothing eased the pain. Shadow wrenched me up into his arms, and then he was running, heading away from the windows. But there was no way to escape the music. It floated on magical winds, carried by the dust of Faerie, and had been designed to weave through the very essence of our being.

“Fae are fertile only once or twice a year,” Shadow bit out, sounding like he was talking just to keep me distracted. “They use this music to encourage new growth.”

“Sounds like a date rape drug,” I slurred, my head fuzzy as flames started to burn in my toes and fingertips before raging through my body.

“No,” he said bluntly. “Your mind is not able to fight as a fae would. The music is encouragement, not mind control. But clearly, it’s hitting you hard.”

I heard him mutter something about virgins and the like, but I was too far gone to care. Just as the fire was about to explode in my center, having filled the rest of me, he dumped my ass in a shower and turned the water on icy cold, soaking me completely.

“You must fight the fire, Mera,” he said seriously.

My strangled laugh told him everything. I didn’t have a damn hope in hell.





50

The icy shock of water did help me momentarily regain my composure. The fire, while still roaring through my veins and body, was muted enough that I could pull myself up and push the long, sopping strands of hair off my face. Shadow was framed in the doorway of the large, copper-lined shower, staring down at me with an unreadable expression on his face.

Normally, this would be the point that embarrassment made itself known—I’d tried to literally get myself off in front of him. But I couldn’t muster up anything other than a moan as more arousal pulsed inside. The music surged stronger and my body arched in time to the beat. The cold water hurt as it hit me, but it wasn’t enough to fight the pull.

“Just leave,” I bit out, my hands scrambling to pull my clothing off. They were chafing against my sensitive skin. “Let me take care of this without someone staring down at me like a disapproving father.”

Not that I remembered what having one of those was like.

Shadow did his rumble chest thing, sounding frustrated and annoyed.

“I’m not doing this on purpose,” I screamed, and somehow tears were streaming down my cheeks at the same time. Hopefully, he couldn’t tell with the water.

“You will get no relief from your own touch,” he finally said, and then he was under the water with me. The moment the water ran down his face, following the planes of his perfect features, I cried out.

“You’re not helping,” I said, sucking in air and getting a half-lung full of water. Everything about him stimulated my senses. Shadow and this music combined were lethal to me and my hormones—I couldn’t fight either individually, and together, there was no chance in hell.

“You need me or you won’t make it through tonight,” he said roughly.

That caught my attention through the haze in my head. “What do you mean?”

Eyes as red as the lava that had been outside the window met mine. Not just met but locked on to and claimed. “You know exactly what I’m saying, Sunshine. You cannot handle the entire song… It will get worse.”

“Why can’t we leave?” I cried as my back arched again, and because Shadow was in the shower with me, I ended up plastered to his leg, my body trying to contort itself to ease the pain.