Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters, #1)(93)

It would be stupid of me to think anything else.





51

Igroaned as light shone behind my closed eyes, and rolling over, I stopped at the feel of sheets far silkier than the ones I slept on in the lair. What? Where am I?

As I forced my eyes open, everything hurt, even my eyelids as I tried to lift my head. Ugh…

Why am I so exhausted? Fatigue pressed down on me, a weight sitting on my chest, and my mouth was so dry, I felt like I’d been left to bake in the desert for a month.

The room around me was completely unfamiliar, and when I finally got up, my head spun. Unease trickled through my stomach, and as the sheets dropped to reveal a set of naked tits— my naked tits— the memories of yesterday flashed through my addled brain.

Holy fucking fuck.

Faerie. The song. The painful need that had turned my body into an enemy I couldn’t fight.

And Shadow… oh, gods.

Shadow had given me more orgasms in one night than I’d had in my entire life. He was skilled, relentless, and utterly unstoppable when he set his mind to something. And that something had been to get me through the Faerie song.

Memories crashed into me, intense and unwavering, and my damn traitorous body wanted more. It was like we’d been conditioned now, and the mere thought of the Shadow Beast had my limbs trembling as heat and moisture pooled in my center.

That was going to be a problem I’d have to contend with at some point, but for now, mission pretend yesterday didn’t happen was in full swing. Just had to find some clothes first. Not that it really mattered. There wasn’t much of my body Shadow didn’t know at this stage, except my mouth.

He’d never kissed me, and I hadn’t touched him. It had been all one-sided from what I remembered…

the sole focus on me.

Some women might have loved that, but for me, it was a bittersweet memory.

Since there were no clothes at all in my vicinity, I wrapped the sheet around myself and dragged it from the bed as I got out. My legs took a few seconds to steady, and for a shifter to be feeling the aftereffects of the night so strongly, I knew that whatever the Faerie spell had done to me, it was still working its way out of my system.

After hobbling around like a newborn horse, I finally got my equilibrium back and was once again able to move freely without issue. A quick check of this room and the bathroom brought me up empty for clothing—no doubt because Shadow was a magical being who manifested clothing from will alone.

Which left me with one option: go out there and face the music. Maybe he could magic me up some clothing as well. I used the bathroom first, thankful that it appeared to be Earth spec. Almost everything of Shadow’s was based on things I was familiar with, and that told me, that despite his blasé attitude toward it, he actually loved Earth maybe a little more than the other worlds.

When I walked into the library, it appeared to be empty. In a palace this size, there had to be a ton of other rooms where Shadow might have been, but I was a little surprised not to find him here. A quick glance out the window told me that we were still zooming across the world, and below was what looked like a tundra of green ice, with dotted patches of green water between the frozen lands.

Faerie was one extreme after another, but I felt a sense of peace being here that was oddly strong.

Peace and hunger, since apparently, a night of intense pleasure was draining. Reluctantly leaving the view, I staked my claim on the box of food, finding water, fruit, and a sandwich—all chilled and fresh, as Shadow had promised—that I wolfed down.

When I was satiated, I dragged one of the couches across to the windows and sprawled back into the soft surface, propping my feet up on a large glass panel to watch the scenery zoom past. When would I ever get to experience Faerie again? I didn’t want to miss a thing.

We weren’t the only palace floating above the land, with many other houses, drifting islands, and grand estates dotted across the horizon. None of them came too close; magic was clearly involved in keeping everything running smoothly.

I felt Shadow before I saw him, and knowing it was going to be awkward, no matter what I did, I decided not to turn and acknowledge him first. Because I was a coward like that.

“Len is here,” he rumbled, standing above me. The sound of his deep voice did something to me that I’d never experienced before. My body surged to life, every cell, synapse, and receptor standing to attention, as if their master had arrived.

No! Stand down, you disloyal bitch.

I could not give Shadow any extra power over me. I’d said it before, and it was just as important today: he had already had way too much control over me. My wolf howled in my chest, and I couldn’t tell if she wanted to roll over for Shadow too, or if she was reminding me we still had a true mate. I knew part of her soul hadn’t given up on Torin.

We don’t need either of them, I reminded her. Her howl died off, but she was extra restless as I focused on Shadow.

“Okay, cool,” I said as casually as I could, turning away from the view to finally meet his gaze.

“For any reason? To warn us about another weird sex spell he forgot to tell us about?”

His eyes were blazing gold, and despite my fuzzy memories, I could tell he had not forgotten a single thing about last night. Thankfully, he didn’t force me to deal with the facts of what had happened—letting me hide a little longer.

“Come. I’ll show you.”