“Ugh!”My reaction is spontaneous.“No, thanks.I will never invite that creep into my house.”
Shadow hugs me closer.“Sweetheart, Wulf is different from the other Riders.He doesn’t need an invitation to come inside.And he doesn’t get knocked unconscious from the sun.”
A rising horror begins to flood my body.I am no longer able to fight the panic.
“What can I do to keep him out?What the fuck is he—man or monster?”
His deep voice rumbles as the awful truth comes out.
“Wulf is an incubus.A half-breed.An aberration.Absolutely forbidden in our world.And you can’t keep him out, Luna… because he’s already been here.”
ChapterEighteen
Luna & Shadow
Luna is horrified when the truth dawns on her.I want to wrap my arms around her and hold her tight, protect her from the dreadful realization.
“My dark dreaming—that was him?!”
Pulling away from me, Luna blunders around in the dark like a drunk before finally wrenching the door open and running out.
Should I give her time to come to terms with it on her own?Or should I try comforting her?
Hope flashes across my mind like a lightning bolt.
You want to be her lover.You yearn to be Luna’schosen one.Could she be your soul mate?
Is Luna capable of taming the fierce beast of independence that has ruled my rambling life for decades and decades?
Moving too fast for the human eye to see, I go to the porch.Luna is huddled against the wall staring down the hill with headlamp eyes.
She feels disgusted and soiled.But that is so far from the truth, because in my eyes she is angelically pure.
The creek is hidden by tall pines, but I can hear the lapping water as it slaps the muddy shore.I have been hearing that sound for many years; the constant background to my deadly existence.
Fuck it, I’m-a go down guns blazing.If she tells me no, I guess it won’t be the end of the world.I’ll live to fuck her another day.
“Let me take you upstairs, Luna.It’s no good freaking out like this.It’s time you allowed me to give you something else to think about.”I use a stricter tone of voice, because even if she hasn’t realized it yet, Luna must accept me as the dominant force in her life.
Tearing her eyes away from the black pine woods, she looks at me.Damn, the girl’s upset.Poor darling.
“I already feel dirty enough for both of us, Shadow.I doubt you can change that.”
Swaggering closer to her, I’m enchanted by her dusky hair.I’m compelled to touch its shaded fire.It feels like silk under my fingers.The scent is intoxicating—as good as any of Tempest’s drinks.
There is no way I’m going to take no for an answer.Not tonight.I am going to fuck the memory of that sneaking incubus bastard right out of Luna’s mind.I swear it.
She gasps as my grip tightens on her hair.But I’m not sorry.
“Come upstairs with me, darlin’.You know you want to.”
Our slow seduction is going to come full circle before the night is much older.And I don’t want to hear any more crap about it being too soon after her breakup.If I’m willing to risk falling in love, then Luna should be open to that happening, too.
And then she does something unexpected.I should have known that Luna would throw me a curve ball.
“Okay, Shadow.Let’s do it.The whole she-bang.Fuck me.Suck me.Invade my mind with lurid sex dreams.I’m ready and willing.”
Grabbing hold of my hand, she stands up.Shooting me a sexy smile, Luna pushes my jaw to force my mouth closed.Only then do I realize that I must have been standing there with my mouth gaped open.
