Hewas scary.
There was no reflection of humanity in his face. Instead, it was pure and unadulterated fury. This was our devil. The god of shifters who had created an entire race of beings—and literal pathways between worlds.
He was lost to the new surge of energy, and I knew that someone had to pull him back, but I wasn’t sure I could get any closer. Taking the risk, I stepped into the flames, but the burn was instant, and when I pulled my hand away it was red and blistering. It healed fine, but it was enough for me to know that I couldn’t run in headfirst and take him down.
Shadow was literally untouchable to me.
What about my wolf?
Dropping my heavy backpack, I shed my clothing, knowing I’d need them again since we were on limited supplies. When I was naked, standing with a light breeze blowing my hair all around me, I allowed the chokehold on my wolf to ease—she was more than a little excited to finally have freedom. Just as she started to surge up, Shadow’s gaze snapped to meet mine.
I paused, the change hovering on the edge, my fingers rippling into claws, even as the rest of me remained human. Shadow didn’t move, neither of us did. One covered in flames, the other naked with flaming red hair dancing around. Both of us locked in his power.
“Shadow,” I whispered. There was no way he should have been able to hear me over the noise of his fire—it sounded like a jet engine, the ground near shaking from the decibels, but somehow, he did.
He heard me.
When he took a step forward, I shivered. Not from the cold, but from the sheer force of his stare. Holding me in place. Turning my body into one that would literally die for this beast if he just continued to look at me like that.
“Shadow,” I choked out again. “Come back to me.”
This was a reversal of what he’d had to do in Torma with me, and the irony wasn’t lost on me. I also wondered what would happen if both of us lost it at the same time… who would call us back then?
He took another step toward me, and I was dragged further into his forcefield. My trembling legs drove me toward his fire. The heat was intense, and not only was my body responding, but so was my energy. That connection—path—I had to this realm sprang to life.
As flames burst across my skin, rough hands hauled me up and against his body. I wrapped my legs around him, not caring that not only was I naked, but we had a witness in one of my best friends.
“What are you?” Shadow rumbled. “That you make me feel…”
He trailed off, and I was desperate to hear more. Made him feel what?
He said no more, though, and it took me a few moments to understand that what he meant wasfeelin general.
My gaze dropped to his lips and I desperately craved a taste of him. It was a frantic need that had my breath raggedly escaping in huffs. Kissing him was a bad idea. We’d never kissed before, not even when his tongue had been buried deep in my pussy, making me come until I saw stars.
That night, he’d stopped me from touching him in any way, but today… today he wasn’t stopping me at all.
His mouth slammed against mine, and an actual rumbling groan spilled from my lips as our tongues tangled together. Shadow took control, angling his head so that he could suck my bottom lip into his mouth, biting against it, as we fought to taste each other.
I was clawing at his back, and it wasn’t until I opened my eyes that I saw his were open as well. Burning gazes clashed as we kissed, and that wasn’t all that burned. Our flames were a raging inferno around us, and no doubt this sort of power and energy was not the incognito approach he’d hoped to take here.
There was one positive of the fire: no one could see us in the midst of the flames coating our skins, which meant I could let my control go for a moment, vulnerability creeping into my gaze as I pulled away from him.
“What am I, Shadow?” I whispered.
He was still staring at me, as he had done when he’d taken control and completely owned my fucking mouth. That unbreakable gaze dissected my very being, breaking me down into whatever energy formed my soul.
“What are these scars from?” he rumbled, and the rapid change of subject took me by surprise.Scars?
It was then that I felt his hand on my back, tracing up my spine, and I was reminded of the day I was held down and branded by Dean Heathcliffe. I’d been fourteen, it had been a few years after my father’s death, and the beta had called me for a meeting to discuss my options of improving my place in the pack.
Looking back, I had a feeling the entire setup had been about Jaxson. Maybe he’d stepped out of line again, or maybe Dean was just a bastard. He’d tortured me for hours in the field. Branding a hot iron down my spine, all the while “interrogating me” for information I didn’t have.
I remembered that day well, from screaming until eventually the pain had been so fucking much, I’d passed out, to regaining consciousness a few hours later, alone and in agony.
It had taken me weeks to heal from the wounds, and when it had all been done, I’d still borne the faded circular scars down my spine.
“Scars of my past,” I breathed, my demons rearing their heads as memories flashed at me. I’d just kissed Shadow, a soul-destroying kiss, and instead of grinding against him like I wanted, all I could see in my head was DeanmotherfuckingHeathcliffe.
