Roux hammered several more times, then exploded inside me with a strangled cry. I opened my mouth in a silent howl of ecstasy, and my vision blurred.
When it slowly came back into focus, I was in a different place and time. In place of wrinkled sheets before me, I saw a tangled forest stabbed with long shafts of light. I smelled damp leaves, and I felt dirt under my paws.
Wait. Paws?
Roux exhaled and lowered his hands from my hips to the mattress. I sensed it, but I saw something different — a blur of orange, black, and white stripes gliding along at my side as I trotted through that forest. Together, we passed through bands of light and the dark shadows in between. Light, shadow. Light, shadow…
I spotted triangular ears flecked with white but tipped in black, and a long whip of a tail where orange and black squeezed into orderly bands. Above all, I saw glowing, amber eyes.
You’re stunning,the me in my vision breathed to her mate.
He chuffed and whispered back.You’re the stunning one, my mate.
I looked down, going wide-eyed. My chest was furry and white, wrapped with thin lines of black. My legs were long, lean, and orange, my nose creased by thick black stripes.
All that, I knew because I saw myself through Roux’s eyes.
Then that vision faded, and I was back in bed, staring at the sheets. Slowly, I crumpled to my stomach. Roux pressed over me, equally exhausted.
He found my hands and wove his fingers through mine. His quick breaths stirred a few strands of my hair, but otherwise, we didn’t move.
I’d never felt so warm. So wanted. So connected.
Eventually, we cleaned up, rearranged the blankets, and spooned together, with Roux’s front to my back and his thick arm resting over my chest.
I closed my eyes and hummed in satisfaction. That vision would soon be reality. And, wow. Then I could control some types of magic and shift too. A dream come true.
“Thank you,” I whispered. “For everything.”
He shook his head. “Thankyou.”
I snorted. “What do you have to thank me for? Other than great sex, I mean.”
He chuckled. “I love it when you’re modest.”
“I’m so bad at so many things, I like to give myself credit for the things I’m actually good at.”
He shook his head. “Not true. You’re good at magic…”
I snorted.
“You’re good at diplomacy too.”
“Diplomacy?”
He nodded firmly. “When it comes to dealing with us and with Gordon.”
I groaned. “I’m giving myself the rest of the night off from bad things.”
“Good. Think about the future.”
I perked up and curled my fingers around his. “Like, a mating bite?”
He snickered. “And they say men are obsessed with sex.”
“It’s your fault.”
He sighed. “Now you sound like Bene.”
