She bit back a giggle. *They won’t. Keeping out of sight? I’m good at this. Trust me.*
Her brothers were going to throw seven great white-sized fits. They’d waited her whole life to intimidate the first boyfriend she brought home. Now here she was, on the other side of the world, stealing her soulmate away into her room with no one the wiser.
Was it only an hour or so earlier that she’d hunted Moss down to the lookout over the rocks? And now he was here with her. She was returning home with her prey.
Except sharks didn’t do that, did they?
Did octopuses? Did krakens? Was she the one who’d been lured in and carried off, while she thought she was the hunter?
She looked back at Moss and met his eyes. Something moved behind his gaze—darker than lust, more eternal than the sea.
Oh, yeah. She was the prey, all right.
The house was quiet. The evening had drawn in while they ate and talked, and most people were in their own rooms. There was rapid movement from the wing where Keeley and Lance were staying—the rest of the house might be exhausted, but Maggie’s energy for exasperating her foster parents was endless. Below the house, the captive metal bird shifter’s heartbeat was slow and steady. There was a cluster of life in the kitchen, and someone on a slow prowl in the grounds outside. Mathis, checking the perimeter.
She slipped past his guard and felt a stab of guilt that lasted until they reached the wing where her suite was located, and he tugged her the other way down the corridor.
*My room’s this way,*she told him.
*And mine is down here.*
She narrowed her eyes. *Who’s sneaking who into the house, again?*
*That would be me,*he told her, his psychic voice a sensuous rumble that reverberated along her ribs. *Luring you in with delicious bait and stealing you back to my lair.*
A thrill darted through her, leaving a trail of heat.
Moss’s rooms looked out over the ocean, but the first thing he did after shutting the door behind them was close the curtains. A single standing lamp filled the space with a warm glow. The light filtered through decorative dried floral displays, castingshadows that reminded her of seaweed trailing long fingers towards the surface.
Something fluttered in her heart. Her love for the ocean had been so twisted with fear and guilt since she got her shark that she’d forgotten how big a part of herself that love was. Her childhood, her family, all her most cherished memories—they were all flavored with the taste of salt. And now, with Moss, she’d been able to take her first step—splash—into returning to the waters she loved and feared so much.
For the first time since that first shift, she didn’t feel ashamed of her shifter magic. She felt hopeful.
Like maybe things would finally start to go right for her.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” Moss asked, his eyes dark.
She nodded, unable to stop smiling. But Moss didn’t shy away. He closed the space between them in two long strides and cupped her face in one hand. He was so big, he filled her vision.
And when he ran his thumb along her bared teeth, her knees almost gave out.
“Good,” he said, his eyes dark pools she would happily, helplessly lose herself in. “Because I don’t think I can stand another moment not touching you.”
He leaned down and kissed her. When his tongue slipped between her lips, she let out a surprised gasp. “I don’t want to hurt you—”
“Don’t worry about that.”
She let out a hiccup of laughter. “I neverstopworrying about that. About—them. My teeth. All of it.”
She tensed. This was the closest she’d gotten to telling him the truth. And she should tell him now, shouldn’t she, before anything else happened?
Moss kissed her lips, her jaw, the sensitive skin behind her ear. His fingers tangled in her hair. “Then I guess it’s my job to distract you.”
“I—”
He stopped her words with his lips and tongue. *Don’t make me wait any longer,*he begged. *We don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Let’s not waste tonight.*
Tomorrow seemed a world away, but he was right. One day to recover before they went after the Soul-Eater was already an unthinkable luxury.
