Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 65042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
“I’ve never come so hard before. And it’s been such a long time,” she whispered. “Not since before Craig…”
“It’s all right,” I assured her. “Just rest now…and let me kiss you.”
“All right.” She tilted her face up to mine, her eyelids heavy with the afterglow. Her lips brushed mine—tentative at first, then bolder. Her tongue slid along my lower lip, then between them, exploring the edges of my fangs.
I groaned low in my throat, overwhelmed by the sweetness of her acceptance. She tasted like pure desire, and I was already addicted to her.
“I remember now—I used to call you ‘Shadow Boy,’” she murmured, her voice soft and sleepy. “But…why did I forget you?”
I traced the edge of her jaw with one fingertip, careful not to press too hard, though my claws were blunt.
“You blocked out a lot of your childhood, Danni. The pain…the fear. It was the only way your mind knew how to survive. And when you stopped believing in magic—when you stopped believing in me—I faded.”
She frowned slightly, her brow furrowing.
“So you can only be alive here? In this house?”
“In this room,” I corrected softly. “The bedroom was always your sanctuary. The place you first called me. Here, I can be solid. Tangible. The more you believe, the more real I become.”
“It still feels like a dream,” she whispered, her hand splaying over my chest, fingers curling in my fur. “I keep thinking I’m going to wake up.”
I shook my head slowly, brushing another kiss over the shell of her ear.
“This is no dream. I am real—as long as you believe.”
Her lashes fluttered.
“So tired,” she whispered, her body already relaxing in my arms. “But I just found you again. I don’t want to sleep…”
“Sleep,” I told her gently, stroking her hair as I gathered her close against my chest. “I’ll be here. I’ll guard you. We can talk more later.”
She let out a breath—half sigh, half contented whimper—and melted against me, her limbs going soft and pliant. I held her the way I’d longed to for so many years, cradling her like something precious and fragile and completely mine.
Gods, I’d missed her.
I should have told her. Should have explained that this fragile bond between us could be made permanent. That if she chose to fully accept me—if she allowed me to claim her and knot her, to mark her body and soul as mine—I would become wholly, undeniably real.
No more hiding in darkness.
No more half-existence.
I would be a creature of shadows no longer—able to walk in the light.
But I wasn’t going to tell her. At least, not tonight. Not yet.
She wasn’t ready—and I wouldn’t rush her. I’d waited this long. I could wait a little longer.
For now, I would simply hold her. I would listen to the steady cadence of her breath and guard her dreams like I used to when she was just a girl clutching me like a teddy bear and whispering my name into the dark.
Shadow boy, she’d called me then.
And tonight, as she came undone beneath my touch, she’d moaned my name again—Shadow. Like a prayer remembered…like a wish reborn.
I closed my eyes and let the sound echo through me.
She believed again.
And for now, that was enough.
21
DANNI
The moment I opened my eyes, I wasn’t sure if any of it had been real.
For a second, I just lay there, curled on my side, my nightgown bunched around my hips, the sheets twisted around me. The morning light filtered through the old lace curtains, turning the edges of the room to soft gold. My heart was still pounding faintly, like an echo of something half-remembered. I reached down between my thighs and felt the lingering ache, the delicious soreness and damp heat that had nothing to do with the warmth of the quilt.
My face flushed as I remembered the night before.
God. Had I dreamed it?
Shadow—my monster. Was he truly real?
I rolled onto my back and pressed my palm against my chest, right over my heart. I could still feel the weight of his heavy, muscular arms around me…the velvet brush of his fur…the deep rumble of his voice as he told me I was beautiful. The way he touched me so reverently, like I was something rare and precious.
The way he made me come so hard.
My cheeks grew even hotter. If it was a dream, it was the most vivid one I'd ever had. But somehow, I didn’t think it was.
I sat up slowly and peeked under the bed, half-hoping, half-expecting to see the glint of golden eyes glowing in the darkness.
Nothing. Just shadows.
Still, I felt something—a presence. Like the air under the bed was just a bit thicker…as bit warmer…charged with static electricity.
“Well,” I murmured, brushing my fingers across the cool wood floor. “Maybe you only come out at night.”
I got up and stretched, feeling better than I had in ages. I didn’t have the heavy feeling of dread I’d been waking up with for the past three years. Instead, I felt almost young again—refreshed and renewed and ready to greet the day.