Page 26 of Shadows of Light
The shadows slid further away as he released her throat, grasped her wrists, and drew them over her head. He slammed them into the wall harder than he meant to, but she still arched into him.
She wouldn’t be frightened away, and he didn’t want her to be… even if he was on the verge of losing it. The dark fae had gone too long between feedings, and the lycan had been denied its mate for two weeks.
They both clamored to be satisfied, and she was the only one who could sate them. When he lifted her off the ground, her legs encircled his waist. Her fingers dug into his nape as she released her bite and her tongue found his.
Her hips moved, and she ground against him until he was on the edge of coming. She was already so wet as she slid against his cock, and her scent intensified on the air.
When his hands entwined in her hair, he pulled her head back to expose her throat. The pale column of it glistened in the moonlight, revealing that his last mark on her had healed and vanished.
The lycan sank his fangs into her shoulder, claiming her as his again. The serum lycans’ possessed to mark their mate entered her.
Feeling more content, the lycan’s bite placated some of its demand, but it wouldn’t be caged again. It also wanted more.
She slid over him once more, and he grasped her hips with one hand to position her. With one thrust, he sank into her as his heart went wild.
When her tight, wet sheath clenched around his dick, he groaned as everything suddenly felt right again, and the shadows calmed. As she moved, the energy of their joining increased, and the dark fae feasted.
Power surged through him as she eased all his needs and took as much as she gave while fucking him with abandon. They wereoneagain and inseparable as ecstasy built between them.
When she came, he muffled her loud cry with his hand so they didn’t attract the attention of her guards. As her head fell back, he came, but he wasn’t done with her.
As soon as his shaft stopped pulsing, he turned and carried her to the bed. He was still hungry, and she was happy to let him feast again.
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
With whispered words of treachery,the shadows pulled Cole from sleep before the sun rose. Sometime during the night, while they slept, the shadows had reclaimed their hold on him.
Slithering beneath the surface, they whispered of death and blood as he climbed from bed and padded over to the window. He rested his hands against the cool stone sill while studying the night.
Across the land, shadows shifted and swayed beneath the moon’s glow. Those shadows crept beneath his skin as they curled into his mind.
For a little while, Lexi chased them away, but they wouldn’t remain at bay—not when they whispered of another danger to her. Even the dark fae and lycan halves of him wouldn’t fight the shadows if it meant protecting her.
When he glanced at her, she remained sleeping soundly. His warrior, his fiancée, his love, his everything... and someone was out there plotting against her again.
But if he left here now, it would only make things worse for her. Closing his eyes, his fingers bit into the stone as he struggled to retain control of the shadows and his growing impulse to kill whoever threatened her.
For a while, as he held her, he’d believed it was over and she would keep the shadows at bay. And she had for a bit.
The shadows, while not soundless, had calmed while they were together. They raged again now, and what they whispered also infuriated the dark fae and lycan.
They sought blood, destruction, and death to the point Lexi couldn’t soothe them. Someone plotted against her, and it couldn’t be allowed.
Cole stepped toward her to tell her he was leaving, but the shadows dug their tendrils into his brain. He couldn’t think or feel beyond the call of the mayhem he would unleash upon those who sought to take her from him.
A touch of gray gathered at the edges of the black sky as he pulled the shadows around him. He cloaked himself in their insidious embrace as they carried him out the window.
While the shadows lowered him to the ground, the heads of the nearby dragons turned toward him. He didn’t know if they could see or sense him, but they didn’t try to stop him when he headed for the portals of Dragonia.
Excitement pulsed through his veins, and the shadows urged him faster as he slipped into a portal and on toward the human realm. Whoever the shadows led him toward wouldn’t survive to see the sunrise.
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
When Lexi woke,she instinctively stretched her hand out to where she last saw Cole. As her hand moved, she knew he was gone before her fingers found the cool spot beside her.
She felt his absence like she would a missing tooth. She continued to prod at the emptiness while her mind screamed at her to stop, but she couldn’t fully believe he was gone.
He’d left her… again.
