Page 9 of Wedding the Werepanther

“Of course.” Amusement glitters in his green eyes.

Oh, god. Faerie! I press a hand over my racing heart. The game I’m trying to write is set in a made-up version of Faerie, and—not gonna lie—I’ve been a bit stuck on how to finish it. Seeing the real thing would be flipping amazing.

“I could take you sometime.” The werepanther pivots to face the picture wall and raises his voice. “Once I regain access to the shadow roads, that is.”

“Oops. My bad.”Magic ripples through the air, and the front door creaks open.

He takes a quick step to the side, disappearing before popping back into view. “Thank you, Victoria.”

Smugness fills the air.“You agreed to the fine print.”

“So we did.” Shadow shoots me a cocky grin. “I need to move in. Wouldn’t want to violate the terms of the agreement on the very first day.”

“Right.” He’s moving innow.

“I picked out your room,”Victoria spells out as the sound of a door swinging open comes from the second floor.

We hurry upstairs to discover she chose the bedroom right beside mine, because of course she did. It’s not like there are two other options she could have picked instead or anything.

It’s as large as mine and overlooks the back garden with the wisteria-draped arbor, which I’ll admit is a very pretty view. Likethe rest of the house, it has lovely hardwood floors and trim, and the dark-stained furniture is solid wood of the kind it’s hard to find today without spending a fortune. A deep green comforter covers the bed, and a couple of oil paintings of forest landscapes decorate the walls.

“I love it, Victoria.” Shadow pats the wall. “Thank you.”

As if in answer, the wall shivers, and one section of it starts to bow outward.

I yelp and leap backward when a section of drywall falls away to expose a large, rectangular hole in the wall that shows a matching piece of fallen drywall splattered across my bedroom floor.

“What a perfect view,” Shadow says from right behind me.

My gaze jolts up from the mess on the floor to see… A groan escapes me. The view through the uncovered doorway is a straight shot to my bed.

“Victoria!” I yell, turning to race back down the stairs. I slide to a halt in the foyer and jab a finger at the ceiling. “Why the hell did you create a hole between our bedrooms?”

“I didn’t create it. That doorway has always been there. It’s so a married couple can join their rooms.”The pictures slide.“And you’re a married couple.”

“Yeah, well, I think the key word in that sentence is ‘doorway.’” There’s no point arguing the married thing, so I try for what I can get. “It’s not really a doorway if there’s not a door! The rooms are wide open to each other!”

“Perfectly fine with me.” Shadow smirks.

“Not helping,” I mutter.

“The door was removed and placed in the attic. Once it’s fixed, it can be rehung.”

“I’ll fix it tomorrow,” Shadow says. “It’s only one night.”

His words continue to echo hours later as I slide into bed, wearing an oversized T-shirt and a pair of flannel boxers.Normally, I’d read for a while to wind down, but there’s no way in hell I’m pulling outThe Werepanther’s Princesswith Shadow watching.

When I click off my bedside lamp, the view into his lighted room becomes the only thing I can see. The werepanther’s so cocky I don’t know what I expected of his decoration scheme, but it wouldn’t have surprised me if he covered everything in leopard print and hung multiple disco balls. Instead, the bed visible through the door doesn’t look any different than it did when I made up the room a week ago, hoping for a roommate.

“See. No big deal,” I whisper to myself. “You got this.”

Then a naked Shadow walks across the opening. I get a clear impression of his profile, from the thickness of his shoulder to the leanness of his waist to the strength of his muscular thigh.

I suck in a shocked breath, my heart galloping.

He flicks the sheet back and climbs into bed, showing off his very, very fine ass. Once he’s settled, his green eyes meet mine, and he smirks.

Oh, god! Exactly how good is fae eyesight? Can he see me watching him in the dark?