When consciousness returned an unknown time later, I shifted in my cushion, loving how relaxed my limbs felt. It took me a few minutes to really wake, and when I did, I opened my eyes to find the fire was the same size it had been when I’d gone to sleep, and the… the room was silent. Unnaturally silent.
Rubbing a hand across my face, I looked around; even Midnight wasn’t drifting in its usual spot up high.
“They’re hunting for you.” His low, deep voice near sent me sprawling from the cushion. How, in the fuck, had I missed the Shadow in the room?
He straightened from the wall where he’d been leaning, silent like a stalking jungle cat. “You’re always watching me when I sleep,” I said, a touch breathless as I pushed myself higher. “What’s up with that?”
He didn’t deny it, just strode closer, and when he stood at the edge of my cushion chair, I jerked my head all the way back so I wouldn’t miss a single one of his expressions. It was only in his minute facial changes, that I could tell what he was feeling.
He never gave much away, but I occasionally found a gem.
Right now, his eyes were burning, his brows drawn together. “You’re a mystery I need to unravel,” he told me, and I was surprised when he crouched before me. Shadow never came down to my level, always dragging me to his height. “I’m drawn to your energy. I’m feeling…” He paused. “I’m feeling, Sunshine. It’s an issue because any sort of weakness could stand between me and my need for revenge.”
I sucked in a deep breath, the dryness in my throat annoying. “You give me whiplash,” I bit out. “You’re so back and forth, up and down, treating me like a pet one second and a friend the next. A person or a possession? What am I to you, Shadow?”
Flames sprang to life in his eyes, and he was closer than ever… and was it getting super hot in here?
“Can you not be both a person and a possession?”
I shook my head. “No, I can’t.”
He reached for me, hauling me up and out of the chair—ah, that was more like it—standing as he did, so I was trapped in his embrace. “Then why do I want to possess the person you are so badly, little wolf?”
Jesus. Fuck. Fuck!
“It’s the most delicious torture,” I choked out. “The desire to submit to you while knowing that I can never let myself. The alpha shifter in my soul rebels against the notion of being owned, no matter the benefits that come from it.”
And there would be so many benefits. I already knew that from the small taste I’d had.
Shadow’s hold on me tightened, so firm that my ribs ached, which only increased my desire to wrap myself around him and allow him to fuck the life from me.
“How do we resolve our dilemma?” he mused, his hand sliding down my back to cup my ass, and again, his hold was just short of too firm as he massaged each cheek, drawing a low groan from me as I tried to wiggle against his grip.
He didn’t let me move an inch, and I wanted to both sob and scream.
“You can’t keep torturing me,” I begged, finally finding words.
Shadow’s laugh was deep and dark. Name and nature were one and the same with him. “From the second you touched the Shadow Realm, you have been a forbidden torment. And I don’t think I can let this journey end without having this taste of you.”
I tried to suck in a deep breath, but he held me too tight, so it was shallow panting for me. “You already tasted,” I choked out.
“Not enough,” he said, so low, I could barely hear.
The hand on my ass lifted so he could slide it down under the waistband of my pants, his palm meeting bare flesh, and I swore I could feel that touch deep inside.
Putting those long fingers to use, he slid them down my ass crack, pressing and lingering across nerve endings there, before he moved to stroke his fingers inside my aching pussy.
I was so wet that there was next to no resistance, at least for the first digit, and the second, but the aching burn began as he moved them in and out, with the right amount of force to drive me crazy. “Shadow,” I groaned. “Are you going to fuck me or what?”
His lips grazed my cheek, and I was reminded of their “no kissing” thing again. The desire to turn my head and taste him was so strong, it almost killed me.
“Are you going to submit to me?” he breathed against my skin, near my mouth.
I wanted to sob. Was he really going to make me choose between my independence and the pleasure I knew he’d hold in his touch? What sort of fucking asshole was this guy? And why did I still want him so badly?
“I can’t.” I groaned again. “It would break me. My independence is all I have left.”
The stroking fingers slowed, and the hold of his other arm gentled so I was able to move myself to give him more leverage. Just when I was breathing heavy and about to come, he stopped completely and slowly withdrew his hand. His touch disappeared as he set me down to my feet.
“Who is your master?” he asked, his electricity running across my skin, sending my sensitive nerves into overdrive as an orgasm ripped through me with nothing more than his power to stimulate me.
“No,” I choked out, “I won’t submit.”
Where was my wolf now when I really needed her dominant assertiveness? Why was she rolling over ready to show her belly to this beast?
“Sunshine, I’m going to need you to say the words.”
I snarled. “What? Why? You want me on my knees too? Are you training me for my true mate? Because he wanted the same bullshit from me.”
Shadow’s expression darkened. “You will get on your knees for no one but me. Ever.”
I shook my head. “The odds of that are slim to none, Shadow. All men are like you, wanting to dominate.” I jerked back. “In truth, I think I’d rather be alone than deal with this shit for the rest of my life.”
It was then that he realized how serious I was, and that no matter how badly I wanted it, how badly my body was screaming at me to just release my control and let Shadow take me however he wanted me, I couldn’t. I’d lose a part of myself that I’d never get back.
Now he was searching for a compromise because he wanted it too. But he was too dominant not to desire complete control of me. That at least made me feel better because twelve months ago, he’d have just thrown my ass to the side and never looked back.
“Let’s make a deal,” he said, and I was reminded of our bet from long ago. “If you submit to me now, at least eighty percent, I will ensure that you leave this world powerful enough to never have to submit to anyone ever again.”
Our eyes locked, and I let his offer simmer in my mind. It was a huge temptation, but could I believe him? “There’s no way you can truly ensure that.”
He moved his head closer, our lips almost brushing. Goddamn. “I can against shifters,” he said, reminding me that he was the god of our kind and could make or break us. “And you’re already beyond humans in all ways, so it’s basically ensured.”
My legs were trembling, and now that he wasn’t holding me up, I had to find my own fortitude. “I think… I can agree to that.”
I’d do a lot to never be a victim of my pack again, or my true mate, and if the upside of that was having this night with Shadow, I would fucking take it, and rebuild my independence piece by piece if needed.
“I crumbled like a wet house of cards,” I muttered, sort of mad at myself, but only for a brief moment because I was too turned on to really care. Maybe I’d care more tomorrow, but right now, I just needed him to touch me.
Shadow’s arms were around me again, drawing me up so our lips could meet easily, without him having to lower his height. “I’m going to need you to say it, Sunshine,” he murmured, his tongue darting out to slide along the inseam of my lips.
My legs clenched as my pussy all but quivered in response. Fucking hell. This was going to be one hell of a ride.
“I submit to you. For this day, and this day only, you’re my master.”
Shadow’s eyes darkened until the pupil and iris were indistinguishable, and as he threw his head back, an unearthly howl rang from his throat. Control fell away from me, and I welcomed the relief.
One night with the devil. I was taking it, no matter the consequences.
