Despite how comfortable and warm the pelts were, I was somehow still cold. And I slept like shit.
At one point, I woke, tears on my cheeks, and that just made me even angrier with myself because I wasn’t supposed to let my emotions get in the way. Yeah, Shadow had given me my first kiss… had been my first lover… and he was the first male I’d let myself be vulnerable with in a very long time. But I’d known all along it wasn’t going to last. I mean, that had been the one constant in our relationship, so why was I taking this so hard?
Was it just how perfect his mate was? Was it the thought that while I was sleeping my day away here, mourning what could have been, he was probably fucking her against an ice wall right now?
I mean, maybe not fucking—she really didn’t look like the type to enjoy a royal fuck. Gentle lovemaking in the moonlight?
Ugh, whatever. Screw him and her, and not in the fun way they were probably enjoying.
Mera.
I jumped at the sound of Midnight’s voice in my head, and there was a strange flutter in my chest that followed. The flutter felt cool and calm… Angel was close too. I wondered if maybe there had been a new evolution of my bond with her.
Either way, I was beyond ecstatic to feel both of them closing in.
How far away are you?
Midnight’s reply came a moment later. We’ve arrived in The Grey Lands and are now following Shadow’s energy through an ice city.
Yes. Fuck yes. I wouldn’t be alone here, and that gave me options.
Angel is with you? It was best to confirm, even if I already knew the answer.
Yes.
Can you pass messages to her?
I didn’t think it was possible for any normal being from the Solaris System, but Angel was special.
I can. Through your bond with her.
Great. Tell her that the queen here is Shadow’s true mate! She has his stone and is using that to get what she wants from him. I don’t know for sure what that is, but she wants us to gather shadow creatures to use to take on his family. It’s all weird and messy and I don’t even know what’s the truth or not, but she needs to be careful.
There were a few moments’ pause before it got back to me. She said she’s prepared for anything, and Ixana is no match for her.
I had to laugh. In some ways, Angel’s confidence was almost equal or superior to Shadow’s, but I loved her strength and fire so much that it didn’t even remotely bother me. I mean, some might call her arrogant, but was it arrogant to own your badassness? Not in my books.
Great. Let me know when you arrive at the largest snowflake building.
See you soon.
Getting to my feet, I made my way into the second room and used the facilities. The bath still looked amazingly enticing, and since the chill in my bones had settled in during my nap, making me feel a touch drained, I decided to have a quick bath. Just as I had my boots off, shirt over my head, and was about to slide my pants down, there was a tinkling sound in the air.
The energy in here felt disturbed for the first time, so I pressed myself back to the wall, right near the entrance to the bathroom door. Allowing my wolf to rise up, we waited silently, and when a figure slid around the corner, I wrapped my arms around their shoulders, managing to knock their feet out from under them before slamming the intruder down onto their back.
Clothes went flying, as did a bunch of feathers while Birdy cursed and squawked in her weird way.
“Shit, sorry,” I said, straightening. “I thought you were someone about to attack me.”
She coughed and wheezed before awkwardly getting to her taloned feet. “You’re a psycho.”
I shrugged. “Yeah, and…?”
Birdy just blinked at me, and I wondered if my translation thing had broken or something. Did she not understand?
She shook her feathered head. “You’re so confident. Just owning all of your flaws…”
Oh, right, that was what had Birdy all confused. “You see flaws… I see character. No one is perfect, and if they’re pretending to be, it’s only to hide a fuck-ton of damage. No one deserves to exist like that, and in the end, it will drive them a little cray cray. So, for me, it’s all about embracing the quirks that make up Mera. Got me?”
She didn’t got me, but she did nod. I wondered if Birdy was thinking of her boss in that moment, because if anyone was making a strong effort to “appear perfect,” it was the queen. No doubt the ice bitch expected the same perfection from the beings she surrounded herself with. I mean, it made sense wanting to control everything in the inner circle of your life, especially when it was chaotic in the outside world. But I’d bet living with it was no fun at all.
“I brought clothes,” Birdy said, sounding sullen as she indicated the articles of clothing scattered around. “Master Shadow said you’d find these comfortable.”
She spun and disappeared out of the bathroom before I could say thanks or apologize for slamming her ass into the floor. Whoopsie.
Gathering up the clothing, I noted they were basically the same sort of outfit I was wearing right now, but with a red shirt and blue jeans. I had no idea if there was any significance with the red shirt, being that it was Shadow’s color, but since I was trying not to think about him at all, I just placed everything on a shelf carved into the white walls and finished undressing.
As I dropped one foot into the deliciously warm water, another tinkle sounded through the room, and this time an aggravated huff escaped me. Turning my back on the enticing water that I was clearly not going to get into, I waited for this intruder. Naked, because I was about done with today.
Shadow appeared in the doorway and when he saw me, his eyes flared. “Sunshine?”
As his gaze drifted down the long, bare length of my body, his expression darkened. He then looked around the room, but there was no place to hide anything here. “Are you alone?”
I snorted. “No, not even remotely. I just threw the cat-dude I fucked down the piss hole. He should be fine though; cats always land on their feet.”
Shadow’s nostril’s flared. “You better be kidding.”
My hands ended up on my hips because I needed to get this point across with a serious show of body language. “What’s the issue?”
Shadow, who looked stupid huge with his heavy soled leather boots, stepped toward me. One fucking step and he was in my space. There was no way I could back up, or I’d end in the bath, so I just had to hold my breath and hope I didn’t cave. Easier said than done with his fire power running over my skin, and that spicy, darkly tempting scent of him invading my senses.
“Because. Little wolf. You belong to me.”
He said every word with a little pause between them, really cementing his statement.
“But you don’t belong to me?” I choked out. “You belong to Ice Queen Ixana, and she’s probably going to be super unhappy about you standing here while I’m naked.” My voice lowered to a whisper. “Better run home before she finds out.”
Shadow’s arm snaked around my waist, and like he had so many times, he brought me smack bang into his body. There was no pain this time, but I remembered it all too well from our arrival here.
As he slowly dragged me up, using just that one arm, I forced my face to remain impassive, even though my hormones were doing a fucking happy dance on the inside.
“Who said I don’t belong to you, Mera?”
It took me way too long to register what he’d just said, and I kept running it through my head, wondering if I’d misheard or misunderstood. Or was this one of those mean trick questions…?
His lips tilted, so obviously, my expression was amusing him. Nice, since I felt like I was about to self-destruct inside. Shadow leaned over me, running his nose along my throat, and up my cheek. My head dropped back before I even knew what I was doing, giving him more access.
“We are irrevocably linked, Mera Callahan,” he rumbled against my skin. “A bond built in fire and shadows.”
Fuck. This was everything I’d wanted to hear, but at the same time it wasn’t.
He still owned me, and I was still the possession.
And he still had a true mate.
Shadow’s lips pressed against my throat, and I groaned before reality slammed back in and I fought him. “Don’t fucking touch my skin with lips that have kissed her.”
He growled, shaking me so my head jerked up and our eyes met. “These lips have touched nothing and no one but you.”
I snorted, not sure whether to believe him or not. “What about oral sex? Surely, you’ve had your mouth on those lips.”
The thought of him touching another woman like he had me, made me want to claw some bitch’s eyes out, but I was also realistic. He’d known me like one millionth of his life, and in those other years, he’d clearly not been celibate.
He growled close to my face. “Never. We don’t kiss any who are not our true mate…. anywhere. I’ve had more sex than you’ll know in ten lifetimes, but never have I used my mouth to fuck a cunt like I did yours. Never have I tasted such sweetness, and I’m starting to think you put a fucking spell on me because I can’t even remember my life before you came into it.”
Holy shit. I was so fucking turned on, I felt like I was about to self-destruct. My body was like jelly as I tried to wrap my head around what he was saying. He’d never had his mouth on a woman. Except me.
I mean, I’d seen his face that night in Faerie, and he’d been super torn about what he could do. He’d been determined not to let me lose my virginity, so he’d had only that choice.
He could have used his hand.
Involuntarily, I moved against him, the memory of my multiple orgasms thanks to his talented tongue all I could think about.
Shadow laughed, a darkly seductive sound. “You’re lucky I have somewhere to be, or I would tie your naked ass to my bed and make you come a thousand times on my face.”
He licked across my skin, tasting me with kisses and nips, and I jerked my hips against him.
“Wait.” I gasped. “Somewhere to be?”
He rumbled again, and I wasn’t sure he was going to answer, but apparently, the bastard had more control than me as he lifted his head with a sigh. “Angel and our mists are here. It’s time to head to the wall with Ixana. She wants to show us where we will be traveling to gather the shadow creatures.”
Just her name made me see red, some of my arousal fading. “Why should I help her?”
He knew I was dead serious, and as he set me on my feet, I tried not to mourn. My vagina was crying, though. Pretty much literally at this point.
“Ixana has answers to what we need to know,” he told me, and it was my old Shadow back for a moment. “She might even know what it is that draws you to this world, and if she doesn’t, something tells me the answers will be in these lands. Where the wild creatures roam.”
I went to grab him before I remembered the last time I’d done that in the hall. Holding my hands a few inches from his chest, I lifted my gaze to meet his. “Are you going to zap me again?”
Some of his blasé attitude fell. “Mera, fuck, that was… I’m keeping our secrets.”
He was keeping his secret, anyway… His dirty little secret.
“Whatever, Shadow.” With a huff, I turned and made my way into the water.
I would hear Ixana out because there might be knowledge here about me, and in that case, I was invested. I was going to be clean first, though.
As I sank down into the hot water, I sighed at how fucking good it felt. My muscles finally relaxed. Shadow was watching me, his eyes filled with flames, but he was managing his self-control, one arm lodged against the wall as he observed.
Since he hadn’t left yet, I decided to ask more questions. “Did you always expect answers for me would be in this land?”
He nodded. “I had a feeling that whatever information we got from my family would only point us here. The land where the mists converge. I sense your power originated here.”
This didn’t surprise me. The connection I had was strongest with the creatures. A facet of this land was part of me, and I wanted to figure out how that was possible.
“Fine,” I said, sinking a little deeper. “I’ll get cleaned up and meet you… where?”
He crossed his arms, and I tried very hard not to look at how broad his jacket made his shoulders look. It was one of those long, wool coats in a style businessmen often wore, and with black pants and shirt under it, he was more than a little devilishly handsome. “I’ll wait here for you.”
I nailed him with a glare of my own. “Actually, I’d like a little privacy.”
“Tough. Luck.”
I growled. “Shadow, for fuck’s sake. I won’t try to run. Just piss off and let me have my bath in peace.”
There was a decent chance I would need to come before my unsatisfied vagina let me go exploring.
The bastard didn’t argue again, just stayed where he was, his eyes on me. The possessive alpha thing that he naturally possessed, was jacked up tenfold here. Almost with its own energy, drifting in the air between us.
“Fine,” I snapped. “Suit yourself. You get to see the show now.”
Shadow thought he could get me all worked up and not follow through, then this was what happened.
