by Kimber White
I felt her heat. It stoked my own. She was scared, but I felt her desire underneath that. She wanted. Just like I did. I could barely breathe.
“Show me,” I found myself saying.
“Show you what?”
“I want to see you,” I said. “The real you.”
“You are.”
“No,” I said. “There’s something else. I can feel it. I can feel your...light.”
I hadn’t planned to say it. I barely knew what it meant until I put it into words. But, there it was. I hadn’t known what to look for until now. I’d been trying to understand Zendra based on things I already knew. Mage. Shifter. Human. Now that I’d peeled all of that away, I could experience her in a different, more pure way.
“Show me,” I said again.
“This is me,” she whispered. She put a hand against my cheek. Light. Magic. Heat. She was all of those things and more.
I felt my fangs drop. I slid a hand through her hair, then rested it at the base of her neck. I felt her pulse there. She cocked her head backward, parting her lips. Her eyes flashed with lust.
“Light,” I whispered.
Yes. That was it. Zendra took a step back. Though we stood in the center of the cabin, a mighty wind lifted her hair. There was a popping sound, then Zendra disappeared.
No. She didn’t leave. Instead, she was everywhere.
She became a point of light that zinged through the room, bouncing off the walls. I crouched low and fought to track her with my eyes.
Then, she came into me. Her point of light went into my chest, knocking me backward like the first day I met her. She knocked the wind out of me, and I landed flat on my back. “Zendra,” I gasped.
And then she was there. She straddled my chest, her hair falling forward like a curtain. I brought my hands up, smoothing them over her hips.
Want. Need. Mine.
“Edward,” she whispered.
I came up until I was sitting, cradling her in my lap.
“Yes,” I whispered. “There you are.”
Then, I found her lips with mine. She was honey and cinnamon. Magic and mystery. She groaned with pleasure and her eyes glittered.
“Yes,” she gasped. It was an answer and an invitation. I couldn’t hold back a second longer. I craved her light. I craved her magic. At that moment, I knew exactly what she was.
Mine.
Chapter Fourteen
Zendra
For two years, I’d felt untethered and alone. Hope was a shadow I chased but could never catch. I was lost. Then, with one touch, one kiss, Edward Kalenkov found me.
This wasn’t supposed to be possible. Shifters were dangerous. Wild. If I believed everything Olen said, they were less. But, as Edward’s warmth enveloped me, something beat through me like a new pulse. Two words that meant everything.
I belong.
I couldn’t get enough of him. His touch. His scent. The press of his lips against mine. I wanted to drown in him and shut the world away.
Desire pooled in my core. I was so wet. So wanton. So ready.
“Zendra,” he whispered, his voice ragged.
“Yes,” I said. I tore my shirt over my head and cast it aside. I ran my fingers over the rippled marble of his chest. He pulled me closer. He was so hot. My nipples peaked as I pressed them against his bare skin.
He rose until he was on his knees. I joined him. Edward’s eyes glinted in the dark. Deep blue sapphires. His wolf was there, just below the surface. I would run with him. He had drawn out my power, made me lay it bare for him. I wanted the same from him.
It was the essence of who he was. I wanted it just as much as the man in front of me. And yet, I wanted something even more carnal first.
Edward hooked his fingers through the belt loops of my jeans. He dragged them down over my hips, taking my panties right along with them.
I helped him. I rose on unsteady legs, standing naked before him. He stayed on his knees, sliding his hands up until they cupped my ass.
“You’re so beautiful,'' he said. “Do you have any idea?”
He made me blush as he raked his eyes over me. “My God,” he whispered. “You’re like an angel.”
I smiled. “Angels are nothing like Fae. Too judgmental,” I teased.
Edward furrowed his brow, trying to decide whether I was teasing or not. I was, and I wasn’t. He had enough to process knowing what I was, I supposed.
“Your light,” he said. “It’s stunning.”
“So are you,” I said.
Slowly, Edward rose. I took a step back as he slid out of his jeans. It was my turn to drink him in.
I decided there is no power more raw and beautiful than a full-blooded Alpha wolf standing right in front of you. Every chiseled curve of him seemed carved by the gods. His eyes glinted like twin jewels. He moved with the grace of a predator and I knew that his touch from now on would be a claiming of sorts.
And I wanted it. Since the day he walked into the Oracle, I’d known there was something far stronger than the medallion pulling me to him. I sensed we might have found each other no matter what. I wondered if it had been Edward himself who had drawn me to this realm in the first place.
“Come here,” he said. I stepped into his arms.
Edward’s kisses were gentle at first. He found my lips, then worked a trail down the column of my throat. He moved to my breasts and I let out a gasp of pleasure. He teased and coaxed, making me moan. He worshiped me with his lips and tongue and the gentle graze of his teeth as he went back to his knees before me.
I threaded my fingers through his soft, blond hair as he slid his hands between my thighs, parting them. I threw my head back, swaying to his rhythm as he kissed my folds. My eyes snapped open, and I cried out as Edward’s tongue plundered me. I opened for him as if my body were made for his. He tasted me and moaned with a pleasure all his own.
“There you are,” he whispered, letting out a wicked laugh that sent heat zinging straight through my center.
My knees went weak as he worked me. My pleasure built. In another minute, I wouldn’t even be able to stand.
With one swift movement, Edward lifted me, cupping my ass, he flipped me until he had me on my back, my legs spread wide.
I reached for him. Edward was so big, so hard. His cock pulsed and I wrapped my fingers around him.
“Please,” I whispered. His lips curled into a smile.
“Yes,” he said. “I want you to beg. I’ve wanted that since the second I laid eyes on you. Did you know that? I imagined what it would feel like to be inside you.”
“Yes,” I said, arching my back. Edward spread my knees flat. His eyes sparked with lust as he inspected me.
I nearly went out of my head when he hooked two fingers and slid them inside me. I bucked and moaned as he used his thumb on my sex. He enjoyed watching me. It was as if he knew how to play my body like an instrument, bringing me to the edge of ecstasy, but holding back just enough so that he had me dripping for him and begging for more.
“Edward,” I gasped. “Please.”
“Tell me what you know is true,” he whispered. “Say it.”
It couldn’t be. He was a shifter. I was Fae. And yet, as I burned for him, I knew he was right. He would make me admit it to him as well as myself.
“Say it,” he said, sliding his thumb over me in a circle. I bit my lip and struggled not to come.
“Tell me,” he said, leaning in so his lips brushed my ear. “Tell me what you are.”
I turned to him. He slid a third finger inside of me and flicked my nipple with his tongue.
He had me. He saw what I was. He would bring me to him over and over again.
“Yours,” I moaned.
“That’s it,” he said.
“I’m yours!” I cried out.
I reached for him, raking my nails down his back. Only then did Edward give me what I so desperately needed. He withdrew his fingers and stroked himself, poised above me.
Then, as I wr
apped my legs around his hips, Edward slid inside of me.
He filled me. Mind. Soul. Body. When Edward moved in me, I arched my back and cried out with pleasure. It was as if the roof fell away and the ceiling turned into stars. They swirled around us, spiraling, lifting me.
Edward threw his head back. His eyes turned wild. His fangs dropped. I wanted him to bite me.
The thought of it overwhelmed me. And I knew exactly where. That spot on the base of my neck began to pulse with need, not unlike what was happening between my legs. I wanted all of him. His pleasure. His pain. His strength. His weakness. And I wanted to pour mine back into him.
Edward redoubled his rhythm. I held on tight, squeezing my thighs around his hips. I wanted him deeper. I wanted it all.
“Take it,” he commanded. I didn’t have to ask what he meant. Edward went rigid, drawing up on his elbows, he dug his toes into the floor and pressed himself into me as deep as he could go.
I planted my feet on the ground and thrust upward. He let me set the rhythm. My desire built, going higher and higher. The stars spun all around us in glittering gold.
Then, I knew, it wasn’t the stars at all. It was coming from me. My light joined with Edward’s magic. We could become something greater together than we were separate. If I were brave enough.
Carnal lust drove me. There was something more, just beyond my reach. I didn’t understand it, but I knew it was mine. It was his. It was us.
“Let go,” he commanded.
I did.
Screaming with the crescendo of my desire, I bucked upward. My orgasm exploded out of me. Edward held still but for a powerful twitch inside of me. I understood how much strength it took for him to hold back and let me take what I needed.
It was so good. So raw. Wave after wave of pleasure rolled through me, curling my toes, making my hair stand on end. The space around us glowed brighter than the sun. Edward let out a feral growl that only served to enhance my climax.
Then, when I’d wrung out what I thought was the last of it, Edward gently flipped me. Though my legs trembled, he coaxed me to all fours. Edward stroked my sex. I shuddered as my body answered him yet again.
He would take more. He would work me over and over. Just when I thought I was spent, Edward’s need took over and my body responded. I was his. He’d made me say it. But, I already knew it. So did my body. I was built for his pleasure and my own.
His teeth grazed my shoulder as he positioned himself. I coated us both with my juices as he stroked my sex and opened me again.
Instinct took over and I dropped my head low, angling my ass toward him. He slid inside of me, filling me once more.
I braced myself. Edward was somehow rough and gentle all at once. His grunt echoed. I needed the man. I craved the beast.
He fit his hands over mine. He plunged inside me so deep. I felt my hair fall to the side. That throbbing point at the base of my neck ached to be bitten. Edward flicked his tongue over it. I sighed, waiting for his teeth. I felt them, but on my shoulder instead.
Then, I felt Edward’s release. “Yes!” I gasped as he poured himself into me. His whole body trembled with it and then he sank into me. The weight of him was too much and I melted into the floor. Edward slipped an arm around my waist and pulled me to him.
He kissed me. My hair, my lips, my face, my breasts.
I loved him. I wanted to tell him, but I was still too scared. I touched his face.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
Smiling, I felt my cheeks heat with a blush. “As opposed to what?”
“What was that?” he asked. He propped himself up on one elbow. Now that we’d both sated our passion for the moment, Edward took his time studying me. He ran a lazy hand over my shoulder then caressed my breasts. In a way, it felt like even more of a claiming than what we’d just shared. Even now, I felt my heat rising yet again.
“What was what?” I asked.
“It was your light,” he said, threading his fingers through mine, he brought my hand to his lips and kissed my palm.
“Yes,” I smiled. “I guess it was. I didn’t...er...that’s never happened before.”
I felt unsure. Embarrassed almost.
“Don’t,” he whispered. “Everything about you is perfect. It was incredible. But are you saying that doesn’t normally happen when you…?”
I went silent for a moment, unsure of what to say. Then, I grew bold. I’d shared more with this man than any other person I knew, Fae or otherwise.
“Edward,” I said. “That was a first. I mean...it was...my first.”
He let out a noise I can only describe as wild. Part growl, part something else.
“I wish I’d known,” he said. “I mean...I could have been gentle.”
I smiled. “Do you really think so?”
He snapped his teeth, sending a shiver of pleasure through me. “No,” he said. He bent down to kiss my breasts again. “I don’t think I could.”
“Good,” I said, feeling that blush in my cheeks deepen even more. “I mean, I liked it.”
“Liked?” he asked.
I gave him a playful slap on the shoulder.
He didn’t relent. “Liked?” he said, more forcefully. “I think you more than liked it. I know I did. Perhaps we need to find something you like even more.”
He drew me across his lap. He was teasing me. He drew a hand back threatening to spank me. It was harmless. But the thought of it stirred something dark inside of me. I grew instantly wet again and heat boiled through me.
“Yes!” It came out as an unbidden gasp.
Edward leaned forward, growling in my ear. Then, he delivered a gentle yet stinging blow right across my ass. It sent a jolt of desire through me like electricity. Oh, my Edward brought out something dark and delicious inside of me indeed.
He helped me up until he cradled me in his lap.
“You’re amazing,” he said. “Incredible. And I don’t think I ever want to leave this cabin. I want to do things to you. For days.”
I wanted it to. I crushed my lips to his, biting him just a little. He growled again and his eyes glinted with lust.
“But first,” he said. “It’s time for me to hunt. I need to let my wolf out a little.”
“Good,” I said, smoothing a hair out of his eyes. “Let me go with you. I can hunt too. I’ll show you.”
I stood up. Edward sat on the floor looking up at me with a bemused expression on his face. I stepped back and extended my arms with a flourish. Then, drawing on all of my powers, I made myself into a white wolf right in front of him.
His fangs dropped. He moved with lightning speed. He shifted. His own white wolf was twice my size. I could hear his voice inside my head.
Are you real?
Real enough. I answered back.
Edward stalked a circle around me, drinking in my scent. His ears pricked back. He chuffed then pawed the ground.
He went to the door and nudged it open with his nose. The dawn sky beckoned. The rising sun bled purple and orange across the horizon.
I followed him out. Something pricked Edward’s nose. His ears turned toward it. Then, he shot off with the force of a rocket. A thrill went through me as I gave chase and followed.
Chapter Fifteen
Edward
She was strong, powerful. Zendra’s wolf matched my stride. Her pulse beat alongside mine. She knew my mind. My instincts.
We were as connected as two pack members. I broke right as we came upon a huge stag. She broke left. With one graceful lunge, she drove him straight toward me so I could go in for the kill.
We shared it. Adrenaline coursed through me. Lust of every kind filled my senses. Predatory. Then, as she followed me back down toward the cabins, arousal drove me.
But first, I wanted to understand more of what she was. Zendra went to the edge of a swift stream. She lowered her head and began to drink. I came to her and nuzzled her side. Had I not known what she was, I would have taken her for a plain wolf
. Her scent gave her away as something other than a shifter. Still, her wolf was beautiful. Snow white fur, more downy than mine. The insides of her ears were pink. Her eyes deepest purple still. No wolf, shifter or other, had eyes like that.
She sat back on her haunches, letting me continue my inspection. What else could she do? I’d seen her take on the form of a rabbit. Could she become an eagle?
She shifted then. It was seamless. Just a shimmer of light and she was Zendra again. She sat with one leg under her, the other bent at the knee. Only her soft, blonde hair covered her nakedness.
I shuddered. My wolf was still hungry. A wave of bloodlust went through me. I took a step back, startled by it.
“Edward?” she said, sensing something wrong. It was nothing though. Only the aftereffects of the last few hours. I dug my claws into the ground and forced the shift.
Pain tore through my spine. It took my breath from me. I ended up on all fours, sweat pouring from my brow.
“Drink some water,” Zendra said.
Of course, that’s all it was. I went to the stream. The water was nearly ice cold. It felt like heaven going down. I instantly felt more like myself as I went to her.
“What were you thinking just then?” she asked. “Before you shifted.”
I smiled, winding my fingers through her silky hair. “I was wondering what else you can shift into. Can you fly?”
She gave me a knowing smile. My breath caught. She took a step back. I shielded my eyes from another blast of light. When I looked again, Zendra was gone. In her place, a bald eagle sat. The shock of it made me drop backward, sitting down hard.
Zendra spread her black wings. Then, she lifted gracefully off the ground. I craned my neck to watch her as she flew above the trees. She let out a screech as she arced low. She came down at blistering speed. For a moment, I thought she’d run straight into the ground. She pulled up at the last second. Instinct made me dodge to the side just before she would have hit me. She screeched again and it sounded like laughter as Zendra vaulted back to the sky.