by Faye Avalon
She journeyed back from the joyous abyss, trying to match her slowly steadying breaths with Tynan’s.
“I love when you come inside me,” she murmured into his shoulder. “It makes everything even more…perfect.”
With effort, he drew out of her and hoisted himself off and onto his back. Wrapping an arm around Naomi, he pulled her close to his side. “Yeah,” he managed on a long, contented sigh. “Perfect.”
Naomi snuggled in against his heated flesh and ran her hand indolently over his chest. Seconds later, he reached out and pulled the discarded blanket back over them. They lay together, sated and content, for what seemed like hours. Until Naomi decided to tell him what she’d been mulling over for days now, and what they had been discussing on and off almost since they had gotten together a month ago.
Angling her head, she looked up at him. His eyes were closed, his face even more rugged and handsome in repose. “Tynan?”
“Hmm?”
“I think I’d like to explore the possibility of surrogacy at some point.”
That brought his eyes open. “That’s not something I’m—”
“I know, but I’ve been thinking on it. It really ought to go on our list of options.”
She hoisted herself up so she could look at him. She knew he hated the idea and had dismissed it out of hand when she’d first suggested it. But it was a way of holding Tynan’s baby in her arms, a way for her to be a mother to his children. Tynan had told her that if she couldn’t carry his children, then no other female would. Despite his constant reassurances that he was happy with a future with just the two of them, Naomi had insisted that they first explore all their options regarding the possibility of having a family of their own.
Tynan frowned. “Well, I’ve been thinking on it too, and it’s a crazy idea.”
“I just want it on the list. So that we can talk about it some more, whenever.”
His hand stroked along her back. “Okay. Whenever. But if nothing pans out, I’m okay with it. Tell me you understand that, Naomi. Promise me you know that you’re enough for me. That you’re all I want, all I need.”
“I do.”
And she meant it. How could she not when Tynan had spent every moment of the past month convincing her of it. While at first reluctant, Naomi had gently persuaded him to talk about their options regarding children. She knew he didn’t want her thinking it was a deal-breaker for him, but she needed to at least consider their options.
She snuggled against him again, this time ruminating on something they hadn’t discussed. Tynan had never approached the subject of her refusal to shift. Naomi knew that he gave her the time and space to make her own decisions in that regard, and she also knew it lay like a final barrier between them. She didn’t want that. She didn’t want anything between them.
“Tynan?”
“Hmm?”
“I’ve been thinking that maybe it’s time I dealt with my problem.”
Eyes closed, he laughed softly, tightening his arm around her. “Believe me, sweetheart,” he drawled lazily. “You don’t have a single problem from where I’m standing, or lying.”
“I do, and we both know it.”
Momentarily, his fingers stilled from where they’d been stroking along her skin, but he said nothing. Although he tried to make out that her failure to shift wasn’t a problem, Naomi knew it was. Denying that integral part of herself all these years had cost her. It was like ignoring the need to breathe deeply, and just as sooner or later shallow breathing caused health problems in a human, denying her panther nature would sooner or later cost Naomi in ways she couldn’t comprehend. No way in hell would she chance that it would affect her relationship with Tynan. Mated shifters ran together. It was that simple.
“I think it’s time.”
Tynan turned to face her, but still he said nothing.
“It sits between us a bit, my refusal to shift,” Naomi said, meeting his steady gaze. “I don’t want that.”
When he opened his mouth, no doubt to refute what she’d said, Naomi placed a finger over his lips. “It’s what I want. To shift. To run. With you.”
She started to get up, but Tynan held her arm. “There’s no need to force it. If you’re not ready—”
“I am. I want to do it now.”
He eyed her for a few more moments as if to reassure himself that she spoke the truth. Then he stood and held out his hand to her.
Naked, they walked a short distance to the edge of a clearing where the moor spread out like a long-lost friend. Naomi felt the longing rush through her and knew that she’d been right to push herself to do this. The time was right. Perfect.
Still with her hand in Tynan’s, she swallowed. “I’m not entirely sure where to start.”
“Just summon the energy,” Tynan advised. “Let it flow through you.”
She closed her eyes, tightened her fingers around his. Something trembled through her, but she wasn’t sure if it was the energy she desired or if it was just plain fear. What if she couldn’t do it? What if, after all this time, she had lost the ability?
“Focus,” Tynan murmured reassuringly. “Focus on the energy moving from your core, through your chest. Reach it out into your limbs. Feel it, sweetheart. Let it happen.”
Doing what he instructed, Naomi could feel the spark inside her growing, expanding. The surge of it, the strength of it. After one final squeeze, she let go of Tynan’s hand.
Power rushed through her. A fire that was all-consuming, almost overwhelming. Anxious, she tempered it, pulled it back. But she was no coward. Not anymore. No barriers, she reminded herself. She wanted everything with her man, her mate. Her lover. Her love.
Releasing her hold on the potent energy shuddering inside her, she let it rip. Seconds later, she dropped to all fours and felt her fangs descend. She opened her eyes and looked down. And saw herself in full feline form. Shock trembled along her flank, an icy blast that disappeared so quickly she wondered if she’d imagined it. Her paws hugged the ground, her glossy fur barely registering the chill of the night air.
Gingerly, she tested her claws, stroking them along the ground and reveling in the long-forgotten feel of the moor beneath.
Glancing over, she saw Tynan waiting next to her. In panther form, he was much larger than she remembered him, much more powerful and magnificent. His body was thick and muscular, his tail long and thick. Black fur shimmered in the hazy glow of the moon, while his eyes gleamed gold as they fixed on her. He inclined his head as if to check she was okay. She padded across to him and nuzzled her head to his, rubbing along his jaw and brushing against his whiskers. In answer, he raised a paw and stroked the soft pads along her shoulder, his claws gently caressing her own fur.
They began slowly, and she knew he let her set the pace. It felt strange, and at the same time, exhilarating. The ground yielded, the soft earth kicking up, the smell of dust in her nostrils and the air alive with scents and smells unfamiliar to her in human form. Sounds reached her feline ears. That of small animals scurrying out of her path, night insects, the gentle rustle of bushes. The echo of her paws pounding across the earth.
The sound of Tynan beside her. Always beside her. Watching out for her. Keeping her safe.
She glanced across to her lover, met his golden eyes. In them, she saw everything she had ever dreamed of seeing, of having. His love.
She continued to run, reacquainting herself with the moor again. With the sights, the scents, the sounds. All the while, a feeling of joy reverberated around her, within her. And the truth of it resonated with her whole being.
Now, she was whole.
Now, she was loved.
Now, she was home.
About the Author
Faye Avalon enjoys writing sexy stories about strong men and the savvy women who rock their world. She has taken a roundabout journey toward her wr
iting career, working as cabin crew, detouring into property development, public relations and education, before finally finding her passion: writing spicy romantic fiction.
Faye lives with her super-supportive husband and their beloved Golden Retriever. They regularly expand their family by boarding puppies destined to become guide dogs. Between writing, reading, running around after manic puppies and grabbing some quality time with her husband, Faye enjoys relaxing with a calming yoga session or spending a night at the movies.
Find Faye at her website, www.fayeavalon.com, or on Twitter, @faye_avalon
Look for these titles by Faye Avalon
Now Available:
Indecent Exposure
Beasts of Bodmin Moor
First Beast
Beast Denied
Coming Soon:
Beast Untamed
Don’t miss these other titles by Faye Avalon
To protect his pack, he must guard his heart.
Beasts of Bodmin Moor, Book 1
Lost on Bodmin Moor, twelve-year-old Talia Summers was cold, hurt and terrified, before being saved by a black panther that materialized out of the night.
Years later, Talia returns to the moor in search of that magnificent beast, but instead finds a man leading a clan of shape shifters. Yet the connection she remembers is strangely absent. She despairs of ever finding it again—until a stranger steps into her shower.
Back to claim his rightful place, Caleb McLeod’s fierce attraction to his half-brother’s female is tempered by the fact she’s a human. Worse, a journalist. He’ll not have his people’s survival threatened by a human female who continually pushes the boundaries of pack rules.
His solution? Mate with her. Control her. And if his brother doesn’t like it, they’ll simply have to share. For now.
But suspicion and lies threaten the growing bond between Talia and Caleb, and the past has a way of catching up. A way of destroying the bridge built between two worlds…between two hearts.
Warning: A red-hot panther shifter with an over-the-top possessive streak, a human reporter trying desperately to retain her independence, and enough sexual heat to set fire to the moors of Cornwall.
She’s gotten herself into hot water, and the heat just keeps on rising.
Gina McKenzie didn’t make the same mistakes her mother made with men. She just made different ones. Like letting a good one get away—and trusting a bad one to keep her kinky tastes private.
With an ex-lover holding a naked bondage video over her head, she’s forced to reunite with an old college crush to get the dirty on him. Back then, she resorted to humiliating Mitchell Coleman to keep her heart safe. Now she has no choice but to compromise him in the worst possible way.
When Gina walks back into Mitchell’s life and starts seducing him, desire wars with suspicion. Last time this happened, she tossed him to the wolves. If she’s going to serve herself up on a plate, he intends to make her see exactly what she missed by rejecting him all those years ago.
But Mitch soon realizes that Gina has an agenda other than heating up the sheets—and this time he’s not going to let her play him for a fool.
Warning: A bad girl trying to be good, a good guy determined to be bad. Naughty goings-on with a stability ball, lunchtime quickies, and a Parisian hotel room where nobody plans on sleeping.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B
Cincinnati OH 45249
Beast Denied
Copyright © 2016 by Faye Avalon
ISBN: 978-1-61923-303-4
Edited by Linda Ingmanson
Cover by Kelly Martin
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: March 2016
www.samhainpublishing.com