Reborn (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 3)

I never expected to sleep. Firstly, my heart was pounding like a freaking jackhammer in my chest, thanks to finally being with Shadow. And secondly, our energies were buzzing together with the force of a power plant.

The magic in our souls had always been copacetic, taking every chance to mingle. It explained why our connection had been solid from almost the first meeting. Maybe we hadn’t recognized it then, but looking back, it had clearly been there.

So tonight, teamed with my emotions, our powers, and the chaos in my head, I figured there was no way in hell I’d relax enough to sleep. At one point, during the endless loop in my head, I found myself desperate to pee. I tried to wiggle my way out of his hold, knowing there was a bathroom nearby. The moment I moved, the beast dug his claws in tighter, to the point of drawing tiny pricks of blood across my bare skin.

Apparently, I was going nowhere.

Shadow shifted our positions slightly, clawing at the already torn-up yoga pants and white shirt I’d been wearing. My clothes were annoying him, and he only settled when one of his large paws gripped my right breast.

Just like that, the beast was holding my fucking tits like they belonged to him.

“Don’t try any funny shit while you’re rocking Egyptian god,” I warned Shadow, my voice rumbly in the semi-dark room. “I swear, I will make you regret it if you do. I don’t swing that way, okay? I’m not into furry.”

The beast howled, a low, soulful sound, seemingly disappointed by my response. The hold on my breast didn’t ease, though, and if anything, Shadow’s beast just continued lightly clawing at my clothing until eventually I was all but naked, still tightly held against his chest.

Thankfully, he was satisfied then, never touching me anywhere that would cross my line. I was okay with his tit obsession, and it was nice to relax against him with one of his hands across my thigh and the other on my chest, pulling me into his fiery heat. A hard erection rested against my ass, but again, as long as it stayed on the outside of my ass, I could deal because this was a huge first for us.

We’d never cuddled. Not after sex or when we’d almost died. Never.

This was a gift and despite my best efforts, a few tears escaped, dripping down my cheek to land on his furred arm. Shadow Anubis didn’t seem to notice, so I allowed myself this moment to express the deep-seated pain that had been cutting me to pieces for weeks. I hadn’t known the reason then, but I did now, and in some ways, it hurt worse than ever.

Sometime later when I opened my eyes, I realized I had fallen asleep, so warm and safe in the arms of my beast. Looking down at the hands covering my breasts, I let out a short shriek because the fur and claws were gone.

Shadow growled from behind me; I’d startled him from sleep. His hold on me tightened, but I managed to roll over to face him. His eyes were lava red as I met his gaze, and there was confusion clouding his expression. “Shadow,” I said softly.

He startled, jerking me harder against him. “Mine.”

The same word I’d heard in Torma, even when I hadn’t known where it had come from. Hearing it again now, the first word he’d spoken to me, had my lips trembling.

“Shadow, do you remember me?”

I tried to touch his face, but he held me immobile, his grip unyielding, no matter how much I attempted to break free. He growled and said nothing more, but I felt his free hand running along my skin as he stripped away the final tangles of my underwear. At this point, my body was fully onboard with this because Shadow was back in his humanoid form, and I was one horny, horny shifter, who’d been separated from the only male to ever touch my body.

I arched against him, my brain near going offline at the feel of being with Shadow again. If only there wasn’t a small part of me frustrated because he still didn’t know me. Not really. All of this was instinct, and while I loved that part, I needed the rest. I was a greedy bitch when it came to my beast.

“Shadow. You have to try to remember me. I miss you—”

I was cut off as his hand slipped between my thighs and found the moisture pooling there. Arching into him again, I groaned as he stoked me, his power following each touch, zapping across the sensitive skin. This was effective in shutting down the last part of me that wanted to fight until he remembered.

Maybe I could just have a little sex first. That wasn’t too much to ask, right?

“Mine,” he murmured, pressing his lips to my throat, his tongue stroking my skin before he dragged it along to my shoulders, kissing and biting me, hard enough that I was near arching half off the ground. Motherfucker.

“Darkor!”

I never used that name except when I wanted to make a point. What that “point” was changed with the circumstances, but this time, I needed to jolt him from his current task of very successfully seducing me into forgetting the shit that had happened between us.

His hand slowed but didn’t leave my pussy, fingers still sliding their way through my folds and into my aching center. I was drenched, my pleasure dripping down his hand, and I really couldn’t focus on that right now.

“Shadow, you’re a very powerful god,” I gasped out, barely managing to think but knowing it had to be said. “You know something has been missing. You know something was taken from you, which is why you destroyed my library. And don’t think we won’t talk about that later, but for now, I need you to remember what happened. Your mother did this to us. She stole our memories and our lives. She lost control, and from what I know, she will continue to lose control. Until the point she destroys everything… I can’t fix this without you.”

His fingers finally stilled, leaving me literally on the edge of an orgasm. I managed to keep from screaming and panting by biting my tongue until I drew blood. Shadow watched me closely, his penetrating gaze seeing everything, and when he lowered his head and swiped his tongue across my bloody lips, I finally broke.

Kissing was our thing. The most special moment that existed between us. For those born in the Shadow Realm, they reserved this intimate act only for their true mate. Shadow had given that gift to me, and ever since, when his lips touched mine, my gut filled with butterflies.

The orgasm I’d been holding at bay by the damn skin of my clitoris unfurled inside of me as I cried out against him. It was a long, slow arc of pleasure, spilling from deep in my center until I felt it through every inch of my body.

With that release, my power burst to life. Usually, that sort of release would result in a torrent of flames around me, but this time, it slammed into Shadow. The force was so great that it tore us apart, and within the same heartbeat, he was on his feet. All seven feet of naked Shadow, his breaths coming in and out so harshly that his chest heaved.

I dragged myself up as well, and as Shadow shook his head a few times, I tried to get my wobbly legs to support my weight. That orgasm had been different to any other I’d ever experienced. Stronger, but not in the normal way. It was more cleansing, almost as if…

The last of Dannie’s spell had been expunged from my soul.

“Sunshine?”

My knees hit the ground, a sob shaking my chest as I ended up on all fours, unable to get my shit together. Sunshine.

How could I have ever forgotten Sunshine?

How could I have forgotten Shadow?

“Shadowshine,” I choked out, and before I could lift my head, tears tracing my skin again, Shadow was there, drawing me up and into his arms.

He held me so tight, my ribs groaning against the force, and I only wished it was tighter.

“Sunshine.” He groaned, and then he threw his head back and roared into the heavens. It was a long, rumbling lament of pain. My ears ached when he was done, and I could have sworn that I felt moisture that wasn’t my own against my skin, but when I looked up into his face, there was no sign of anything except pure, unadulterated fury.

Shadow’s face was a mask of death and destruction. The mask of a being who was about to destroy the world.

And I just might let him.