Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 1)

Once the room was near empty, I noticed Reece was still there, posed in what I was dubbing his look. Arms crossed, face expressionless, eyes stripping me to the core.

He was most definitely Shadow the second.

“It’s fine, Reece,” Shadow the first rumbled. “I just need to put a wolf shifter in her place.”

Shadow one and two exchanged a brief look, and it was clear that enough years of friendship existed between them for wordless communication.

Reece shot me a commiserating stare but said nothing else as he left the room.

Alone with Shadow, everything felt a touch scarier; the beast looked like he was fighting an internal battle. “Why that dress?” he finally bit out. “Red is a trigger for me. In many ways.”

Great. I glanced at the long, red curls that were trailing across my shoulders. “That wasn’t in the rule book,” I told him. “You should print a copy for the next person you kidnap.”

“You obey rules?” he asked, some of the fury and rage in his voice fading.

I shrugged. “Only if I agree with them. It’s not like I’m trying to be completely obstinate for no reason, but I have a mind of my own, and I choose to use it.”

He was in front of me in a heartbeat, too fast for me to even anticipate the death that was coming for me. Despite my bravado, I trembled as he leaned down to trace his hands over my body without actually touching me. I couldn’t breathe, or think, or even speak as his heat caressed me, sliding across my bare skin and down under my dress. The tips of my nipples were so hard now that just the sensation of the silk against them had me biting back a groan.

There had to be something fundamentally wrong with me, that even while I was trembling with fear, anticipating my last breath, part of me was turned on by the brute of a beast. The taste of his power on my tongue was intoxicating, my legs clenching as need filled me.

My wolf whimpered in my chest, and it was a ghostly echo of how she’d reacted to Torin. Shadow was enticing to both of us.

“Something on your mind, Sunshine?” he asked, another wave of heat rolling through me.

“Fuck. You,” I managed to choke out, thankfully not sounding as turned on as I was.

His chuckle was dark and unamused. “You don’t do that, apparently, and maybe, just maybe, I’ve figured out exactly how to get you to fall into line.”

Yeah, no. Never happening. I mean, I liked dick—in theory—as much as the next heterosexual woman, but I would not be that chick. Not today.

It took every ounce of willpower I possessed to step away. “You’ll never tame me that way,” I told him, proud of myself for not letting a single waver enter my words. “I will never break.”

Bend, yes. But breaking was a whole different story.

I took off then, sprinting as fast as I could in a dress with heels. For once, Inky wasn’t right on my tail, and I was grateful that I might have a night alone. I needed a moment away from them. From the intensity.

When I reached my room, I slammed the door behind me, leaning back and breathing deeply. A few minutes later, I knew Shadow wasn’t coming after me, and that had to mean one thing: his suggestion had been a test. Another one.

I couldn’t tell if I’d failed or not, and even though his power cascading over my naked skin had me wanting to climb that beast and fuck him until I screamed, I was proud of myself for saying no.

The balance of power was already too skewed between us, and if he ever took me completely, he’d own me in ways that I couldn’t allow.

Instead, I would do what any strong, proactive, horny-as-fuck woman should: get myself off tonight and tomorrow find someone else to lose my virginity to. Taking the power from Shadow completely.

He’d made a big mistake using his power against me that way. It had woken a dark and dangerous need I’d been suppressing for too long.

Stumbling into the shower, I tore the dress off, using my shifter strength when I couldn’t reach the zipper. It was a shame to ruin something so beautiful, but it had been ruined by the events of tonight anyway, and I needed it off.

When I got under the water, I turned it all the way to freezing, letting my head hang against the wall. The tremble in my limbs hadn’t subsided; the fire in my gut burned hotter than ever, and I wondered if maybe it was close to the full moon on Earth. My blood had never boiled like this before.

Spinning to place my back against the wall, I slowly slid to sit on the floor of the small shower stall. The icy water was like fire against my overly sensitive skin, and my body ached, a heavy thrum beating steadily between my thighs. Closing my eyes, I clenched my teeth.

My right hand slid across my breasts, playing with my nipples; gently at first, before I got a little rougher. The pain was a welcome relief as a moan escaped. At the same time, my other hand skated between my thighs, sliding into the liquid pooling there.

At the first stroke of my fingers across my clit, I moaned again, head pushing back against the wall, while I worked over the tight nub at my center. Whether it was the full moon or Shadow Beast, I was completely lost to the pleasure, and if he’d have been the one touching me, I might have promised him anything.

“Fucking hell,” I sobbed, my fingers moving faster as I slid them inside my pussy.

Shadow’s face crossed my mind; the way he’d kept his dominating stare locked on me all night, through each of his friend’s introductions. So darkly enticing, all the while stripping me bare in the almost-there dress…

I cried out as the orgasm slammed into me, with so much force that as I tried to suck in enough air to not die, I almost choked on the water streaming down my face.

The pleasure lasted so much longer than usual, and when I was done, I felt fucked in more ways than one. Mostly, it was the knowledge that I couldn’t let that happen again.

No longer would my orgasms have anything to do with Shadow.