Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 65042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
I sighed and held her tighter. My heart thudded loud in my ears. What would she say when I told her? Well, there was only one way to find out.
“In order for me to be completely real—to come out into the light and leave the cottage with you—we would have to form a Heartmate bond,” I said at last.
She sat up a little, eyes wide.
“A Heartmate bond? I’ve heard other women in town talk about that—about having ‘Heartmates.’ What does it mean exactly?”
“It means you’re mine,” I said, voice low. “And I’m yours. Forever.”
She swallowed, but her eyes never left mine..
“But I already feel that way about you. So…what does the bond do?”
“It’s a sacred tie,” I said softly. “A blessing from the Goddess and the Fates. Your Heartmate is the one you’re destined to be with—the one who was made for you. You called me into being with your need, Danni. And years later, your need brought me back to you. And I…I’ve loved you from the first moment I saw you.”
Her breath caught in her throat and her small hand trembled against my chest.
“Oh, Shadow…” Her voice cracked. “It’s been so long since anyone…since I…”
“So long since you felt loved?” I finished for her, raising an eyebrow.
She nodded and swiped at her eyes.
“Since I felt seen. Wanted.”
I cupped her cheek and kissed her tears away, tasting their salty flavor on my tongue.
“Don’t cry, sweetheart—I’ll never stop wanting you. Never stop loving you.”
She looked up at me again.
“Please, tell me—how can I make you real all the time? I want that. I want you.”
I hesitated, my heart thudding.
“I’ll tell you,” I said at last, stroking her hair back. “If you really want to know.”
But inside, I was bracing myself.
Because once I told her what was required… once she knew what it would cost… she might not choose me after all.
And if she didn’t…
If she couldn’t…
She would never see me in the light again.
30
DANNI
I waited, holding my breath, watching the flickering lamplight paint golden shadows across Shadow’s face. He looked so real like this—his broad chest rising and falling, the tips of his horns catching the light, those glowing eyes fixed on mine with such intensity. Real enough to touch…real enough to love.
But not real enough to stay—not yet.
He was hesitating, his jaw working like he didn’t quite want to say the words.
I nudged him gently.
“Come on,” I said, trying to keep my tone light even as my pulse quickened. “You said you’d tell me. I want to know how to make you real—all the time. How do we form the Heartmate bond?”
Shadow took a breath, deep and deliberate.
“It’s not a simple thing, Danni,” he murmured. “Not something I would ask lightly.”
I reached up to stroke his face, letting my fingers glide over his sharp cheekbone and jawline, covered in soft, velvet-like stubble. “I’m not asking lightly either—I really want this,” I whispered. “Please. Tell me.”
His eyes searched mine, glowing golden and solemn.
“To form a Heartmate bond,” he said at last, his voice a low, gravelly rumble that vibrated through my whole body, “I’d have to knot you.”
I blinked, the sharp, animalistic word hanging in the air between us.
“What? What does that mean?”
His voice dropped to a low, possessive growl that was pure sin.
“I would have to make love to you…to bury my cock so deep inside you that you forget where you end and I begin… and then I would have to fill you with my knot.”
My mouth went dry as dust. My eyes drifted down, unbidden, to the thick, potent shadow between his powerful thighs.
I remembered the sheer, terrifying size of him—the feel of that thick, heavily veined, ridged shaft pressing against me—the promise of being stretched to my absolute limit. And then…the knot. Heavy and hot and bigger than my fist. Round and impossibly full—a biological lock meant to seal us together.
“But…” I swallowed, my throat tight. “That would never fit inside me. It’s… it’s impossible.”
Shadow nodded slowly, his gaze never leaving mine, burning with an intensity that was both terrifying and thrilling.
“Yes it would, my little witch. Did you forget the magical liquid my tail makes? The liquid that will make your tight, perfect pussy open for me like a flower, ready to take every inch of my cock and every bit of my knot?”
As if on cue, his long, sinuous tail curled around from behind us, a living shadow, and brushed lightly against my arm. I gasped at the sudden, shocking warmth, the impossibly silky smoothness of it. It brushed against me gently, a caress that was both possessive and questioning, and then uncoiled, rubbing against my skin like a curious, affectionate pet.
“Your tail?” I breathed, my mind reeling. “That’s what makes it?”
I lifted a trembling hand and stroked it tentatively. The texture was incredible—like warm, living velvet coated in the finest silk. The tapered tip twitched happily under my fingers, pressing into my touch.