Deserted (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 4)

Mera made a move to intercept me, but I waved her off needing a second to cool down. Reece, once again sticking his nose where it wasn’t wanted, was ruining the slivers of happiness I’d been desperately trying to bring into my life. What reason could he have for interrupting my time with Darin? Was this the same shit he’d been doing with Len? Could his petty ass really expect me to live alone for the rest of my long life?

I should have stabbed him when I’d had the chance. The next time he tried to interfere, I’d call my blades and he would be bleeding from places that weren’t so easy to heal.

When I was halfway across the tented space, a swift wind rushed around me, grating over my exposed skin as the force swept me off my feet. It was such an unexpected attack that by the time I’d registered the hold, I was already shooting up hundreds of feet toward the peak of this giant tent.

Height and speed did not bother me or cause panic, and I already had my weapons in hand by the time I blasted out of a small slit in the apex of this structure. Fresh and surprisingly cool air hit me as I ended up in the now blue-tinged sky, half a mile above the Desertlandians who were reveling in the opening night festivities.

Breathing in deeply, I did not fight the hold. Ochre sands held me, and their fluidity was unaffected by my blades. I also didn’t want to shoot my power into it, as two opposing forces of energy could create an explosion, killing innocents below. It was best to find some patience and prepare for who or what had decided to fuck with me now.

By the time the sandstorm stopped its upward sweep, I was ready in my favorite fighting stance holding my favorite weapons—curved blades. This pair were light and agile, responding to my every command and giving me the ability to come in from multiple angles to wound and kill.

The sand that surrounded me wasn’t thick enough to obscure my vision as it continued to hold me prisoner, and when no one immediately appeared, I started testing the limits of this barrier. Taking a step forward, the sands followed, and even as I sprinted across the sky, the barrier of sand never left. Using my wings, I attempted to take flight, surprised when I was released to do so, but of course, the moment I tried to head for land, I was caught and flung back up.

I’d only known one being who could control the deserts like this, especially against my power and skill, so there was no surprise when an asshole of a desert god rose up through the tent. Unlike me, he was surrounded by his red Rohami sand, but it didn’t matter since all sands obeyed his command.

‘How dare you!’ I snarled, racing as fast as I could, my wings sliding away because I didn’t need them. ‘You have no right to remove my free will. Just because you’re stronger here in your homeland, don’t think I won’t draw on my power and test that theory.’

I’d originally decided there were too many innocents below to use my power, but if Reece didn’t release me soon, my priorities might change.

‘We need to talk,’ he said shortly, remaining in a cloud of his sand, ‘before you make another mistake you’ll regret.’

If any statement was going to make me see red, it was that one. My speed increased, and when I was close enough for an attack, I returned my blades to the tent and threw myself forward. Hand to hand meant this would last longer.

Reece was going to feel the full brunt of my centuries-old fury toward him.

“You have taken too much from me already,” I raged, slamming a fist into his side and cracking ribs with the force. Reece’s jaw twitched, but he didn’t move. He also didn’t fight back. “I’ve had enough.”

Every hit and curse and rage I sent his way he absorbed and healed until I was the very definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. My attacks might be hurting him, but he was so powerful that the pain only lasted a few moments before it healed. If he didn’t fight back, I couldn’t use more lethal means, which meant… We were having this conversation.

Slowing my assault, I breathed heavily as I stared at him, deflated. ‘What do you want from me?’

He was a statue, the deep, midnight-blue light of the dark-moon just enough to showcase his godlike features. Staring at him as I was now, it was laughable to think that any other Desertlandian could ever come close to having the raw magnetism of Reece.

‘Stay away from Darin.’

Stepping into him, I shook my head. ‘You don’t get to dictate my social life.’

His smile was a little feral, matching the light in his eyes. ‘Actually, Lale, that’s exactly what I dictate. Until such a time as I say so, you do not touch, kiss, or fuck any Desertlandian.’

As my body jolted, I wasn’t fast enough to hide the shock on my face. “I will fuck whomever I want to,’ I managed to say, feeling the fire of our energies mingling in our close proximity. ‘You’re just going to have to accept that my happiness is no longer yours to control.”

His arms shot around me so fast that they were a blur. As they enclosed me tightly, I was barely able to breathe. ‘Don’t push me, Angel,’ he murmured, and it didn’t escape my notice that he used Mera’s nickname for me when he was trying to emotionally distance us. Ironic considering how close we were physically.

Jerking my head away, I was just about to throw caution to the wind and rip through this bastard with my energy, when our eyes met. The galaxies buried deep in his irises started to swirl and build, and I felt my skin heat as I registered the roil of energy within me. ‘What are you doing?’ I bit out. ‘Reece, you can’t stir my power like this.’

He leaned in closer, breath and scent brushing across my face. ‘You belong to me, Melalekin of the Honor Meadows. You always have. You will not go near Darin again, or the next time I won’t just kick his ass… I’ll kill him.’

I was frozen in the simmering power of his command, recognizing the true threat in those words. ‘Was that why you took so long to get up here?’

Reece tilted his head, a cocky expression replacing his previously unreadable one. ‘Darin thought he was a match for me. He thought he was a match for you. I had to remind him that there’s only one who controls all the desert elements here, and that one is me.’

‘You—” I spluttered. “You’re a cocky fuck. Can’t you just be content with controlling the elements? Why do you have to control me as well?”

He leaned in. “You gave me your energy when we were new to these worlds, and it’s time I took advantage of that.”

Before he could say another word, I lifted my knee and shot it straight into his balls because, god or not, a good whack there hurt all males. Only this wasn’t Reece’s first trip around the block with me, and he shifted his lower body at the last second, leaving me to hit his thigh. Even worse, I ended up in a slightly more vulnerable position, with my leg locked between his. I could get free, but it would take more time.

‘Work with me here,’ he said, his powerful thighs holding me in stasis. ‘Is it so hard to not touch another male while we’re on this mission?’

I sucked in a deep breath. ‘Not that it’s any of your business, but actually, yes, it is going to be hard because I have newly awoken needs.’

Reece’s hold grew tighter. ‘Needs…’ he breathed, focus disappearing for a beat before he finally nodded. ‘I think I have a solution to that.’

Before I could figure out what that solution was, he released my leg as his arm snaked around my back, lifting me higher. I barely got a ”What the actual fu—’ out before he slammed his lips to mine.

He got me for a beat, the feel of his heat and the scent of his body, but before I could register how damn good he tasted, I jerked my knee up again, managing to connect with the part of him I’d been aiming for before: his balls and the now obvious, hard length of his cock.

Hard? Reece was hard…

“Lale, what the fuck?” he groaned, crumpling a touch but not releasing me.

“What the fuck? is right,” I yelled back. Apparently this was the sentence of the night for both of us. “Why are you kissing me?”

My body was on fire, near trembling at the sensation of that kiss. I remembered the first time our mouths met and how it had near destroyed me. That day I’d been young and naïve, desperate to have whatever part of Reece I could. That woman no longer existed, and now… now he had to earn this moment.

He recovered quickly, and this time when he lifted his head, there was fire burning within those galaxies. “I will fill your needs,” he said in a low, hypnotic rumble of words. “While you’re in the deserts, there will be no other that touches you. Only me.”

I’d never thought that an arrogant, possessive statement like that could break down my walls, but when my body tingled, flutters of arousal settling between my thighs, I gave real consideration to his proposal. Logic had always been a strong asset of mine, and this time was no exception. “Why should I agree to this? You hate me, and I don’t want to be used.”

Reece laughed, shaking his head. “We are too old for hate now, Lale. Let’s look at this as a way to rebuild our relationship. A way to repair old bonds and… move forward.”

Exactly what Mera had said, and dammit, it was so tempting.

Sex might be messy, but in the end, I would take any means of destroying the lingering anger between us and the last tendrils of Reece’s feeling of betrayal. Our attraction was undeniable, energies all but clashing as fire raced through my veins. The ache in my body was stronger than ever, and when my hips shifted involuntarily, I felt the damp heat between my thighs. My body clearly wanted everything this dominant male could offer.

Before I could second-guess myself, I took a leaf out of Mera’s guide to life and threw caution to the wind. Pushing up and forward, I wrapped my arms around his neck and jerked him closer, my mouth on his. This time when he opened his lips, our tongues collided.

Urgency built in seconds, his hands slipping down my body to strip away my tunic, his energy helping with that. My nails scratched him as I tore through his tunic, ripping it at the seams, needing to feel all of him. Our pants somehow disappeared, and when his hard cock fell into my hand, already pulsing, I tore my lips from his and moaned.

It hadn’t been like this our first time when Reece had taken it slow, both of us learning our way through sex. This was different, urgent and fierce… and exactly what I needed. Reece lifted me so I could wrap my legs around his waist, bringing our naked bodies firmly together. His hands landed on my ass as our lips met again, and with one sudden thrust, he was pushing into my wet heat. My tight muscles held him for a moment before the burn of pleasure and pain had me jerking against him, needing to feel his full length.

Some of the sands holding us up moved behind me so that I was resting against a wall of red and ochre while Reece slammed into me. “Yes, fuck, don’t stop,” I moaned, needing this hard, punishing sex. Fury and frustration and tension built deep in my body, swirling and expanding as I clawed at his back. When I couldn’t take it any longer, the pressure exploded, and I screamed my pleasure, feeling grateful that we were well above the land, hidden by the sands.

Reece didn’t stop there, though, changing his rhythm so he could move slower but deeper, sending spikes of new sensations into my center.

‘Lale,’ he groaned, movements more jagged before he dropped his head and growled against my skin. “No one touches you,’ he bit out, ‘no one sees you naked. You belong to me until I say different.’

The second round of pleasure that had been building within me exploded, and I cried out, voice hoarse as my vision darkened for a beat. Reece lifted me higher as he thrust, and I was so turned on that every time he moved my pussy made a wet sound. A sound which, until this moment, I had not realized would be so damn sexy.

“Do you agree?”

I had no idea what he was talking about, my well-fucked brain slower than normal. “Agree with what?”

He didn’t waste a minute. “While you’re in the Desert Lands, you belong to me, Lale.”

The meaning behind the words finally registered, and with that, I barely managed to hold onto myself.

Belong to him? Wait… what the hell was happening here?