Deserted (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 4)

By the time I was coming for the fourth—fifth?—time, exhaustion had its hold on me, and despite my attempt at dominance, the desert god was just too powerful for me to best.

At least not this moon.

I might still have my seat on top, but we both knew who held all the control.

His eyes darkened as the stars and planets swirled in their depths, and when he finally came again, the fire that burned between us soared higher. It felt like the flames that had been burning under my skin for months were finally freed. I had no physical fire like Mera, instead mine was an internal Nexus flame that never went out.

In the midst of my pleasure, my wings sprang free without any command from me. As I collapsed onto Reece’s chest, his arms closed around me, and I felt him stroke my feathers. Almost as if he needed to reassure himself that I was really here with him. Of course, that moment was over as quickly as it began when his hold loosened and he wrapped his hands around my biceps, lifting me up and off him. My wings retracted in the same beat.

It took forever for that slow slide of his cock to leave my body, and as he’d stated earlier, he was still hard. Veins pulsed up the sides, leading to the thick head, which was darker than the rest of him. The evidence of our pleasures glistened along the length, and I was tempted to lean over and run my tongue across him because, apparently, I was just fucked up like that when it came to Reece.

Fucked in all ways.

‘Keep looking at my cock like that, Angel, and you will be riding it again.’

That warning snapped me out of whatever trance I was under, and I shook my head to clear it while pushing myself up to stand on shaky legs. A quick glace around told me that my tunic and pants were nowhere in sight. Actually, even Reece’s clothes were missing.

“You tore them to pieces,” he said drily, noticing my search.

Closing my eyes, I was hit with memories of the frenzy I’d felt. I’d been out of control, filled with burning need. Need that was rising again, until I managed to push it away.

‘No one can know what we’re doing,’ I reminded him once I got myself under control, “which obviously means we can’t wander into the tent naked and covered in the fluids of… yeah.”

His smile was slow, gaze lingering on my mouth before it slowly rose and trapped me in its intensity. “I enjoy seeing you covered in my essence, Lale. Maybe I will keep you like that.”

Before I could shout at this frustrating god one more time, his sands tightened around us to form a heavy barrier, blocking my view of the deserts. No one could see us cocooned like this, and I’d forgotten how safe I felt enveloped in Reece’s power.

I’d forgotten a lot of things or, at least, convinced myself that I remembered incorrectly. Like the spice of his taste, how it drew me in and addicted me. Made me want him again, even though I was barely standing from the last sex session.

My clarity after the fact forced me to recognize just how much trouble I was in, but even with that knowledge, I would not break our deal—mostly because I didn’t want to and a small part because I would not give Reece the satisfaction.

I would get through this without growing attached. I would use this as a cathartic exercise before I released him forever.

Turning away from the intense male, I tried to find some space in the tight bubble of sand. As I stood, a slow, hot drip of cum made its way down my inner thigh, and I wondered—despite his words from before—why he hadn’t cleaned us up.

This was his essence, his lifeforce, and usually, when eternal and powerful beings had sex, we did not allow the aftermath to remain for long, lest it be contained and used against us. Or so I’d heard.

But Reece was making no move to clean either of us. ‘Do you want me to use my energy to destroy what remains of our power?’ I asked, breaking the silence as I waved my hand toward my slightly parted legs, in case he mistook my intentions.

His heavy gaze traced across and down the junction of my thighs. ‘No,’ he rasped, and then as he took a step toward me, the sands tightened even further before the mass started to move us. It was a quick jolt that sent me forward; Reece caught me before I could catch myself. I didn’t fight his hold since we had made this deal, and if nothing, I was a transcendent that kept my word.

‘No?’

The hands on my arms tightened. ‘No. It remains until I say differently.’

What in the…? ‘Are you out of your fuck—’

He all but lifted me into him, a deep rumbling sound in his chest. ‘I already told you: I want you to wear my essence. I will clean you when we reach the tent, but until then…”

I stared, unblinking, up at him, finally understanding why Mera called him Shadow the Second. The Desertlandians weren’t usually so animalistic and possessive in their claiming. What he was doing now—this marking of his territory—was a beastlike trait.

For a brief moment, I was tempted to challenge his hold, but the logical part of my brain reminded me that I had agreed to his rules. Rules which included allowing him to claim my body until we were done. It was counterproductive to be fighting him all of the way.

Come on, Melalekin. You want this.

And there was the other part of my mind, which wasn’t so logical. The less logical side was where I acknowledged that while this was a new experience for me, surprisingly… I did want it. The very possessiveness I’d always enviously watched between Mera and Shadow was front and center, claiming me in almost all ways. It appeared that I’d finally found a growling, demanding, sexually dominant asshole of a man.

I’d gotten my wish, even if it wasn’t quite in the way I’d anticipated. But still, I’d take it for now, and as long as Reece didn’t step over the line, maybe… just maybe, I’d even enjoy it.

He released my arms as the cloud of sand slowed its arc, descending for a few seconds before it came to a halt. I had no idea where we were until the barrier faded from around us, leaving only the platform below our feet. Familiar tent flaps came into view, and now it was clear how Reece planned on getting us cleaned up and unseen by our friends.

He stepped off the platform first, and I went to follow, only to have him reach out and wrap his hands around my waist, pulling me into him once more. ‘If you’re naked, you’re mine,’ he said near my ear, the hot brush of his breath over sensitive skin sending a shiver across my body.

He didn’t wait for my response, and I honestly had no idea what to say to that. As he walked us inside the empty tent, our bodies remained flush, and the friction of our movements against my naked flesh…

Two seconds ago I would have sworn that there was no way I could have sex again tonight, but right now, I could call myself a liar.

Reece entered his bedroom, which was the largest and most opulent in an already luxurious setup. When we reached his bathing area, the water started before he got to the glass tub, and by the time he stepped under with me still firmly in his arms, the warm water was at full stream.

My eyes closed as I tilted my head back; the dual pleasures of a shower and Reece’s skin had me existing in a perfect moment.

‘Some things never change,’ he murmured, and my eyes flew open again so I could see the expression that went with that statement.

His eyes were hooded, features shadowed as his skin appeared even darker than usual, his power riding him. ‘You’ve always loved the liquid lifeforce of a world,” he murmured. “Even when your wings were a deterrent, you figured out how to swim, and you’ve never looked back.’

My wings were designed for air, lacking the protective coat that winged creatures of the water had. For years I’d fought against them as they dragged me under the lakes and oceans of various worlds, until eventually they’d either adapted or grown strong enough to handle swimming.

‘You remember so much,’ I noted, not sure how I felt about that. My voice lowered. ‘Sometimes I wish you didn’t. There are parts of our past I’d really like to forget.’

Like my betrayal and his hatred toward me.

Reece crowded in, pushing us both under the steady stream until it coated my hair and face, which distorted my view of him when he said, ‘I wish that too, Lale, but what’s done is done. We cannot change the past, only the future.’

For Reece, that was almost a positive statement, and before I could say another word, he cupped his hands and gathered the liforina. He rubbed the water between his hands, and I noted that there was a slight bubbling as if he was activating the cleansing properties.

As he moved that liquid toward me, I quickly said, “I can do it!”

He snorted out a laugh. ‘Not a fucking chance, Angel. As I said before, when you’re naked, you and your gorgeous body belong to me.’

The dueling nature of my feelings over that statement was intense, but I couldn’t just let him control and dominate every part of me. ‘Listen, asshole,” I bit out. “I can try and work with your dominant nature because we made this deal and that includes me accepting who you are, but for the love of warriors everywhere, don’t forget who I am. You can only push me so far—’

His hands slipped between my thighs, and as the friction of the water and his fingers hit my pussy, I actually jerked into him. Before I could recover, he stroked me again, moving deeper. Panting, I tried to back away, only there was nowhere to go. I mean, I could have exited the tub, but… let’s not get too dramatic.

‘I’m going to clean you now,’ he said in that same low, soft, don’t-fuck-with-me voice. ‘I want you to stay completely still, or our friends, who are about to walk into the tent, will hear your screams.’

My eyes were spitting fire at him, but since I was the one who’d decided this had to remain a secret, I couldn’t break that rule in the first few hours of our arrangement. Going as still as I could, I focused on breathing in and out as Reece ran his finger along my slit, parting my folds so he could push one finger and then a second inside of me. He had big hands and knew what to do with them as he slid deeper, curling his finger at just the right angle that intense pleasure shocked me into almost crying out. I caught the sound a second before it left my mouth, and as his smirk grew, I wished I could punch him.

Of course, I was too busy trying not to scream while keeping my legs from collapsing under me. Which was not at all helped when Reece brought his other hand in to “clean” me as well, those fingers tracing across my clit.

Fuck. I murmured his name, feeling the loss of control storming toward me, and just when I was about to come, he increased the pressure. I let out a silent scream, my mouth opening as my head dropped backward, the energy reverberating within me almost sending me to my knees. Or it would have if Reece’s hold hadn’t kept me standing.

After what felt like centuries, the orgasm finally died down to a manageable level, and Reece slowed his strokes until he finally slipped his fingers from my body. As I trembled, hands still gripping the wall like it was my lifeline, he turned and stepped out of the bath, the burst of his power all I felt before he was dry, dressed, and gone from the room.

Leaving me a hot fucking mess—a satisfied hot mess—who had gotten myself in way over my head.