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I clenched my teeth so hard my molars ground together.

“If you don’t stop offering yourselves, I won’t stop him from killing you.”

I’d already been generous with them, but they didn’t get the clue.

“We would be blessed to be killed by Lord Zypher,” the buxom blonde purred.

A tendril crept up my leg, and I gasped, whipping my head from side to side.

They had only been around when he was, because the shadows now clung to him at all times, like an extension of him.

“You best get out of here?—”

“Beatrix!” His bellow shook the trees, and I sighed, crossing my arms. The women’s eyes all widened with excitement. A gust of wind later and he slammed onto the ground with a thump.

“You are not to leave without me.” He stormed forward, shadows whipping around him like a storm cloud.

From behind him, the Novian women watched, chests jutting toward him. Even if he didn’t spare them a look, it pissed me off.

“Not right now, Corvus,” I grumbled.

“You are the Lord’s pet. Many can harm you. He’s obviously worried about you,” the red-haired woman tittered and curled her finger around her hair.

“Pet?” I screeched, and snapped, lunging for her. In my fit of rage, my toe snagged on a vine and I went flying forward. Screaming, I squeezed my eyes shut.

I was suddenly jolted, my dress banding around my torso. I squinted to see the ground a foot from my nose. Corvus lifted me with care until I was back on my feet, and I found the clearing empty.

“I will kill them all?—”

“No,” I blurted and scrubbed my face. He would do it in a heartbeat, and that was wrong, even if I kind of wanted him to.

“Jealousy,” he rumbled, his mouth widening. He sprang at me, bringing me to the ground with ease. The cool graze of his shadows pillowed my landing on the foliage, serving as athin layer of protection. He lifted his pointer claw and, keeping his eyes on mine, he punctured the linen between my legs and dragged it down to open a slice in the skirt.

I stayed frozen, watching. A tendril slid up my thigh, and the cold sensation spread in my channel, ripping a gasp from my throat. “How I revel in your jealousy.”

The shadow thrust and expanded, stretching my sex. It prodded some deep, hidden button inside me, and my chest jerked up, arching my back. I whimpered, and the shadows pulsated, rubbing harder against that spot.

An orgasm crashed into me like a freight train, and I screamed, floating on a cloud of pleasure, my body pulsating from the sudden release.

Sharing my soul had anchored my life to him. It was still a difficult concept for me to wrap my head around.

Slowly, I lifted my eyelids, peeking through my lashes. A purr rumbled in his chest, seething with satisfaction. Not moving his pinpoint pupils off me, he licked the scars marking my arms. He rested my hand on his chest and crawled up until he blocked the sky.

“I need nothing but you,” he grunted and slid inside me, taking my breath away with a single pump.

We claimed each other in front of his statue, rejoicing in the feeling of each other.

I perchedon the edge of the bench near my front door in my human-side home, donning my shoes.

“How long do we have this time?” I asked, shoving my feet into some boots.

“The same as the first time. The Blood Moon allows for a few hours. I will feel the shift in energies. Do not worry, Beatrix, I will ensure we return.”

The corners of his lips twitched. I hadn’t been able to hide my anxiety about going back. I’d made his castle my home. Slowly but surely, we’d begun to plan what we would do with the various spaces.

The only shit part was he couldn’t make his shadows bring anything over until the Blood Moon thinned the veil, because I’d forbidden meaningless killing.

Amazingly, he’d gone along with it—for the most part.