Page 7 of Hitched to the Shadow Creature (Monster Matchmaking #3)

The Elder's voice cut through the tension. "Release him, Varkolak. This challenge is over."

I withdrew my shadows reluctantly. Nyx massaged his throat, his eyes promising retribution. "This isn't finished."

"It is for tonight," the Elder said firmly. He turned to Aya, who stood shakily in the center of the arena. "The human has shown unexpected resilience. She may continue her training."

Relief washed through me, but it was short-lived. As we left the arena, I could feel Nyx's gaze burning into my back. This victory had only made things more dangerous for her.

I escorted Aya back to my quarters, knowing she was too weak to make it to her own. She collapsed onto my bed the moment we entered.

"Did I pass?" Her voice was hoarse, her skin too pale.

"You did." I brought her water, watched her drink greedily. "But you shouldn't have had to face that challenge at all."

"Why did you intervene?" She set the empty cup aside. "I could have lasted the full minute."

"He was increasing the pressure. He never intended to play fair." I paced the room, unable to contain my agitation. "You could have been seriously hurt."

"You were worried about me." A smile touched her lips.

I stopped, looking at her. "Of course I was worried."

"Why?" She sat up straighter. "I'm just an assignment, aren't I?"

The question hung between us. In the shadows of my room, with her eyes steady on mine, I couldn't lie.

"No." The word came out rough. "You're not just an assignment."

She stood, unsteady but determined, and crossed to where I stood. "What am I, then?"

Her proximity was intoxicating. The shadows in the room responded to my desire, swirling around us both. "Something impossible."

Her hand touched my chest, right where Nyx's shadow had torn my shirt. "You're bleeding."

"It's nothing."

"It's not nothing." Her fingers traced the edge of the wound, and I couldn't suppress a shiver. "You were hurt defending me."

"I would do it again." The admission hung between us.

Her eyes met mine, and something electric passed between us. The surrounding shadows trembled with it.

"Varkolak..." My name on her lips was a question, a plea.

I answered it by closing the distance between us, capturing her mouth with mine. I tasted sunlight and everything I'd been denied in her kiss. Her arms wound around my neck, pulling me closer. The surrounding shadows darkened, intensified, responding to the surge of emotion coursing through me.

I backed her against the wall, lifting her effortlessly, her legs wrapping around my waist. Her hands tangled in my hair, pulling me deeper into the kiss. I groaned against her mouth, my control slipping.

"We shouldn't," I said, even as my lips moved to her throat.

"We should," she countered, her head falling back to give me better access. "We absolutely should."

My shadows wrapped around us both now, an extension of my desire. When her hands pushed at my torn shirt, I let her remove it, exposing my chest to her exploring fingers.

I carried her to the bed, laying her down with more gentleness than I knew I possessed.

When I joined her there, something extraordinary happened.

The shadows that always accompanied me intertwined with something emanating from her, not shadows exactly, but similar. Lighter. Like twilight to midnight.

"Do you see that?" she whispered, eyes wide as she watched the patterns forming above us.

I'd never seen anything like it. Our shadows with hers somehow visible now merged and danced, creating intricate, beautiful patterns overhead as our bodies pressed together.

"This is impossible," I murmured against her skin.

"Does it matter?" Her hands pulled me closer.

It didn't. Nothing mattered except her beneath me, her soft sighs as I explored her body, the mesmerizing dance of our combined shadows overhead. When I finally joined my body to hers, the shadows above exploded into something like starlight, dark and bright simultaneously.

We moved together, learning each other's rhythms, the shadows mirroring our every motion.

I could feel the heat of her body against mine, her soft curves molding to the hard planes of my form.

The scent of her arousal filled my nostrils, intoxicating and primal.

When she cried out, arching beneath me, the patterns overhead shimmered and pulsed in time with her racing heartbeat.

I could taste the salt on her skin as I dragged my lips along her throat, feel the thrum of her pulse beneath my tongue.

My release followed, more intense than anything I'd experienced in my long life.

Pleasure crashed over me in relentless waves and I heard myself growl, low and guttural, as I spilled myself inside her welcoming warmth.

For a breathless moment, the world fell away.

There was only her and I, our bodies joined, the shadows dancing above us in exquisite patterns of ecstasy.

In the aftermath, I gathered her close, marveling at the feel of her in my arms. I knew in that instant that she was mine, that I would never let her go.

Aya had bewitched me, body and soul, and I was lost.

After, as she lay curled against my chest, the shadow patterns continued to swirl lazily above us, slower now but still present.

"What does it mean?" she asked, tracing patterns on my skin.

"I don't know." I pulled her closer, unwilling to analyze the impossibility of what we'd just experienced. "Nothing like this has ever happened before."