Page 128 of Never Lost

“Told you,” he said, obliging me immediately in a pattern I remembered—forehead, eyelids, both cheeks, nose, and lips. “Let’s do some more testing. Say ‘touch me, Shai.’”

“Touch me, Shai.”

His hands were there in an instant, up my open coat and under Rebekah’s stolen sweater and the thin camisole beneath, his rough, scarred thumbs stroking the skin just above my waistband, under my navel, and above that mound of flesh and nerve as he lifted me effortlessly by the hips, pressing my body flush against his. Polar November closed in on all sides, but I only hadhim—his power, his warmth, his solidity, his realness—no longer the ghost of a touch forbidden, the dream of a life beyond reach.

Shai’s mouth found mine again, his kiss bold, urgent, demanding,commanding. Huge and open, ravenous as an inferno, claiming, consuming, immolating every bare, icy patch on my ears and collarbone and neck, right down to my décolletage. And oh yes, I yielded for him, molded myself in his shape, one leg up around his waist and wrapping the other, cattishly arching and fisting the lapels of his lush coat until we broke and just breathed heat for a few seconds in dewy, exquisite synergy, brows pressed together. And then I thought he would stop, but he just keptkissing, kissing while the flakes fell silently down on our hair and shoulders and eyelashes, kissing while our hearts lashed against our shivering chests, kissing until he cradled his head on my shoulder, gasping for air, kissing until he lowered his glistening lashes and justinhaled, drank me in, fuller and fuller, more and more, as if I, Louisa Wainwright-Phillips, were sweeter than liberty, indeed the sweetest nectar this boy, this free man, had ever tasted.

So what if he would always scan a room before entering to see what he could get away with? Or that he might always be polite to strangers and keep things close to the vest? Or that he might always have the knack of looking at people withoutreallylooking?

It all had its uses.

Now he let my boots tumble and crunch lightly on the snow. He stood there, broad shoulders heaving from what I’d done to him. But we weren’t done. He grinned. “Now say, f?—”

I swatted him. “We’re inpublic.”

“Oh, that’s right, my mistake.” He lifted his gaze, expression softening slightly as if just now seeing he was in this park in all its antique solitude, the snow falling more swiftly now, diagonally blanketing the oaks and planes, sentinel trees planted in the early days of the last century for the dream of freedom that had not died here, just slept a while. Then he rememberedwhy. “We should probably do something about that, yeah?” He paused. “Not that you’lleverhear me complain about kissing you in public.”

“You know what? I think you knew you would be, someday.”

“Ihoped,” he replied, laughing. “I didn’t know.” He paused. “Okay, yeah, maybe I did know.”

And now we werebothlaughing.

“Let’s stay here,” I proclaimed. “We’re not doing anything we have to hide. Well.” Now in his ear, my whisper. Soft. Hot. Cunning. Bold. A promise kept, a promise coming. “Not yet.”

Oh, wait, you were expecting an epilogue? Whoops!

Just kidding, I gotchu. When you visit everlyclaire.com/storm-tested, you can subscribe to my newsletter and get a link to downloadStorm Tested: An Unchained Story,an entire 31,000-word epilogue NOVELLA, which sees Lou and Shai (doesn’t that feel good to say?) off on a brand new adventure. And this is not your standard feel-good epilogue: just because they’re technically on vacation doesn’t mean there won’t be angst, trauma, captivity, and chains! But there are spicy and sweet moments, too, of course.

I’ll also take this opportunity to remind you that I have signed paperbacks ofNever Lost(and all the other books in the series, plus additional merch) for sale on my Etsy shop at etsy.com/shop/everlyclaireauthor. For the same price as Amazon, you can get a signed bookplate and a beautiful vellum overlay with character art with your book. Now that you trust me to (finally!) give you a happily ever after, why not buy direct and complete (or start!) your collection?

And lastly, while Lou and Shai’s story may have come to an end, The Unchained series will continue. Subscribe to my newsletter or follow me on social to learn the details before anyone else, along with behind the scenes peeks, beta and ARC opportunities, giveaways, and the knowledge that you’re a member of the Internet’s biggest community (as far as I know!) for readers who love their book boyfriends wounded, charming, protective, and chained.

Prost,

Everly