Page 14 of Monster's Reward

And now, knowing how those shadows worked, how they sheltered me and reached for me in moments of danger or uncertainty, how they enveloped me and shielded me from the real world, pulling me into a shadow world no one else could access, I understood how I’d managed to call Jahrdran to me.

Because Jahrdran had to be my fated mate.

It was the only reasonable explanation for why the shadows hadn’t ejected Jahrdran the moment I called him to me.

After all, he wasn’t a shadow monster himself, so should never have been able to move into that elsewhere world of shadows with me, let alone stay there for so long.

However, as my mate, it was entirely possible he had an open invitation to join me in the shadows.

And now that our mating was official, I had to consider the very real possibility that Jahrdran Vilnik might now have full access to my shadow realm.

CHAPTER5

Jahrdran wasas possessive a bastard as I assumed he would be.

Somehow, though, I liked it.

He followed me everywhere, growling at anyone who looked at me longer than five seconds.

Male or female, young or old, it didn’t matter.

To him, I was the most desirable person in all the realms, so he couldn’t imagine that I wasn’t also desirable to every other person I met.

We had a few whispered, heated conversations that first day after our mating when he tried to go with me to my Year 2 classes instead of attending his own Year 3 ones.

It was only my promise to stay in the shadows so no one could see me (something I always did anyway) that finally convinced him to walk away.

But not before grabbing me behind the neck, yanking me into his arms and kissing me breathless.

For the next several weeks, every free minute I had was consumed by Jahrdran. He walked me to and from class, even when it meant he would be late to his own classes or have to leave them early.

Of course, every greeting and farewell began and ended with a blazing, hot kiss deep in the shadows of whatever classroom he’d walked me into or was about to lead me out of.

The most shocking turn of events was that I discovered I loved having a fated mate. I lovedbeingthe fated mate of Jahrdran.

In fact, I enjoyed being his mate so much that for a while I forgot my quest, the one that had me searching for clues to my origins for the past year.

I even forgot the danger inherent in someone discovering my secrets.

I simply reveled in being the mate of my beloved beast.

Until the day everything changed.

We’d both returned to my room because for the next hour, Jasmine would be in her Culinary Delights Cooking class, and then would hang out with her friends, taste-testing everything they’d cooked that day.

We’d just finished an intense bout of lovemaking, ontopof the bed this time, and I was nestled between Jahrdran’s legs, my back against his chest, his arms wrapped around me.

One large hand was gently stroking me from my neck down, long, slow strokes of his hand that lit fires everywhere, while the other hand was playing with my blue streaks.

He loved those blue streaks even more than Shadow did and had informed me they were a physical reminder to everyone that I belonged to him.

I’d just rolled my eyes at him. “Maybe your eyes are a sign thatyoubelong tome.”

Of course, beast that he was, he’d looked pleased at the thought, then had rumbled quietly, “Probably it means we belong to each other. Mates for life.”

I grinned at the memory.

“Are you ever going to tell me what type of supernatural you are?” Jahrdran’s voice interrupted my reverie.

---