Page 34 of Monster's Reward

“How do you even know these are authentic?”

I rolled my eyes. “Trust me. I found them in a place only another shadow-beast could access.”

“Have you read them all?”

“Not all of them.”

He opened one of the books, then scowled. “The pages are blank.”

I winced. “Some of the books only work for shadow-beasts.” I leaned forward to see the title and tried not to show my relief that the book had wisely hidden its wisdom from him.

I would hate to be the shadow-beast who gave away all our secrets to the enemy and I had no doubtA Shadow-Beast’s Guide to the Shadow Realmheld many of our secrets. And no matter his status as my mate, the reality was Jahrdran was a Varulvka, and the Varulvka, as our executioners, would always be the enemies of the shadow-beasts.

“Try a different one,” I urged him.

He reached for the next book in the stack, which happened to beThe Dangers of the Shadow Realm.That book wasn’t cooperative either.

It took three more attempts before the books finally showed him some text, and it wasShadow-Mates.

He glared at me in disgust.

I shrugged. “Look, I can’t help it. The books have minds of their own. They probably thought you could use some tips on being a better mate.”

He growled low in his throat, tossed the book back on the desk and lunged across the room at me. “I’ll show you a better mate.”

He had me flat on my back on the bed in an instant, came down over me and claimed my mouth with his.

Heat instantly barreled through me.

He settled his weight over me, pressing me deeper into the mattress.

I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck and tried to get closer, all the while kissing him frantically.

He leaned back, just enough to give him room to rake his claws through the seam of my shirt and rip it from my torso.

As he was ripping my shirt to shreds, I was struggling to rid him of his.

As my shirt fell away, he surged upward and finished the job of yanking his own shirt over his head. He then set one claw against my belly button and slowly dragged it upward.

It caught on my bra and with one quick yank, he tore the bra into two sections that fell to either side.

My girls fell free and he settled both hands over them, squeezing gently.

I arched my back and gasped.

He leaned back and with a couple more slashes of his claws, had us both naked.

He slowly settled back over me and the feel of my mate, lying on top of me, skin-to-skin, had tears burning in my eyes.

I lunged upward, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and burying my face in his neck. “Jahrdran.” I set my teeth against his pulse, a beat I felt in every pore of my body, and scraped gently.

He let out a muted roar, notched his cock at my entrance and pressed forward.

I let out a low hiss at the burn and stretch and glorious ache as he slowly inched his way inside.

“Jahrdran,” I whimpered, everything in me lighting up at the feel of my mate pressing deep.

“Kasi,” he growled, pulling back, then surging forward again, lighting fires in his wake.

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