Page 68 of Smoke and Blood

In every way.

It took several hours for your body to transform and your wolf to work its way out.Now, you have to concentrate on settling it back in place, in your core, where it will reside.

She didn’t really understand what he meant.The only thing that kept going through her mind was the extreme agony and searing pain that she’d gone through to get this way.Her wolf played images of her balled up or contorted and disjointed on the bed.If Morlie had to repeat the day's events, she’d prefer to remain in the body she was in.

It won’t be like that.He said as if he was a party to the flashes in her mind.Chanin leaned in with his forearms balanced on his knees.

Will it hurt?

More uncomfortable because the shift will be unfamiliar.He caressed her wolf along its jaw.“Trust me.”

The beast didn’t nod but instead placed a paw on his knee.

“Good, girl,” he praised her wolf.Holding her gaze, Chanin continued to speak to her audibly.“I need you to breathe with me, little bunny.”

Her wolf watched him and then listened to him take a breath.

Morlie followed suit.

As he inhaled, Morlie inhaled inside the wolf.

When he exhaled, she did the same.

On and on they went, Chanin not breaking eye contact with the animal.With Morlie.

“Now, listen to my voice, Morlie.”He caressed around the back of the wolf’s ear.

When her wolf started to shut her eyes and lean into his touch, Chanin’s voice became more profound, more commanding.“Morlie, see me touchyou.Your skin, your neck...”His hands traveled along the side of her wolf's neck.

Doing as he instructed, Morlie allowed him to be the master craftsman and paint the picture in her mind.Metaphysically, she moved forward, trying to reach for the canvas he designed with his words, but there seemed to be a wall blocking her.

“Me caressing your bare shoulder, mate.”One, two, three, his deft fingers tripped down her wolf’s shoulder.“Lovely, warm, smooth skin...”

Morlie strained to focus on his touch and how it felt to have him caress her skin instead of the actual fur currently under his touch.However, she realized it wasn’t a wall but her wolf blocking her way.The beast desired the strength and connection found in Chanin’s hands.

Shift, the wolf begged.

No, he declared, denying the wolf.“Come on, beautiful, I want to run my tongue along your curves...your spine.”He dragged his nails around to the center of the wolf’s shoulder blades and down a few inches.

When the beast began to arch into his touch, Morlie shoved—then shoved again.

She knew what her wolf wanted and could see it in the beast's mind.It desired the man’s touch but wanted Chanin’s wolf to come out and play in a way that made Morlie gasp.

The naughty bitch was trying to push up on her man and convince him to shift, to take the she-wolf.

Morlie wouldn’t have it.She didn’t know why he hadn’t shifted tonight and allowed his wolf to meet hers, but right now, he wanted her, the woman, and that’s who she was determined to give him—even if she had to fight her canine self to do it.

“Come on, beautiful, come out to me.”

Morlie kicked and clawed her way forward, out of the depths of her core, as she took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the sweet taste of air, oxygen...freedom.

Ouch.Morlie winced as she felt the nip on her phantasmal ankle.She gave her wolf the final push down, down, down into the soul of her core to blend seamlessly into the fabric of their being until she called her forth again.

“Oof.”Heavy and weak, her body fell against Chanin’s broad, muscled chest.

He caught her and pressed her naked body into his.“There you are, little bunny,” his rough voice whispered along the shell of her ear.

She shivered.Chills racked her body even as a throbbing heat filled her deep inside, the place where her wolf retreated, falling silent.It should have been strange to feel the weighted presence inside her, but it didn’t.Somehow, it was as if the beast had always been housed there.Morlie’s lips curled in a small, wonder-filled smile.

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