Page 31 of Claws for Celebration
Her fingers threaded through his hair.
“That,” she whispered, dazed and beautiful beneath him, “was… beyond anything I imagined.”
Lucien pressed a kiss between her breasts, then to the hollow of her throat as she murmured with satisfaction.
Afterward, as they lay entwined beneath the star-scattered sky, Moira curled against his chest with her mahogany curls tickling his chin, Lucien felt a contentment deeper than anything he'd ever experienced. His mate slept peacefully in his arms, though she didn't know the true significance of what they'd shared, her magical signature now intertwined with his own in ways that spoke of permanent connection.
His panther purred with deep satisfaction at finally being intimate with their chosen one, even as the beast chafed against the restraint Lucien had imposed. Soon, his animal side whispered. Soon they would reveal the full truth of the mate bond, but not until she was ready to understand what it meant.
But as the night air cooled around them and reality began to intrude on their perfect moment, darker thoughts crept into his consciousness. The shadow creatures that had tested Hollow Oak's borders. The grimoire's increasingly powerful influence on Moira's magical development. The Council's expectations and the supernatural threats that her awakening was attracting.
Looking down at her peaceful face, so trusting and vulnerable in sleep, Lucien made a silent vow that echoed in both his human heart and his panther's soul. Whatever darkness the grimoire might bring, whatever dangers threatened their newly discovered love, he would protect her with everything he possessed.
The panther in him purred with deep satisfaction as he pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, already planning how to keep her safe from the supernatural storms that were undoubtedly coming their way.
18
MOIRA
Dawn was painting the sky in soft pastels when Moira woke in Lucien's arms, her body still humming with the afterglow of their passionate night together. The garden around them had transformed during their sleep, flowers blooming out of season in response to the magical energy they'd shared, their petals glowing with faint traces of golden light that matched the contentment spreading through her chest.
"Good morning, beautiful," Lucien murmured against her hair, his voice rough with sleep and satisfaction. "How are you feeling?"
Moira stretched carefully, noting the delicious soreness in muscles she hadn't used in far too long. "Like I've been fundamentally changed in ways I'm still trying to understand," she admitted, turning in his arms to study his face in the early morning light. "But also like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be."
His smile was warm enough to melt her remaining reservations about the impossibility of their situation. "No regrets about diving headfirst into the supernatural deep end?"
"With you? No regrets at all." She pressed a soft kiss to his jaw, marveling at how natural the gesture felt despite having known him for such a short time. "Though I suspect I'm going to need coffee and food before I can properly process everything that's happened."
"Coffee and food I can definitely provide." Lucien sat up, reaching for the clothes they'd scattered across the grass in their urgency the night before. "Twyla opens the café early for the breakfast crowd. I could grab us something while you get dressed?"
The practical suggestion made Moira acutely aware of their state of undress and the fact that they were still in his bookstore's garden where anyone could potentially discover them. "That's probably wise. I should also check on the grimoire and make sure I didn't accidentally trigger any magical incidents while I was... distracted."
"Your magic was perfectly controlled last night," Lucien assured her, pulling on his shirt with fluid grace. "If anything, it seemed more stable than usual. Like having an emotional anchor helped ground your abilities."
The observation made her pulse flutter with possibilities she wasn't ready to examine too closely. "Emotional anchor?"
"Strong feelings can either destabilize awakening magic or provide focus, depending on the circumstances." He leaned down to kiss her forehead with gentle reverence. "You were magnificent, Moira. In every possible way."
After he left for the café, walking with that characteristic silent grace that now made perfect sense given his shifter nature, Moira dressed quickly and made her way back into the bookstore. The Shadowheart Codex sat exactly where she'd left it the previous afternoon, but something about its leather binding seemed different. More alert somehow, as if it had been waiting for her return.
"Well," she said to the ancient tome, settling into her usual chair, "I suppose you want to know what happened in the garden."
The grimoire's pages rustled softly despite the still air, and when Moira opened the cover, she wasn't surprised to find new text appearing in elegant silver script across the parchment.
The bloodline awakens fully when heart and soul align with destiny.
"Destiny," she murmured, tracing the words with one finger. "Is that what this is? Destiny?"
More words appeared, flowing across the page with ethereal beauty.
Love calls to love across impossible distances. Magic recognizes its perfect complement in another soul. When shifter and witch unite in harmony, their combined power can reshape the very foundations of reality.
Moira's breath caught in her throat. "Shifter and witch. You're talking about Lucien and me."
The panther knows what the human heart has not yet accepted. Bonds forged in starlight and sealed with magic cannot be broken by doubt or fear.
"What bonds?" she asked aloud, though part of her already suspected the answer. The connection she felt with Lucien went deeper than simple attraction or even love. It felt fundamental, as if some part of her soul had been missing until she'd found him among dusty books and afternoon conversations.
