Page 103 of Total Eclipse of the Moon
"He agreed to become my familiar." She bent down and swiped up the stone. "He’s a bit mouthy and full of himself. Not sure how it’s going to go, but in our few minutes together he’s handled himself well."
The cat growled.
"Ego aside, I’m glad to have him." She gave the grumbly cat a pat.
Shane blinked.
"He’s my familiar. That means he a spirit creature that is loyal only to me. But I’m sure there’s a part of him that will always be partial to you." She frowned. "Are you sure you’re okay? You look a little shaky."
Shane stared distrustfully at the cat. "He can’t try to possess you, can he?"
"I sure hope not. That wouldn’t work out for him since he agreed to be my familiar. He’s spell-bound to me." She rushed to add, "Not cursed. It’s a mutual choice. Either one of us can choose to walk away at any point." She crossed her arms, uncertainty flooding her as she faced him. "I love you, Shane. I said it before, but I need to understand what you want from me and how I fit into—"
He cut her off to kiss her on the mouth. Her mind scrambled as the hormone craze to touch him everywhere and spur him to action took over.
He stopped his mind-melting assault on her lips. "Say that again, please?"
"I love you."
"Were you hurt?" He smoothed his hands down her shoulders as if desperate to peel every bit of clothes off her to do an exam.
She sucked in a breath as a wave of lust powered through her. Her fingers played with the ends of his hair against his neck. "Tone down the smolder. I’ll end up ripping off your clothes and giving your brothers who I can feel staring at us an eyeful. You remember how dragon healing amps me up? You’re too much for me to resist on a normal day. You doing the smolder and saying nice things is too much."
"I don’t want you to resist me. I plan to spend the rest of the night seducing you so that you’ll never want to leave me. Were you hurt with the curse lifting?"
She shook her head. "I recovered. Took a lot of energy out of me, but I’m fine now."
"No long-term lost magic?"
"Not this time."
He lifted her into his arms and shot over his shoulder, "Not your business, dragon."
Chapter Thirty-Two
Once inside Madeline’sfirst-floor room, Shane kicked closed the terrace doors. "You sure you’re fine?"
She reached for the hem of her shirt and slowly lifted. "Want to see for yourself?"
She watched him swallow hard.
"I think you better look close to be sure everything’s okay." She compressed her lips against a laugh when he seemed to get serious in his inspection. She unclasped her bra.
"I’m sorry for whatever I said earlier today. Don’t remember it and didn’t mean whatever it was. Sorry that I’ve been a butt about repressing my feelings. I feared losing you and couldn’t handle you dying."
"Do you plan to leave me?"
"Never."
"Good. No more talking." She jumped forward half naked and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I missed you so much." Her tongue in his mouth robbed him of coherent thought.
"Oh, God," Madeline groaned when Shane tugged on her nipple with his teeth. "I need more."
He pressed her to lie down. His beautiful body hovered over her, his eyes so intense with need that she shivered.
He positioned himself between her legs, his large frame causing her to need to spread her thighs wider to make more room. When he lowered his pelvis to hers, the immediate relief of the touch struck her mid-chest.
He felt so right against her. Heavy. Hard as stone. Courageous and strong. But in control. She wanted him to own her and make her forget everything but him.
