Page 36 of Shadows of the Soul

He snorted as he laid me down on the bed. “While I’m interested in your kinky fuckery thoughts, right now, I need to clean up your feet. Stay here.”

He stalked out of the room into the adjoining bathroom and returned seconds later with a stack of white towels and wet flannels. He lifted my legs, sank onto the edge of the bed, then laid them across his lap before swiping my left foot with the warm flannel. I hissed but didn’t move, allowing him to clean me up. I’d forgotten what it felt like to be cared for, and it was more seductive than his naked body. Okay, maybe not more, but as bad, because it solidified another little hook that linked my heart to his.

He dropped the now bloodied towels to the floor and began massaging my calf. I groaned and dropped my head back on his pillow. He chuckled in pure male satisfaction. I didn’t care. It felt freaking wonderful. “What did you need to talk about?”

My eyelids drooped and I yawned. “I think Lucifer’s plan was always to let me go,” I mumbled. Damn, that was good. He switched to my other leg, easing up a little as it was still tender from my tangle with the shifter from a few days ago.

“Why would he do that?”

I wiggled my shoulders, sinking into his pillows. They smelled of him, woodsy, sensual, male. “To follow me, and find out where I live.”

“Why would the devil want to know where you live?”

I sighed. “To get access to my house and, by extension, my power.”

“Your retro gift is tied to the house?”

“No, my other power, the door in my room.”

His fingers paused. “What’s in your room, Cora?”

“Home,” I mumbled, then the lights went out, and I drifted into the most glorious, dreamless sleep.

Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Unlucky for some.

For the second time in as many nights, I woke in the arms of a prehistoric shifter while in a strange bed. I peeked through one eyelid. Not just in his arms, I was draped across his chest with my leg thrown over his. His hand caressed my bare back in a soothing rhythm. I’d also lost my clothes overnight, but now it meant my bits were pressed against his hip, separated only by a thin piece of cotton. Sunlight streamed through the trees outside the window, casting a dappled pattern along our bodies. It would be easy to think this was our life. Perhaps one day it could be. As it stood, the Principal had rogue wildies, and I had the devil plus whatever had killed and sent the boy my way.

“I wish we could stay like this,” I whispered.

His hand drifted up my spine and tangled in my hair, before tugging my head back. “We take the moments where we can find them. If we wait for them to be handed to us, our lives will have already passed.”

I climbed up his body and straddled his waist. My hands landed on either side of his head, and my hair formed a glossy red curtain around us.

“What are you doing?” he asked as his eyes slanted. His cat was eyeballing me, ready to play whatever game I was offering.

“Taking the moment,” I said before dropping a kiss on his lips and along his jaw. His hands shot to my ass and drew me against him. He groaned as I nipped and licked my way down his neck and over his collarbone.

“As much as I want to also take the moment,” Dave drawled from behind me, “specifically, to scour my eyes with bleach, your presence is required back at the house.”

Hudson grabbed the sheet and yanked it over us as I buried my head in his shoulder. “Don’t you knock?” I muttered.

“The back door was open.”

“Smashed open, Dave.”

“Same difference. We aren’t big on personal boundaries.”

“I’m aware.”

“Are you coming?”

I turned my head and pierced the wolf shifter with my gaze. “Are you going to give me some privacy so I don’t have to flash my ass at you?”

“Again,” Hudson snarled. “Leave before I decide to handle your behavior.”

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