Free Carnival of Hearts: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance by Scarlett Rhone Page A

for him, hoped for him. How she’d never given up, no matter how many times her friends told her he was never coming back. How she’d known , deep in her heart, that he would never forget her, that he would come back to her if he could. And he had. She thought about how they’d made love only a few hours before. She thought about the mark, about the pain and the pleasure of it, and then she felt it begin to warm on her throat.
    That warmth spilled through her, lighting her up.
    And suddenly the tide of the fight turned. Where before it had been impossible to tell who was winning, suddenly the bear was overpowering the lion. He rose up onto his hind legs and delivered a vicious swipe to the lion’s face, knocking the great cat into a tumble and roll across the sand. Before he could get his bearings, Marcus was on him, pinning him to the ground, and clamped his jaws on the lion’s throat.
    Liam and Baptiste started into the ring, but Mabel rose from her seat.
    “It’s done!” the bearded woman announced, holding up her hands. “It’s over, and if the two of you interfere, you shame our alpha. The fight for dominance is over, and he has lost.”
    The two men stopped, looking up at her. After a moment’s clear hesitation, though, they stepped back to the edge of the ring once more.
    Marcus released D’Orfeo and eased back from him. His eyes met Clara’s across the ring, and she felt her heart sing with triumph.
    In a great gust of wind and swirl of sand, Marcus shifted back into the man that Clara knew. A few feet away, D’Orfeo shifted back into his man form as well and slowly started climbing to his hands and knees. Kat scrambled out of the stands and to her adopted father, getting his arm across her small shoulders to help him to his feet. Both men were bloody, bearing numerous cuts and bruises and deep slashes. Silence blanketed the den.
    D’Orfeo turned, with Kat’s help, towards Marcus.
    He waved a hand. “Be free,” he said, voice raspy with pain.
    Marcus didn’t even respond to him, just leapt the edge of the ring and climbed through the crowd to Clara.
    “Come on, love,” he said, with a smile for her that was private, eyes brimming with joy. She took his hand and he led her out of the stands, and out of the big top, and out of the carnival altogether, at last.
    She stopped him at the edge of the fairgrounds and leaned up, kissing him. The warmth of the mark, all the power of it, had to go somewhere. She put it into that kiss. His arms came fast around her and he kissed her back fiercely.
    “Wait!”
    They turned in each other’s arms to see Kat running towards them, waving.
    Clara saw Marcus frown. His arms stayed around her.
    Kat came to a skidding stop in front of them and held out her hand, offering over what Clara realized was a set of keys. She blinked at the girl.
    “Here,” Kat said, breathless, smiling. “Take my car. I don’t need it. Take it.”
    Clara took the keys. “Kat, this is too much…”
    Kat shook her head. “No, it’s fine. Get out of here. I have to go back and clean Dad up, but you guys earned your freedom. You can take the car. Be happy.”
    Clara clutched the keys to her chest, more grateful than she could really express. She let go of Marcus and stepped over to Kat, hugging the girl warmly and tightly.
    “Thank you.”
    When Clara let go of her, Marcus slid past her and hugged Kat as well. He whispered something into her ear that Clara couldn’t hear, and then released her with a tired smile. Then he took Clara’s hand and pulled her towards the parking lot.
    Clara looked back over her shoulder once and saw Kat standing on the edge of the carnival ground, waving goodbye to them.

Chapter 16
    Sooner rather than later, Clara and Marcus were married. He moved into the little apartment above the bar with her and got a job on one of the local fishing boats. Mariel and Daniel accepted him warmly into their little family and the four of them, plus Daniel’s wife and