Free Shifter's Dance by Vanessa North Page B

feel of the water running between her
fingers and down the backs of her hands. This was real. She was in
love and he was real.
    “You okay?”
    “Yes.”
    “Yes, you’re okay?” A hint of laughter in his
voice.
    “Yes, I’m okay, and yes, I’m yours. I’ll marry you.
I’ll mate with you.”
    Suddenly he was pulling her off her backside and
into the water with him, his lips raining kisses over her face. She
laughed again, returning the kisses with equal enthusiasm as he
dragged her down to the ground with him.
    “Mine,” he whispered, pulling back. She knew he was
looking at her, looking in her eyes. She nodded, touching his beard
again, feeling the edges of his smile under her fingertips.
    His lips came down on hers, and she savored the
taste of him, the feel of him, his body pulsing against hers there
in the shallow water at the edge of the lake. When she reached for
the hem of her T-shirt, he took her hands and pinned them over her
head.
    “Oh, hell.” His voice was rough, his hands
warm on her skin. She felt his lips close around one nipple,
suckling her right through the cotton, and she arched into his
touch, wanting him so madly she could climb inside him and not be
close enough.
    “Please.”
    “Yes.” He tore the wet fabric as he pulled the shirt
from her body, letting go of her hands to reach for the snap of her
jeans. Just as she was ready to shove them down her legs, he
stopped. “No, wait.”
    His weight disappeared from her body and she felt
cold and alone. He reached down and pulled her to her feet.
    “Not like this. I don’t want to do the joining like
this, groping each other on the hard ground because we can’t
control ourselves.”
    “But I need you.” She didn’t whine it exactly, but
there wasn’t much dignity in her voice that moment.
    “By my life, sweetheart, I need you too. But tonight
is the full moon. I want to bind myself to you as you bind yourself
to me, under the moon and the stars and make everything perfect.
Can’t I give that to you?”
    She thought about it, running her hand across the
hair of his chest, her lip slipping between her teeth. Yes, he
could give that to her. After tonight, she’d have her whole life to
jump him.
    “I’m going back to the Haus now,” she muttered as
she fumbled for her cane, lust still singing through her body. “You
know, I’m probably going to have to masturbate. And you won’t be
invited to watch.”
    His hoot of laughter brought a smile to her face as
she realized how crude and petulant those words must have
sounded.
    “Are you sure you want to marry me?”
    “I want to marry you and your dirty mouth.”
He leaned in and his scent surrounded her as he pressed a kiss to
her lips. “Don’t ever doubt it. Here.” He pressed his clean, dry
shirt into her hands. “Sorry, I ripped your shirt.”
    “I’m not.” She grinned, stroking his beard one more
time. “I look forward to you ripping more of them.”
    * * * *
    Stephen stood in the middle of the garden, fidgeting
while he waited for his mate. What if she changed her mind? When
she approached him, however, he could see the sureness in the set
of her features, in the broad smile on her face. She walked right
up to him, as though she could see him; she was that attuned to his
presence. When she reached up and touched the side of his face, he
knew the moment had arrived.
    “What do I do?”
    “Your soul, my soul, they’ll bond together. You have
to let your soul come to mine. It might feel like you can’t
breathe, but I’m right here. Trust in us.”
    She nodded, and he reached for her hand.
    “First, will you dance with me, Romy?” He took her
into his arms, savoring her smile. She laid her head on his chest
and followed his lead.
    * * * *
    He was amazing. He didn’t lead with the practiced
expertise of a ballroom dancer, nor did he have the seasoned grace
of a trained ballet dancer. But he had the smooth, lithe power of a
bear and the gentlest spirit she’d ever