Free Exit Light by Megan Hart Page B

ex-husband wanted to put it all behind him.
    Why was she the only one who thought it all shouldn’t matter?
     
    “Hello, sweetheart. Looking for something in particular?”
    A voice like honey caressed Tovah from behind, and her stomach twisted in delight. She turned. She’d seen him tonight in many forms. A dark angel, a pan-pipe playing satyr, a rock star. He’d moved through the club, shifting subtly and blending into whichever group he passed. He’d been looking for something in particular himself.
    Now he was a tall man with blond hair and regular features. He inclined his head, his clothes shimmering and changing from the jeans and light T-shirt he’d been wearing into a pair of dark trousers and a form-fitting black sweater.
    “Like I said, sweetheart. Looking for something in particular?”
    Heat flushed her cheeks at his subtle response to the pull of her will. She could feel he was strong enough to shield himself from anything she projected, yet he’d responded. It was flattering. It was a little disconcerting.
    “I am, actually.”
    Tovah let her gaze travel over him. With her concentration divided by her attention on him, some of the club’s details should have gone blurry. They didn’t because he could juggle a conversation with her and an entire scene at the same time.
    That kind of power made her shiver. She thought of what Ben had accused her of and then put him firmly from her mind. Ben had made it perfectly clear he wasn’t interested in getting to know her any better than he thought he already did.
    The blond hair darkened and the hairline shifted a bit higher on this new man’s forehead. His chest broadened, waist narrowed, legs grew longer. His features shifted with nary a blur, without hesitation.
    “Something like this, maybe?” His sly grin told her he knew what she wanted, perhaps better than she did.
    “Very nice.” The purr in her tone wasn’t out of place here in the Ephemeros, where she had confidence. Tovah reached a finger to stroke along the buttons of his shirt. “I like it.”
    She’d shaped others before, picking up on what sleepers wanted or needed and providing it for them. And of course before she’d learned about the power she held here she’d sent out her own desires for other shapers to fulfill. This was different, somehow. The push and pull of desire, his mingling with hers and making something new for both of them. He was so much stronger, all she had to do was send out the tiniest tendril of will and he picked up on it. Her body tensed in anticipation of what would happen next.
    “Do you?” Something flashed across the face he’d shaped to please her, an emotion so fleeting she couldn’t discern it. “Let’s go.”
    She was already tilting her head to accept his mouth. There was no need to really go anywhere. All they had to do was will it, and desire shaped their surroundings. His mouth closed on hers, hungry, and his hands pulled her close. His body was hot, the lines of it matching hers. His leg nudged hers apart and she gasped into his kiss as his thigh rocked against her.
    “Shape it,” he murmured against her lips.
    “I don’t know how,” she whispered, clinging to his shirt as the world swirled around them. “I can’t do both.”
    His deep laughter rumbled around them and the faint hint of walls hung with silk closed off around them. “Can’t fuck and shape at the same time?”
    He didn’t sound like he was mocking her. Tovah slid a hand beneath his shirt to find rock-hard abs and higher up, a chest smattered with hair. She wanted his shirt to open at the buttons, and it did.
    “See?” He dipped to mouth her neck, biting gently. Tovah arched herself to give him access. “You’ve got more skill than you realize. You just need practice.”
    It was the same thing Spider always said, and Ben, and Tovah fought a frown. “I know,” she murmured, winding her fingers into his hair. “I’ve only been able to shape for a few