Free Scarlet Dusk by Megan J. Parker

Zane’s disembodied aura—an unexpected burden she’d acquired after attacking him and releasing Raith’s consciousness into Zane’s body—into the empty shell of Axle’s body in the hopes of manipulating the “new” Axle. Her plan, however, had fizzled out, and Zane’s personality returned, taking control and seeking out Serena, who’d been driving herself crazy—in much the same way Zane was driving himself searching for Serena now. When the craziness had finally settled, Zane’s aura had been returned to his body and Raith, with the deceased Axle’s body then without an aura, finally had a chance to be his own therion once again.
    While having Raith back in a totally different body had taken some getting used to, the personality of the therion that she’d fallen in love with—and the perk that Axle was quite the looker, as well—had made the transition a relatively painless one.
    Body-swapping, Nikki smirked to herself, who knew?
    “What are you smirking about?” Raith lifted h er chin to face him, his forest-green eyes lighting up with mischievous intent.
    “Hmm… that depends; what are you smirking at?” she countered, leaning forward to brush her lips against his.
    “Let me show you,” he purred , lifting her body in his arms with ease.
    “ W-whoa!” she blushed, “You do that way too easily!”
    “What do you mean ? You barely weigh a thing,” he smirked. “Maybe you should get fat or something.”
    “Thanks, I guess,” she chuckled.
    “Now, let’s stop talking,” Raith smirked, pulling her down and kissing her hard.
    Nikki gasped as his tongue swept into her mouth and she returned the kiss with just as much fervor. Raith smirked, once again lifting her and hurrying through the hall and to their room.
    With that, the two lost themselves in the other. Forgetting all their troubles for the time being.

ZANE SAT AT THE BAR OF THE NIGHTCLUB, KEEPING an eye on the bar as Celine settled in close next to him. Feeling cramped and shifting away to give himself elbow room, Zane kept his gaze locked on the bar, only slightly aware of Celine’s heavy sigh.
    He was anxious.
    Moreover, he was impatient.
    After less than three minutes of inactivity—not even a damn drink order!—Zane growled and stood, pushing through the crowd and honing in on one of the club’s staff.
    “Is Ben ready yet?” he growled, “I don’t have all fucking night.”
    The staff member, a scrawny sang—pure-born if his age was any real indicator—with a frosted set of bangs that hung over his left eye, leaving only one, panic-stricken blue orb visible, began to stammer and shake under Zane’s gaze.
    Zane didn’t offer him any sympathy. “Why don’t you get on that fancy walkie-talkie of yours and get my night moving before I move you through a fourth-floor window?”
    Things got moving.
    There was a buzz of static as an impatient message crackled over the distorted frequency, and the still-shivering staff member nodded to Zane, “R-right this way. Mister Ben is expecting you.”
    “ Mister Ben?” Zane chuckled and rolled his eyes, “bet he loves that.” He started forward a few steps before he sighed and turned to Celine, motioning for her to follow. “C’mon!”
    Celine jumped from the barstool and stepped up a little too close to Zane as they were led to the backroom. He frowned at this, nervous that somebody that might know him might see and get the wrong idea; even more nervous that, if Serena ever caught news of it, he’d be in for a butt-kicking. He toggled with the idea of telling Celine to back off, but decided that teaching her boundary issues could wait for a less pressing moment. Letting out a content sigh, she leaned her body closer to his, and he rolled his eyes; realizing that she must have taken his silence as some sort of approval. Still opting for silence, he took a longer step forward and let his body dip slightly away from her, falling back into a pace behind the staff member with a