Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 165649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 663(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 165649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 663(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
I prefer that as well, she admitted.
There was a sensual quality in her voice he’d never heard before, one that played over his skin in spite of being deep within the owl’s body. He was merged with her, mind to mind, and it was impossible not to feel the way she responded to him both physically and emotionally. He wanted her with every breath he drew, and it felt as if Elisabeta wanted him the same way.
They flew back to their favorite spot in the forest, just on the outer edge of the meadow but in the shadow of the trees. As they both shifted to their human forms, he waved his hand to provide them with the thickest of fur rugs. Nudity didn’t bother him and he preferred to look at her feminine form. If she was at all uncomfortable, he would provide her with clothing. Both could regulate their temperature without a problem, and if the weather proved unpredictable—and already a small storm had moved in—he could provide a transparent roof overhead.
The clouds swirled overhead, moving to cover the small slice of moon and blot out the stars. They would need that gathering storm and the more natural, the better. The Carpathians coming in to aid them from all directions were already doing so, hopefully unseen by any of Sergey’s spies. The breaking weather would definitely be helpful. A series of storms had been predicted over the next few risings, a good break for them. The Carpathians traveling their way would have adequate cover and hopefully, during the battle, they could utilize the storms as well.
Fingers of mist drifted across the meadow and through the trees. Ferro immediately provided a transparent roof so they could see the slow rolling clouds overhead and the first of the silvery drops as they began to fall from the sky. He laid back, stretching out, drawing Elisabeta with him, so both could look upward at the display. Her head rested on his shoulder, her body tucked in tight against his side. He was aware of her every curve. The softness of her form against the hardness of his.
“I never noticed how beautiful rain could be until this moment,” he admitted. “Instead of individual beads falling, each looks like a thin silver streak dropping out of the darkness. Each rising I find something new and amazing you have gifted me with.”
She turned her head to look up at him. “Ferro. You are the true gift. I have spent each rising for hundreds of years living in terror. Now, each is a joy, whether or not there is fear, because there is you.”
Elisabeta turned completely, her body sliding over his boldly so that she was blanketing him. Her hands framed his face. “Hän sívamak, you have my heart. Always, you have my heart.” She brushed kisses across his eyes and then down his face to the corner of his mouth.
Ferro’s body reacted with a hot rush of blood pounding through his veins, thundering in his ears, to center in his groin. She moved her hips subtly, rubbing against him, inflaming him further. She began to move down his body, kissing his chin and then his throat.
Ferro closed his eyes, his hands moving in her hair, stroking and massaging. He needed to be satisfied with what they had together already. She had come so far so fast. Asking any more of her was selfish, and she took him to heaven with that perfect mouth of hers every single rising.
Elisabeta lifted her head. “Ferro? What more? I catch needs in you that are fleeting, but those needs are very strong. I am your lifemate. I provide for you.”
He suppressed a groan. “You are providing for me. The things you do to me are beautiful, Elisabeta. What we do to one another is an expression of love.”
She studied his face for a long moment. “One expression of love. I see that in your mind. I also see other things as well. Intriguing things. I want to do those things with you, Ferro, not just one. All of them.”
His fist bunched in her hair. She could drive him right to the very edge of his control, and he had always thought himself extremely disciplined. He wanted everything he gave her, everything they did together, to be perfect for her. To be beautiful for her. “When you are ready, sívamet, we will do them.”
She pressed a kiss to his chest and then looked up again, her dark gaze colliding with his. “How do we know if I am ready if we do not ever try?”
Ferro’s heart stuttered. She was killing him. How was he going to protect her if she was going to lie on top of him, give him those innocent, seductress eyes and move her silken body over his already inflamed nerve endings, threatening to drive him past all sanity?