AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I tap Serena’s leg twice when we reach the bottom of the stairs, and she hops down. Her hands trail down my back, and I suck in a deep breath. Even without direct contact, she has this effect on me, always has. Nobody else comes close, and I wouldn’t want them to. I only ever want her.
I push the thought away. Right now, we have other things to worry about—things that require me to use my brain, not my instincts, no matter how much my beast may want me to.
I continue to the end of the dock and turn back to find Serena still near the foot of the stairs. Her eyes are wide as she looks around, and for a moment, I’m confused about how she’d never seen this before. She hadn’t taken the tour of the castle with us. She’d been off with Garrett, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. All you need is to know Serena, and you would know that even if the queen gave her permission, she would never come here.
The men’s and women’s bathhouses aren’t terrible. If anything, they are also beautiful, but they aren’t the same. This one is easily twice as big, and where the men and women are lit by candles, this one is mostly left unlit. An opening at the top of the cave allows some light to shine in. It bounces off the walls, hitting natural deposits and minerals. As if that wasn’t enough, crystals of some kind take up most of the far wall. I have no idea what they are, but they glow a beautiful turquoise color and reach down deeper into the water than can be seen, making the water glow as well.
It takes me a moment to pull my gaze from her, but she doesn’t seem to notice either way.
That is until I pull my shirt off.
“What are you doing?” Serena asks as she rushes toward me, only to stop in her tracks the moment I turn to face her. Even in the low light, it’s easy to see the flush of her cheeks, and my beast gives a hiss that’s damn close to a purr with how satisfied it is to have this effect on her.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” I ask, tilting my head toward the water in a silent explanation. Serena’s eyes dart to the water before quickly returning to me, burning a line down my exposed chest. It takes her a second, and I don’t move, unwilling to interrupt her, before her eyes snap back up to meet mine again.
“But why?” she blurts, sounding out of breath.
“Why not?” I once again answer her question with one of my own as I untie my pants, letting them pool on the ground at my feet. Her eyes move to follow them for a second before she catches herself and quickly pulls them back up to my face.
“I– I thought…” she stammers before groaning and starting over. “I thought we were working on how to use my shadows better?”
She says it like a question, though I’m pretty sure that’s not what she meant, and I decide to take pity on her, kind of.
“We are,” I reassure her with a nod, which only seems to confuse her more.
I push my boxers down, and Serena’s eyes snap up toward the ceiling as I bend over to push them down and off my ankles. Serena’s seen all of us naked dozens of times by now; it’s one of those weird shifter things that nobody really has any control over. Losing control of your emotions can cause you to shift, and boom, there go your clothes. Or at least that’s how it used to be; now our clothes survive our shifts, something I hadn’t thought about until just now, after I’d already stripped down.
Oh well, we’re swimming too.
Either way, I can’t recall a single time she reacted like this. She would quickly turn away, but there was never a hint of wandering, curious eyes. Again, my beast tells me how much he enjoys that, and he’s not the only one. My cock seems more than happy about it as well.
With her eyes focused on the ceiling, I take the opportunity to shift. I might enjoy her reaction, but she’s bonded now to two different men, neither of which are me, and I didn’t call her down here to try and make a move despite what it might seem like.
The rocks are warm beneath my scales, and I take a moment to enjoy the humidity of the room. Places like showers, saunas, and heated pools have always been my favorite because of the naturally cold state of my beast. I’ve always run cold, and while turning up the heat in my room is nice, it’s not the same as the warmth here. Shifting is always disorienting; going from a six-foot-something man to a sixty-foot snake isn’t something you get used to, no matter how often I do it.
Serena’s head is still tilted so that her eyes look at the cave ceiling. I can’t have that if I want to test this theory. The dock area isn’t huge, and as a result, most of my lower half is in the water, which is fine. The water is warm and inviting. Carefully, as not to alert her to my movement, I wind my tail up and out of the water to curl around her leg.
I hear her breath catch at the contact. I’m not sure if it’s because she was unaware I shifted or the contact in general while she wasn’t paying attention, but my beast eats it up either way. Her head snaps back to look my way, and I can’t stay away. As if drawn by a magnet, my beast moves toward her, pushing higher so we look down on her.
She’s prey, so small, and without her beast, it would be all too easy to devour her. Even before she lost her ability to shift, she was still prey—my delicious Little Rabbit. Too bad the way I want to devour her is so much more than a need for sustenance. My beast would never hurt her. It’s something I know just the same as I know my beast is a part of me, a fact that can’t be changed regardless of the situation. But that doesn’t stop the pull to her; if anything, it only makes it worse, makes us crazier.
I wind my way up her, curling around her leg a few times before I reach her waist. She doesn’t move; instead, she stands and watches me with wide eyes and labored breaths, which I feel roll across my scales as I get closer.
It’s funny. We’re all huge, terrifying beasts that haven’t been seen before. By all rights, people should fear us, and for the most part, they do, but I’ve always gotten the brunt of the fear. Snakes, in general, seem to be a common phobia for people. Add in my size, and it’s as if I’ve been pulled from their worst nightmares.
But not Serena.
She’s never looked at me the way they do, no hint of fear in her eyes, no screaming. No, Serena looks at me the same, regardless of whether I’m a man or a beast. She trusts me, and that’s something I’d only ever had with the guys before her. Even my own parents feared me, but not her. Not the tiny bunny who I could have made a snack of. Instead of running from me, she chose to run to me, and I’ve been drawn to her since that first day. Every touch, conversation, look, and secret shared only pulled me closer to her. At this point, we’re so tangled together that I couldn’t escape if I wanted to. I wouldn’t know which way was up and which was down, but that’s fine. I’d rather spend an eternity lost with her than another moment without her, even if all I ever get to be is her friend. I know Storm and Garrett can take care of her, and I’ll always be here if she needs me, just like I know the rest of my brothers will be.
“Are we going in the water?” Serena asks, her words gruff as if it takes effort for her to force the words out.
I nod, and she mirrors my movement.
“Right, okay,” she stammers before reaching down and pulling her shirt over her head in one swift motion. Her fingers brush against my scales, and I have to fight to keep my beast still. It’s strange being here, having control. In our realm, it was as if we shared a body with our beasts but took turns in the driver’s seat. Both always present, but only one is able to be in command at a time, but here it’s as if we share. He’s more present while I’m unshifted, and I actually have a say. I’m able to move and make decisions while shifted.
It makes moments like this harder, both of us wanting her, but I know better. I can feel the desire to claim her from my beast. It weighs heavy with my own, mixing to make it almost impossible to resist.
“Um, can you let me go?” She rests her hand against my scales, where I’m still coiled around her waist. It takes me a moment, but I do it, much to the annoyance of my beast, who only wants to hold her tighter.
