“Yeah?” My flame questions and the doubt on her lips would be maddening if the way they pout was not so adorable.
“Yes.” I trail my fingers up the pale flesh of her arms, and feathers sprout in the wake of my touch. As I move to rub her shoulders, I speak the words: “In fur, flesh, and feathers, my need for you is the same.”
“And do you need me …now?” She is surprisingly bashful in this moment. For a long moment, her eyes are downcast, obscured by long lashes. When her gaze flutters up at me, the chestnut color has been replaced with something pearlescent.
“Always.”
I watch her come alive under my gaze. My throat bobs as she moves from my grasp, sauntering backward, her body beautiful and bare under the glow of the moon.
I am glad we sent her mother to stay at Rosie and Clara’s. An interruption would not be welcome in this—or any—intimate moment between us.
“Prove it.” She takes another step back. No, as much as I would love to show her my desire, after all the time spent wondering and chasing her across the realms, I long to feel the same …dedication.
“No, my flame,” I say, summoning the kind of wicked grin I know will capture her interest. My wings unfurl behind me. “Tonight, I have a request…”
“Oh?” Her eyes grow wide with interest. “Tell me.”
“You will be the one to lead the chase,” I say, straightening my back. Her eyes burn into mine as heat rushes to her face. “Use your strength, claws, and mouth to mark me as your own—if you are willing, of course.”
Her eyes grow as wide as saucers, and I wonder if the request is too much for tonight. I will gladly wait—then I note the way she bites her bottom lip.
She is just as hungry as I am.
“That… that sounds. Yes. Yes, let’s do that.” She nods and her laugh lights up the forest. “Okay, okay, any requests or boundaries we need to flesh out first?”
I shake my head. “All I want is to be caught and claimed by the creature I love most.”
“Then Moth?” she says, stretching her arms over her head and shifting her weight from side to side as if she’s about to run a marathon.
“Yes, my flame?” I gulp as somethingprimalawakens in me.
“Run,” she says, standing firm and powerful. It is an order I do not hesitate to follow.
Launching into the air, I fly at full speed. To catch me, she’llhaveto transform, and my body tingles in anticipation of seeing her likethatagain. From flickering flame to screeching monster, she is mine to love in all forms.
And I do—usually Heather is warm against the cool of my feathers. I have often admired the way her freckles pop when she’s been exposed to too much sun and that funny way she squints when she laughs. As I soar above the trees, I think of the woman chasing me, I would not change one ounce of her humanity.
There have been times she has asked If I might love her a little less if we had met in a different time. I would not. Icouldnot. If she had been a faerie in the Moth Court when I was still indebted to royal life, we would be seated together on the throne. But chasing each other down in these woods—her teeth on the base of my throat and breath on my lips—is the place we belong.
And with every wingbeat, I long to feel all those things and more, but each time my little flame gets close I manage to give her the slip. When I look back, she is frustrated—with adorable, narrowed eyes and her hands balled in fists. She lands with a thud, and despite myself I follow. If this is not a game she wishes to play, I will gladly find another.
“Help me,” she says, breaking the tension for a moment. I wonder if it is a ploy to get ahead, but I am not used to being in the position of prey, and I fold at her request. She extends her hands, holding mine tight as a smile appears on her lips.
“I thought about holding your hands like this when I shifted back the first time,” she admits with a deep breath. When her eyes flick back up to me, they have a milky sheen across them and have grown in size. I try to pull away, but the devious grin on her lips breaks into something that lookspained.
“You do not have to shift all the way,” I assure her softly. “We have a lifetime to explore each other.”
“Iwantto,” she says through gritted teeth, getting closer, so close, her form changes and contracts in my grasp, and I wonder if there is anything I can do to help.
“Perhaps if the pain was paired with pleasure.” I lightly tug one hand from her grasp. Once free, I trail my claws down her hip. “Then that might ease the burden.”
My fingers glide slowly across her flesh. Days have felt like lifetimes, and I will savor every touch. I do not want to rush even a moment of the pleasure tonight promises.
“Moth.” She groans as her body tenses under my touch. I allow my fingers to go lower, sliding until they reach the center of her thighs, I lightly caress her entrance, delighting in the way she shutters in response.
Retracting my claw, I dip into her core, circling and pulsing my fingers; the sound of bones cracking accompanies the sound of her moans until my fingers are slick with desire and the panting form of a monster is wrapped around them.
“Magnificent,” I marvel, taking in the sight of her strong shoulders and structure. Her exoskeleton begins at her hips, climbing to cover her breasts in a design that fades from gold to green. With her this close, the soft ring of feathers that covers her neck tickle my soft flesh, and I gulp.Truly magnificent.
