Page 43 of The Wolf and Her Shadows

The hands on my shoulders immediately vanish, as does Vannaria herself. From the corner of my eye, I see her reappear across the room, arms now wrapped around herself. Lifting myself up on my elbows, I turn to face her, still breathing heavily.

“Are you alright? I apologize, I didn’t mean to frighten you,” Vannaria rasps, her voice trembling and gaze locked on the floor.

A wet bark of laughter rips its way out of my throat without my consent. “You’re apologizing for frightening me?”

“Yes, of course I am.” She looks up, brows furrowed. “Though I fail to see what you could possibly find humorous about this situation.”

“Vannaria.” I give her an incredulous look, my own brows lifting nearly to my hairline. “I thought you were about to kill me.”

“Kill you?” she asks, her eyes going wide. “Why in the hells would you think that?”

I simply continue to stare at her, expression unchanging.

Uncrossing her arms, Vannaria wipes a hand down her face and mutters, “This is not at all how I planned for this conversation to go.” Taking a step toward me, she shakes her head and says, “Mariane, you have nothing to fear from me. I’m angry, yes. Vengeful, yes. But none of those feelings are directed at you.” Her expression hardens. “Your father on the other hand…”

“My father is soon going to regret the day he impregnated my mother.” My eyes narrow as well, and through gritted teeth, I growl, “Because I’m going to tear him to fucking pieces for what he did. To you and to your people.”

A smile curls its way onto one corner of Vannaria’s lips. “How convenient. That’s exactly what I’d been planning to do as well.” Closing the distance between us, she leans over, bracing her hands on the bed on either side of my hips. “And then, when that’s over and done with, I’m going after the king next. And his rapist son.”

I suck in a breath, both from the sudden ferocity in the woman’s eyes, and from the absolute ridiculousness of her plans to assassinate royalty. Yet, without conscious thought, I find myself saying, “We.” The single word that slips past my lips feels so right that a much more feral smile slips onto my own face and I snarl, “You can have the king, but the prince is mine.”

“As you wish, Your Majesty.” My eyes flutter shut as she leans in closer, her lips brushing against my ear while she whispers, “I’d ask if I could kiss you, but I fear that if you said ‘yes’ I wouldn’t want to stop until I’d completely ravished you.”

A shiver runs down my spine, the fabric of Vannaria’s shirt brushing against my hardened nipples reminding me I am very much half-naked at the moment. Licking my lips, I breathlessly whisper, “Well, I most certainly wouldn’t mind.”

Letting out a low chuckle, she leans back to make eye contact with me again and smirks. “You may not, but Slivo most certainly would. They threatened to put a knife in my belly if I so much as thought about fucking you while under their roof.” Putting a finger to her lips, she pretends to whisper, “Don’t tell them about my moment of lustful weakness.”

Ignoring the pang of disappointment that lodges itself in my chest, and the growing ache between my thighs, I giggle softly. “Your secret is safe with me.” Reaching up to tuck a loose strand of white hair behind the elf’s long ear, I continue holding her gaze and drop my voice to a whisper. “Both your secrets.”

Vannaria smiles, dipping her head in a faint nod. “Thank you, Mariane.”

I smile as well, returning her nod. “Of course. This partnership goes both ways, you know. You keep my secrets and I’ll keep yours.” Tilting my head, I give her a look of faux innocence and point down at the mattress beneath me. “Would it be wildly inappropriate to ask if you still plan on finishing my massage?”

A mix between a chuckle and a sigh fills the air. “Not at all. Apologies for keeping you waiting, Your Majesty.”

She pushes gently on my shoulder, and I dramatically fall back on the bed. We share a moment of quiet laughter while we resume our previous positions. After Vannaria’s lustful confession, and my own, I anticipate her touches becoming a bit more teasing now, or perhaps even heated. Yet, they don’t. Instead, the woman goes right back to kneading the knots between my shoulders as if the moment had never happened at all.

Whatever renewed disappointment I feel is thoroughly overshadowed by an intense surge of affection for the elf.

After several long moments of being utterly pampered, I’m hit by a series of seemingly random memories. When they all click into place, I gasp, my half-lidded eyes shooting open and without thinking, I blurt out, “Is that how you’re able to turn into smoke?”

Vannaria lets out what sounds a bit like a startled squeak before clearing her throat and muttering, “Shadow. Not smoke. But, yes. Rayne has heightened strength, speed, and agility; Aren has fire magic; and we all share our people’s ability to transform into shadow.” She takes a deep breath, then shocks me entirely by offering, “Now that you know our true name, would you like to see our true face as well?”

Chapter Nineteen

Vannaria

My question hangs in the air between us for several agonizing moments before Mariane whispers, “Yes. I would really like that.”

*Vannaria, are you entirely sure about this?* Aren asks, their tone a mix between hesitant and excited.

Closing our eyes, I mentally reply, *Yes, I’m sure.*

Placing a hand on my chest, I take yet another deep breath and mutter the words to deactivate our glamour runes for the first time in nearly a decade.

Keeping my eyes shut, I carefully climb off of Mariane and move to stand at the foot of the bed before whispering, “You may look now.”

Silence. Complete and utter silence.