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“Who is Carmen?”
Dannika smiled, despite the pain in her eyes. “A friend. One that died.”
His shadow bristled beneath the surface, looking to escape. To hunt down and kill the monster who instilled such fear in her. To rend the offender limb from limb. How dare they mess with his woman?
“If a reaper killed your friend, I will hunt him and I will kill him.”
Her lashes dusted tears. That look destroyed him.
“That’s the thing. A reaper didn’t kill Carmen. He is very much human, and by your own admission, you protect humanity. You can’t help me, and you can’t protect me.”
He stepped forward. “You know who this human is? Where he is?”
She nodded. “Yes. After two years in court, in jail, the evidence to convict him disappeared. He will come for me and anyone around me will die.”
CHAPTER25
Dannika felt like a caged animal. While her new powers made her feel stronger and lethal, they were nothing compared to the predator she faced. Raine hadn’t outright said, but she knew he wanted a lifetime commitment. She had trouble committing to plans a week ahead of time, let alone forever.
She stiffened as he took her hand in his. Warmth traveled up her arm at his mere presence.
She was in so much trouble.
Raine squeezed her hand. “Tell me what I must do to gain your trust.”
“I don’t fit in. I never fit in. It’s only a matter of time before bad things happen. You should let me go.” While her mind agreed with every word she had said, her heart, her soul screamed in denial.
Raine’s face was like a statue. “If I believed that was what you truly needed, I might let you go, but I can feel your wolf. Leaving is not what you want.”
“It doesn’t matter what I want. It never has.”
“You’re wrong. That may have been true in the human world, but here you cannot deny your wolf. Your animal keeps you from turning reaper. Its needs are simple, but if you deny them, you are lost.”
She stilled. “What are you talking about?”
“I told you that the demon soul is benign. That’s not completely true. It strives to regain its former glory. To feast. To destroy. Our animal controls the shadow soul. As long as your animal is strong, the shadow soul is a weapon and doesn’t control you. A reaper loses his animal. He gives in to the darkness.”
Dannika glanced at the door. How had she let this happen? “I’m trapped.”
Raine pulled her against his body. “Dannika. Those bad things that happened in the human world are part of ours. No one here will blame you for them. Attacks. Death. Blood. These are part of the shadow shifter world.”
She ran a finger over his cheek. “I don’t want to be responsible for anyone else getting hurt, especially you.”
His lip twitched. “You fit here, Dannika. You belong here. With me.” His shadow moved over her, removing their clothes in its wake. She should have protested, but reason left her when his lips descended on hers.
The memories of the past disintegrated when he kissed her. It was a primitive and explosive possession as his mouth fed on hers. He eradicated every sane thought from her head, evaporating the past and replacing it with passion and ecstasy. She could feel his hands move under her shirt, committing every curve to memory. Her breath hitched, but his mouth never ceased its erotic exploration, a series of addictive kisses that stole her will and succumbed to his inhuman desire.
Dannika squeezed his shoulders. His hair caressed her wrist as he moved down her neck. The whisper of a touch sent a firestorm racing through her blood. She clung to him in a tornado of erotic fire when he cupped her breasts, rolling her erect nipple between his fingers before sliding his hand along her ribs and belly.
Every touch left a firestorm in its wake. She wanted to scream for relief, but dry air caught in her throat when his hand moved to her thighs. She moaned when his fingers slipped between her slick, heated flesh, parting her tender lips and pressing inside her.
She arched toward him, almost coming apart right there as he stretched her tight sheath. His mouth tugged hard on her nipple, causing a rush of liquid between her thighs, coating his fingers in her warm juices. He nudged her thighs apart with his knee as his tongue lavished her nipple. The sensations coursing through her body made her heart to pound in her chest.
Raine growled as his eyes lit with hunger. He wouldn’t devour her. He would consume her body and soul. She froze as the predatory eyes moved to the valley between her breasts. He kissed her neck, then trailed kisses down her abdomen until reaching her navel. She panted as his tongue flicked the tiny gold ring that pierced it.
Air rushed from her lungs when he cupped her ass, holding her in place. His teeth scraped over her sensitized skin as a low growl of male satisfaction escaped his throat.
She clutched his shoulders as if they were the only safe haven in the tornado of emotion assaulting her body. “Raine. Do something.”
