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At her offer, I think my face might burn right off. My gaze darts around the room, which to my relief appears to be empty. Hopefully we don’t have a whole audience of hidden shadowkind listening in.
As I grapple with my embarrassment, it occurs to me that there is one thing maybe I should ask Pearl about. If anyone would have a clue what the hell was going on with my anatomy during the act, it’s a shadowkind with her level of experience.
I stare down at the map, feeling too awkward to meet her eyes. “There was one thing that was kind of confusing when we… actually got together.”
The succubus props herself against the side of the table and cocks her head. “Tell me about it, and I’ll see if I can shed some light.”
I’ve gotten started on this path now—might as well dive all the way in. “When I was… finishing, I partly shifted, and my, um…” I motion hastily toward my groin. “It got this bulge right at the base of the shaft. For a minute or two it was like I was stuck inside.”
I brace myself in case I keel over from the horror of saying that out loud, but I seem to have survived the admission.
Pearl taps her finger against her lips. “Hmm. I have heard of that sort of thing before. You’ve got a wolfish thing going on when you shift, right?”
I grimace. “Yeah. Not like an actual wolf, more like a wolf-man in a movie. I’ve still got the human body, but my face gets all wolfish with the muzzle and fangs and stuff, and I sprout fur there and on my neck and arms.”
Pearl nods with a knowing air. “That’s probably it. There’s this canine thing—comes with the territory for werewolves and so on. Happens with actual dogs too, I think. You get that knot there so that you stay in place for a good long while. To increase chances of the mating being successful.”
I’m puzzled enough that I manage to look at her again, blinking. “Successful?” Getting intimate with Riva felt like a pretty huge success even before that happened.
Pearl’s current smile is definitely more of a smirk. “For making babies. At least, when it comes to the actual animals. Shadowkind can’t have kids anyway.” Her forehead furrows slightly. “I guess we don’t know about shadowbloodsyet.”
I open and close my mouth a few times before I recover my voice. “Um, we definitely weren’t trying—that wasn’t something—”
Thankfully, my heightened hearing still works even in my flustered state. I pick up on the footsteps heading our way in time to clamp my jaw shut, moments before Riva steps into the room.
She takes in me, Pearl, and the otherwise empty room. “Where did everyone go?”
Pearl pushes off the table to amble over to Riva. “Rollick called for a refreshment break. They’ll be back in a few minutes. Your wolf-man and I were just having a little strategy chat.”
The succubus shoots me a wink over her shoulder and slips out the door.
Riva raises her eyebrows at me. “Are you okay? She always seems to mean well, even if she can be a bit over-the-top about it.”
“Yeah. Yeah.” I run my hand through my hair, hoping I don’t look half as unbalanced as I feel. “It was fine.”
With Riva right in front of me after the conversation I just had, I can’t help thinking back to that evening when we hooked up. All those thrilling sensations now paired with the idea that some part of my body was trying to get her—
I can’t even think it. Fucking hell, I only just managed to get that close with her at all—one time, with Dominic there in case my instincts went haywire.
Whether it’s possible for us to have kids, whether it’s something we’d want to try for down the road, is so far outside my ability to imagine that it just about short-circuits my brain.
But Riva knows me well enough not to push. She just sidles over, gratifyingly near but not enough to make my nerves jump, and gingerly tucks her hand around mine, reminding me of why I love her so much.
Whatever futures we could dream of, she’s always been willing to wait for me.
Twining her fingers with mine, she traces her other hand over the ridges marked on the map. “He came back again. If we’re going to take him down anywhere, it’ll be here.”
Six
Riva
By the time we’ve finished one final extended planning session around the dining table, a dull ache has formed behind my forehead. It’s only late afternoon, the sunlight turning amber beyond the windows, but I feel as if I’ve been up for days.
Rollick stands first with a brisk swipe of his hands. “We’ll see if that last associate of mine can make it here to smooth along our plans overnight. Either way, we head over to stake out the fortress first thing in the morning. Get plenty of sleep, those of you who need it.”
I push back my chair and pull out the phone he gave me. I haven’t used it for much so far other than checking the news, which is what I pull up now.
At the headlines that appear on the screen, my pulse stutters. Dominic catches my expression and leans close. “What’s wrong?”
