Page 6 of Shifting Desire
I felt it the moment I saw her, but she didn’t.I feel it every time I touch her, or she touches me, but she doesn’t.And it’s all because of me.
No.Because of him.Because of what I had to do to make sure that my mate was safe.Because of what our mate bond would have done to his hierarchy, his bloodline, and his damn empire.But he is gone now and the three years the spell lasted are at an end.
I set my drink down on the edge of my private booth and dig my fingers into the curve of my jaw, grinding my teeth until pain flashes behind my eyes.
The spell Serephine cast still holds.It coils around the bond like barbed wire, keeping it dormant inside her.Muted and dull.She still can’t feel it.Not the pull, not the connection.Not yet.
But I feel her constantly.In my dreams and under my skin.In the hollow ache in my chest when I walk into The Gin Room and hear her laugh but know I can’t reach for her the way I want to.The way I should have always been able to.
It’s been three miserable fucking years.
Three years of pretending I don’t notice the way she licks her lips when she’s focused.Of ignoring the way, her mismatched eyes glow under the overhead bar lights, blue and green like two different spells.Of brushing off the tight, white-hot burn in my chest when she jokes with other men and doesn’t even glance in my direction.
Because she doesn’t know.I made sure of it.
When Serephine cast the suppression, I told myself it was the only way to keep her safe.If she felt the bond, she’d be pulled into my world.Into danger.Into blood and politics and enemies that would use her just to make me bleed.
And my father—goddess rot his soul—would have made her disappear if I tried to claim her without his permission.
So, I stayed silent.But now he’s dead.I should feel free.Released.Unbound.Instead, I feel caged by my own choices.
I’ve watched Ari grow into herself.She still doesn’t realize her worth.She hides her fae magic behind bright hair dye and sarcasm, uses fast-talking charm to distract from how much she wants to belong.She doesn’t see how every paranormal creature in this bar turns their heads when she enters a room, not because she’s beautiful, though she is, but because she glows with uniqueness.
Even through the bond suppression, her light is breaking through.She's getting stronger.Hungrier.Her fae side is clawing to the surface more and more.The bond is building inside her at a rapid pace, catching up so to speak and soon enough it will be front and center.She will feel everything and her fae magic will explode, the bond feeding it until we are fully mated and my magic becomes hers.
The spell is already crumbling to dust and words spoken on a breeze.Soon, she’ll start to feel things she can’t explain.And when that happens, I have a choice to make.
Do I come clean and tell her everything?That I’ve been lying by omission for years?I took the choice from her because I couldn’t see another way to protect her?Or do I reject her and walk away?Do I continue to protect her?
There is a third option, but it is also the one that scares the ever-loving shit out of me.I could let her decide.The bond will be at full strength soon enough and then I can let her decide whether she wants to be my mate or refuse me.
The truth is, I don’t want a mate who’s only with me because her soul was branded with mine.I want a woman who chooses me despite the bond.Despite who and what I am.Despite everything I have done and will do to protect those I love.
She deserves to make that choice for herself.
But fuck, it’s hard.Every time I see her, my control slips.Just a little.Enough to imagine what she’d look like moaning my name, writhing beneath me, taking my thick cock like she was made just for me.Covered in claw marks and sweat and the fire only I can give her.
Every dragon dreams of hoarding something sacred.Gold.Art.Secrets.Power.But I don’t want any of that.I just want her.
In my bed.In my den.In my fucking life.Forever.
I tip the glass back, the vodka burning down my throat like penance.
Ari brushes past my booth on her way to the stockroom, and her scent lingers like a promise—lavender, sugar, and moonlight chaos.It hits me so hard I nearly growl.My dragon stirs, closer to the surface than he’s been in years.
Mine.His demand rings through my soul and I smile.
Yes.She is.And it’s time I stop waiting.No more lingering in the shadows.No more pretending I don’t want to burn the world down just to see her smile.
She thinks she’s immune to me.She thinks I’m just another arrogant asshole who wants to get under her skirt and under her skin.She’s wrong.I want her soul.Her submission.Her scars.
I want it all.And this time, I won’t be deterred.Not until she knows exactly who I am.And what she means to me.I am going to win over my mate before she has to decide between loving me or leaving me broken.
