Page 66 of Panther in the Shadows
Through the bond, I feel everything. His love. His fear. His absolute determination that we'll both survive what's coming. And beneath it all, his panther's savage satisfaction that I'm finally his.
The claiming mark burns with power and promise. Visible proof of what I've become. What we've become together.
"Yours," I manage, though my voice has gone rough. Almost a purr. "Always yours."
He moves with a new urgency, the claiming completed but the need still burning between us. He turns me back over, settles between my thighs. The hard length of him presses against my entrance, and we both freeze.
"Tell me you want this," he says, though the bond now thrums between us with mutual desire.
"I want this." I wrap my legs around his hips, pulling him closer. "I want you. Now."
He enters me in one slow thrust that steals my breath. Stretch and fullness cascade pleasure through my system. We both go still, adjusting, savoring the connection—now deeper, more profound, sealed by the claiming mark burning at my nape.
Then he starts to move.
But the ocean beyond the walls whispers a different truth. Some battles can only be won by those willing to drown.
CHAPTER 16
RAFE
The rhythm starts slow. Controlled. Each thrust deliberate as Moira adjusts beneath me, her body learning mine. Tight heat surrounds me, and the sensation threatens every shred of restraint I've built over years of survival.
Her hands grip my shoulders, nails digging in. The small bite of pain grounds me, keeps me from losing myself completely.
"Okay?" The word comes out rough.
"More than okay." She rolls her hips, and pleasure spikes up my spine. "Don't hold back."
The permission nearly breaks me. But this is Moira—the sea witch who's haunted my thoughts since I brought her to the warehouse for protection and she refused to be intimidated by the panther who runs the underworld. She deserves better than quick and desperate.
My hands slide under her hips, angling her differently. The next thrust hits deeper, and she gasps. Her legs tighten around me, heels digging into my lower back.
"There." Her voice has gone breathless. "Right there."
Power responds beneath our skin. My shadows curl around her like smoke, and where they touch, her magic rises—a blue-white shimmer that traces along her skin like phosphorescence in deep water. The collision sparks and flares with each movement. The air around us grows thick with it. Salt crystals form on our damp skin, catching the pale light. They glow faintly blue against her collarbone, down the valley between her breasts.
Her magic has never felt like this before—wild and strong and completely unleashed. The careful control she's maintained for years has dissolved, and what remains is raw power calling to my own darkness.
The shadows in the room deepen with my desire. They move like living things, caressing Moira's skin wherever I'm not touching her. She arches into the sensation, pleasure written in the curve of her throat, the part of her lips.
"Rafe." My name on her lips sounds like prayer and demand together.
"I know." My hips snap harder, faster, finding the rhythm that makes her breath catch. "I feel it too."
The connection goes deeper than physical. Our powers recognize each other as if shadow and water were always meant to meet like this. As if we were always meant to find each other.
Sweat slicks our skin. Salt water and night-blooming jasmine fill the air. Each thrust drives us closer to the edge, magic building with pleasure until the two become inseparable.
Moira's hands slide into my hair, pulling my mouth down to hers. The kiss is messy and desperate, all tongue and teeth and need. When she breaks away, gasping for air, her eyes have gone unfocused.
"Don't stop." Her voice has dropped to something primal. "Please don't stop."
"Never." The promise comes from somewhere deep in my chest. "I've got you."
My hand slides between our bodies, finding the sensitive bundle of nerves at her center. She cries out, her inner walls clenching around me. The sensation drags a groan from my throat.
"That's it." I circle her clit with steady pressure, matching the rhythm of my thrusts. "Let go. I want to feel you come apart."
