Page 33 of Kiss My Sass

He made her feel like a goddess when he looked at her and touched her so carefully. Thor was the only man who ever made her come completely undone with just his eyes. Hell, any second now, she was going to drop to the floor to worship at his feet.

Maybe she would. After she shifted, though. Not before.

Chapter15

Thor’s heart raced inside his chest as he undressed his gorgeous mate. It was early morning hours and all he wanted was to get her back to their room, strip her naked and make her come a time or ten before they fell into a sleep so deep it only happened when you were truly exhausted or satisfied. He was banking on the latter.

But Nica needed this. Her Raven needed this. And if he were being totally honest, his Demon Wolf did, too. The growl building in his chest told him he’d hit the nail on the head, and with one more thorough glance around, he nodded. He tucked their clothes in a neat pile on the floor and gave her one more reassuring squeeze on her shoulders before he turned her around to face the woods. Fuck, the view was even better from behind. Thor’s cock throbbed, jutting out from between his legs, letting all and sundry know just how badly he wanted her.

Later, he promised himself. He wasn’t a totally thoughtless oaf. His mate needed to feel safe and secure to change, and he would give his right arm to do that for her. She deserved to feel safe. The fact anyone had ever hurt her made his blood boil, but he stilled the growl in his throat knowing she needed this more than he needed to voice his desire for revenge.

Mine.

“Go on, Angel. I got you,” he assured her.

Some Shifters had a hard time swapping skins, and Thor braced himself for whatever happened when a woman morphed into a badass bird. Her Raven was large, he recalled, but still much smaller than her human shape. He could not even fathom how it was possible.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Thor’s connection to theotherbrought him a different aspect of what was possible and what wasn’t. Shifters had walked the earth longer than normals. Their origins were as deeply ingrained in the multiverse as any of the sentient creatures in the preternatural world.

Knowing all that usually brought him a certain sense of peace, but Thor felt his hackles rise as he noted the change in her scent. She was nervous, anxious, possibly both. He frowned, but held on to his control, batting down on all his protective instincts. On a scale from one to ten, they were at an eleven.

Doubts plagued him. What if he was wrong? What if this was a bad idea? But no. How could it be?

Thor understood her animal’s needs. The beast inside her needed to come out so their matebond could grow and blossom. It was a necessary step. Nica had already seen and accepted his Demon Wolf. Besides, he was right there. Thor would never allow her to get hurt. Not for the whole fucking world. Still, he had to force himself to back off. He needed to trust her to know what to do, so he bit his tongue and waited.

The air trembled around them. It started shimmering and glowing with Shifter magic he could see as clear as day. Oh, but it was beautiful. Nica’s Raven was black as midnight, and the magic accompanying her shift reflected that. It was all glittering black diamonds and sparkling blue fire. It danced along her skin, permeating the air with the scent of strawberry jam, fresh baked bread, and ozone.

He looked on helplessly, mesmerized, as her human shape began to transform. Limbs morphed, bones broke, and muscles reshaped. Nica didn’t shudder or cry as some Shifters did when changing. Instead, she just fell into her other shape with the softest of sighs, like when she was kissing him. One minute she was on two legs, the next she was covered in glossy black, shaggy feathers that extended down to the center of her pointed beak.

Gods, she was beautiful. So much so, she stole the breath from his body. He coveted her with his hungry gaze, wanting her more than anything. But with that wanting came a bone deep tenderness. Once acknowledged, that feeling was so profound, Thor dropped to his knees at her talons right there in the middle of the forest.

“Are you all right, mate?”

Her sweet voice filled his head, and Thor closed his eyes to stave off a wave of dizziness. Oh, he’d heard her before, he realized, but never this clear or loud. Their matebond pulsed around them and when he looked down, he saw it. Their bond was beautiful, ethereal, full of color and magic.

It connected them, tethered them together like a long, fettered rope. If he didn’t think she was fated to be his before, he damn well knew it now. Possessiveness, love, and devotion surged inside him. And something more, a need he had never felt before.

Like he wanted to bare his soul to her. Dangerous. She was dangerous. Chipping away at the carefully laid walls he’d placed around his heart to stop anyone getting too close. Nica did all that and more. She made him want to be better. She made him want to try harder.

But there were parts of him that were so dark, so full of fear and rage. Sometimes, when he went past the veil, Thor didn’t think he would make it back, and that was the biggest fear he had. He frowned hard, wondering how to explain, if he should explain. He wasn’t certain someone filled with such a bright light would understand.

Despite that, Thor still wanted to show her all the grit and dirt that clung to him. He wanted to confess those secrets that were so damn ugly about him, just to see if she still loved him. And she loved him, all right. Just like he loved her. Neither of them had said it yet, but he felt it, especially with her in this shape.

Caw caw.

Her Raven’s call brought him back to the present. Thor wiped a hand over his face, forgetting his worries as he simply took her in. She canted her head, black eyes flashing at him, and he grinned.

“Fuck, Nica, you are so gorgeous in your feathers. Wanna run with you, angel.”

“Let’s go then.”

Her reply was short and sweet, and he could hear the smile in her voice. No sooner had she agreed than Thor was swapping his own skin for fur. His change was swift, instantaneous. In the blink of an eye, Thor’s human body swapped places with his Wolf. He shook his enormous body hard, chasing away any leftover tingles.

Nica had been right about calling his Demon Wolf brindled, though he hardly gave it a thought. His fur was dark at the roots, like an almost black espresso brown that lightened to pure gold at the tips. His muzzle was the same black brown as his roots, but it was his eyes that usually frightened people. Thor’s Wolf’s eyes were pure black, holding no white at all.

He was also monstrously huge, of course, like the other Dire Wolves. But Nica had already met his beast, so he knew she would not falter at the sight of him. On the contrary, his sassy little Raven hopped up on his back, ruffling him with her beak behind his ears before cawing and taking off into the sky.

She flew low, dodging trees, and scaring the shit out of him, but Thor kept pace easily. He could feel her happiness, and he loved it. It was addictive, and he was already planning their next adventure like this. Yeah, he would go running with her flying overhead daily if she wanted to. She was something, alright. A true wonder in his Wolf’s eyes.

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