Deserted (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 4)

Never in all my many years had I experienced the sort of emptiness that was sucking me into the darkness now. The loss of power was such a shock to my system it had shut itself down to protect us. Me and the miracle I carried. That flutter of foreign energy I’d felt inside when I was desperately searching for a way to save Reece was not actually foreign at all. It was a life we’d created in the silver sands, and it was only thanks to that power that I’d been able to save Reece.

Despite my fatigue, I knew my mate was with me, his hot sands and energy carrying us across the Desert Lands. As much as I wanted to open my eyes and see the sands below, there was no way I could until some of my base energy was restored.

Which happened the moment we stepped into the silver sands.

Reece had taken me to the grotto.

As water washed over my body, I let out a low moan, my senses bursting to life. Opening my eyes, I met a searing set of blue ones, those thick, heavy lashes framing hooded eyes. Eyes I’d never thought I’d see in this realm again. “Mate,” I whispered, choking up.

Reece always looked perfect, but there was a weariness around his eyes. “You scared the fuck out of me, Lale,” he said, voice a harsh bark. “Don’t ever sacrifice your power like that again.”

I waited for him to finish berating me, a smile trying to force its way across my lips. Just hearing this stubborn asshole side of him again was the greatest gift. “I gave you everything,” I told him. “And I would do it again in a heartbeat. The only reason I held back even the one layer was I needed to ensu—”

My word was cut off when his lips crashed onto mine. His taste, spice, and power filled my mouth, and I briefly forgot everything, including my name. When he pulled away, still cradling me in the water, both of us breathing heavy, he lifted me closer. “Just heal, Lale,” he told me. “Let the grotto refill what you naturally hold, and we’ll worry about the rest later.”

“I have to tell you something,” I said in a rush, before he distracted me with his damn sexiness again. ‘When I was searching through our bond, trying to use your power over the sands to save you, I felt a flutter of foreign energy deep in my power. Deeper than I’d ever gone before.’

I had his full and silent attention now, even as he held me tight against his body.

‘I got out of your barrier because a speck of silver sand fell from my hair.”

His brow furrowed a beat as I paused to let that sink in. ‘You cannot take the sand with you,’ he said slowly.

I nodded. ‘And yet I did.”

“Foreign energy inside?” he repeated, before understanding dawned in his expression; once again, that genius brain had put the pieces together in no time.

His hand trembled as he slid it down my body to press against the armor over my stomach. ‘How can this be possible?’ he murmured.

Bonded or not, we should never be able to have children together. Transcendents did not carry young with any outside of our light, but Reece and I were breaking all the rules now.

‘It had to be the silver sands,’ I said, having had more time to think it over. “After our moon in the grotto, I left with a speck of sand and a miracle. The grotto allowed me to take sand because I carry a child of its essence. Our child.”

Reece closed his eyes, heat under his hand seeping into me as he searched through our bond just as I had done back in the Delfora. The moment he felt the spark of life, it fluttered under his touch. ‘Fuck,’ he rasped, clearing his throat. ‘We had so much to lose. I almost missed this moment—and every fucking moment after.”

His hands shook as he wrapped them around me, holding on desperately. “Fuck,” he repeated, and it was unusual to see him in shock like this. Reece never let anything phase him, but this moon, he was unable to keep it together. The truth of what we’d almost lost was hitting him hard.

Been there, done that, had the mental triggers to show for it.

Reece’s chest rumbled as his left hand traveled up into my loose hair, fingers tangling into the length as he pulled me into him for a kiss. As our lips met, a tinge of desperation burned between us. Both of us were struggling with the almost we’d just experienced. Almost dying. Almost losing our chance to be a family. Almost failing in our mission.

Needing to be closer, I slid across his lap, pressing into his body, wanting to feel every inch of him. Reece’s hands and energy stripped my clothing away in seconds, the armor and weapons sailing across to the sand. Tearing at his shirt, I pressed my lips to his chest, which rumbled under my touch. “Are you strong enough?” he rasped, holding onto my hair again, his tongue licking the water from my skin as well.

‘More than strong enough,’ I moaned. My energy was well above the level needed to love my mate, and if anything was going to heal the empty parts of my soul, it was Reece.

Needing this more than my next breath, I groaned. ‘We have to hurry. I honestly don’t think I can wait.’

This spurred Reece on. As he lifted me higher, I managed to get rid of his pants and boots while running my hands along the length of his burning body. His cock was the hottest part of all, jerking in my hand when I wrapped my palm around his length. In this moment, we were need and want, moving without thought, the recent events pushing our instincts to base level.

Some might think it was uncaring to make love on the same moon others had lost their lives, especially Alistair, but the truth was, we took this opportunity because none of us were promised tomorrow. I’d watched Reece die in front of me, felt that cold emptiness of our bond dissolving. This moment here in the grotto was one I’d never expected to have, and I wouldn’t waste a second.

As I lifted my body so I could slide down his hard length, I groaned when I ended up fully seated, the emptiness all but gone now. Reece had so much power, and with our bond and his cock filling me, there was no room to feel my losses. Rocking into him, the pleasure was instant, everything heightened by what we’d lived through. Reece soon took control, the slow movements picking up speed as he lifted me to strongly thrust into my aching pussy. He leaned down and wrapped his lips around my right nipple, sucking the erect tip into his mouth. I cried out, my hands closing around the back of his head, holding him in place, while also giving me leverage to stay seated.

He moved onto the left nipple, biting down, and my orgasm hit hard as my hips moved more erratically, riding out my release. Reece didn’t stop there, turning me on his lap so that I was facing the opposite way. This angle allowed him to thrust more powerfully, and even as my head spun from the sensation, my second release was already building.

His fingers played with my clit in time to the thrusts, and as I cried out again, his hand slid back around my body to my ass, parting my cheeks so he could push against my entrance there.

“Are you ready for another first?” he murmured. “Another boundary I want to push with you?”

“Yes,” I moaned without hesitation. There was very little in this world that Reece could do to me that I wouldn’t enjoy.

His laugh was low and satisfied. “That’s my warrior.”

The heat of his power slid over my spine, and I arched, but his cock never left my pussy as I’d expected. Instead he continued to fuck me in slow, forceful thrusts, and… damn. Just when I was about to ask some questions, because hello… pushing boundaries, I saw his red sands mingling with the silver sands before me. The pair swirled and merged, accompanied by a blast of heat that melted them into a very smooth phallus-shaped object.

When it disappeared over my head, controlled by his energy, I had a very good idea what the plan was.

Fire burned through me as Reece’s palm on my spine pushed me vertical. He still fucked me with those long, sure strokes, and as I cried out, face only inches from the water, the smooth head of his dildo pressed against my ass. As the tip entered me, a golden-red light illuminated the air, and I turned my head to see that Reece, filled with power, was looking much more godlike than he had before his rebirth.

‘Wha—’ I groaned, my words cut off as he pushed his new toy further into my ass, slow at first, even as the thrusts of his cock never eased. By the time the smooth piece was deep inside me, my body felt so full. Reece let out a low groan. “Fuck, Lale. I’ve never seen anything hotter than this moment, fucking your ass and pussy.”

I cried out, screaming as my body tightened over both “cocks,” sending me into an orgasm so intense I was fairly sure I was about to black out again. Reece’s energy was the only thing that kept me from drowning in the waters, his strength holding me up as I rode out the longest release of my damn life. All too soon, Reece followed me over the edge, and I thanked every damn being that we were still alive to have this moment.

Alive and finally able to plan a future.

Together.