Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79927 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79927 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
The walk back to the home-dome and the bathing suite felt strangely unreal to him. He kept his eyes on Kiera’s back, on the swing of her braids and the smudges on her shirt, using the sight of her to tether himself as long as he could.
But by the time they reached the warm stone edge of the bathing pool, he knew he was in trouble–big trouble.
Kiera stripped off her soiled clothes and stepped into the water with a groan of relief, scooping handfuls of it over her arms and shoulders. Brux remained on the ledge for one heartbeat too long, trying to decide if he could hold on until she noticed on her own.
He could not–she looked up…and all the color drained out of her face.
“Oh my God—your face has gone all wolf again!” she exclaimed. “And your eyes are pure gold!”
Brux tried to answer quickly, before speech abandoned him entirely.
“Forgive me…couldn’t say…the animal would have lost her young…”
The words were becoming harder with every second. And it was harder to think… Harder to hold thoughts together long enough to push them out through his mouth.
His jaw felt wrong…his teeth were too sharp, and the bones of his face ached.
He could feel himself slipping–further and faster than he had in weeks.
Kiera’s eyes widened with panic.
“You’re starting to shift, Brux!” she exclaimed, sounding like she was panicking. “We have to stop it, now.”
He opened his mouth…but nothing came.
Or rather, something came—but it wasn’t language. Only a rough sound low in his throat, more growl than word.
Brux tried again, fighting through the thickening fog in his thoughts.
Kiera…Touch… Need…get…closer…
But the concepts would not arrange themselves properly. They broke apart and slid away from him before he could grasp them.
His hands shook. His vision pulsed strangely. The warm, steamy room seemed to stretch and blur at the edges. Oh Goddess, he was going all the way back to his wolf and this time, who knew if he would ever be able to shift back again?
Kiera was saying something else now—his name, maybe?—but even that was beginning to sound distant.
Brux could feel the void opening beneath him, hungry and dark and horribly familiar.
And for the first time since she had brought him back into the light, he was truly afraid he might not be able to find his way out again.
23
KIERA
Kiera’s heart pounded so hard it hurt–Brux was slipping away from her!
She could see it happening right in front of her eyes—the gold flooding his gaze… the angles of his face sharpening…the words deserting him one by one.
And somehow she sensed it wasn't like the earlier times, when she’d been able to catch it quickly and pull him back with a touch and a kiss and the press of her body against his.
This was worse–deeper.
He had gone too long without her help while they were saving the jhorra and her young, and now the void was pulling at him with greedy hands, determined to gobble him up before she could help him.
Kiera felt an icy stab of fear…followed by a wave of determination.
No.
No, she was not going to lose him like this.
Not now…not when she was beginning to feel so much for him. To love him?
The thought surprised her, and she pushed it aside–there was no time for speculation–she had to act.
For one frantic moment she thought of doing what had worked before—drawing him down between her thighs, giving him her taste and her scent and the warmth of her body until the blue came back into his eyes.
But some instinct in her told her it wouldn’t be enough this time–Brux needed more.
And she knew exactly what more meant.
The knowledge sent a hot, terrified shiver through her because she had been avoiding it…avoiding them.
Avoiding the sight and thought and sheer reality of his two massive shafts–both of them so frighteningly big and so very alien, even though Brux had explained them to her with the same calm honesty he used to explain everything else.
She could still hear his deep voice in her ear from a few nights before when she had finally gotten up the nerve to ask. They’d been lying together in the bathing pool, her back to his chest, his muscular arms wrapped around her.
“Tell me about these,” she’d murmured, arching her back a little to nudge him with her behind. “Tell me how you use them. And why is the bottom one bigger than the top one?”
“For a good reason,” he’d growled softly, his breath hot against her neck. “If I’m taking a woman while I’m facing her, the larger bottom shaft fills her pussy—stretches her open and fucks her deep until she’s moaning my name.” His hand had slid down her belly then, fingers teasing her clit as he spoke. “And the shorter upper shaft…” He’d pressed his hard length against her ass, making her gasp. “Rubs against her clit, but it also secretes a special fluid.”