BlindHeat (31 page)
Authors: Nara Malone
She blinked in and out, the boundaries of her body melting
away, only this time Marcus went with her. They rose, sparks of energy swirling
like a cyclone on the dark plane above the world. This she realized was
irreversible, this mating of energy. This was what he’d been trying to tell her
in the moon garden. He was her fate and she his.
I love you,
she said.
They floated back to human form, panting, bodies entwined on
a bed of grass and leaves.
“Think you’ll have any trouble recognizing me now?” he
asked, giving her ear a soft nip.
Allie smiled and turned her back to his chest and snuggled
against him. “I don’t know. I’m thinking this training of yours will require a
lot more study before I’m completely cured.”
“Insatiable,” he said, plucking a leaf from her hair.
“A diligent student,” she countered.
The forest was still, quiet around them. The creek rippled
gently between the banks. Marcus smoothed hair back from her face and kissed
her.
“We are bonded, you and I,” he said. “Mated. Sometimes I
think we were before tonight, before we met, maybe even before we were born.
Nothing we do or don’t do will ever change that. Do you understand?’
“Kind of,” she said, “and not really.”
He smiled. “The understanding will grow as you grow into who
you are.”
“After what we’ve come through, after what we just did,” her
body had barely recovered beyond the limp noodle stage, “do we have a foot in
those deep waters yet?”
He shook his head, “Maybe a toe.” He moved over her and
there was nothing limp about his noodle.
She dug deep and summoned the energy for a shift, vanishing
and reappearing a few feet away.
“You can’t outrun me, sweetheart. I’m part of you.”
Well, you being the supreme High Magus of the
Pantherians, millennial being and all, you’re probably right. But really, how
hard can it be to outrun someone so old?
“Old?” He pushed up to his knees, that feral gleam was back
in his eyes a second before he vanished.
She made it to the river before he returned in leopard form.
He chased after her, water pluming around them in glittering
sheets, the moonlight spilling through the forest in shades of pearl and
silver. He almost caught her where the water deepened. She reared up, batted at
him, claws lightly raking fur. He batted back.
A twist, a leap and she was away. He barreled after as she
broke from the water. She could see their shadows glide over the bank as the
moon cast them—the silhouettes of two big cats, one feminine and sleek, the
broader male’s form just behind and closing fast.
About the Author
Whether writing a shapeshifter romance exploring the primal
power of the wild feminine, or BDSM romance where love digs into a character’s
shadows, Nara believes romance should open the door and push lovers into a new
dimension: sexually, emotionally, and sometimes physically.
Nara Malone is an award-winning novelist and poet. As a
freelance journalist and writer, her feature profiles on women entrepreneurs
and her romantic short stories have been published in newspapers, magazines and
digital publications.
Nara welcomes comments from readers. You can find her
website and email addresses on her
author bio page
at
www.ellorascave.com
.
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Also by
Nara Malone
Print books by Nara Malone
Ellora’s Cave Publishing
Blind Heat
ISBN 9781419939594
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Blind Heat Copyright © 2012 Nara Malone
Edited by Grace Bradley
Cover design by Syneca
Photos: Fotolia.com and Valua Vitaly/shutterstock.com
Electronic book publication May 2012
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