by Zoe Forward
“I can’t watch you almost die.”
She twined her arms around his neck. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“It would shatter me.”
“Look at me. You’re not going to die today or tomorrow.” She cupped his face and encouraged him to look into her eyes. “There’s an us. For as long as we both exist there will be an us. You as a god means you might live longer than me. I don’t know how that’ll go.”
She closed the distance and kissed him softly.
He whispered, “I’ve never done an us thing before.”
“Me either. I’ve never really tried to be with one person. We can figure it out. But you and your job… I’ll always worry about you and what you’re going after. I can’t promise I’ll always sit on the sidelines. I think you could teach me a lot and I’d be pretty helpful.”
“I don’t want you near some of the filth I have to go after.”
Shannon smiled. “We can figure it out together. All I know is it won’t be much of a life if I don’t have you in it.”
He searched her eyes for a long moment. His gaze dropped to her lips, and when it rose back to hers, his pupils dilated. His breathing picked up. “I have a condition.”
“What kind of condition?”
“More pie.” His hands tunneled into her hair, pulling just enough to tilt her head back and get full access to her lips and down her neck. He pressed her against a piling. His hands slid up her thighs to dip between them. He nudged aside her soaked panties and stroked where she was pulsating. She gasped.
“I can do pie. Take my dress off,” she begged.
“No. I like it on you out here. No one else sees you naked. Only me.”
“There’s no one here.”
“Bythos might be peeping. Fucker can get an eyeful, but not everything.”
She slipped from beneath him and snagged the cuffs off the dock. With a grin she dangled them from one finger. “I think you’ve been a very bad boy.” She slapped them over his wrists.
“You’re a wicked witch,” he whispered.
“I can be, but only for you.” She kissed him again, but this time there was no rush to it. No desperation. She kissed him like she’d been doing it forever and planned to keep on doing it the same way. “I’m ready to hear those three little words.”
He dropped his cuffed hands around her neck, placing the weight of his arms on her shoulders, and pressed her back against the piling. “You are mine?”
She scowled.
He grinned. “I love you. For however long we’ve got, I love you.”
“You’re going to marry me.”
“Was that a proposal? Because if it was, I think you need to work on your delivery, darlin’. It sucked.” He chuckled.
She placed her hand against his chest. “This belongs to me. It’s always been mine.”
“Ouch.” He rubbed where her hand had been. “What’d you do?” He plucked the T-shirt away from his neck to peek down it. “There’s a mark.”
“The tattoo means this is the real thing. You and me. We Pleiades can place that mark on the guy chosen by the gods to be our soul mate. It’s you. It means you’re stuck with me. Forever.”
“I already know this is the real thing.”
She unbuttoned his pants. “If you even start to think about bed hopping, just remember, I can be a very wicked witch.”
Acknowledgments
With immense gratitude to my readers who welcomed my characters into their lives and imaginations. This book is for those of you who requested one more in the Keepers of the Veil series.
Sasha Knight, your insight and tough editing were invaluable.
Nichole Severn, thank you for being fresh eyes in a time of need.
A huge shout out to Quincy Marin for her graphic art expertise. You are magic on the computer.
None of this would be possible without my husband, family and friends. We lost a beloved furry member of our household while writing this book, a cat who left a hole in our hearts but filled our lives with love in the short time he was with us.
About the Author
Award winning author, Zoe Forward is a hopeless romantic who can’t decide between paranormal and contemporary romance, so she writes both. Her novels have won numerous awards including the Readers' Choice Heart of Excellence, Golden Quill, Carolyn Readers Choice, and the Booksellers' Best.
When she’s not typing at her laptop, she’s tying on a karate belt for her son or cleaning up the newest pet mess from the menagerie that occupies her house. She’s a small animal veterinarian caring for a wide range of furry creatures, although there has been the occasional hermit crab.
She’s madly in love with her globe trotting conservation ecologist husband who plans to save all the big cats on the planet, and she's happiest when he returns to their home base.
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Also by Zoe Forward...
IN THE KEEPERS OF THE VEIL SERIES:
Protecting His Witch
His Witch to Keep
Playing the Witch’s Game
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OTHER PARANORMAL ROMANCE TITLES:
The Way You Bite
Dawn of a Dark Knight
Forgotten In Darkness
Darkness Unbound
