“I missed you,” I whispered, the words dragging up from deep in my chest. “I hate that I wasted the time we had together, always keeping my distance. Always telling myself that you weren’t mine and I was beyond stupid if I grew attached. I fought the connection, the bond between us because I knew it would hurt like this. I knew it would tear me apart in a way that nothing else ever has, not even the rejection of my mate. And you know what?”

He’d stopped moving; it was the first time his predator stalk had ceased.

Now I took a step closer. “It was worse, Shadow. The pain I thought I’d feel when you finally walked away from me was nothing on what I feel right now. Nothing!”

Another step closer, and he could reach me now if he swiped, but again, I didn’t care. “Our demons match, Shadow. Our souls match. Come back to me.”

Flames grew around him, fast and intense, and any normal being standing in his vicinity would be dead. Not me, though, as I sent my own power out to join his until the swirls of fire carried up into the ceiling above.

“Our souls match,” I repeated, the burn of our loss deeper than ever.

In the split second it took for me to blink, I was in his hands, a biting grip around my stomach as he stole me away. Flames continued to swirl around us as death held me in its grip, and I’d never been happier.

Shadow took me deep into the library, way past the point I’d ever ventured in the never-ending hall of shelves and books. His grip on my stomach did not ease, his claws cutting into me at times, leaving behind minor flesh wounds that healed instantly. In his own beastly way, I had the feeling he was actively trying not to hurt me. A nice and positive step forward.

Unless, of course, this entire venture was all to keep his prey intact until he reached his torture chamber, where he planned to kill and eat me. But, I mean, why bother taking me away from the main entrance? Plenty of room to dismember a body right there… and I really had to stop with that line of thought.

Shadow just kept running, and I didn’t fight, allowing him this time to work through whatever he was working through. The beast-man was walking on a thin line, and I sensed he could be tipped either way if I screwed up my next move. If one potential result here was losing him to the darkness forever, I had to ensure that never happened.

The running went on for hours, and by the time he was done, I could see he’d been trying to exhaust himself. Had that been his life since he’d returned to the lair? Running to forget… to not feel?