“Two, the promise that you made to me, where I would never be vulnerable to my pack again, was a strong bond that Dannie either didn’t know about or couldn’t break. It was what allowed me to remember as much as I did and fight them off when I needed to.”

His chest was rumbling now, and with the beast hovering close by, I had to calm the situation. “Shadow,” I said firmly, drawing all of his attention to my face. “Thanks to you, I’ve never touched, fucked, or orgasmed from any man except you.”

That was exactly what he wanted to hear, and when his lips met mine, a sigh so deep, it was near a groan escaped. “How the fuck…?” I murmured against his lips. “Dannie must be scary powerful to make me forget you.”

Shadow didn’t like that reminder, his kiss turning harder, and my brain went on a little vacation from thought. “My beast knew you,” he finally said, his voice a husky rumble. “Even if I didn’t remember, my instinct knew you were mine. Nothing in any world would have gotten through to me except you, Sunshine. I need you to know that.”

I nodded, my lips trembling again. “I know. I felt that so fiercely, and as soon as I remembered, I came for you.”

His body stiffened, and it was clear that what I’d just said bothered him. “I should have been strong enough to remember you.”

I wrapped my arms tighter around him, holding on with all of my strength. “The only reason I remembered was because of your spell. You did save me… or more accurately, we saved each other.” He didn’t appear satisfied by this response, so I pushed on. “More so, you did remember me without any outside help. You destroyed every damn doorway from this place except the one to Earth. There was only one reason you’d have done that.”

Shadow made a disparaging sound. “Maybe that was for the shifters.”

I wrinkled my nose at him. “Don’t even try to play. You love me. I knew it from the first time you threw me over your shoulder.”

He went very still, blinking down at me, and I wondered if maybe I’d gone too far. I mean, I had been joking around, and while I knew I loved him, Shadow had never been particularly forthcoming with those exact words. It didn’t matter to me because actions spoke much louder, and his told me that I was important to him.

“Love,” he repeated, and I didn’t bother to look away or be embarrassed. If he didn’t love me, it wouldn’t break me. Mostly because he’d get there eventually. My plan to grow on him like some sort of exotic fungus was in full swing.

“Love is a human word,” he rumbled. “A human word they throw around with such careless abandon.”