Something fuzzy and fluffy surrounded me. It felt like a cozy, warm cloud, and I snuggled closer to it, shuddering at the embracing heat.
It took me a few more seconds to realize this wasn’t a cloud, and I was no longer dreaming.
Instead, I was wrapped like a pretzel around a giant bronze wolf.
Growing still, I tilted my head back. The wolf was sleeping deeply, wrapped around me like I was around him.
My heart skipped a beat as I stared at the wolf. He was such a majestic creature, so gorgeous and soft, but I knew how deadly he was. That his teeth could rip apart my jugular if he so wanted.
Yet I wasn’t scared of him. Not anymore, at least. Seeing him kill Mack Page had been a shock, and it had taken me a moment toget myself together. But seeing him ripping into Oz, or attacking the assassin with murderous intent, I’d felt nothing but a sense of just retribution.
I couldn’t help but wonder, however, if I could trust my feelings. What if my being his Eteria influenced the way I viewed him and his actions? He’d said I would be manipulated into having feelings for him by the Eteria magic, or something like that. He’d told me I would never feel that way for anyone else. That I was bound to love him only.
Maybe, for that to happen, I needed to have the fear manipulated out of me?
Fisting my hands in his fur, I closed my eyes and rested my head against his neck. I didn’t want to believe that. It didn’t evenfeellike that. The way I felt toward him couldn’t possibly be influenced by some so-called magic, right?
But could I say that with full confidence? I didn’t think so. Not when being his Eteria effectively meant being forced to love him for the rest of my days.
Did I love him, though? What was it exactly that I was feeling for him, aside from obvious attraction?
And what did he feel about me? Did he even feel anything for me, other than pity and guilt over my Eteria status? If so, why did he sleep in bed with me? Why had he almost kissed me yesterday?
He’d said the Eteria magic only worked on me, but what if he was wrong? What if it worked on him in some way, too, and magically influenced him to be attracted to me?
Because in what universe would someone of Lucien’s caliber find me, a plain woman by all accounts, worthy of his attention?
The wolf shifted slightly, making me raise my gaze to his face again. Arctic-blue eyes pierced mine when they met.
I swallowed hard as my heart stuttered, and slowly, hesitantly, I lifted my hand to caress his head. He closed his eyes and leaned into my touch almost like a cat.
Then I felt it.
The fur got sucked into his skin.
His limbs grew longer, firmer.
His snout pulled back, turning into a strong, masculine nose, and lips I longed to taste.
Then, under the duvet covering us both, Lucien shifted into his human form. Hisnakedhuman form, covered by mouthwatering gold skin.
With his auburn curls spread on the pillow like a bright red halo around his head, his strong, corded arms wrapped around my waist, and his eyes gone soft in the morning light, he looked so otherworldly, my breath caught.
I was about to pull my hand away from his face when he grabbed my wrist and made it stay. “Don’t,” he murmured in a raspy voice, gaze languid as he leaned his bristled cheek into my palm.
Every fiber of my being was attuned to him then, as awe and wonder clouded my brain. Lucien looked like a Greek god straight from Mount Olympus. Untouchable, yet tangible. Far beyond the realm of mere humans, yet still present right here.
And like someone had flipped a switch, a burst of need coiled through my veins, shooting electricity from where he still held my wrist straight to my loins, and heat pooled in my gut.
I wanted him.
So much so that I gasped, snatched my hand away from him, and scooted back, removing myself from his embrace.
Lucien’s gaze hardened as he watched me retreat, but I ignored it as I rolled out of bed, heart beating like a war drum, as I blindly looked for my glasses, which someone, probably Lucien, had placed on the nightstand.
Sliding my glasses up my nose, I cleared my throat, and without looking at him, I announced, “I’m going to make some coffee.”
My hand was on the handle of the door when a pair of arms wrapped around me from behind, pulling me closer, hard, against amuscular chest. “What’s wrong?” Lucien asked in a sexy murmur that made me shiver uncontrollably.