CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Kate woke one morning three months later with the sun in her eyes and her lover’s voice in her mind:
It's time to play, beloved.
Feeling an odd sensation, she opened her eyes. A large butterfly beat his wings rapidly against her toes, then flew up and landed on her stomach. She saw brightly-colored, diaphanous wings of near-transparency and great beauty. "You’re gorgeous," she said. "Good morning, my laird."
He flew out of her line of sight. Something growled. A large, sleek mountain lion was standing beside the bed. He licked one of her breasts with a rough tongue. She gasped, and then giggled. Reaching out, she patted his head, and then rubbed along the side of his jaw. He started purring. She stroked the soft hair behind his ear and laughed when he head-butted her palm.
"I hope you’ve already had your breakfast."
You know what I’m hungry for.
He shrank and twisted before her eyes and became a snake. He flowed over her body, arrowed down across the expanse of her belly, coiled around her thighs. His head found her and a tiny, delicate tongue flicked across her sex. She moaned.
"You’re a very wicked man, er, magical creature."
Ha. I will show you wicked. He became a mosquito and settled on her thigh; considered, humming his high-pitched whine, then flew up and landed threateningly on her nipple.
"What if I swat you? Will all forms of you die?"
He turned into an owl and perched on her hand, looking very thoughtful and wise. That, my love, is an interesting question. I don’t know. I have a feeling that if you—or anyone else—tried to injure me, I could simply shape-shift the injury until it healed. But if I were instantly snuffed out, I guess I wouldn’t have the time to do so. So don’t swat me, please.
She reached down with her free hand to stroke his feathers. "In that case, you’d better not do anything that makes it tempting to swat you."
He became a very long snake who rapidly coiled himself around her torso several times, imprisoning her arms inside his tight coils. Can’t swat me now. His head aimed downward and flicked her between her legs again.
Kate closed her eyes. She had always liked snakes. But she was glad when he turned into Ross again, a very eager, human Ross whose ability to keep teasing her was lost in his own need.
They made love languorously, taking the time to fully enjoy one another. Afterwards, she asked, "Can you be any creature you choose, now?"
"Some are harder than others—I don’t know why. And some take more of my energy than others do. Winged creatures in particular are exhausting."
"What’s the easiest?"
The bed groaned beneath them, and scaly knobby hide was all she could see or feel. He had transformed into the Zrakon. His tail dragged on the floor, taking up much of the room in the bedchamber. His deep voice hissed out. "This form takes no special energy and is easy to maintain."
"Easier than your human form?"
"No. Human is still the most natural."
"You know, you've never confirmed whether there are other shape shifters in your family. Does your twin do this sort of thing too?"
"My twin does all sorts of strange things."
"Well, that's vague!"
"Why do you want to know about him?"
She gave him a lusty grin. "Well, hey. Guys have twin fantasies, right? Can't a girl indulge a dream about two extremely hot guys taking her together?"
"Certainly not," he growled. "You're mine. No way that reprobate is getting near you."
"You're all I really want," she said, laughing. Stroking the Zrakon's scales she added, "My love, you’re going to destroy the bed."
He shifted back to human Ross. "I wouldn't want to do that. Especially since that bed is cradling not only my beloved wife, but also my child."
"Your child is nothing more than a speck at the moment, love."
He kissed her bare belly. "Such a lively little speck. I swear I can feel him moving around in there."
She laughed. "It's probably gas. But in a few weeks, we should both be able to feel him. Or her."
He slid up to kiss her mouth, while she tangled her fingers in his hair. "Are you happy, Catriona?"
"Deliriously happy."
"I love you."
She caressed his hair. She didn't think she would ever get enough of his long, lithe body, his silky hair, his sea blue eyes. But her love encompassed so much more than that now. His shape shifting ability had forced her to look deeper, and the telepathic connection had made this easy. She knew and loved the real Ross Malloch. The lively mind and generous spirit who dwelt beneath all his various surfaces. "You'd better. I tamed your monster, didn't I?"
"Aye, you surely did."
"I love you, too, Ross. Zrak. Tentacles and all."
"I think you love my tentacles more than the rest of me."
"I do not."
"Oh aye? I say you do. Shall we test my theory? We could go down to the cavern and splash around."
She laughed. "Any time, Zrak. Any time."
Thanks for reading! The second bonus book, The Zrakon’s Curse, follows right here: (TURN THE PAGE).