Forbidden Griffin (Bodyguard Shifters) by Zoe Chant & Lauren Esker

Author:Zoe Chant & Lauren Esker [Chant, Zoe & Esker, Lauren]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-06-26T00:00:00+00:00

CELA

Cela couldn’t sleep.

She lay awake in her bed in Tyr’s house with the moonlight shining through the window, bathing the room in silver radiance. She turned over, fluffed her pillow and tried turning it to a fresh side. No such luck.

It had been a few days since the Rugers’ barbecue, and she found herself more conflicted than ever. Seeing all those happy shifter mates and their children had profoundly brought home to her what she didn’t have and might never have.

She heard footsteps above her, followed by running water. Sitting up in bed, she listened to the footsteps going down the stairs, then the front door opening and closing.

Apparently she wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep.

After a minute, drawn by temptation, she got up and, in her nightgown, slid her bare feet onto the rugs covering the floor. She peeked at the sleeping babies, made sure they were settled, then went to the front door and quietly stepped outside.

The summer nights felt soft and warm here compared to what she was used to. She hardly needed clothing at all. The moonlight was almost as bright as daylight to shifter-sharp eyes. Looking across the yard, she saw Tyr out among the greenhouses, drifting back and forth restlessly, lifting a board here and there, moving a stack of pots. Like her, he was dressed for sleeping, wearing loose pajama pants and stripped to the waist.

As he moved and flexed in the moonlight, she caught her breath.

This is a terrible idea. I should go back inside.

But she was captivated. As if drawn by a magnetic force, she padded down the porch steps and walked barefoot onto the grass.

Tyr was unaware of her until she came close. He turned, and she saw shock cross his face; then his eyes darkened with a mix of lust, eagerness, and pain.

“Can’t sleep?” he asked.

“No. It’s the moon, it’s so bright.”

“Full moon,” he agreed. “You know, back in the old days they say shifters were drawn to it.”

Cela nodded. She was trying not to gaze at the fuzz-dusted planes of his chest, but her gaze kept drifting downwards. In the process, she discovered something startling.

“Tyr—what is wrong with your tattoo?”

“What?” he asked, surprised, and looked at his arm.

By now Cela had both of their tattoos all but burned into her memory, every curve and twist. Now Tyr’s was different. Faded. It looked as if parts of it had been rubbed out with an eraser.

“What on earth?” Tyr said, his voice full of shock. Like her, he was intimately familiar with every twist and turn of his own tattoo. He rubbed a thumb across it as if expecting it to come off like wet paint. “Cela—let me see yours.”

Cela held out her arm and gasped. Her tattoo was doing the same thing. Parts of it were so faded she could see her bare skin, as she had not been able to in years. The uncertain moonlight made it hard to tell, but it looked as if some of it was fading before her eyes.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.