LOGINArisFour Months Later…It never snows in Veiled Valley, even in the winter. At least, it shouldn’t be snowing. Rain, yes. It rains often. So often, honestly, that I can tell what time it is just based on how the storm clouds begin to roll over the mountains with the promise of our nightly thunderstorms. But snow? I stare out the window at the silver landscape, narrowing my eyes at the guards posted at the gate. They’re just as confused as I am, but at least they’re enjoying it. “I think it’s a ridiculous name, but Soren has his heart set on it,” Maeve says from somewhere behind me with a deep sigh. “Can you imagine naming a child after a fruit?”“Is he particular to clementines?” Brie asks with a small laugh. “No, he doesn’t even like oranges. I have no idea what’s gotten into him lately, but when we found out we were having another girl, he pitched the name, and I immediately laughed at him and told him over my dead body, but he’s been calling her that, and now Fallon is calling
ArisRoman steps into the light of the kitchen, scanning Posey from head to toe before turning his sights on me. “I’ve been calling like mad for a day straight. Where’ve you been?”Posey shuffles her feet before stepping past me, but I stop her, setting one foot after the other, and let my shoulders hang, turning my skeptical expression to that charming smirk I’m known for. I have it down to a fucking science, after all, even if it feels strange wearing it now after so many days of just being… me. With her. Just us.Roman’s presence feels like an enemy has entered my territory and is currently threatening the woman trying to shrink into the shadow of the stainless steel refrigerator. I have no choice but to bite those feelings back.“We went exploring on the boat and got caught up in that storm a few days ago. I took her to the hunting cabin up north to ride it out.”Roman nods, the tension in his shoulders easing. “Yeah, I got swept up in that, too.”“Why are you here?” Posey says wi
PoseyThe fever returns in the morning when the sun rises. It’s thick and syrupy with no end in sight. I sit up, surrounded by sheets and pillows I don’t remember carrying up here from the couch. I’m wearing nothing but one of Aris’s cut-off T-shirts, which I don’t remember putting on. I rub my face on the worn fabric, inhaling deeply, trying to clasp onto whatever shred of reality I can find. All that takes up my mind is… here. Being here, in this cabin, with this man I’ve known my entire life. A man so far out of my league it’s laughable. The same man who made love to me last night like it was something fated. An act we’ve done a million times. Slow, tender, aching, the kind of touch I imagine comes from decades of knowing a lover's body. I’m delusional when I walk downstairs, my brain split into sections. Sex. Lust. Greed. Possibly, hopefully, a single shred of who I am outside of this heat, but that section is the weakest of all. Sunlight pours through the open front door, casti
Posey “You’ve always been a whiny, demanding, pain in my ass,” he pants, pinning my wrists above my head. His mouth is hot against the column of my throat as he traces a long, wet line with the flat of his tongue. He likes it when I writhe beneath him. The smiles against my skin paint my body with heat almost as much as the rough, nibbling kisses I know will leave little marks that won’t wash off for a few days–a brief reminder of tonight. “Keep your hands above your head. Grip the pillow.” I obey, my fingers curled in the plush fabric. My heart races when he rises above me just enough to deftly unbutton the flannel I stole, revealing the white, damp tank top underneath. He takes a shaky breath and then chuckles darkly, greedily, and his eyes meet mine in the dim light. “You’re perfect.”“What?” I breathe, losing myself to the way his knee draws up between my legs and puts a breathtaking amount of pressure where I need it the most. “Your breasts are a masterpiece.” He kisses the
PoseyNights falls on the cabin, but neither of us noticed the sunset until Aris mentioned something about the time, which I hadn’t been keeping track of. It’s still raining, and he’s shifting again as it stands, probably to hunt for whatever he’s going to eat raw for dinner seeing as our only other option for cooking is the woodstove, and while I’m capable of cooking like a dream, but not using that. That’s a bit out of my wheelhouse. Still, I twirl the second vial of contraceptive tonic between my fingers, watching the flakes of herbs dance in the milky liquid. I’d been too sick to my stomach to differentiate each herb, spice, and flower used to make it when I took the first draft, but this time I might be able to. If this heat isn’t a one-time thing, I’ll need this again, won’t I? I should know what ingredients I’d need to make it for myself because I highly doubt the priestesses I’ll be sharing the remainder of my life with will have them on hand.A crash echoes from outside, and
PoseyAfter telling me everything he knows about his Shadowsynger ancestors, which is very little, and the strange caves beneath Veiled Valley, which are immense and guarded by some kind of creepy spirit, Aris tears himself from the cabin like being in my presence is painful. It sucks. I don’t know how else to describe it. The knowledge that my scent is suddenly overwhelming to him, like I’m some beckon of fertility and everyone in the nearby vicinity knows it, has me cringing. I assume that’s why he brought me here–to the middle of nowhere, miles and miles away from anyone else and trapped on a small island. Aris left his clothes on the warped front porch in an untidy pile. I missed seeing him in his wolf form, but I gather his damp clothes and hang them to dry in front of the woodstove, using a length of twine I found in the kitchen strung between two sturdy, obviously handmade wooden chairs. I explore, running my fingers over every surface, every touch like an electric shock–all







