a chance to ogle him.
“You’ll prefer me this way. If I try to deny what I’m feeling, it might become a bad thing for you.” He shrugged nonchalantly but kept his fierce gaze on me. Despite how casually he spoke, I had a sense he wasn’t bullshitting me.
“I’m not worried about you stalking or hurting me.” I’d never searched into a soul reaper’s lifestyle, so I had no clue what troubled Shepherd. My goat on his chest marked him as my soulmate, and his soul bonded to mine. Our fate decided we needed to be connected in two different ways. My heart skipped a beat, and it was like butterflies took off in my stomach. Connected. Tied together. Understood. It sounded beautiful, and out of the realm of possibilities with my curse.
And he hadn’t look revolted in the least bit when I behaved wantonly.
“Good.” Shepherd’s voice pulled me from my reverie. “I’d make a terrible stalker since stalkers aren’t supposed to talk.”
I chuckled. “You’re the strangest soul reaper I’ve ever met.”
His gaze flickered over me keenly. “And you’re absolutely stunning.”
I stopped laughing as my cheeks warmed. To hide my surprise, I averted my gaze. There it was again. It felt natural to feel around him and show all the things I kept locked in. The soul reaper gave me an opportunity to tell the truth about the goat mark. But telling him that the curse intertwined our lives, including sharing my immortality with him, should be done during a special moment. Plus, I didn’t want to tell Shepherd he might share my fate if we didn’t stop Harvest, or the Devil, from crossing over.
Fear snatched my heart and squeezed tight. I placed a hand on my chest.
Shepherd, with a crinkle in his brow, touched my arm. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
I lowered my hand. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. Through the bond, I sense your emotions. Right now, you’re afraid.”
“You can feel what I feel?” I asked incredulously.
“Yes.” His thumb lightly rubbed my skin until goose bumps appeared.
It was an innocent gesture, but it ignited a firestorm of desire within me. My pulse quickened and lust obliterated my thinking. All I wanted was him.
He inhaled sharply, and his eyes blackened before brightening into a vibrant purple. “I sense that too.”
My clit throbbed at his passionate gaze. “Sense what?”
“Princess,” he said gruffly. “I can help with that.”
Panic clawed at my throat and lust ebbed. “While that’s true, I have terms for when that happens again.”
His brows furrowed, and his pupils return to their normal shade of green. “Terms?”
“Yes. Will that be a problem?”
“No. I’ll give you whatever you want.”
_____
When I needed to aid a few ascending souls, Shepherd followed me into the human world. He stood outside the houses or hospital doors with the gremlins, making the green creatures more tolerable. But once we were in the Underworld again, I reached my limit while I tracked and killed a fox demon.
“Stop right there.” My nails dug into my palm as I tightened my fists and walked over to the gremlin humping a corpse.
As my blade hovered near his skinny throat, the fiend shook and quickly zipped up his jeans. In a trembly voice, he lied, “I was making sure he was dead!”
“With your dick?” I grabbed the back of my neck. “Some creatures won’t learn. Better to kill them.” My sword followed him as he stepped away.
“No! I’m sorry, my lady!”
“Stop calling me that. It makes me feel old.”
“I wouldn’t doubt if you weren’t over a century or two.”
My gaze whipped toward the grumpiest of the gremlins. “You’re right. I’m still in my hundreds.”
“Dirk.” Shepherd posture turned rigid. The stuck-up gremlin looked away from him and uttered a humph. “And Wallis, stop humping shit before I let Prudence kill you.”
“Disgusting creatures,” I muttered. “Why are they with us again?”
“Because we are Sire’s faithful servants,” Dirk said, placing a hand over his heart. He truly adored his master.
“Some servants.” I scoffed. “You don’t listen or behave properly.”
“But we’re loyal,” Dirk said. “Wallis knows not to harm a living creature. Sire would kill him if he did.”
“I’m shameful and don’t learn easily, my lady. Kill me if you must.” Wallis was on his knees with his head lowered. Dirk slapped his palm over his face.
“Stop calling me my lady!” I shouted. Every muscle in my body tensed.
Great. Even Shepherd’s pets made me lose my cool, and I still had a few more stops before I could relax a bit. No way could I put up with