Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters #1) - Jaymin Eve Page 0,76
I kicked my legs, hoping he’d let me down.
Only he didn’t.
“Repeat the list to me.”
“Let me down, asshole,” I shot back.
He shook me, and the fucking strength this guy had was terrifying, but thankfully, so far, he wasn’t using it against me in any overt way. So far.
“List!”
Glaring with every fucking ounce of my glaring ability, I spat each word at him. “Figure. Out. How. To Touch. The Shadow Realm.”
He yanked me closer, and I could feel all the hard lines of his body. Not that he seemed to notice how close we were; he was too busy demonstrating his power over me. “What else is on your list?
I blinked rapidly. “Why does that matter? As long as what you want is number one, surely, you don’t give a fuck about my other goals.”
A low, dark laugh. “Correct, but I also need to know what is distracting you.”
Shadow had reached the end of his patience, and it was growing abundantly clear I probably should have spent more than five seconds trying to figure out how I’d touched the Shadow Realm.
There was no give at all on the hard lines of his face; I was not getting out of here without obeying his will. With a huff, I told him the truth. “Learn about the ten worlds, read all the books in the library, discover your secrets, and lose my virginity so I’m not the only twenty-two-year-old shifter virgin in the world.”
An extended pause. “You’re aiming to fuck someone in the library?”
That was what had caught his attention? Not the fact I was ready to ferret out all his secrets?
I shrugged. “I haven’t decided exactly who, but I’m perusing the selection for sure. I mean, a girl has needs.”
His eyes dropped to the way my breasts, barely caged in the skimpy white tank, were pushed up against his chest. “Is that right?”
Fuck. Me.
Was it hot in here? Had he burst into flames again?
“I forbid this,” he finally said.
Whoa, wait a freaking second…
“Not a chance, dude. My personal life is none of your business.”
His lips were so close to mine that I could almost taste him. If I darted my tongue out…
“What if your virginity is the reason you had the purity and innocence to make it past the blocks on the Shadow Realm?”
I scoffed. “Firstly, a virginity is not what makes someone innocent, and trust me, Shadow, I’m far from pure. Secondly, there’s no way you think my virgin status is a factor in this; you’re just trying to make life difficult for me.” I jabbed him in the chest, barely making a dent since we were so close. “Not gonna happen. I’ve waited long enough.”
A contemplative stare crossed his face and I wondered what bullshit he was thinking up now. “No one will even look at you twice if I give the order, you know that, right? You’d have more chance of losing your virginity on a deserted island with birds as the only inhabitants.”
I didn’t even want to touch that visual.
“Are you challenging me?” I burst out, all the while telling myself to just shut the hell up. I was giving him all the ammo to roadblock my plans. If I’d just kept it to myself, he’d have been none the wiser.
“You are no challenge,” he shot back. “You live on my fucking will alone. What makes you think you can best me in any way?”
That was it. “I bet I can lose my virginity in the next two weeks.”
You are the dumbest fuck, Mera.
Cruel amusement danced in his eyes, and I resisted the urge to gouge them out. “You bet? And what are the stakes?”
Abort, abort. “If I win, you let me go back to my pack and see my friends.”
“And when I win?”
Arrogant Shadow Bastard.
“On the small chance you win, what do you want?”
His smile was nothing short of freaking terrifying. “If I win, you will submit to me in a way you haven’t so far. No more fighting. No more research. You will return the books you think you’re hiding under your bed and accept your place here. At the bottom of the barrel.”
Jesus. The prospect of that sent a bone-deep chill through my body. My soul actually ached at the thought of losing my will to fight. He would take it from me, I saw that in his gaze, but I’d laid that bet out, and now I couldn’t back down.
“You’re asking too much,” I choked out. “The stakes are uneven. It’s not fair.”