Read Online Formidable: Shifters Forever Worlds (Ever After Dark Book 1) by Elle Thorne - Free Book Online Page B

dream. And she couldn’t do what the other tigress wanted. She couldn’t stay away from him.
    She sighed at the difficulty of her predicament.
    She turned around again and leaned into him. Against her back, she felt his heart beating strongly, far better off than he’d been when she’d first taken him out of the force field.
    Isabel noticed a difference. She paused to reflect on it.
    It was her tigress. She was different.
    Her tigress was content. Her tigress for the first time in all her life was not restless, not fighting, but simply content.
    Wanting to test a theory, Isabel pulled forward slightly, away from Gio. Her tigress gave a snarl. As soon as Isabel leaned back again, her tigress released a low sound, almost like a purr.
    Isabel understood. She felt a strong attraction to Gio, more than an attraction, actually. But the way her tigress was behaving was overwhelming.
    Isabel bit down on her lower lip, hard. She was hoping the pain would drive away these thoughts she was having about Gio. Thoughts that weren’t her tigress alone. Each moment she leaned against him was making it more and more difficult for her to concentrate on anything but him.
    It didn’t help that Gio’s dark stare was focused on her lips.
    She worried that lip with her sharp teeth, but the pain of it did nothing to appease her desire for this man. How could she want someone so dark, so deep, so withdrawn?
    Gio was in a place she wasn’t sure she could reach. She wanted to, God knew, she wanted to be in that place with him. Anywhere with him. Everywhere with him.
    His mouth was in a tight line, as if he had his own battle to fight, as if he were conflicted, just like she was.
    “Gio, I—”
    Her words were cut off as his hand flew up, his thumb freeing her lip from her teeth, but resting against her tender, reddened bottom lip.
    He shook his head. “Don’t say it. Don’t say anything. Just give me this. This moment. This second. This brief flash of eternity, even if it doesn’t last after we return to the villa.” His voice was a tormented growl.
    Isabel’s confusion was compounded, even more than it had been a second ago. She knew her torture, but she didn’t understand his own torment.
    Something in his eyes sought hers, seeking an answer, seeking affirmation, seeking…
    What does he want from me?
    She knew what she wanted, it came to her in a flash. She wanted him, on any terms. She knew her tigress felt the same. Maybe her tigress had passed the emotions on to her, though Isabel didn’t think her tigress could do that. A tautness in the set of his jaw gave away the control that he was fighting to keep restrained.
    “This moment, and any others you want…” She let a breath out. “Gio, they are all yours. Always.”
    “I won’t lose a mate. I won’t lose you. I won’t have another taking you from me.”
    She bit back a gasp. What was he insinuating? Anger flushed through her body. “What—?”
    This time, the interruption came in the form of his lips landing on hers. The hand on the back of her neck drew her in close and gave her no option to pull away. A moan ripped from her very soul at the contact between them.
    Boldly, she kissed him back, exploring the shape of his mouth, the curve of his lips, the touch of his tongue. Everything, all of him, it was pure alpha, pure male, and pure torture. The torment in his soul seared her own soul through their kiss. She took and gave, her tongue joining his in a primal dance that claimed their souls and joined their tigers.
    Her hands lifted, wrapping around his neck, digging into his hair, pulling him tighter against her mouth. Her mouth caught his groan, swallowing it, making it her own.
    A swirling tornado of emotions sucked them deeper and deeper into a kiss that made demands and sealed promises.
    Finally, what seemed like an eon later, they pulled apart, both panting. They sat, their bodies touching, their tigers merging, their souls communing until finally, both composed,