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  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.” She laughed, fingering his hair when her hands slid higher. “I like your taste. How did it feel with my mouth on you?”

  He growled and his sex inside her flexed where they were still joined. “Really good.”

  “I like this sixty-nine.”

  “I saw a lot of things in videos.”

  “Really?” She was interested. “What else?”

  He shifted to the side, glancing down her body with keen interest. “Do you ever touch yourself?” He met her gaze. “I would enjoy seeing that.”

  “I have but what you do to me feels much better. Would you touch yourself for me so I could watch?” The idea of seeing Shadow stroke his cock again was exciting in a naughty way that turned her on.

  “Yes.” His tone grew husky. “We could do it together.”

  That thought excited her. “Watching each other?”

  “Yes. Do you know what I want to watch you do most of all?”

  “What?”

  “Sign the mate paper.”

  She laughed. “Let’s do it!”

  Shadow rolled away after slowly separating their bodies and quickly strode out of the room. She sat up, almost reached for the sheet to cover her nakedness, but then just stayed bare. They were mates. She didn’t want to hide anything from him. She enjoyed seeing his body and he seemed to like seeing hers. Mating was about making the other happy.

  “Where is a pen?”

  “In the kitchen drawer by the sink.”

  He returned with the paper and a pen, sat on the edge of her bed, and dragged the night table closer. He turned his head, smiling. “Come here, love.”

  She practically crawled onto his lap, leaning more against him than not. He carefully unfolded the paper to lay it flat. She read the words, tearing up.

  “It says we officially agree to belong to each other and that we have the approval of the New Species Organization. We are promising to cherish and care for each other.” Her finger trembled a little as she used it to keep track of where she read. “It says no one has the right to make us live apart from each other and our loyalty is first to our mate and second to our people.” She paused, looking at Shadow. “I like that.”

  “Me too. I promise all those things to you.”

  “I promise too.” She looked down. “It says we are to swear to make the other happy and always be truthful and honest to one another.”

  “We can do that.”

  She held his gaze. “Yes, we can.”

  He focused on the paper and lifted the pen, signing the line above where his name was printed in ink. He winked, holding out the pen. “Your turn. You won’t regret this, love.”

  “I know.” She took the pen and signed her name on the line above where her name was printed. Her heart swelled when she was done, staring at both their signatures on the paper.

  “I will take this to the office tomorrow and they will make a copy for the official files. We get to keep this one. Justice said it’s customary to put it in a frame with glass to protect it from damage and hang it on a wall in a room that we spend a lot of time in.”

  Beauty pondered that for all of two seconds. “The bedroom.”

  “That’s what I was thinking too.” He took the pen, placed it next to their mate paper, and pulled her onto his lap. “I love you, Beauty.”

  “I love you too. Can you believe this? We’re really happy.”

  “Yes. We are. We’re going to stay that way. I will make sure of that.”

  “Do you have to leave me?” The thought left her cold.

  “I just swore I wouldn’t.”

  “You want to go after…” She hesitated, not wanting to bring the ugliness of her past into such an important moment.

  “You’re my priority.” He understood what she hadn’t said. “Others will take care of that. He can’t hurt you anymore. All we need to do is move into our new home once they prepare it for us and enjoy sharing a life.”

  “I’m going to be a great mate. I’ll cook you dinner and keep a good home but I want to also do something to help our society. I want to teach other Gift Females to embrace life so they know it’s possible to have what we do, Shadow.”

  “I know you will.” He brushed a kiss on her lips. “I will make you laugh and always be happy to come home to you after I finish my work shifts.”

  “It sounds wonderful. Thank you, Shadow.”

  “For what? I want you as my mate. I should be thanking you for agreeing.”

  “For giving me a real life and making it wonderful.”

  Shadow felt humbled. He couldn’t believe he had a mate. Beauty was more than he deserved, more than he’d ever hoped to have, and she’d changed his life.

  “I’m the one who is thankful,” he admitted. “I’ll never see lightning again without smiling. It showed you to me and made me give chase.”

  She laughed. “No more running during storms. I have no reason to do something like that again to feel alive. I just have to touch you.”

  They’d be doing a lot of that. He couldn’t imagine keeping his hands off her and never planned to stop. He’d once been broken but she’d fixed him with her smiles, her courage, and her trust. He snuggled her closer, just holding her, and closed his eyes. For the first time, everything was perfect. He looked forward to whatever they would face because they’d do it together. She was his heart.

  About Laurann Dohner

  I’m a full-time “in-house supervisor” (sounds much better than plain ol’ housewife), mother and writer. I’m addicted to caramel iced coffee, the occasional candy bar (or two) and trying to get at least five hours of sleep at night.

  I love to write all kinds of stories. I think the best part about writing is the fact that real life is always uncertain, always tossing things at us that we have no control over, but when you write, you can make sure there’s always a happy ending. I love that about writing. I love to sit down at my computer desk, put on my headphones and listen to loud music to block out the world around me, so I can create worlds in front of me.

  Laurann welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email addresses on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.

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  Also by Laurann Dohner

  Cyborg Seduction 1: Burning Up Flint

  Cyborg Seduction 2: Kissing Steel

  Cyborg Seduction 3: Melting Iron

  Cyborg Seduction 4: Touching Ice

  Cyborg Seduction 5: Stealing Coal

  Cyborg Seduction 6: Redeeming Zorus

  Cyborg Seduction 7: Taunting Krell

  Mating Heat 1: Mate Set

  Mating Heat 2: His Purrfect Mate

  New Species 1: Fury

  New Species 2: Slade

  New Species 3: Valiant

  New Species 4: Justice

  New Species 5: Brawn

  New Species 6: Wrath

  New Species 7: Tiger

  New Species 8: Obsidian

  Riding the Raines 1: Propositioning Mr. Raine

  Riding the Raines 2: Raine on Me

  Something Wicked This Way Comes, Volume 1 anthology

  Something Wicked This Way Comes, Volume 2 anthology

  Zorn Warriors 1: Ral’s Woman

  Zorn Warriors 2: Kidnapping Casey

  Zorn Warriors 3: Tempting Rever

  Zorn Warriors 4: Berrr’s Vow

  Print books by Laurann Dohner

  Cyborg Seduction 1: Burning Up Flint

  Cyborg Seduction 2: Kissing Steal

  Cyborg Seduction 3: Melting Iron

  Cyborg Seduction 4: Touching Ice

  Cyborg Seduction 5: Stealing Coal

  Cyborg Seduction 6: Redeeming Zorus

  Cyborg Seduction 7: Taunting Krell