“A few moments passed before he shrugged and said, “We can always start all over.”

“I don’t know. I hope this is just a little fling, that’s all.” Georgeta shrugged, her eyes back on the Kindle. “We need to move the blankets more into the shade. The sun is creeping out from behind that tree, and I’m getting way too hot. Maybe we should go to Ray's Boathouse for lunch?”“Lusia, relax. Georgeta’s right—this might not last past next week.” Bogdan looked from his girlfriend to Jatred and Jasmira, who now were passionately kissing in the water. “You think?” Lusia motioned at the couple with her hand. “He’s our Race’s Prince. The Goddess will freak out.”

“When she brought her lips back closer to his face, his eyelids flickered and shut for a moment. In a swift motion he rolled on top of her, and his mouth was on hers before she could make a sound. His hand pressed on her lower back, tracing the curve of her waist. She felt the heat building inside her and the goosebumps rising on her arm. His other hand slowly moved upward, until his fingers flexed back and forth in her hair.”

“Oh, come on.” Jatred scooted back on his butt, trying to put some distance between himself and the animals. He frowned at them and protested, “I can do that too, you know… growling and all. I’m not impressed.”

“Careful, wolf. We don’t want the human to realize how much we can eat,” she chuckled, talking to him with her mind.”

“She heard a low murmur of the far-away voices: a chant repeated over and over.”

“All the Spirits of the Winter Realm, that just a moment earlier hustled around the Shifters as small balls of fire, were now in their ghostly forms, gray and transparent. Their ethereal bodies stretched parallel to the ground, huge eyes wide open, their wispy, long hair streaming in the air behind them”