Still, it didn’t take long for the niggling concern about whether I’d be able to change back to take root. This time, I remembered the sunglasses, at which point I also started to worry about losing them. The blasted things had, after all, cost more than my entire seasonal clothing budget during my waitressing days.
I split my attention between the need to be solid again, and the need to not be responsible for the loss of a hundred-and-fifty-dollar pair of shades. This time, I materialized several inches above the ground—my limbs flailing as I promptly fell to earth. The sunglasses hung from one ear, balanced off-kilter on the end of my nose.
Craning around, I pinned Rans with a gaze that dared him to comment. “Not. One. Single. Word,” I threatened.
He gave me a tolerant look and crossed the short distance separating us, reaching a hand down to pull me to my feet.
“You’re—” he began.
“Over-thinking, yeah,” I finished, cutting him off. “Got it, thanks. Also, that counted as a word.”
“Here are three more for you—do it again,” he commanded.
“Slave driver,” I muttered, before closing my eyes and concentrating once more.
As the sun touched the edge of the water at the horizon and slowly sank beneath it, I continued to practice with him, gaining more control with each attempt until I could pop in and out with the bikini and caftan intact. Anxiety over the process gradually gave way to intrigue, as the novelty of being able to fly truly set in. By the time full darkness settled over the beach, Rans was joining me, our vaporous forms swirling together as we raced along the shoreline.
I’d mostly forgotten my hunger, but the need that had been slowly building inside me over the course of the last hour crested sharply at the feeling of his essence tangling with mine. Acting on newly awakened instinct, I reached out and dragged both of us back to human form, our bodies tangling as we rolled into the edge of the surf together. I pinned him beneath me—straddling his hips as I stared down at his glowing blue eyes.
Waves washed over our legs and hips, soaking his tailored trousers and the back of the silk button-down he was wearing. My hunger surged like a living thing, demanding nourishment. The button and zipper of his fly parted beneath the frantic scrabbling of my fingers. A moment later, I was tugging the material of my bikini bottoms aside, just enough to pierce myself on the hard flesh that was revealed.
I only paused upon realizing that the strange, high-pitched keening noise splitting through the serene quiet of the beach... had apparently come from me.
A strong hand steadied my hips, and Rans’ voice held a faintly breathless note as he said, “Fair warning, love—sand gets everywhere during beach sex.”
“Don’t care,” I said around a gasp, grinding against him as I reached for the swirling trail of his desire. My eyes burned, and sharp points rasped against the tender flesh inside my cheeks. I could smell the blood hiding just beneath the delicate skin of his throat.
His other hand splayed across my chest, directly over my unbeating heart. It stopped me before I could lunge forward and sink my fangs into that tempting expanse.
“Zorah,” he said. “Stop. Show me you can control it first.”
A distraught noise slipped free of my lips as the authority in his voice dragged me back from the brink. I slammed my eyes shut and breathed, even though I didn’t really need to anymore. Forcing down the blood hunger and letting go of my grip on his animus was one of the hardest things I’d ever done... but Rans had asked me to. I had to do it.
“I... I can control it,” I managed after a few seconds, cautiously opening my eyes and trying not to let myself see how tempting he looked beneath me.
The hand, which had been holding me back, slid up to cup my cheek instead. “I know you can, love. Just double-checking. You were ignoring the warning signs earlier, weren’t you?”
I took another slow, unnecessary breath... and another. The feel of his length buried inside me threatened to overwhelm my thoughts again. “I guess so, yeah.”
“It’s still too soon for you to try to brazen it out like that, tough girl,” he said, and something in my chest twisted at the warmth of understanding behind the words. “But well done on pulling back from the brink, at least. Now... go ahead and ravish me—you’re far too tempting like this. I’ll top up on blood later, when we hit the tourist beach.”
Warm water washed around us, and he arched his hips into me as the wave pulled back. Just like that, I was gone, folding my body over his with a heartfelt groan of relief and sliding my fangs into his neck. Blood and animus poured into me, exploding along my nerves like fireworks. Rans groaned low and filthy as I rode him into the surf, meeting my frantic movements thrust for thrust. It wasn’t subtle and it wasn’t artful, and in minutes I tipped over the edge, dragging him with me.
We collapsed together, lying there in a limp tangle for some time—heedless of the incoming tide until a particularly aggressive wave threatened to swamp us completely. Rans made a disgusted noise and spat water as he reluctantly rolled into a sitting position, dragging wet hair back from his face. I followed suit, sitting next to him and looking out across the ocean at night.
“Bloody Nora,” he said to the beach at large. “What did I say earlier, about doing things that require effort this evening? Maybe
