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She was pinned.

Her breath caught as her eyes flew open.

A very large man lay sprawled on top of her—naked, solid, undeniably real—his weight pressing her into the mattress, the warmth of his skin seeping through the layers.

*ume- Japanese plum.

Chapter 26

Fae woke to the sensation of being crushed to death.

There was a heavy, breathing deadweight on top of her.

She tried to inhale and failed. Tried to scream and managed a squeak.

The warm mammoth shifted on top of her, and a low, unmistakably male groan vibrated straight through her ribs.

"Oh, goddess—" she wheezed, her overactive imagination conjuring scenes of rape and torture. "No, no, no."

Another groan. A confused one this time. Said male was shaking his head. His face was hidden by long dark hair stuck together in clumps.

Her mind screamed like her body wanted to.

"Feraal. Feraal. FERAAAL. Aiko? Are you there? Aikoooo."

"There is a naked man on top of me.""A MAN.""He is heavy, and he is trying to kill me."

The man stirred again, lashes fluttering through the curtain of his hair as he lifted his head blearily, light brown eyes unfocused.

"Fae...?" he slurred.

She choked. "Get. Off. Me."

He startled like a spooked deer, limbs jerking in entirely the wrong directions. He rolled—poorly—straight off the pallet with a dull thump, and kept rolling until he hit the wall.

For one catastrophic heartbeat, Fae had an unobstructed, bird's-eye view of everything. And not a very attractive one.

She slapped both hands over her eyes.

"Oh no. Absolutely not. Didn't see anything."

The man groaned from the floor. "What…where?"

Shifters were not unfamiliar with nudity.

This, however, was an entirely unfamiliar situation.

Her wolf surged forward with a snarl, claws prickling under her skin, voice dropping in pitch to something harsher and far less polite.

"I don't know who you are," Fae said, every word edged with threat, "but you'd better have a very good explanation for why you were in my bed."

He blinked up at her, pale, scar-mapped body sprawled awkwardly, the end of a sheet half tangled around one leg.

"Fae," he said weakly. "It's me. Feraal."

One eyebrow rose skeptically.

She looked him up and down while deliberately skimming over everything in between.