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“I have not.”
His features pinched in pity, still smiling. “Let me take care of you.”
The velvet purr of his voice had her blushing, and she leaned forward. Drabbing a wet cloth against her cheek, his gentleness surprised her anew. Cool fabric and warm fingers were conflicting sensations, but it made Cortana melt. For a man who was an apex predator, Riaz’s compassion warmed her.
“There,” he said after a few more dabs. “Lovely as always.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The ceramic bat would be the death of him. He’d typically choose the same wolf figurine she did to paint as one pack member or another. Occasionally, he took one of the small pots. Today, he’d tried his hand of the closest thing to Cortana he could get. Unfortunately, the potter didn’t have a miniature ceramic coffin on the shelf. Strange.
Cortana had blushed after he’d cleaned her cheek of the glaze, and it’d nearly been his undoing. Laughing, he’d taken the opportunity to cinch his arm around her waist, enjoying the simple pleasure of her company.
Instead of brushing him off or ignoring his gesture, she inched closer, her fingertips spreading atop his thigh in what had been her first public move of outward possession.
The wolf within wagged his tail so hard Riaz could feel it drumming against his psyche. Inhaling, he scented the sweet and tart raspberry aroma that clung to her skin, so feminine and fresh it made him sigh in content.
Riaz said nothing, but the bond that remained unfinalized between them struck a happy chord, resounding in the crevices of his mind.
Happily curled together on their chairs, they completed their ceramics with a few final touches only a few minutes before the shop closed. Cortana, fully invested in her craft, didn’t notice the last-minute details he’d added to finish off the look. He was convinced it was his best work yet.
Riaz paid the shopkeeper and said he’d be back tomorrow to pick them up. The pair strode into the night, relishing the mountain chill.
With his arm around her shoulders and hers clasped at his waist, it was the closest they’d ever been to harmony. Jolly laughter sprung from their lips; the mood between them lighter somehow.
When the bike appeared in the distance, a sudden sense of loss began to ache in his gut. He’d cherished this time with her, loved the feeling of her public acceptance of him. Slowing their pace wasn’t enough to avoid the end of their time together. Neither made a move to get on the bike when they reached it.
Sucking in a breath, he released her, his arm slipping from around her lithe shoulders to grab the helmet on his handlebars.
He never made it.
Her hands grabbed him from behind, pushing him toward the alley on their left. Surprised at the sudden change of direction, he went along with it, wondering if she’d heard danger approaching or saw one of the Citizens guards.
“What—”
His question was silenced when her lips crashed into his. Urgency flooded through him as he immediately returned her passion. They fought for purchase against the other, each asserting their dominance through the tangled union of their mouths.
His back hit the brick, his head colliding with the wall as their lust drove them higher and higher. Nipping at her lips, Riaz dropped his head to skim his teeth over the slender column of her neck. Her fingers trailed on his abs, finding a sensitive spot that made him erupt in goosebumps.
Pulling her waist into him, Riaz reclaimed her lips, kissing her like he’d die if he didn’t have her. Thrusting a hand into her hair, he—
Everything suddenly changed.
Riaz opened his eyes to find her sprawled against the opposite wall across the alleyway, shadows haunting her gaze and fear stabbing through the mating bond between them. He took a hesitant step toward her, stopping immediately when she flinched.
“Cortana?”
“I—I,” she stuttered, eyes wide, before fear morphed to anger. “Please—please don’t ever touch my hair!”
Inhaling deeply to cleanse himself of his waning desire and blooming confusion, he balked as his senses sharpened. The scent of the plant’s nightwatchmen was faint, but trackable.
Cortana noticed the change in his attention. “What is it?”
The frost has returned to her voice, her walls realigning once more between them. The return of her tough veneer and strictly professional persona crushed him like nothing else.
“The guard. I’ve got his scent.”
Cortana was faster than him.
