Rowan, despite her momentary pause, shook off her surprise and strode up to me confidently. My wing had felt rather sore, and itwasn'tmy fault. Nix had barreled into me while flying like an overexuberant golden retriever, knocking me into a bunch of trees. My outstretched wing had been bent back painfully, and naturally, my clanmates heard my cursing through our bond.
Nix had insisted on waking up our mate to make sure nothing was permanently damaged, and I couldn’t help but wonderwhether his trick had been on purpose, a way to get us closer. Rowan had been exhausted, though. It was obvious at dinner that she had been fighting sleep, her eyes constantly shutting and then snapping open again. She’d been working overtime to heal the horde and help as many of us as she could. She was such a kind, self-sacrificing person. In fact, Rowan was the ideal Alpha female, and it hurt my chest to think about how badly I’d fucked up meeting her again.
But I’d hardly been prepared to see her again, and apparently, I was an idiot when I was shocked.
How has she become even more amazing?I’d thought to myself, but of course, Greylen, who had been circling in the sky, could hear me. We could all hear each other in dragon form, just not as easily in human form.
I don't know, but she improved, and what the fuck did we do? … Well, we kind of became failures.Greylen’s voice drifted through my mind.
He wasn't wrong.
Still, it didn’t seem to matter all that much when Rowan had been inspecting my wing. I didn’t think it was bad. Sure enough, she’d agreed, but she’d roamed her fingers over the flesh, the warmth that was uniquely hers melting into me. It… did something to me.
Thenbam.
One minute, I was enjoying the sensation of her hand on my wing, and the next, I was human. I hadn’t intended on shifting. It just happened—probably because I was so close to Rowan. She was enthralling, and she didn’t even realize it.
Pressed up against my mate, I couldn’t help but inhale deeply. Sweet and earthy, the scent of the herbs she worked with for hours on end clung to her. Even dressed in a T-shirt I was pretty sure belonged to Griffin and a pair of old jeans, her hair pulled into a messy bun, she was stunning.
Mesmerizing.
It hit me like a physical blow that this truly wasn’t Emmeline.This wasRowan. She was snarkier, stronger, and, somehow, even more stubborn than she had been all those years ago. She had a different life story, different ambitions. Rowan had grown. It’d been six years, and she’d become a different woman, even if so much of her still radiated the same glow.
Sure, some things hadn’t changed, like her love of sour candy and her eyes…
But I needed to accept that Emmeline was gone. She was never coming back. I could be sad at her loss and inexplicably excited about the woman in front of me at the same time. And, oddly, it was this new person in front of me who made my cells hum in a way they never had. I loved that snark as much as I might have wanted to deny it. That fire in Rowan had been only a spark in Emmeline, and the blaze there now was engulfing.
“Rowan…” I muttered her name, physically unable to let her go. Last time, I’d kissed her without permission and pushed myself on her like a total brute, so overwhelmed, and—what I could now admit—terrified that I was dreaming. This time, I had to let her come to me.
If she didn’t want this, I would have to live with that. Still, if I had to spend the rest of my life proving my worth to Rowan, I would. Every damn day would be spent showing her the real me, the one I’d thought I lost when Emmeline was taken from me.
For an agonizingly long moment, we both stood there, staring at each other. The air around us was electrified, and I wanted nothing more than to lean down and touch my lips to hers, to taste her again.
Before, I’d been fueled by rage and a type of madness; I never wanted to push myself on her like that again.
“You called me…” She didn’t finish, though, and I found myself hanging on her every word like some lovestruck moron. That was the thing, though, wasn’t it? Iwasthat moron, no matter what I might have said or believed before.
“What?” I furrowed my brow,instinctively leaning in.
Rowan’s lips parted. She took several deep breaths, her chest rising and falling, pressing her breasts against the thin fabric of her shirt, her nipples standing out in contrast to the cotton. Her pupils dilated as I stared down at her, my fingers curled into her flesh, a desperate need to keep her close. And then the sweet scent of her arousal hit me.
Fuuuck.
I shuddered, my head dropping until our foreheads touched. I just breathed, unable to do more, my mind blank except for the constant haze of lust that swirled through me. But shit, was I reading into this? Was I only seeing what I wanted to see? I couldn’t make another mistake. I couldn’t scare her away after I’d finally gotten close to her.
Lifting onto her tiptoes, Rowan pushed against me and turned her head, a gentle twist to the side. Her breath fluttered over my lips, and I could sense the proximity, the way she inched closer, unsure but determined.
And thenshekissedme.
A jet could have landed right next to us, armed forces spilling out to attack, and I would have noticed none of it. All that existed in the universe was Rowan’s lips on mine. The cool night rushed over us, and she pressed in closer to me, her small form flattening against my body. There was no way she could miss how into this I was, but instead of sensing disgust or worry, that perfume of hers swelled higher, her arms coming around my neck as she deepened the kiss.
I ran my hands down her back, landing on her ass. Taking two handfuls, I squeezed, my cock jerking as I remembered just how damn good she felt. A growl, deep and possessive, rumbled out of me, and I realized how dangerously close I was to losing control.
Dammit.Hold it together, man. Not too fast.
Thankfully, I didn’t sense Grey or Nix in my thoughts. In fact, I didn’t feel Greylen nearby at all. He must’ve flown off, and that probably meant something, but I couldn’t bring myself to carewhen Rowan was this plastered to me, a blanket against the chill that, while unneeded, was extremely appreciated.
The kiss accelerated as I scooped Rowan up, holding her with her legs wrapped around my waist, carrying us to the cover of a nearby tree. After I set her down, Rowan leaned back until she rested on her elbows, looking up at me, her eyes lidded. It took everything not to tear off her fucking jeans and bury my cock in her pussy.
