Then, as quickly as it appeared, my owl energy dissipates, and a real snowy owl floats to the sky, soaring higher and higher, leaving me a woman once again, wet and shivering on the banks of the river, all the faces staring back at me in drunk, shocked confusion.
I level an icy glare at Blue.
“Next time someone tells you not to touch them,” I mutter through chattering teeth, “maybe you should listen.”
I try to storm off, but the moment I take a step, I lose all coordination. My legs go numb, my body heavy, and I sway on my feet, the whole scene darkening around the edges.
“What the fuck is going on?” A man shouts from somewhere I can’t see, pushing his way through the tangle of drunk bodies. His voice is familiar. Angry, but I know it… Ani? No.
Baz.
Help me.I try to reach for him, but I can’t move my arm. My heart is beating fast—too fast—and my breathing is much too shallow.
“We’re just messing with her,” Carly says. “She totally overreacted and freaked out.”
“Let’s go home,” another says. Blue, it sounds like. There’s a smudge of pink hair in my peripheral vision, but everything is fuzzy around the edges.
“I’ll deal with you later,” Baz says, and then he’s walking toward me. His eyes go from concerned to terrified in an instant, and he starts to run. Sprint. But he’s too far away…
“Stevie!” he shouts. “Watch it! Somebody grab her!”
The world tips backward again and spills me into the river, the cold water reaching up to claim me once and for all.
Twenty-Nine
STEVIE
I'm naked.
Soft, green grass tickles my bare flesh, sunlight sparkling on my eyelids through a lush canopy of leaves overhead. Slowly I open my eyes, inhaling a breath of sweet summer air and the fragrant scent of lilies from the floral crown on my head.
My nude body aches, but it’s the best possible pain, abs and leg muscles burning from some unknown exertion. Between my thighs, heat still pulses. A haze of pure pleasure hangs over me like a soft cloud.
A rustling in the grass beside me, and I turn to see the source. A man sleeps soundly beside me, his head encircled in a crown of leaves, his arms painted with tattoos that swirl in beautiful black patterns across his skin.
At the sight of his bare flesh, a shock of new, red-hot desire floods my core, the sudden intensity of it making me dizzy. I crawl to him, desperate to caress his skin, to feel his warmth beneath my fingertips.
He stirs at my touch, his eyes opening to look at me, full of fire and light more red than brown in the shifting sun.
A slow smile spreads across his face, and wordlessly he pulls me on top of him, his hands sliding down to caress my backside, his hard length ready for me once again.
He grips his cock, and I rise up onto my knees, letting him tease my entrance with slow, tempting strokes. When I can’t take another moment, I finally claim what’s mine, sliding down over his shaft, taking him in deep, one sinfully delicious inch at a time.
He moans in pleasure, his eyes fluttering closed, hands gripping my thighs.
I want to ask him his name, to tell him mine, but I don’t want to break this spell. Instead, I sink into the pleasure of his thrusts, rolling my hips, finding our perfect synchronicity.
He slides his palms over my ribcage, fingers teasing and tugging my nipples as I ride him harder, faster, deeper.
I feel like I should recognize him. I know him, know his touch, the sounds of his breathy moans. But when I tried to reach for the memory of his name, it eludes me, chased away by the mounting pleasure between my thighs.
He slides his thumb between my lips and I lick the tip, tasting the salt of his skin as my body clenches around him, demanding more with every thrust. I lean forward, the crown of lilies falling from my head as I steal a breathless kiss.
Beneath me, my lover arches his hips, both of us wanting more, needing more, the fire building between us, pushing us farther toward that edge…
He grips my hips and drives into me, his body shuddering, and I cry out in ecstasy, the birds scattering from the trees, bright green leaves falling like rain in their wake.
I collapse on top of him, waiting for my breath to return. It’s in that blissful, hazy moment that I know we’re not alone.
