I shift her in my arms, cuddling her closer, and nod. “We are. Look down. You can see all of Harmony Glen from here.”
She glances below, her hazel eyes wide. “It’s so beautiful. All twinkling lights and shiny water. The homes look like dollhouses. The river is a ribbon.” She looks back at me. “You must do this all the time.”
“Very rarely, actually. And never with anyone else.”
She blinks, her eyes looking huge in the moonlight. “Never?”
I shake my head. “Nope. You’re the first.” I circle around, making sure to fly over both the lake and the conservation area.
A slow smile blossoms across her face. “Why me?”
“You’re special, Juliet. Smart, inquisitive, thoughtful, kind. Beautiful.” Here, under the full moon, I have to confess. “I’ve been trying to fight these feelings, because I’m your boss and I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, but I’m attracted to you. I can’t seem to help it. You’re the flame to my moth.”
“Oh, thank god,” she mumbles, which is not what I was expecting.
“What was that?”
She wiggles in my arms and I clutch her tighter. “I’ve been dealing with the same thing,” she says, her mouth close to my ear, breath tickling me. “My attraction to you is driving me crazy, but I know better than to mix business with pleasure. So I’ve tried so hard not to let it show. But it’s killing me. Are you aware of how hot you are?”
I throw my head back and laugh, feeling more joyous than I have in years. Flying high, this woman in my arms, knowing she feels the same way…this is a rare moment of perfection.
“I really want to kiss you,” I tell her. “But I kind of have to focus on flying.”
“I really want you to kiss me. You better take us back to the store so we don’t crash and die.”
I do as she asks, swooping back down until we land lightly in the alley. Then, without waiting another second, I finally, finally press my mouth to hers. She tastes like the cinnamon and honey tea she had earlier. Her lips are full and soft, and she lets out the breathiest little moan when we make contact.
It sets something wild loose in me and I lick at her lips, demanding that she part them. When she gives in, I slide my tongue against hers, desperate for another, deeper taste of her.
Her hands slip into the fur at my neck, making me shiver, and I yank her closer, letting her really feel what she does to me. She gasps at the hardness pressing into her, and I can feel the heat pouring off her in waves.
Panting, I pull back, breaking the kiss.
My god, I want her more than I’ve ever wanted anything.
I want to rip off her clothes and plunge into that heat, driving us both wild with pleasure.
I want to hear her moan my name.
I want to feel her squeeze me until I pop.
I want, I want, I want.
But not here, in an alley, like a one-night-stand quickie.
I push a hand through my hair, trying to regain control. Everything in me protests, from my pheromone-sensing antennae to my hard and aching cock. Maybe she’ll want to come upstairs and we can continue this, but before we do anything else, I need to give her the other gift.
“I have something for you,” I say, breathless.
She shoots a pointed look at the bulge in my trousers. “I noticed.” Her breath is also hitching, which satisfies something deep inside me.
I give a tight chuckle. “Not that. Come on.” I unlock the back door and lead her inside, where I grab the wrapped present I’d stashed under the counter. “This is for you.”
She rips into it with gusto, clearly uninterested in trying to preserve the paper. When the wrapping is gone, she’s left with a leather-bound book that is clearly old. The brown cover is a bit faded, the spine a little worse for wear, but the gold embossing of the title is still legible.
“Grimm’sLeastPopular Fairy Tales?” she asks.
“I stumbled across it on an online auction for rare books. Apparently, it’s the ones that are the most, well, grim. The creepy and dark ones that don’t get told as much. Stuff you’d never find in collections of themostpopular tales. Hansel and Gretel couldn’t handle it.”
