Rexxan is on his knees in front of me, shrouded in darkness in the forest that he and his fathers created.
I don’t understand why he came out here, I don’t understand why he chased me, but I needed it. I’m out of breath. Why, I don’t know, but the air between us is so hot and heavy that my blood feels like honey. “You haven’t moved,” he observes.
“Neither have you.”
A slow smile caresses his sculpted lips, and like everything he does around me, I don’t fucking know what it means. But I have no time to dwell because in one split second, he snatches my face between both hands and kisses me like I've never been kissed, dragging a rough inhale through his nose. It’s all-encompassing, leaving no space in my head for anything else.
He swears into my mouth, his voice agonised as he leans in so my back presses against the tree. He's burning with intensity, surrounding us in the heat that seems to follow him around like a shadow. His tongue traces my lower lip, coaxing me into opening my mouth like I’m all he needs to survive. I let out a quiet moan, my hands landing on his burly arms as I give him what he wants.
"That's it, beautiful," he murmurs, kissing my neck now, a hand on my jaw tipping my head to the side. “I’ve been fucking useless all week. This is all I’ve been able to think about.”
My whole body lights up for him, my skin buzzing with desire.Fuck. This is not good. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. It was supposed to be bad and disappointing. This is skillful, passionate—essentially everything but bad.
His hand grips my hair roughly, so hard it’s skirting the line between pain and pleasure as he whispers words in a language I don’t speak. I moan again, needing more. Needinghim. My hands are all over the contours that make up his body, his all over mine. We are slaves to the desire that rules us, and in this moment, I just do not care.
"Renna."He says my name like both a prayer and a curse, kissing me again.
I can’t reply, too breathless as I run my hands over his chest and kiss him back just as hard. I cannot remember the last time I felt so...on fire. I have no time to consider the stupidity of this mistake. He gives me no time to think. “I want yousobadly,” I confess, splaying a hand on the tree behind me to try and ground myself before I float away in a cloud of lust.
"You couldn't," he murmurs, his huge hand gripping my thigh like he’s as desperate for this to happen as I am. "I know better than to hurt you."
“But you know it would be earth-shattering between us.”
There is nothing more intoxicating to me than witnessing this man’s composure unravel and knowing that I am the one that knocked the first domino.
“Gods, Renna, stop. I’m on my knees already. What more do you want from me?”
I opt for honesty. “I want everything you’re willing to give me.” I want him. No strings, no feelings. Just one fucking night to end the torture of wondering if we’d be as good as I think we would. He rakes a hand through his tousled hair, a tortured look in his eye like he’s seconds away from abandoning his rules.
But the not too distant howl of a wolf tears his gaze from mine, and the air around me no longer feels like syrup, a chill on my skin that feels too cool for it to be summer. “Well?”
“Well what?”
“Well, aren’t you going to offer me your jacket?”
He grins, looking far too young for his age. He’s a different man out here, the ominous shadow that follows him around seems quiet. “For your underwear, yes.”
Oh my word. “Are you joking?”
“No.”
“What do you want with them?”
“What do you want with my jacket?”
“It’ll keep me warm. What do you want with my underwear?”
Mirth dances in those bronze eyes. “It’ll keep me warm.”
Well, I lost all my pride the day I thought he wanted me to hold his hand in a meeting, so I slide the black fabric down my legs. He drags me to my feet, draping his jacket around my shoulders. “Your end of the deal, Renna.”
I pin his prize to the tree beside us with a small throwing knife and he smiles, his eyes never straying from me. “Go.”
“I could kill that wolf with my eyes closed.”
“I don’t doubt it, but you’re in a dress. Go back, follow the trail to the gate.” Some kind of warm mist floats from his hands to the ground in front of me, forming a path leading into the shadow-clad night. His grandfather’s magic, I imagine.
“Fine, but only because I never got dessert and I’m still hungry.”
