Page 144 of Beasts of Mine

“That is cheating.” I twisted enough to look at him over my shoulder, finding his face much closer than I expected.

“That is being a leopard.” Tavian corrected me, his smile easing when our eyes met and the laughter between us gradually faded. For a moment, neither of us moved. His citrus-and-spice scent surrounded me more strongly at this distance, mixing with damp greenery, waterfall mist, and the faint traces of Malek still lingering around my neck. Tavian’s attention dropped toward the exposed skin beneath my jaw, but he didn’t follow the look with action.

“Can I?” Tavian asked quietly, tilting his head toward my neck while keeping his arm loose around my waist. The teasing had disappeared from his voice, leaving no doubt about what he wanted.

My pulse jumped beneath the skin he was looking at.

“Yes.” I answered Tavian as I tilted my head slightly aside, giving him permission and access in the same movement. His nose brushed the side of my neck, and I felt him inhale before he slowly rubbed his cheek along my throat. The laughter left me completely. This scenting was nothing like what he had done to my equipment. His skin was warm against mine, his breath brushing beneath my jaw as citrus and spice settled over the faint traces of cedar still clinging there.

“Tavian.” I said his name quietly, my hand remaining over the forearm wrapped around my waist while a warm pulse moved through the gland beneath his cheek.

“Better.” Tavian murmured against my neck, lingering there as he breathed me in. I tilted my head farther and gave him more room. His purr changed, dropping into something deeper that I felt through his chest against my back. Tavian nuzzled beneath my jaw and breathed me in again, his lips barely brushing the sensitive edge of my gland.

“Your scent changed.” Tavian murmured with unmistakable pleasure, his hands tightening slightly at my waist before relaxing again.

“You were rubbing your face on my neck.” I reminded Tavian, although the explanation sounded weak even to me when my own honey-and-jasmine scent had already grown sweeter around us.

“That doesn’t answer why.” Tavian lifted his head enough to see my face, amber eyes searching mine while he waited.

“You know why.” I met Tavian’s gaze, suddenly much more aware of his body against mine and the low purr continuing between us.

“I want to hear you say it.” Tavian admitted, all of his usual restless movement gone while he waited with surprising patience.

“That sounds like a personal problem.” I turned in his arms, and Tavian’s attention immediately dropped toward my mouth.

I kissed him before he could answer. For once, Tavian went completely still, but only for a second. Then his arms tightened around me as his mouth opened beneath mine, the kiss hungry and energetic enough to feel entirely like him. His purr surged until I could feel it against my chest, and when I laughed into his mouth because the noise remained absurd, he caught my lower lip gently between his teeth.

“Did you just bite me because I laughed at your purr?” I asked Tavian when I pulled back enough to look at him, my lips tingling where his teeth had caught them while the ridiculous vibration continued beneath my palms.

“No. I bit you because you deserve a little punishment for being a tease.” Tavian answered without the slightest remorse, his thumb sliding once along my waist.

“So you say.” I told Tavian dryly, although I was still close enough that my mouth nearly brushed his when I spoke.

“I say.” Tavian agreed with obvious pleasure, the corner of his mouth lifting before I kissed the smug expression away. The kiss lasted long enough that I eventually had to put one hand against his chest and push lightly. Tavian let me create the space immediately, although his hands remained loosely at my waist while both of us caught our breath.

“Work.” I reminded Tavian as I glanced toward the camera waiting safely beside the rock, making myself remember that the waterfall had been worth hiking out here for reasons unrelated to his mouth.

“I can help.” Tavian offered hopefully, still standing close enough that citrus and spice filled every breath while he made absolutely no attempt to hide where his attention remained.

“You cannot help me photograph while your tongue is in my mouth.” I told Tavian, pointing toward the camera while his lips twitched.

“I could try.” Tavian considered the possibility with enough seriousness that I laughed and stepped away, his hands dropping from my waist without resistance.

“Menace.” I told Tavian while reaching for my camera, shaking my head when he followed close behind me.

“That sounded affectionate.” Tavian pointed at me, his entire face lighting up at the nickname.

“It wasn’t.” I informed Tavian while lifting the camera and checking the settings I had abandoned before the chase, although the smile I was fighting probably made the denial less convincing than I intended.

“It did.” Tavian replied with unbearable satisfaction, settling onto the nearby rock while I moved back toward the edge of the pool. I let him believe whatever he wanted and went back to work. Mostly, Tavian behaved, which in Tavian terms meant I got almost twenty uninterrupted minutes before he found another reason to bother me.

CHAPTER TWENTY

EVIE

Twenty minutes later, Tavian approached with another ridiculous courtship gift pinched carefully between two fingers—a tiny spiral shell he had found along the muddy edge of the stream. The pale shell was hardly bigger than my thumbnail, streaked with thin brown lines and still damp from wherever he had picked it up. I caught him glancing from the shell to the pocket of my field shirt with obvious intent while sunlight flickered through the leaves above him, catching warmer reddish tones in his nearly black hair.

“Do not put that in my pocket without checking whether something lives in it.” I warned Tavian before his hand got any closer, pointing toward the shell while keeping my camera braced against my knee.