Page 60 of The Fox Heir

His gaze locks on mine with an intensity that makes my breath catch. “Yes,” he says quietly. “That too.”

Something between us has shifted, something undeniable. And this time, I don’t think either of us can ignore it.

He leans closer. “You’re more than your family, Sienna.”

The way he says my name—my real name—lingers between us. This isn’t just a conversation anymore. This is something else. His presence fills my senses until he’s all I can focus on. The smell of him, cedar and salt, clouds my mind. It feels like being lost in a dark forest, yet deep in a stormy sea.

“Sienna.” There’s an unfamiliar tremor in his voice. “Do you ever wonder what we could be if we weren’t …” He pauses, his warm breath brushing against the shell of my ear. “If things were different?” His lips are inches from mine.

“Yes.” The word slips from me before I can stop it, a midnight confession brought to light. “But we can’t change who we are.”

His lips draw into a tight line. I see something flicker in his eyes, something almost like regret, but it’s gone before I can be sure. Then his hand rises, slowly brushing a strand of hair from my face. His fingers linger against my jawline and a shiver runs through me.

The distance between us vanishes.

His mouth crashes onto mine, hot and insistent. My body moves before my mind catches up. I lean into him, my hands clutching at the fabric of his shirt, pulling him closer. His lips are soft, but the kiss is rough, and I match his frantic desire with my own. Every vessel, every nerve, every inch of my skin hums with need. It feels like the world has cracked open around us, like by denying ourselves these past few weeks, we’ve only fueled the fire burning inside.

He winces, and I draw back, gasping. “Your ribs.”

He grabs my face in his hands. “Fuck my broken ribs.” He pulls me back into him, and that’s all the permission I need.

I lose myself in him. I savor the taste of sea salt on his skin, the scent of the bonfires lingering on his clothes, his soft moan against my mouth. There’s a heat between us that no amount of cold can extinguish. Every part of me is alive, straining toward him, desperate for more.

His hand finds my waist, and he draws me onto his lap with a force that leaves me breathless. He grunts at the pain in his side, but that doesn’t stop him. His mouth ravages me, kissing down my neck as he unclasps my red cloak to expose the neckline of my gown. My breath comes in wild gasps as he trails his fingers across the exposed skin of my breasts where they’re pressed high beneath a simple corset. A shiver courses through me, making gooseflesh prickle every inch of my skin. I gasp and my eyelids flutter.

I pull away, just long enough to see his gray eyes filled with hunger. For me. The Wolf wants me as much as I’ve wanted him.

In the next breath, our lips come together again. My fingers dig into his chest, above where I know his star-shaped scar marks his perfect body. I can feel the frantic pulse of his heartbeat against my skin. There’s a desperation in the way we move against each other, as if we both know that this moment is fleeting.

But for now, I don’t care.

As if my body has a life of its own, my hips grind into his, feeling how stiff he is with need. Our lips crash together as his hand finds the hem of my gown, then slips beneath it. I feel his fingers graze up the length of my thigh, where it’s wrapped around his waist. His touch burns like fire across my skin, filling me with an uncontrollable need. I want, need his hands on me, everywhere.

Without thinking, I bite the taut skin of his neck, and he lets out a low, rumbling moan.

He pulls away only for a moment. “Gods, I want you, Red.” His voice is deep with longing.

“Why not take me then?” I ask, a seductive lilt in my voice.

Tristan lets out a shuddering breath and his hands tighten on my thighs. He swallows hard, but I know what he’s thinking. It’s written clearly across his face: the tight jaw, the veins straining in his neck, the hard look in his eyes.

A Wolf and a Fox can never be together. He would lose the trust of everyone in Gwyllion, not to mention the other Wolves. Nalina would loathe him. And the queen … I hate to think about what she would do if she found out he betrayed the Annwyn people.

“We can’t,” I say, answering my own question.

The words taste bitter on my tongue, my body begging for the relief it craves. But it’s true. We can’t take this any further. Not when the world would tear us apart because of it. This illicit moment would be damning enough, if it were ever discovered. I can’t have him. Not really. Not in this world.

His eyes are dark, tortured, but he gives me a firm nod. “We can’t.”

His eyes drop to my mouth and linger there before traveling back up, as if dragged away from unspeakable temptation.

This can never happen again. I know this. But right now, I can’t bring myself to care about the consequences. I’m like a drowning woman in need of breath. I reach above the waves and pull his body back to mine.

Chapter 20

As I lie wide awake in my room, the wraith appears.

She hasn’t visited me since the incident with the fae creature in the dungeon. I’d assumed that was all she needed to show me, like unfinished business finally put to rest. It seems not.