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“So this tiger will only be a memory,” I whispered. “Since you don’t want to be my partner.” I didn’t care if I sounded whiny. And he didn’t remove his hand.
“I’ve never said that I don’t want to.”
“Can we merge one last time?” The question rushed out of my mouth before I could think about it.
“For what reason?” Harshness snapped back in his jaw as he withdrew his hand.
“Practice? Last time we merged, we were in Berlin, and it was a matter of life or death. I don’t want to wait a few more weeks to find a partner and merge. I’m already becoming rusty, and you’re still my mentor.” That was a lie. I didn’t care about becoming rusty. I only cared about him. About feeling the sensation of our bodies fusing together. “Please,” I added, closing a hand around my pendant.
Harsh lines crossed his face as he stared at me. After a pause, he nodded. “Let’s go. Let’s unleash your beast.”
~ * ~
A SPARK OF excitement flared inside my chest when Roy and I trekked along a half-frozen path surrounded by tall pine trees and barren oaks covered in snow. Worry lines creased his forehead once again. But the stubborn man refused to talk about what tormented him, so there wasn’t much I could do to help him. Crunching noises broke the quiet as my boots stomped on the gravel and dry twigs. It was like walking over biscuits.
“Did you come here often?” he asked, hands deep in his pockets.
“I loved walking through the forest, but I was too weak and thin to walk for long. I had to stop and rest a lot.”
He frowned. “I’m sorry for how much you suffered before joining us at Raven Park.”
It wasn’t as if I hadn’t had my share of pain in Raven Park, but being free to walk and exercise without feeling my chest hurt and without thinking that my heart was going to fail at any moment was a relief. “Thank you, but it wasn’t that bad. Aunt Mabel was always there to take care of me. I’m not sure I would have liked to be at Raven Park all the time like you did.”
“I wonder how it would be to grow up with a caring parent like your aunt.” It was the first time he didn’t shrug and dismissed the subject, as if he didn’t care. “She loves you. You two have a strong bond. It must be nice.”
“More than nice.” I avoided a pool of mud. “She’s family.”
“Yes, family.” His shoulders hunched as he muttered the word ‘family’ as if it were a curse.
“Were you close to Lukas before he died?” I chanced asking. The worst that could happen was that he clammed up, and that was nothing new. But I avoided saying ‘before you killed him.’
“He was my best friend, and my worst enemy at the same time.” The ghost of a smile stretched his lips.
“How’s that possible?”
The shadows of the tall trees darkened his face. “He was just like me.”
I waited for him to add something else, but in perfect Roy Turner fashion, he remained silent, brooding about something he didn’t want to share with me, and I knew better than to nudge him.
We stopped in a clearing where there was no sound, aside from the rustle of the leaves. The main road was a good hour’s walk from there. Frost coated the ground, and a chilly wind carried the promise of fresh snow. But my beast radiated enough heat to keep me warm, eager to come out. The excitement of Roy’s beast stroked my skin.
I had to be honest. Beast and sense of freedom aside, part of the fun of merging with Roy was that we had to remove our clothes. The beast we created by merging was so big that it would rip them. To preserve our modesty, black underwear would cover our private parts. It was made of a particular fabric, called the hallowed silk for some reason that had to do with Shakespeare’s Othello, and it was thick, smooth, and elastic, almost unbreakable.
“I think we’re far enough,” Roy said, glancing around.
While I was breathing hard from the trek, he wasn’t even sweaty.
We stepped behind the bushes to where we weren’t visible in case someone came from the same path and spotted us. Imagine the scandal. Kristin Easterwood, the once thin as a stick and sick girl, caught naked in the woods with a gentleman. I’d be the town gossip topic of the century.
Despite my bravado, my fingers shook when I started to unbutton my coat. It wasn’t the first time Roy would see me half naked. Or even fully naked. We’d swam together in the swimming pool at Raven Park and spent some pleasurable, intimate hours in a hotel in Berlin. But every time I had to undress in front of him, shyness took over. Besides, undressing in a cosy bedroom while I was wounded and he had to heal me was one thing. Undressing in broad daylight in front of him because I’d proposed to merge was quite another. Merge for the last time.
“Bother,” I muttered as my clumsy fingers failed to grip a suddenly slippery button.
“Let me.” Gently, he shoved my fingers away and made short work of unbuttoning my coat. His knuckles brushed the tops of my breasts as he worked on the buttons of my shirt, causing goosebumps to pebble my skin. He paused to stare at me, as if he wanted to gauge my reaction. If he was looking for hesitancy or regret, he’d be sorely disappointed. My body came alive with each casual brush of his fingers. And well, I could return the favour.
I unbuttoned his jacket and waistcoat, my fingers curiously steady again. As he slid my coat off my shoulders, I tugged his shirt out of the waistband of his trousers, revealing his abdominal muscles. I traced the line of his muscles with the pads of my fingers.
He removed my shirt, gently pulling at the sleeves. “Kristin.” A warning rang in his voice, but to hell with it. If this was my last chance to be close to him, I was going to enjoy every ounce of it.
