“Are you going to let me carry you? It’ll be faster.”
“The last time we tried this, I ended up on my back in the snow and left you to walk home. I don’t think—”
“I won’t carry you like that.” He shoved the bags in my arms and picked me up. “Like this.”
I huffed a sigh. “Fine.”
He grinned and started off.
“Two weeks ago, you wouldn’t have said fine,” he said. “In fact, I’m pretty sure you were ready to strangle me because I carried you so you wouldn’t have to walk in the snow barefoot.”
I remembered that day and how his touch had caused so much hunger and panic. It was odd that I could better tolerate him now. In fact, there was a lot that was different after spending so much time with him.
His scent, for example.
It was still mouthwateringly enticing and stirred my hunger, but not to the point that I felt like I was going to lose control. Or, at least, not as often. I wondered if being around him was helping me become desensitized.
“You like pushing boundaries,” I said. “I think you’ve pushed so much between then and now that you moved a few of mine.”
He chuckled.
“That’s music to my ears.”
“Not mine. It just means you’re going to keep pushing.”
“And here I thought you didn’t know me.”
I wrinkled my nose at him and rolled my eyes.
“I think I’m getting to know you better than your girls do.”
“They aren’t mine,” he said. “They never will be.”
“You sound pretty sure.”
“I am. I’ve been with them my whole life. If I was going to bond with one of them, it would have already happened.”
I thought of Jenna and felt bad for her.
“Are they going to be upset that you aren’t in class today?”
He shrugged, the gesture jostling me slightly.
“They know that Adira’s been messing with my schedule. There’s not much they can do about it.”
We fell silent the rest of the way to the caves. Without the distraction of conversation, his smell wrapped around me, getting under my skin so much that it was a relief when he finally put me down.
“You know the drill,” he said, humor dancing in his eyes. “It’s time to strip.”
I thought of what I was wearing under my jeans and long-sleeved shirt. Bikini underwear and a bralette. Had I known where we were going, I would have layered more.
Based on Fenris’s smirk, he knew the direction of my thoughts and the reason for my hesitation. That gave me the backbone to twirl a finger in his direction.
“Not with you watching. Turn around.”
“But if you do it while I’m watching, you can tell Adira you were practicing your skills today when she corners you.”
“She’ll be upset, regardless, due to the spell removal.” I indicated I still wanted him to turn around.
