He looks up, startled. Then he shakes his head. “I’ll be fine. I’ve seen worse.”
I nod quickly, pretending that’s what I wanted him to say. “Sure. Of course.”
He hesitates a moment longer, gaze moving over me.
“You’re safe here,” he says quietly. “Just keep the fire lit.”
And then he turns and steps back into the snow.
I stand in the doorway, watching him go—his tall, dark shape silhouetted by white, until he disappears into the trees.
Every part of me still feels him—his nearness, the deep, growly sound of his voice, the way his eyes kept finding mine like he couldn’t stop himself.
It makes no sense.
He’s the man who rejected me when I was so ready for him.
I shut the door hard and lean against it, breath shallow, heart hammering.
Why does it still feel like he wants me?
And why?—
after everything?—
does some part of me still want him back?
4
Holt
The firelight on her hair, lips parted in a question, eyes searching my face like she wasn’t sure whether to let me go or ask me to stay.
The image of her follows me down the steps, across the yard, and out into the night.
It took every scrap of my willpower to walk out, when all I wanted to do was take her into my arms and stay there forever.
The biting cold is a relief. I yank off my wet shirt and feel the snow turn to steam on my bare torso.
My beast is restless, pacing under my skin. It wants her close—wants her scent in my nostrils, her soft curves in my hands. It wants to drag her to my lair and claim her.
I clench my fists, breathe deeply.
Not happening.
She’s human. Too sweet, too breakable for a beast like me.
I picture her in the stable—hair slipping out from her hood, fingers fumbling with the latch. The way her face lit up when the ponies nudged her palm for sugar.
And the stupid urge I had to fix her hair, make her hood sit right.
The wind stings my face. The forest groans around me, alive and ancient, every sound a challenge to hold my shape.
Stay in control.
The last time I let myself feel like this, I ran. Left her behind.
I told myself it was for the best. Told myself to stay away from her if I wanted to keep her safe.
