Something was coming.
A huge, misshapen form rose slowly from the mire. It was so caked in mud I didn’t know what I was looking at. Then it’s mouth opened wide, gnashing long sharp teeth.
“Run,” Roxy hissed.
Snatching up her hand, I gripped it tight, refusing to let her pull away this time, because there was no fucking way I was risking losing her in this fucking realm of rot and death, and broke into a sprint. We rounded trees and swamps, jumped fallen logs, and slipped on rotting vegetation. The crash and roar of the bog creature making chase echoed behind us. It was fast and gaining, more familiar with the treacherous terrain than we were.
Another roar came from somewhere else close by. I wasn’t sure we could outrun these swamp fuckers. A huge tree was just ahead. It had thick gnarled roots thrust into the ground, and some of the earth under it had dropped away, leaving a dark, open space.
I glanced back at the mud-slicked mire monster crashing toward us. We needed to do something. Now. I didn’t have time to tell Roxy my plan. “Hold on to me,” I said as I hauled her off her feet, darted one way toward a thicker cluster of trees, leading the creature there and giving us cover, before I veered back and dove for the ground.
We slid in the mud and sludge, across the forest floor and between the huge tree’s roots, stopping when we hit the wall of dirt and roots underneath. Roxy smashed into my front and blinked up at me, eyes huge. She opened her mouth to speak, and I clamped my hand over it.
If the creature had eyes, I didn’t see any. It seemed to me it was using sound and probably scent, and I was banking on the mud now coving us both to disguise us.
Roxy’s stunning blue eyes stayed on me, widening even more when the heavy thud of the creature’s feet squelching in the mud grew closer. It slowed, and I could hear it scenting the air. It paced back and forth, then roared, before it took off running deeper into the forest in search of us.
We were both breathing hard now, and her soft, little body was pressed tight against mine. I could feel every soft curve, and for once her scent wasn’t a problem, because the mud was disguising it from me. Nothing inside me was demanding I get the fuck away from her, and for the first time since we started this hunt, my beast sunk back into me, with me again in all ways, as it should be. It was a good feeling.
Roxy’s fingers curled around my hand, her movements slow, careful, as she eased it away from her mouth. Her lips looked darker, a little fuller, from my rough skin pressed against them. I scented her experimentally, and my beast rumbled in my chest when I smelled my own scent now on those plump pretty lips.
I slid my hand up her back and into her hair, and the beast growled again from the softness of it. Hounds loved certain textures, soft, silky things drew us, and we loved touch, hugs especially. My senses were in pleasure overload, and I didn’t even try to stop myself from leaning in so I could press my nose, my lips, to her neck, so I could slide them up her silky skin, the only part of her not smeared with mud. The vibrations in my chest increased.
Roxy’s breathing quickened, her fingers against my side digging in and making me moan.
“Lothar?” she whispered. “What are you doing?”
I wasn’t sure. All I knew was I didn’t want to let her go. I wanted to get closer, I wanted more, needed more. Lifting my head, I took her chin in my hand and slid my thumb over the plump warmth of her tempting lower lip. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Roxy.” I shook my head. “Fucking gorgeous. Have I ever told you that?” I had, hadn’t I? I couldn’t remember saying it before, but I was positive I had.
Her throat worked, and she blinked up at me. “We can’t…we shouldn’t?—”
“Why shouldn’t we?” It felt right to have Roxy in my arms. The beast purred from just how right this felt. Why hadn’t I done this before?
“It’s not a good idea,” she said, her voice husky and sexy.
I pressed my forehead to hers and nodded. “Yeah, it is.”
Her breath shook. “Please.”
The plea was soft, barely there, and I wasn’t sure if she was begging me to kiss her or asking me to release her, but instinct took over and I curled my fingers around the side of her lovely face and pressed my lips to hers.
If Roxy wanted me to stop, she could easily make me. She could gut me in three seconds flat. Another growl left me, as I opened my mouth over hers. My tongue delved into that silken heat and took my first drugging taste of her. Motherfucker, I knew her taste. I’d dreamed about it. I was positive I had. Something wild ignited inside me.
Her fingers dug into my sides, hard enough that her nails would leave indents in my skin. She stilled, and I braced for her to shove me away, but then she hooked both arms around my neck, and with her considerable strength, she pulled me closer and kissed me back. I groaned when she slid her sweet, little tongue against mine, as if she were as desperate for a taste of me as I was her.
I shoved my hand up under her shirt, my fingers sliding across the scar on her side, then up over her ribs. Fuck me, it was like sparks arced between us wherever I touched. She gasped like she could feel it too.
Her hands slipped from around my neck and traveled lightly down my chest.
Yes. Touch me.
She shoved, hard, breaking the kiss.
I snarled, and we stared at each other, panting. I went for those lips again, fucking hungry for more, but she slapped her hand over my mouth this time and shook her head.
The rumbling in my chest intensified, a throbbing purr and low growl rolling from me. The beast wanted more, right the fuck now.
She kept her hand over my mouth and lifted her finger to her lips, telling me to be quiet. That’s when I heard the snuffling and heavy footsteps squelching through mud nearby.
