But not here, not now.
She saw the hesitation in his eyes. Nick thought he might hurt her, but Alex didn’t. Not for a moment. He couldn’t. Not him.
You don’t know him, some last thread of sanity tried to tell her. Not really. He could be anyone, or anything. She knew nothing about him, not really. Not where he came from, or anything about his past before he came here, or whathad happened with Sally and Theo. Just wild stories, vague mentions, and things that made no sense.
But she didn’t care. Not anymore. And she did know him. Somehow. Somewhere. In her heart of hearts…
He groaned as he entered her, her name twisted with a sound of agony and pleasure, and she felt that noise, that vibration, all the way through her aching body. When he started to move, she was lost. Lost in him, lost in the woods, lost in pleasure and desire and everything in between. She had never felt so alive. Nothing had ever felt so right. This sense of belonging, of being part of everything around her… His mouth on hers teased every cry from her body and his fingers threaded through hers, pushing her hands down into the soft embrace of the earth. Briars tangled around their wrists, thorns digging into the skin, tightening, binding them together in pain and pleasure.
This was a promise, she realised. This was a vow. It was sacred. She accepted it wholeheartedly. And she wanted it. All of it. Everything Nick and the wild wood had to offer. This was her land. She had claimed it. And he was the guardian.
Alex’s hips rose to meet him, and she cried out. In that instant she was everything, everywhere, the trees and the earth and the night sky, she was part of the woods and part of the land and Nick was hers, completely, utterly, part of her as she was part of him. She could no more have let him go than she could let loose her own soul. He gasped out something, words of promise, vows and sacred assurances. And all Alex could do was accept them, accept him.
‘Yes, yes, Nick, please, yes.’
He groaned something she didn’t catch as he sank into her, deep and perfect, filling her completely, his body a bow against hers, every muscle straining to give her pleasure and chase his own. He came silently, hard, mouth open and his wholeexpression almost dazed as he gave himself up to sensation, as he lost himself in her and in the world of the green, of the wild.
Ripples of pleasure still ran through Alex’s body. She lifted her hand again and ran it through his long hair, brushing it back from his face as she watched him struggle to catch his breath. He was a dream in human form, everything she could have desired and wanted, an incarnation of pleasure.
The scent of wildflowers wrapped itself around them, the press of the wild and the murmuring sound of a distant voice singing for joy, just on the edge of her hearing. Magic, she thought. It was like magic.
Finally, Nick found his voice again, although he didn’t open his eyes, not yet. He let his head fall forward, his hair curtaining them both, as he struggled back to himself.
‘Sally,mo stór,’ he sighed, his voice a song of adoration and relief. ‘Thank you…’
All around her, Alex’s dream shattered, hurling her back into Wildewood Hall, tangled on the floor of the drawing room.
With a man who had just called out someone else’s name.
CHAPTER 32
NICK
Nick snapped his eyes open with the horror of what he had just done and the words he had said. It was like a bucket of cold water. No, worse. Far worse.
He stared down at her face. Her beautiful, horrified face. Firelight turned it golden, her eyes already brimming with molten tears.
He’d sensed Sally’s presence around him, the scent of wildflowers and her acceptance of this, of him and Alex, her joy in his joy. She’d told him to go to her. He had been so grateful that she would give him this, that she would release him at last. To Alex. So he’d thanked her.
The words were like ash in his throat now and dark laughter echoed on the edge of his hearing.
‘I—’ he began, and couldn’t get any further.
‘Please, just…just get up…’ Alex whispered, refusing to make eye contact with him now.
No, this was all going wrong. Completely, utterly wrong.
He drew back, fighting the urge to just take off outside, into the deepest part of the forest and never emerge again. That would be fair, wouldn’t it? But Christ, he wanted to. He needed to. He was a creature of need. A monster.
Alex grabbed her shirt and pulled it on, then her jeans, never looking at him.
Nick couldn’t move. But he had to do something. He had to stop her before everything was ruined.
‘Alex,’ he tried again. His voice cracked as he said her name.
‘Don’t worry about it. I shouldn’t have pushed things. It’s my fault.’ Her voice sounded leaden, as if she was forcing the words out. No matter what she was saying, she didn’t believe it.
But it wasn’t her fault. This was all him.
