“See something you like?” I asked, keeping my voice innocent and not at all smug. I really hoped she hadn’t noticed the evidence of how much I liked her looking.
Her eyes snapped back to my face. “I’m just looking at your tattoos.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“They’re very detailed.” Her voice came out husky, strained, as she swam closer to the shore where I was standing.
“Mm-hmm.”
“What do they mean?”
I traced a finger along one of the marks on my chest, watching her eyes follow the movement. “This one is for my first hunt.”
“Hunt?” Her voice was slightly strained, gaze dropping to my mouth for a beat.
“Achievement. Back home.” I pointed to my ribs, enjoying the way her gaze tracked across my skin. “This one is a family crest.”
“And that one?” She pointed at the wolf that ran along my side, and I turned slightly to give her a better view.
“Personal.”
“A wolf.” She was still staring. “Somehow fitting, you have the vibes - If we ignore the fact you love to annotate spicy romance books.”
“I contain multitudes.” I stepped closer, and her breath caught. “Which one’s your favorite?”
“What?”
“You’ve been staring for a while. You must have a preference.” My voice dropped, teasing, but my hand itched to grab her waist, pull her flush.
Her cheeks flushed. “I haven’t been staring.”
“You have, since I took my shirt off. It’s fine.” I smiled slowly. “I stared at you first. Fair’s fair.”
“I... that’s...” She swallowed. “The wolf is my favorite.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. It looks...” She trailed off, her eyes moving over the ink again. “Alive. Like it might move.”
Something warm spread through my chest. She had no idea how right she was, how the beast inside me stirred at her gaze, claws scraping, urging me to claim her right there in the shallow water, fuck her slow and deep until she screamed my name.
I took my time with my pants, stepping out of them slowly, the fabric sliding down my thighs, revealing the swim trunks that clung tight to my hips, the outline of my half-hard cock totally visible. Her eyes tracked the movement, widening just a fraction, pupils dilating as they dipped lower, lingering on the bulge. I pretended not to notice, but my pulse kicked up, dick twitching under her stare.
“You’re doing that on purpose,” she accused.
“Doing what?”
“Being... distracting.” Her tongue darted out to wet her lips, and I imagined it on my skin, licking salt from my chest.
“I’m just getting ready to swim.” I walked past her toward the water, close enough that my arm brushed hers. “Unless you’d rather keep staring. I can stand here longer.”
“Shut up.” She laughed despite herself and dove back into the water. I followed, letting the cold rise around my legs, my hips, my chest. The temperature was a relief after the summer heat, but it did nothing to cool the fire burning through me.
Riley kept her distance at first. Not much, but enough that I noticed. It stung more than I wanted to admit.
“You scared him off,” she said after a moment, treading water. It took me a second to remember exactlywhoI scared off.
Right.That fucking man.
