“Huh,” I said when I managed to find my words. “I don’t think I’ve ever been called inspirational before, but a girl could get used to it.”
“A muse is a muse is a muse,” Rowan said, his accent going just a bit sideways, something I noticed happened when he got a bit introspective. I didn’t mind it at all; it was another puzzle piece, another quirk for me to hoard with all the other factoids I was collecting about him. And I could definitely feel myself quickly sliding into something akin to obsession.
“Actually, my name is Naomi,” I shot back, and while it wasn’t the most witty repartee, Rowan chuckled. He needed to be careful, otherwise he might end up accidentally encouraging me to start a career in comedy—possibly the only thing more humiliating than being a wolfless wolf.
“It most certainly is,” he said, gently nudging my arm with his elbow now that we were completely settled, side by side on the edge of the pier with a cool summer breeze tickling at our hair and clothes. It really was like something out of a movie. Funny, for all my making fun of drama kids to find such exhilaration in the main character role I was playing at. Back when I had auditioned for Cinderella, the director had taken me aside and told me in a kindly tone that some people were meant to be ingénues, some people were meant to be supporting characters, and I did not fall in the former group.
Clearly, the joke was on him, because how could I feel like anything but a movie star with the way Rowan talked to me?
As we tucked into our snacks, conversation ebbed and flowed in a way that was far too natural for someone I’d only met for the second time. It felt like everything between us was happening at high octane, but it was also so comfortable. So relaxed. If I’d known dating anyone could be like this, perhaps I wouldn’t have spent my twenties being perpetually single.
“Do you want to taste?” I said, stabbing one of the strawberries of my crepe and scooping up a bit of cream with it before offering it to him. Rowan looked from it to my face and I saw a new expression bloom across his features. Maybe I was crazy, but he almost looked...Hungry.But not for the strawberry. No, it was like he was looking straight through it and intome.
I swallowed several times in rapid succession and almost chickened out, but somehow I held steady enough to allow the man to lean forward and close his mouth around the morsel. It captivated, and I could have sworn his teeth were slightly longer than they had been earlier.
But that thought was erased entirely when I saw an errant smear of cream in the corner of his mouth. I reacted without really thinking, so mentally engaged by him, that my thumbcame up and swiped it away. My hand was halfway to my mouth, my brain on autopilot about how to clean the mess off my finger, when Rowan caught my wrist and stopped me.
Fuck, there was something so electric about his touch. Like lightning down my spine, the power of it spread out through every single cell in my body. And that feeling only amplified when he drew my hand back to his mouth, his pale, pink tongue flicking out and laving away the cream on my thumb.
“It’s tasty,” he rasped when he finally released me.
I honestly didn’t know if I’d ever been wetter. It was such a simple thing, hardly even sinful, and yet my entire body was alight with desire.
This time, when I leaned in, swept up in the moment and everything I was feeling, I paused at the last second, locking eyes with Rowan to make sure he was on board. The look on his face and the way he leaned in told me everything I needed to know. As he began to close the distance, I was confident I was doing exactly what he wanted.
But then, for the second time in a row, we never quite closed that gap. This time it wasn’t because of a freak thunderstorm or him running away. There was a sudden scream right in my ear, then a surprising amount of force smacked into my arm.
“CAW!” the random seagull yelled at me again, almost like a personal accusation. For a moment, I was completely taken off guard, but then my mind kicked in, and I had the wherewithal to shoo it away. However, the seagull had either been starved for twenty-five years and my food was the first thing it had seen, or it had a particular hankering for strawberries and cream crepes with peanut butter sauce, because it wasn’t backing down from its conquest.
“Would you get out of here?” I cried, and even Rowan joined in, waving his arm at the invading avian. Little did we know we were part of a coordinated attack, because thenanotherrat withwings materialized out of thin air, going for the unprotected side of my crepe.
The next thing I knew, a horde enveloped us, and it really sounded like they were all screeching and honking the samemine, mine, minefrom that one kids’ movie. It was a real cacophony, and it might have been funny if they weren’t trying to steal my sweets! Couldn’t a girl just enjoy her dessert and blooming romance in peace? Had I pissed off some god of romance and affection or lord of the birds without even knowing? Because at this point, I had to wonder.
“This is ridiculous! Would you just get out of here?” While I was literally arguing with birds, that was far more preferable than actually snarling out loud. But I was so flustered and pissed at being kiss-blocked for the second time, that the animalistic sound tore out of my throat before I could stop it. If I had fangs, they would have come out right then and there. That was how incensed I was.
I froze, glancing at Rowan in alarm to see if he had clocked me. But, strangely enough, my date wasn’t even looking at me. No, his gaze was still turned up to those stars he had been admiring, and I wondered if he saw more seagulls rapidly approaching. God, I hoped not. Because having a second date ruined by an avarice-fueled avian attack sure did seem to be a sort of divine intervention.
But no, it turned out not to be seagulls at all. Instead, I gasped as a giant wave ofliteral batsswooped down from the pitch of the night sky and swarmed the seagulls.
I watched, more than a bit incredulous, as the two parties had a short but intense conversation. And by conversation, I meant a whole lot of honking objections from the seagulls and practically silent, beating wings from the bats. Our nocturnal friends won whatever the discussion was, because the seagullsbeat it like their tail feathers were on fire, and the goth air puppies dispersed soon after.
“Did... Did that really just happen?” I asked. This whole night was insane enough to have me wondering if I was having the world’s strangest dream. Usually when I was having crackpot visions in my sleep, I at least got to run like a wolf. A subtle pinch to my arm proved that no, I was very much awake.
Somehow, Rowan’s tone was nonchalant as he sent me a half smile. “Yeah, the urbanization of wild animals is pretty crazy, isn’t it?”
I blinked at him. Was he serious? I didn’t think urbanization or even domestication quite covered what had just happened. But I never quite got the chance to verbalize it, because in a mirror of what I did earlier, he gently swiped at my cheek, removing a bit of peanut butter that must have gotten there during my struggle. But this time, instead of licking it off, he offered his thumb for me. A true reversal of the cream from earlier.
Don’t mind if I do!
I honestly had no clue where I got thechutzpah,but I opened my mouth and drew his thumb into it rather than just quickly licking at the digit. Holding eye contact with him, I closed my lips around his finger, swirling my tongue all along it until I had cleaned every last drop of peanut-buttery goodness from his cool skin.
When I pulled away, Rowan was once again looking at me with that samehunger, his amethyst eyes stormy. That moment hung between us, before suddenly he closed the gap for the kiss I’d been waiting for.
It was everything I wanted and more. He gripped my waist, his body twisting to draw us closer together. Our mouths moved against each other, earnest and seeking, soft in conflict. While his were cold and smooth, almost like pliable stone, I could feelhow heated mine were against his. The contrast was dizzying, intoxicating, and I had no desire to sober up.
It was like fireworks booming through the night sky, cracking into a kaleidoscope of light that shattered the darkness.
Oh wait. Those actually were fireworks.
