He took another step back. Then another, forcing himself to put distance between them because if he didn’t, if he stayed within arm’s reach, he would reach for her again and this time he wouldn’t stop.
“We should—” His voice came out wrecked. He cleared his throat and tried again. “We should get back. Dani will be awake soon.”
She didn’t move. Her eyes searched his face, looking for an explanation, for reassurance.
He couldn’t give it to her. He could barely string words together with the taste of her still on his lips and the feel of her body still imprinted on his hands.
“Tarek. What?—”
“We need to go.”
He turned and started walking, not waiting to see if she followed. His hands were shaking. His whole body was shaking—desire and fear and need, all tangled together until he couldn’t tell where one ended and the others began.
You fool,he thought savagely.You absolute fool. What have you done?
Behind him, he heard her gather her satchel and hurry to catch up. She didn’t speak. She didn’t ask questions he couldn’t answer. She just walked beside him in silence, her shoulder occasionally brushing his, while her scent wrapped around him like a promise he couldn’t keep.
And in the distance, barely audible over the pounding of his heart, he could have sworn he heard his beast laughing.
CHAPTER 14
The taste of him lingered on Jessa’s lips all the way back to the den.
She walked in silence beside Tarek, supremely conscious of every inch of space between them. Her heart still hammered against her ribs. Her skin still tingled where his hands had gripped her waist and the back of her neck. Her nipples throbbed and heat pooled low in her stomach. Every breath she drew carried his wild scent, making her want to close the distance between them, to press herself against him, and demand he finish what he’d started.
But his jaw was set like granite, his eyes fixed straight ahead. His entire body radiated a tension so fierce she could practically feel it vibrating in the air between them.
He’s afraid,she realized. Not of her, but of himself. Of what he might do if he let go.
The thought should have frightened her. Any sensible woman would have been terrified of a barely contained Vultor warrior, struggling against instincts she didn’t fully understand.
But she wasn’t sensible. She was curious. And hungry. And increasingly frustrated by the walls this infuriating male kept throwing up between them.
They reached the den in record time, his longer strides eating up the distance. He disappeared inside without a word, leaving her standing at the entrance with her satchel full of sunvines and her thoughts in complete disarray.
Well,she thought.That’s that, then.
Except it wasn’t. She knew it wasn’t. That kiss had changed something between them, cracking open a door that couldn’t be closed again no matter how hard he tried. She’d felt it in the desperation of his mouth and the trembling of his hands, in the ragged sound he’d made when he finally pulled away.
He wanted her just as badly as she wanted him.
All she had to do was figure out how to make him admit it.
Dani was awake when Jessa entered, sitting up in the big chair by the fireplace with a carved wooden animal in her hands. The little mountain cat with remarkably detailed fur was one of Tarek’s creations.
“You were gone a long time.” Dani’s eyes were bright, curious. “Did you find lots of vines?”
“Plenty.” She set her satchel down and kissed the top of her sister’s head. “How are you feeling?”
“Good. Really good.” A pause. “Tarek came through a minute ago. He looked… strange.”
“Strange how?”
“I don’t know. All stiff and growly. More growly than usual.” Dani’s nose wrinkled. “Did you make him angry?”
Not angry,she thought.Something else entirely.
“We had a disagreement,” she said instead. “Nothing to worry about. Are you hungry? I could make?—”
