Using one hand, he yanked his long-sleeved T-shirt back down from where it had ridden up to expose his taut stomach and the blue cotton of the boxers that peeked over the waistband of his jeans. The other gripped mine so tightly, it almost hurt.
‘I should probably freshen up first,’ he said as we walked inside, giving himself a surreptitious sniff. ‘It was a long drive.’
Reluctantly releasing him, I pointed down the hallway.
‘Powder room is right through there. I’ll be in the kitchen.’
‘I’ll find you,’ he said, a throwaway comment that wrapped itself around my heart and refused to let go.
The wildlife painted on the silken walls of Bell House flourished as I passed through. Flowers blossomed on vines, birds sang in the trees and a handful of tiny rabbits hopped along beside me, twitching their noses with excitement. He was here, he was here, he was here. Wyn was back in Savannah, he was safe and healthy. Everything was good, everything was right and the darkness of my morning disappeared, at least for a moment.
I pulled a jug of lemonade from the fridge and poured two glasses, as well as a tall glass of water, sure he must be parched if he’d driven for five hours straight without taking a break. Although she wouldn’t admit it, the full moon had set Ashley off on an anxiety-driven baking spree so there was no shortage of cookies and cake and freshly baked bread in our kitchen. I loaded it all onto the table, adding butter and jam and cheese and anything else I could get my hands on. The only thing I couldn’t seem to do was stand still.
‘So, Mr Evans, what’ll it be?’ I said, full of butterflies all over again when he walked through the door. ‘We’ve got pretty much everything.’
‘All at once I’m not so hungry.’ He stalked around the table to trap me between his arms again. ‘It is so good to see you, Emily James.’
‘Technically, it’s Emily James Bell now,’ I told him, smiling against a fresh onslaught of kisses as a vase full of sunflowers that had begun to wilt on the windowsill sprang up with renewed vigour.
‘You can call yourself any name you like as long as I can call you mine.’
My mind went blank every time his soft lips touched myskin, the longing between us as thick and heavy as the July air, so dense I could’ve cut it with a knife. And if I hadn’t reached back to steady myself, knocking over one of the glasses of lemonade in the process, I wasn’t entirely sure what might’ve happened.
‘I’ve got it,’ I said, laughing softly, awkwardly, as I reached for a cloth to mop up the sticky liquid.
Wyn took the cue to compose himself and grabbed the untouched glass of water, chugging the whole thing.
‘You had me worried,’ he said, the tip of his pointer finger trailing up and down the side of the now empty glass. ‘When you didn’t answer your phone, I kind of panicked. Don’t think I took my foot off the gas once after I crossed the state line.’
‘It got wet. I’m trying to dry it out but it’s taking forever.’ I glanced over at my phone, dry and plugged in at the wall but still blank. ‘Didn’t Jackson message you?’
‘No.’
He took out his own phone, checking a bunch of different apps to make sure. ‘Haven’t heard from Jackson since the day he drove me home.’
I pressed my lips together to stop the torrent of abuse on the tip of my tongue from spilling out. Jackson would be dealt with later. Right now, my sole focus was Wyn.
‘Doesn’t matter,’ he said, his eyes searching my face for something he seemed to find, judging by the smile playing on his lips. ‘There’s nowhere else on earth I’d rather be right now.’
‘You really only just got here?’ I asked as he hopped up onto a stool. I took the one next to him, shivering when our knees touched.
‘Really.’
The spark that connected us shone so brightly it was blinding. If he said it wasn’t him, it wasn’t him. I didn’t feel like he was lying, nothing about the look on his face or the light in hiseyes said he was being untruthful. And what was more likely, Wyn lying about when he arrived or me making a mistake in the dark after waking up in the square without knowing how I got there?
‘What did you tell your parents?’
‘The truth,’ he replied and I felt a surge of magic over my skin. ‘At least part of it. That I had a girl waiting on me in Savannah and needed to get back to her. As long as I’m back before the pack leaves for the crynhoad, it’s all good.’
‘Crynhoad?’
We were in my kitchen, just the two of us but Wyn glanced over both shoulders, as though checking to make sure no one was listening.
‘It’s a Were term, it’s what we call our full moon gathering. Hey …’ He brushed his fingers against my cheek. ‘Something’s wrong. What’s happening here?’
‘What isn’t?’ I replied, but he didn’t return my sardonic smile and so it melted away like summer snow. ‘Last night, I was outside in the square and I really thought I saw you.’
He took my hand and held it against his steadily beating heart.
