Heat flares through me, along with an intense pull to burrow closer and prove to myself that I’m worthy of Wolf’s devotion and what I feel for him isn’t going anywhere.
“This is my first real summer.”He tucks my hair behind my ear.“I didn’t know it could feel like this.”
“Like what?”
“Like something worth staying awake for.Like a daydream that doesn’t turn to ice or threaten to leave.”
The way he says it, with his gaze drilling into mine, tells me he’s not just talking about summer.
“Five days ago, I told you I couldn’t stay.”I touch his jaw, smoothing the sudden tension there.“Because I don’t want to endanger you.”
“What did I tell you?”
“You said Jag is your problem, not mine.But if I stay—”
“If?Is that still a question?”
Old fear rises fast, shrinking my ribs and kicking my heart.My brain tries to drag me backward, back into running, back into hiding, back into every instinct that kept me alive.
But I look at him.At the quiet waiting in his eyes.At the trust he’s learning how to give.At the way his throat jogs, not because he doubts me, but because he’s terrified I’ll pull away.
“No.”I inhale through the fear, push the old reflex down, and wrap my hand around the back of his strong neck.“I’m not leaving.”
He searches my eyes, waiting for a catch.
“I told you I couldn’t stay, but the truth is…” My voice drops.“I can’t walk away from you.”
His earlier claim flickers through my mind.
Before the week ends, you’ll fall in love with me.
I don’t tell him he was right.I’m not brave enough for that yet.Instead, I make a different promise.
“I’ll stay.But Jag isn’t your problem.He’sours.”I swallow as the wind covers us in a warm cocoon of sound.“If you get hurt, Wolf…”
“You leaving me is the only way to hurt me.”
“Then it’s settled.I’m never leaving.”
“Obviously.”
“I hope you’re ready.”Frankie rises from her lounger, smiling at me over her shoulder.
“For what?”I ask.
“Your feral Alaskan family.”She winks, and sensing Leo’s movement, she bends to brush his braids from his face.“Go back to sleep, you brute.”
She steps away, and he reaches for her.
“Just using the bathroom.”With a laugh, she straightens the sun dress over her bikini and saunters into the cabin.
“Your turn.”Wolf drops a kiss on my lip piercing.
“Hm.”I prop my feet on the cushion, curling toward him.“What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?”
“Shimmering honey.”
Honey?Is that a flavor?
