Fox and I both freeze, staring at each other with wide eyes.
We don’t kiss.
Well, we have, but we usually don’t. At least to me it seems too familiar, too intimate, for our arrangement.
Now, though, it’s unavoidable. The entire hunting party is watching, and my mind has gone completely blank.
Clearly thinking the same thing, Fox looks like he’s stealing himself before he reaches for me.
He bends down to bring his face close to mine, while I try to stand on my toes to reach him. Our lips meet in an awkward, closed-mouth kiss.
We just stand there unmoving for what feels like several minutes but is really only a fraction of a second. I begin to draw back, my eyes fluttering open to find his already fixed on me, his expression twisted into something that looks almost like agony.
My breath catches, his eyes flare, and suddenly his hands are fisted in my hair, yanking my head back as his mouth crashes down on mine. I claw at his shoulders, desperate to get closer, our teeth clashing as we devour each other. The world disappears.
He lifts me off my feet with bruising force, pressing me against him until I can feel every hard plane of his body. I lock my arms around his neck and bite down on his bottom lip hard enough to taste copper. Our heartbeats thunder against each other, wild and frantic, drowning out the jeers and whistles from the hunting party that I can no longer bring myself to care about.
“For the love of the fucking gods,” Kai complains loudly, though his tone sounds amused. “That’s not what I meant. We need to leave now.”
Fox and I break apart, both breathing heavily.
His eyes lock with mine, searching for answers while revealing nothing himself.
To anyone watching, it might seem like we’re communicating silently as he lowers me back to the ground.
The irony is, that even if we could communicate, I don’t think either of us would know what to say.
“Can I ask you a possibly rude question?” Liv asks me later that afternoon.
We’re back at the hot springs and Liv is sitting on the rocky bank again while Inga and I swim around in the warm, steamy water.
I bark out a laugh and swim closer to Liv’s rock. “I am constantly wondering the same about you. I have so many rude questions I’ve been holding in.”
“So that’s a ‘yes?’”
“Of course.”
“How the fuck are you not pregnant?”
I choke and accidentally suck in an entire lungful of water. I cough and can’t get the words out to answer for several long moments.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Inga asks pointedly as I continue to hack up a lung.
“Not to me,” Liv says, widening her eyes pointedly. “My tent is right near theirs. They did a good job of being quiet when they first got here, but lately…”
Inga grins. “You’re just jealous because Dagfinn has been away all week.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Liv says, examining her nails. “But I’m not joking about the pregnancy. It sounds like she should have three pups by now.”
“Because I’m—” I cough again, my eyes streaming. “Oh, Gods, sorry. Hold on.” I cough again, and take another moment to catch my breath. “Alright, I think I’m fine now. Anyway, it’s probably because I take the potion to prevent it.”
They glance at each other.
“Does that work for you?” Liv asks. “I didn’t think they made a potion strong enough for shifters.”
“Well I’m not a shifter,” I mutter. Also there’s the fact that Fox always pulls out, but I don’t feel like they need to know thatpart. “We’re not, um, trying to have children or anything, so it’s not something I’ve thought much about.”
“Oh,” Liv says, looking perplexed. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed. I just thought that since you’re mated…whoops. You can ignore me now.”
