“Oh,” he said thoughtfully. “Things make a lot more sense now.”
Rowan straightened. “Do we have a problem?”
Barrett snorted and waved a nonchalant hand. “Not even a little bit. I wish you both good luck.”
I rolled to a seated position. “You couldn’t sense anything before?”
Barrett chewed on the side of his lip, his eyes sparkling with amusement. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Contact of a certain kind sometimes strengthens bonds in our kind.” He coughed to try to keep from laughing.
My face went crimson.
Barrett grinned. “I see it is the same for shifters and possibly fae.”
“Gods,” I groaned and covered my face.
Rowan let out a wicked chuckle. “You can assume recent contact adds a certain flair to all shifter senses.” He winked at me.
“Rowan. Shut. Up.”
He plopped down next to me and ruffled my hair. “You can’t hide much when it comes to a mating bond, Evie.”
“I don’t want to hide it, maybe just not talk about—” I waved my hand around. “The other stuff.”
Rowan leaned in and whispered in my ear, so low Barrett couldn’t have caught it. “We don’t have to talk about it as long as we do it again. And again. And again. For practice.” His teeth caught my earlobe, sending liquid heat through my entire body.
Dad jerked his head at Barrett. “We’re done for the day.”
The Chimera and my dad walked away, both chuckling under their breath.
When they were out of sight, I launched myself at Rowan, tackling him to the ground. He caught me by the hips, delighted laughter shaking his chest.
“Rowan!” I loomed above him, my annoyance draining at the happy look in his eyes. “Damn you,” I grumbled.
A second later, I was kissing him, and he was kissing me back. His hands tightened on my hips, and things below the belt tightened, and gods help me, I was insomuch trouble.
I pulled away, breathless. “What is happening to me?”
The amusement faded from his face. He rolled me over, gently pinning me beneath him. “My hope is you’re falling hopelessly in love with me, just like I am with you.” He kissed my throat. “And once that happens, my hope is that we can both have our pants off at the same time.”
A surprised laugh broke from me. He grinned and kissed me again. I ran my fingers through his thick hair tugging the strands gently. Rowan’s eyes went golden.
“Do that again,” he whispered against my skin.
“Oh,” I murmured. “You like this?” I tugged a little harder. Rowan bit down on my collarbone, gently but hard enough to leave a slight impression.
“Oh,” I breathed in an entirely different way.
He lifted his head, curiosity in his glowing eyes. “No one has taught you where the edge of pain ends, pleasure begins?”
I blinked up at him.
“Hmm.” One of his eyebrows went up before a dark chuckle escaped him. “You and I are going to have so much fun.” He kissed me once more and rolled off.
I wanted to pull him on top of me again and ask him to show me. As if sensing my thoughts, Rowan’s smile became edged. He held a hand out to help me up.
“I want you to stay with me tonight.”
My throat went dry. “In the Keep?”
