After several minutes passed, the image of a particular panther becomes clearer on the page. Shading marks covered his fingers. Admiring his work, he smiled. Flora’s panther purred through the page as she did in the woods. Setting the book aside, Dylan finally fell asleep, thinking about the feeling of Flora on his body.
14
FLORA
Flora stretched her arms over her head, tossing in her bed. The sexual tension from last night went unfinished, and the disappointment sent her straight to her room when they got home. Flora was surprised Dylan let her go as far as she did. She was playing with him...until she wasn’t. The minute she crawled onto his lap, feeling his arms around her hips, hands inching towards her ass, she thought his shyness was extremely sexy and it turned her on as fast as flipping a switch. Groaning, she turned over in her bed. Heat began to build again. She’d thought she’d be entering her yearly heat — the time when female Shifters' bodies tried to force breeding and mating — with how hot she was for Dylan. Deciding she couldn’t do anything about her growing aches, she stood up, her oversized plain white t-shirt barely dropping to her knees. Another day, another opportunity for a toaster pastry. Those damn things were so addicting, she limited herself to one a day. Popping a s’mores-flavored one into the. toaster, she walked over to the fridge and pulled out some fruit. She thought her doctor would be proud of the balance of healthy and unhealthy that was her usual breakfast.
An arm appeared, reaching into the fridge beside Flora’s head. Gasping, she spun around to make eye contact with a wide, naked chest. Her eyes connected with Dylan’s before her wandering, downward gaze saw anything else it shouldn't.
“Stop smiling, midnight killer,” Flora joked, tilting her head upward, teasing them both. Her lips inched closer and closer. Dylan just smiled, smoothly grabbing the container of eggs out of the fridge and setting it on the counter, mere inches separated their bodies.
“Actually, it's nine in the morning. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Dylan's head dropped down, his lips almost meeting hers. Slipping under Dylan’s arm, Flora swung around in front of the toaster, plating her breakfast. “A toaster pastry and fruit again? Who even decided toaster pastries were a breakfast food?” Dylan teased, cracking an egg over a frying pan left on the stove.
Muscles flexed underneath his tight skin as he moved around her small kitchen, a sight Flora could get used to. Nothing was more attractive than a strong man who could cook.
A moment later, she had to take that statement back. This man surely was attractive, but he couldn’t cook, not eggs at least. As Dylan tried to flip the egg, not only did it break but it missed the pan altogether, landing on the floor. Turning off the flame, Dylan threw an apologetic look towards Flora. She gave him a gentle smile before helping him clean the mess.
“Okay, rockstar, let me show you how it's done.”
Flora cracked an egg into the pan, flipping it over skillfully with minimal effort. It was Dylan’s turn to admire from his safe perch on the bar stool. She swayed her body a bit more than usual, arching her back just enough. She would attract Dylan, enough to want her. What did he like in a woman? Did he like someone who cooked? She shook her head, setting the plate in front of him. Leaning her arms on the counter, she pushed the plate closer to him.
“Go ahead, eat,” she said, a smirk on her face. Dylan could only look up to her, him being shorter sitting in a chair.
“Thank you, baby.”
“Baby?” Flora said, leaning in, before quickly leaning away. “Hold that thought, let me go brush my teeth.”
Before she could get far, Dylan whipped out of his chair, grabbing her arm and pulling her in close. Closer than she was before. Close like they were at the club last night. He looked down into her eyes, softly smiling at her.Take the chance, she mentally yelled. She was about to. Take the chance of ruining everything, of interpreting the wrong signs, of kissing the girl. This was different. Flora was different, he was different. He had to be hers.
He landed his mouth just beside hers, catching the corner of her plump lip. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he landed another kiss on the other cheek, once again only touching a bit of her lip.
Being so close, she knew he could see the flush of her cheeks and lean toward him in her posture. He could probably read the disappointment on her face too. Heat clouded her eyes as she stared at him.
“I don’t mind morning breath.”
“You say that, but you haven’t kissed my lips. How would I really know?” Flora asked, snaking her arms around his waist, and trying to see how far he’d take their flirtations today. She couldn’t push him too far, she couldn’t risk scaring him too early on.
“One day, I’ll show you.”
“Not today?”
“No, not today. I want you to be 100% sure when I kiss you that you want me, too. I need us both to be so desperate that we lose air and turn blue. When I kiss you, I want it to be our first time kissing each other and our last time kissing someone new,” Dylan said, pulling away.
Stuffing his scrambled eggs into his mouth, he made his way to the bathroom to get ready for the day.
* * *
Flora loved her job.It was a dream come true for her to design accessories. But coming home at the end of the day was just as much of a dream to her as her job. She’d been working on her home, turning it into her dream apartment over the last couple of years. All the renovations, decorations, and life she poured into her home had vanished in a couple of weeks, fear replacing that warm homey feeling. Her attacker took her safe place. Standing behind Dylan while he unlocked the door, a rushed feeling of fear washed over her body. Daylight provided security, gave her a sense of power by being able to see. Now that her apartment was covered by the darkness of night, things had changed.
Those feelings weren’t there last night. She slept fine last night, what was different tonight? She wrapped her sleeve-covered arms around her body, stepping back from the door.
Dylan stopped after he unlocked the door, turning around to glance at her. He stared for a moment, and her cheeks flushed from the attention. With a gentle smile, he turned back around before disappearing into her dark apartment. She could hear his footsteps moving around inside her home, searching for anything suspicious. She paid attention to the sound of the windows sliding up and down, and the turning of door handles. She counted how many rooms he checked as he went.
“Safe,” Dylan called out before he walked back to the entryway, taking off his shoes. Flora entered on unsteady feet, slamming the door shut behind her. Rushing, she slipped off her own shoes before curling up on the couch. Sitting upright, she leaned against the back of the couch, her knees up to her chest. She couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched,hunted, the voice in the back of her mind reminding her at every waking breath.
“Flora, what’s going on?” Dylan slowly asked, before sitting on the couch as well, too far away in Flora's opinion. “You’ve been off-balance all day today.”
“Really?” She played it off, trying not to create problems that probably weren’t real. Sure, she worked later than normal today, but only for a few hours. But that happens when someone runs a business.
