“Yes. Even if it makes no sense, many people stick to what they know. Most still expect others not to run around naked in front of them. Sometimes, it can’t behelped.”
“No, it can’t,” Iagreed.
She wiped her hands down the front of her shirt to brush away more of the blood. When she was done, she bent and scooped up handfuls of dirt. It must have rained while we were in the ouro’s nest as a thin wet sheen glistened on the leaves covering the ground. The dirt she pulled from the earth oozed from between her fingers as she smeared it over hershirt.
Before the yellow blood of the ouro had streaked her, the shirt she wore had been a pale brown; now it was swiftly becoming the deeper color of mud. She rubbed more of it across her cheeks and over her forehead until it coveredherface.
“Normally, I wouldn’t care if you walked around with a giant sign over your head, alerting every carnivore within a hundred-mile radius that you’d make a tasty treat. However, I’m going to be walking with you, so…” Her words trailed off as she scooped up more mud. She gestured toward my hands, and when I held them out, she plopped the mud into my palms. “Dirtyup.”
I smiled at her as the mud squished between myfingers.
“What are you smiling about?” shedemanded.
“You think I’d be tasty,” I replied withawink.
The scowl she gave me only made me smile more. “I hope something eats you,” shestated.
“We both know you don’tmeanthat.”
She didn’t respond, only slid her arms into her shirt and spun it around so she could coat more dirt onto the back of it. Through the brown caking her face, I saw the blush creeping over hercheeks.
I had to resist running my hands over her cheeks to brush away the dirt so I could expose more of her enticing blush. Instead, I focused on rubbing mud over me as she smeared some over her ass and down the backs of her thighs. I didn’t think she knew how close she was to playing with fire as she worked, but my gaze fastened ravenously on her hands while they traveled overherbody.
After a minute or two passed, she looked up at me and froze. Then, she wiped off her hands on the boulder, pulled her knife free and turned dismissively away from me. I didn’t have a chance to finish with the dirt before she disappeared into thetrees.
“What’s the rush?” I asked when I caught upwithher.
“The less time I spend with you, the better,” sheretorted.
“You weren’t complaining about my company in the tunnels. In fact, I think you rather enjoyed it when you wereridingme.”
A muscle in her jaw twitched, but she still refused to look at me. “It’s been a while for me, and one dick is as good as another in the dark,” she repliedflippantly.
My talons unleashed as unexpected rage burst through my chest. Wren’s head shot toward me when I growled. Her eyes widened on my hands before sliding up tomyface.
“Is that so?” I inquired of her, unable to keep the fury from myvoice.
She edged away from me and shifted her hold on her knife. The last thing I wanted was to scare her, but I couldn’t regain control of myself as my blood pumped hotly through my veins. I knew Wren was brazen, knew the only thing she feared was her desire for me, but her words had pushed a button in me that I’d never known existed. I didn’t care how many other partners the women I’d fucked had. Didn’t care if they left my bed and climbed into another’s an hourlater.
But Wren was different. I hadn’t even fantasized about another woman since meeting her, yet she’d just lumped me in with all her other men—men I’d gladly kill before letting them take heragain.
Shewasmine.
Something niggled at the back of my mind, something important, but I didn’t stop to think about what my possessiveness meant as I prowled toward her. It didn’t matter what it meant; it only mattered that it was true. She stopped backing away from me, planted her feet, and lifted her chin as she gazedatme.
“I will stab you if you don’t back off,” shevowed.
“No, you won’t. You’ll try, I have no doubt, but you willnotsucceed.”
“You underestimate me, demon. Youhaveno—”
Her words cut off when I moved to stand before her in the space of one second to the next. Gasping, she swung her knife up, but I caught her wrist and pinned it to her side before she could sink the blade into my heart. Turning to the side, she stomped on my foot and drove her elbow into my ribs. I bit back a grunt and grabbed her other arm when she tried to slam her palm intomynose.
The second I seized her hand, she swung her head back and smashed it off my face. Blood burst from my nose as it broke with an audible crack. She was gearing up to headbutt me again when I retracted my talons and spun her around. Wrapping her within my embrace, I pinned her arms to her sides and lifted her off theground.
“Enough, Wren!” I commanded when she thrashed in my arms. “I’m not going to hurt you. I wouldneverhurtyou.”
She threw her head back in response. I managed to dodge the blow that would have taken out some of my teeth, but before I could completely recover, she swung her foot back. The flexible maneuver had me questioning if she was part ciguapa demon with their backward feet, when her heel connected with myballs.
