Willow pet the fox’s head again before giving it a nudge toward the woods. She wiped her hands on her jeans and turned to Declan as she rose. The look on his face trapped her words as he stared at her with an expression she’d never seen before. It was as if he was bewildered, yet amazed by her.
The smile she gave him caused his cock to stir. For centuries, he’d battled the lust that once ruled him, but there was no controlling it around her, and he didn’t try as his gaze ran over her lithe body.
Her open jacket revealed the swell of her breasts against her black, formfitting shirt. His mouth watered as he recalled the feel of those breasts against his chest, and he imagined cupping them while running his tongue over her taut nipple.
He’d tease her until she begged for release. Tease her until neither of them could take any more, and then he’d fuck her until they were too exhausted to move, pull her into his arms, and hold her as he’d never held another before.
Willow’s heart beat a little faster as Declan’s eyes latched onto her breasts. Normally, she’d tell the guy exactly where her eyes were, and if he didn’t take the hint, she’d bash his nuts into his body, but she couldn’t move. She didn’twantto move as her nipples hardened against her sports bra.
Then, Declan tore his gaze away from her, and Willow found herself able to breathe again as the tension between them eased. If this kept up, bad idea or not, she was going to jump his bones.
Maybe if they screwed, she could work him out of her system and go on about her life as if nothing happened. People and vamps did it all the time. She’d never been with someone more than once, but that was because she liked her relationships casual.
Curious about sex, she’d been with four men, but she never saw them again. She’d spent the night and next day with one of the guys, and that was her longest relationship. It was a fun night and day, though. Her first was a boy she’d gone to high school with and run into again a year after graduation.
She’d always thought he was cute and figured why not? She mightnevermeet her mate, and if she did, she could be three hundred or a thousand when it happened. There was nowayshe was staying a virgin for that long. She wasn’t going to be the forty-year-old virgin, never mind the thousand-year-old one.
So, they had sex. It was a blundering mess, and she left before he woke up the next morning because there was no point in awkward goodbyes or building a relationship with someone who wasn’t her mate. Besides, friends with benefits was too much of a commitment to her. However, she might enjoy a friends-with-benefits arrangement with Declan.
No, shewouldenjoy it with Declan; she did not doubt that. She’d never been with a vamp before, and she couldn’t deny her curiosity was piqued, especially since it wasthisenigmatic vamp with the silver eyes, dark auburn hair, and a smile that turned her insides to goo.
“The animals like you,” he murmured.
“I’ve always had a special—” Willow paused as she tried to come up with the right word for it. “—affinity with them. I like them, they like me, and we respect each other. I know it sounds weird, considering I sometimes feed on them, but they seem to understand.”
“That’s because they know what it takes to survive,” Declan said.
Willow pondered this for a minute. “Maybe. Are you ready to run again?”
He studied her with a more critical eye. After feeding and sleeping, she looked a lot better than yesterday, but shadows still smudged her eyes. She would never admit it or stop unless he suggested it.
“Why don’t we walk for a little while?” he said. “I think we’ve lost them, and there’s no reason to push ourselves if we don’t have to.”
Willowyearnedfor civilization and all its luxurious comforts, like clean underwear, but she’d love to give her aching legs a break.
“Walking sounds good,” she said.
She fell into step beside him as they made their way through the forest. Declan pushed branches out of the way for her, and she ducked to avoid a low-hanging limb before rising on the other side. He followed her.
While they walked, she kept her attention riveted on the shadows and the squirrels and birds flitting through the branches. She loved the sounds they made, and watching them gave her a sense of comfort she hadn’t experienced in days.
“Why did you join the Alliance?” Declan asked after they’d walked for a couple of miles.
Willow ducked another branch before rising on the other side and glancing surreptitiously at him. Maybe they should have kept running; it was preferable to crying in front of him.
When the silence stretched on, she realized she had to give him an answer. “Savages killed one of my adopted uncles. They captured him and two of my other uncles and took them to an island where they hunted them like they were less than animals. Unfortunately, Doug didn’t survive.”
Her jaw was clenched so tight, he heard her teeth grinding together as her grief beat against him.
“Doug wasn’t blood, but he was my family,” Willow said. “We all loved him so much, and they took him from us.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you,” she muttered.
“I heard about that island. It was a new low for Savages, but over the years, I’ve come to realize there’s little they can do to surprise me anymore.”
“Until they start building tunnels and living underground with demons?”
