His heart surged with hope.
She stared down at the ground, clearing her throat and shifting from one foot to the other, until she finally looked up at him. “When I said that you could do whatever you wanted… Uh… I meant… I thought you wanted to stay here. I mean, you don’t have to stay here. But you could. If you wanted to.”
He grinned at her, loving the flush on her smooth porcelain cheeks. “You know what? You’re terrible at flirting.”
She looked as if she was about to argue, then sighed. “What’s the point? I just don’t know how to act girly. I’m the tomboyest girl in town. Everyone treats me like their brother. I can outrun and outhunt and outfight every guy here. Take after my dad, I guess. He was this super-protective type who wanted to know that I’d always be safe, so he taught me how to hunt and kick ass from when I was a cub.” A look of sadness misted her eyes.
He shrugged. “It’s okay. It wasn’t an insult. I like that you just say what’s on your mind.”
She tipped her head back and looked up at him. “Okay then. Here goes. I want you to stay and have dinner with me. Even though you drive me insane. So, what’s onyourmind?”
He looked down at her, staring into her light brown eyes. “I want to have dinner with you, and I want lots of other things too. Things that would involve me taking you somewhere else and doing very bad things to you while you beg me for more. I wish I was staying here longer. But I can’t. I have to leave, and I can’t come back to Washington, ever. I just want you to know…you were the best part of it, of my being here. I’ll miss our little tussles. And handing you your butt every time. And what a sore loser you are.”
She grinned back, relaxing. Her eyes shone in the moonlight. “You were almost sweet there, you know? Just for a second.”
“Good thing I stopped myself in time.” But he smiled back, and a warm, comfortable feeling loosened his muscles. This felt so right. So good.
Savannah glanced towards the loud, raucous gathering in front of the restaurant, then stared off into the wooded area towards the eastern part of the property. The sun had sunk below the horizon. “I want to show you something.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Really. Well, I want to see what you want to show me.” There was a lascivious gleam in his eyes.
“It’s not what you’re thinking! Pervert.” Savannah shook her head reprovingly, turned and walked off, and he hurried after her. She moved surprisingly fast for a short girl.
She pushed through the underbrush, plunging into the woods, and he jogged along to keep up.
“How do you know what I’m thinking?” he demanded. “Maybe you’re the pervert. Maybe I was thinking that you were going to show me your Beanie Baby collection.”
“Ha. Maybe you’re a big fat liar.”
“I’m not fat. I’m not a liar.” He winked at her. “I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.”
They walked for about twenty minutes, farther and farther away from the big, raucous crowd. The sounds of music and loud, happy party-goers faded away. A fat white moon hung in the sky overhead, nearly full. Around this time, shifters of all species would be feeling the call. They were more aggressive, more sensual, hungrier, wilder.
They stopped at the edge of a clearing, and she gestured ahead. It looked as if the stars had fallen from the skies overhead and were floating through the tall grass of an open meadow. Thousands of fireflies, their tiny white lights winking on and off in the darkness. An invisible chorus of crickets creaked rustily, and the faintest of warm breezes ruffled their hair.
They stood there in silence together, side by side. He breathed in the sweet scent of her musk, and arousal flowed through his veins like hot rivers of lava.
“My favorite place. I love it here in the summer. It’s like magic,” she said. “My daddy was the first one to bring me here, when I was a little girl.”
“This is beautiful,” he murmured. “Thank you for giving me this.” He’d take it and store it away forever, and hold it in his mind when his final seconds were ticking away. This night, this very moment, with her by his side. Where she should be always.
He bent down and kissed her neck, right in the soft curve where it met her shoulder, then stopped himself. “Sorry. No, actually, I’m not,” he corrected himself, then kissed her again.
She bit back a whimper, and he thought he might explode in his pants, right there.
“Should I stop, while I still have an ounce of control left in my body?” It came out in a pained groan.
“No.” Her voice was husky with desire, and she turned around and looked at him. “If you’re leaving, I…want to be with you. And if you make fun of me, if you give me a hard time, I swear…”
He grabbed her chin and tipped her face up so she was staring into his eyes. She was fierce and fiery and wonderful, and she had no idea how gorgeous she was. It broke his heart that he couldn’t stay here forever and show her how ridiculously hot she made him, every minute of every day.
“Babe,” he murmured. “I have had a nonstop erection from the minute I first laid eyes on you. There is only one kind of hard time that I want to give you.”
He reached down, grabbed the hem of her pink dress, and pulled it up over her head in one fluid motion.
He tossed it aside, and they sank down onto the soft moss together, moving as one.
He pressed his lips against hers, firm and warm and demanding, then lapped at her mouth, urging her to open to him. When she sighed, he stroked his tongue against hers in playful, darting movements that slowed into a sweet, seductive slide. It was hard to catch her breath, but more than air, she needed more of his kisses, and she shifted restlessly against him. Her heart fluttered in her ribcage like a panicked bird.
