“Let me have this.”
Boone’s mouth twitches like he’s trying not to smile.
He sits beside me, not touching but close enough that I feel the warmth of him radiating through the fabric of my shirt. His knee brushes mine every so often, deliberate or not, and each time, a spark zips up my spine.
The forest settles around us. Birds quiet. The sky slowly bruises into evening.
It’s time I make it clear what I want.
“Boone?”
He turns his head, all attentive focus. “Yes?”
“I’m not sleeping in the tent.”
He stiffens. “Yes, you are.”
“Nope.”
He levels me with a look. “Elias, we discussed this.”
“You discussed it,” I correct. “I didn’t agree.”
“Sleeping outside without shelter is unsafe.”
“That depends,” I say brightly, “on who I’m sleeping next to.”
A beat of silence follows, and Boone’s pupils dilate slightly.
“Elias.”
I inch closer. “I want to sleep with you,” I say softly. “Onyou, against you, under your arm, draped across your chest—some configuration of cuddling. I’m not picky.”
His breath leaves him in one long, quiet exhale. “I am… not opposed,” he says carefully, voice dropping an octave, “but you need to understand something.”
“What?”
He leans in, slow and deliberate, gaze dropping briefly to my mouth before returning to my eyes. “When you touch me,” he murmurs, “I don’t think clearly.”
My heartbeat becomes a frantic drum. “Good,” I whisper.
His jaw tenses. This is the moment where he restrains himself, where he pulls back, where he hides behind logic or caution or whatever ancient instincts guide him.
But he doesn’t.
Instead, he lifts a hand, cups my cheek, and says, “You smell like you want me.”
I stop breathing. “Boone,” I squeak.
He smiles. Not smug or even teasing. It’s warm, feral… maybe even a little reverent. “Do you?” he asks quietly.
My mouth opens but no words come out. Instead, I nod.
His breath shudders. “Then come here.”
I move without thinking—straddling his lap in one fluid motion, guided more by desire than grace. His hands land on my hips immediately, hot and firm, grounding me.
His eyes flicker—bright gold even in human form. He smells like cedar smoke, warmth, and the untamed forest itself.
