ELRETH

She had no idea how long they stood there, kissing. If it could even be called kissing. What he did to her… it was as if he consumed her—and in the same moment, he gave more than he took. The cold fire his fingers drew on her skin—even fully clothed!—the prickle of desire that kept climbing from her belly, through her blood, directly to the places they pressed together.

She wanted him. All of him.

She didn't want to stop kissing. She also didn't want to lose her virginity in the dirt behind the market. But she couldn't stop.

But when she gave up fighting and started on the buttons of his shirt, he caught her wrists again, and she froze as he straightened, meeting her now-frightened gaze, with his heated, hooded eyes.

"Please don't leave again, Aaryn, I promise you this is only about you—"

"Hey, hey," he said gently, stroking her hair. "Don't freak out, El," he smiled and kissed her again, distracting her for a moment until he pulled away again and blew out a breath. "I think… I think we should go."

"My place," she whispered. "And you're coming, right?"

He choked back a laugh, and she colored, unused to being coy with her words. But something fizzed in her chest too at the heat that flared in his eyes when he said, "Definitely," and his voice was so low and deep, it seemed to rise up from the dirt beneath them.

They stared at each other again and she wondered if her eyes sparkled with the same pure wonder that his did.

It was exactly how she felt.

"We have to move if we're going to… go," she said eventually, her cheeks heating again.

He nodded and his eyes became pained. "I don't want to let you go, though. El, I've waited so long… I'm afraid… I'm afraid something's going to steal you from me," he whispered.

He dropped his head, and she cupped his face, pulling his chin up, forcing him to meet her eyes. "Never again, Aaryn. I mean it."

He pulled her into another kiss then, his breath hot and insistent.

It was a long time before they finally pulled apart and started through the trees.

And he didn't let go of her hand. At all.

*****

AARYN

They were almost to the meadow when she smiled at him and the moonlight caught on her hair and the ache in his chest hit so hard that he pressed her into a tree.

Again.

It was the third tree they'd visited since they'd snuck out of the Tree City, skipping all the major trails near the market and weaving through the undergrowth so they wouldn't meet anyone who might stop Elreth, or ask for her time before they got away.

Now they were on the trail and almost to the cave, but he knew he couldn't touch her—not really—when they were out in the open. Her parents, or Gar might look out. Or a guard might be patrolling. He needed a taste of her before he had to let her go. So with a growl, he wrapped his arms around her waist and swung her off the packed dirt, and up against one of the great trees. She giggled until he stepped up and leaned into her, then neither of them was laughing.

She gripped his shoulders. He pulled her hips against his. Their twin breaths thundered. And the whole time, his head spun with the impossibility of it all.

Everything he'd ever wanted.

Everything he'd ever dreamed.

And it was happening.

He broke the kiss then, gasping. She dropped her head back against the tree, beaming, but her eyes were closed.

"Look at me," he said.

"I can't," she whispered.

"Why not?"

"Because if I do, I'm going to kiss you again, and then we're not going to get to the cave, where I'll get to do more."

His groin, already uncomfortably tight, twitched and he stifled a groan. His breathing picked up—which didn't help with the feeling that he might just pass out.

"I have an idea," she said, still not opening her eyes

"What is it?"

She leaned right up until their noses brushed and his lips prickled, waiting for hers. Then she opened her eyes and gave him the wicked grin he'd seen so many times when Elreth had a plan. "I'll race you," she cackled and sprang out of his arms, sprinting out from under the trees and across the meadow as fast as her legs could carry her.

He swore and tore after her—the tiniest echo of pain in his chest that she stayed in human form because she knew that he couldn't shift and she didn't want to give herself an advantage—but then she threw a look at him over her shoulder and there was so much heat—and so much love—in her eyes, he pushed the dark thought away and just tore after her.

"I told you never to pick a fight you can't win!" he called, already gaining on her with his longer legs.

"And I told you, I don't!" she called back, laughing when he growled.

The meadow wasn't long, so they were almost across it when he reached her—tweaking her ass as he passed—and she squawked. He was still laughing when something hooked his ankle and he tumbled into the dirt, scattering pebbles and skinning his elbow, before he rolled and was back on his feet and running. But it was too late.

Elreth was laughing so hard she could barely run, but his fall gave her the space. She reached the mouth of the cave first and darted inside, but he was on her before she got the door open, pulling her off her feet and swinging her into his chest.

She was still laughing, until, without thought, he slid both hands under her shirt, holding her, skin-to-skin. They both froze, not even breathing.