Page 52 of Hunted

I shook my head. “I kissed you because… I wanted to. You didn’t take advantage of me.”

Another pause. “I enjoyed our kiss… even if we had been arguing just before.”

“I’m sorry I avoided you.”

“I should have come to you sooner.”

I extended a hand toward him. “Friends?” I asked, a soft smile on my face.

Valerian took a step toward me. He took my hand in his, and lightly shook. “Friends,” he said.

When he shook my hand, he also made the furry blanket I was wrapped in fall past my shoulder. I felt him slide his hand up my arm, find the blanket, and pull it back up to my shoulder. For a moment, we found ourselves in close proximity again, only this time we weren’t arguing. I took a deep breath, my chest expanding, my eyes fixing on the shine his gave off despite the darkness around us.

His hand moved from my shoulder, along the furry blanket, across my collar, and toward my neck—where it settled. I swallowed, a motion he would’ve felt underneath his fingers. My pulse was racing, eyes darting from side to side, my stomach twisting itself into a knot. I wanted to speak, to say something, anything, but I didn’t know what to say.

Valerian moved his hand up toward my jaw, my cheek. With his thumb he rubbed the corner of my mouth. I couldn’t help myself. I turned my head toward his hand, letting my lips brush against his thumb. That was when Valerian took the initiative. He turned my lips toward him and plunged into me, his mouth finding mine in an instant.

I reached for his face with my hands, not caring that the furry blanket that had been around my shoulders had fallen off me. The warmth of his mouth, of his breath, of his face, that was all the warmth I needed right now.

His lips parted for me. My back arched, and I pressed myself further into the kiss. He had one hand on my cheek, and another deep in my hair, around the back of my neck. Our tongues met, and danced, our breaths entwining. When one of my antlers knocked against one of his, the spell we were both under broke for just a moment.

Just enough for us both to catch our bearings.

He gently rested his head against mine, being careful to avoid my antlers. I kept my hands on his face, kept his lips near mine. For a moment, neither of us spoke. We simply existed, two Fae lost, far away from home, sequestered in a tiny hovel, surrounded by hostile weather and creatures. I almost couldn’t believe we were here, but we were.

“What do we do now?” I asked.

“That… is a loaded question,” he said, only his voice had lowered, becoming something of a hungry growl that set my skin alight.

“This wasn’t a mistake,” I said, lightly reaching for his lower lip with my mouth. “Kissing you is not a mistake.”

“You don’t know who I am.”

“Maybe I don’t, but I know what I feel.”

“That’s the bond talking.”

“It’s not. I’ve been fighting it for so long… but I can’t fight it anymore. I can’t run from it anymore. We’re already running from that monster, I don’t want to run from you, too.”

Valerian’s grip firmed around the back of my neck. “I’m not going anywhere,” he growled. “If you want me with you, I will go with you to the ends of this world and any other. I won’t ever let anything happen to you.”

“You can’t make that promise…” my mouth curled into a slight grin, “Besides, of the two of us, I’m the one who can turn into a big wolf. I’m pretty sure I’ll be the one doing all the protecting.”

Valerian moved his lips inches closer to mine. “I’m going to let you think that,” he whispered against my mouth.

I kissed him again, drinking deeply of his lips. My heart was pounding, my hands almost trembling. Carefully, Valerian pushed me against the bed with his mouth. With one hand on the bed, and another against my jaw, he kissed me with the force of an avalanche, with the might of the Winter Winds. It was like being sucked into a tornado, my mind was spinning, my chest flying, my entire body responding to his.

I suddenly broke the kiss, but I kept my hold on his face. “I’m a virgin,” I breathed against his mouth, almost as if in a panic.

Valerian paused. In that breathless silence, I could hear his heart beating inside of his chest, I could hear his throat working. I could smell the want on his skin, the desire. It poured out of him like little beads of sweat only I could detect.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I’ll stop.”

I shook my head. “No,” I said, kissing him again. “I want you.”

“But—”

“—we may never get another chance,” I breathed, “And I’m not dying a virgin.”