If he’d been lurking just out of sight, perhaps he’d seen her so-called dates flirting with her. He had no way of knowing that they’d just been pretending. She’d been fooled, and she’d been sitting at the same table, after all.
“It is. They were all just taking pity on me, being polite.” Oh, for heaven’s sake, she was going to start crying again. She fumbled for her tissue, her voice thickening. “If they’d actually been interested, they would have put my name down at the end.”
“They would have done.” Ash’s voice sounded strange, rasping, as though each word was fighting free of his throat against his will. “If they’d remembered you.”
Rose stared at him, caught off-guard with her tissue half
way to her face. “What?”
Ash turned his head away. “They did not remember meeting you. Because I burned their memory of doing so.”
“What?” Rose stopped dead. Grabbing his upper arm, she hauled him round to face her. “Ash! Why on earth—?”
All the breath slammed out of her, her back hitting the rough brick wall. For a second, the world spun, her mind struggling to catch up with the sudden motion.
Ash’s hands bracketed her head, his muscled forearms tense. The dark flames of his eyes filled her vision.
“I burned away their desire to stop them from choosing you.” He was so close that his breath brushed her lips. “Because I could not bear the thought that you might choose one of them in return.”
His intense heat enclosed her. He held himself the barest inch away, his body not quite making contact with her own. The bitter scent of scorched rock rose from where his hands pressed against the wall.
Not our mate! cried her swan.
She brought her hands up to his chest—but not to push him away. His rigid muscles trembled under her palms. She felt the wild hammering of his heart, echoing her own.
“I only want you, Ash.” she whispered. “I will only ever want you.”
Fisting her hands in his shirt, she pulled him closer, banishing that last inch of space. Her swan’s protest was lost in flame. Heat rushed through her, setting every part of her body on fire. If he hadn’t been pressing her so hard against the wall, she would have fallen, utterly consumed.
“Rose.” He said her name like it was the air he needed to breathe, like rain after drought, like his very life. He bent his head, his mouth seeking hers. “Rose.”
Blindly, she turned her face to his, opening to him like a flower to the sun. She was on fire with need, wanting his lips against hers, his body in hers.
He pulled back just before their lips met. She made a desperate, inarticulate sound, winding her hands round his neck, stretching up to him, but he held firm, not letting her close that last tiny gap.
“Rose,” he said again. He leaned his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
Chapter 8
Past
20 years ago…
“This isn’t safe. I shouldn’t have left.” Blaze paced back and forth across the small motel room, hands tucked under his arms as though he was scared to touch anything. Even from several feet away, Rose could feel the searing heat radiating from him. “I should go back.”
“The only reason you should ever go back is to burn that terrible place to the ground,” she said, busy rummaging through her first aid kit. “Now let me see that arm.”
He shook his head with a tight, sharp motion, his shoulders hunching even further. “No. You mustn’t touch me. I’m burning up, I’m not in control—”
“Blaze,” she said, cutting across his rising voice. Going over to him, she held out her hands. “You’re my mate. You can’t hurt me.”
He stared at her outstretched hands for a moment, the rapid rise and fall of his chest betraying his agitation. He was still shirtless, dressed only in plain army-issue pants. There hadn’t exactly been time to stop off at a mall to pick him up some clothes.
After their escape, Rose had led him straight back to the motel where she’d been staying, a couple of hours’ flight away from the secret base. It was just as well Blaze seemed to be able to do the mythic shifter trick of taking his clothes with him when he shifted, otherwise he would have been stuck naked. None of her clothes were going to fit him, given that his shoulders were about twice as wide as hers.
Right now those impressive muscles were rock-solid, wound tight with near-panic. Rose longed to touch him, to soothe away his tension, but she made herself keep still. Holding his gaze steadily, she waited.
Gradually, his breathing slowed. His tongue flicked over his lips, moistening them. With a final deep, shuddering sigh, he took her hands.