"Yeah?" The smile in her voice lets me know I don't frighten her. I'm not sure anything frightens this woman. "I know more than you think I do, Draven Woodburn. For instance." She pauses dramatically. "I know you hide alcohol from your mother even though you're plenty old enough to drink. I also know that you spend far too much time alone and that you aren't nearly as scary as you think."
"Ma doesn't like alcohol," I grumble in protest. "And I like being alone."
"Liar," she says softly. "You pretend you're a grumpy beast, but you're really just a big teddy bear, aren't you?"
"No."
"I think you are."
"A teddy bear wouldn't want to bend you over and fuck you until you're screaming for mercy."
"Oh. Well, then," she mutters and then coughs delicately.
We push through an orderly row of rosebushes and step out into a clearing on the opposite side. I stomp forward a few feet and then release her, trying to get my pounding heart under control. I shouldn't have said that, but it's the truth. I want her every fucking moment of the day. It's almost torture at this point.
"Did you mean that?" she asks quietly from behind me.
Even though I should apologize for saying it, I can't lie to her. Iwon'tlie to her.
"Yes."
"That doesn't make you a monster, Draven. It makes you a man." Her feet make soft sounds in the grass as she pads toward me. "You're allowed to…want the things you want. You're allowed to want me." She steps up behind me, placing her hand on my back. "I feel the same way about you."
"Dahlia," I groan, shuddering in response to her touch…to her words. My cock grows heavy in my pants, my balls aching for release. I don't just want her once or for now. I want her forever. "Beauty."
"Look at me, Draven," she whispers. "That is why you brought me out here, isn't it? So you could see me?"
"Yes," I snarl. "Out here beneath the night sky, my vision is strongest. Inside, I'm forced to look at you through a film, and it isn't enough. I see you, but not in the way I want. I'm losing my mind, not knowing the exact shade you blush or every feature of your face. When the darkness closes around me again, I want it to be your image that hangs in my mind."
"Then turn around."
I turn slowly, half afraid she'll vanish before my eyes if I move too quickly. I've been waiting for this moment all week. Now that it's finally here, I'm afraid to breathe too deeply lest I spoil it. She's a vision in the dark, more vividly real than the trees around us or the grass beneath my feet. Her hair is burnished copper, her eyes fathomless blue.
There's no way my artists could have gotten her right when I had her so wrong. She doesn't blush pink, but red. Almost imperceptible freckles run across the bridge of her nose. Her lips are plump and soft. Her skin so fair it's nearly translucent. Good God. How did an angel end up in my forest, living with an unruly beast like me?
I have a sneaking suspicion that this is why Ma brought her here. This is what she meant when she muttered a quickI told you soback in the gym. She was a little too thrilled to catch us dancing in the gym tonight. Ma is wily; I'll give her that.
"You're so fucking pretty," I whisper, reaching out to run my fingertips down Dahlia's cheek.
"Thank you." She turns her face, pressing her lips to my fingers. And then she smiles, a mysterious, womanly smile that sets my blood on fire and makes me ache simultaneously. "But you haven't really seen me, though, have you?"
My brows pull together in confusion. I'm seeing her now more clearly than I have since she arrived in Screaming Woods.
She dances out of my reach, laughter on her lips, the devil in her eyes. Her hands go to the hem of her shirt. My fearless little queen pulls it off over her head in a single move, emboldened by the dark. Or perhaps by the devotion blazing from my eyes.
"See me now, Draven," she says.
"I am," I growl, stalking toward her with my heart in my throat. She's pale and soft everywhere, with miles of creamy skin just waiting to be explored. I fully intend to conquer and claim every inch of her.
"Wait," she cries, throwing up a hand to halt me before I can pull her into my arms. "I know I can't see you, but I want to feel you." A blush stains her cheeks, turning them a rosy red color. "It's only fair, after all."
"Are you trying to get me naked, Beauty?"
"Maybe. Is it working?"
Instead of answering, I reach over my shoulder and pull my shirt off. Naturally, the fucker gets tangled on one of my horns. Thank God it's dark, and she can't see me fighting my way free like a house cat trying to fight his way out of a cardboard box. Eventually, I get the damn thing unstuck and fling it to the grass.
"That sounded like a lot of work." She giggles.