“Just your friend?”
“You are too heavy for this spot,” she complained as the branch swayed, but he shook his head.
“It will hold.” He inspected her. “Am I just your friend, Anne?”
Her mouth opened, then closed. Distracted, he leaned in and captured her bottom lip in between his, teasing it into softness. The way she melted so willingly for him struck a chord deep inside, but he tried not to evaluate it too much as he just enjoyed the moment. When a moan purred from her throat, the need leaped and had him ready to growl back. He broke the kiss, trailing his mouth down her chin as he tried to catch his breath.
“Here I am trying to tease you, and I end up playing myself,” he mumbled. “It serves me right, I suppose…Anne?”
She tilted his head with her hand on his chin, then leaned in this time to capture his mouth. The kiss was just as slow, but it was firm and purposeful, designed to keep him a slave to this passion. She stroked his tongue with hers and sucked, shooting an electric path straight for his cock. Then she disentangled. To his delight, she wasn’t as calm as she appeared, fingers unsteady and features just a little bit dazed. But she met his gaze when she spoke.
“You are not just my friend,” she replied, sincerity ringing in every word. “I don’t know what you are to me, but you are important. That’s all I can give you.”
“It’s enough, Anne.” He stomped on the tiny protest lurking in the corners, aware that things could change at any time—and really, the only solution to that was to treasure what they had now. “Do you want to make out some more?”
Her mouth dropped open before a bark of laughter came out. She threw her head back, vibrant in her amusement. It snuck in the most primeval part of his body until he was filled with a hunger that would never be fed with just one session…or two, or however more they had left. Again, he set it aside.
“Is it weird that I feel like a teenager every time you make offers like that?”
“No, it doesn’t,” he said. “You make me giddy, Anne.”
Anne looked like she was seriously considering making out with him. Then she shook her head.
“I’m going to say no. Not here.”
“Aww, shucks,” he jested, winking. “That’s too bad. I’m devasted. I’m mourning the loss of those hot lips.”
She smirked and kissed his cheek. Then she cruised her mouth to his ear, the whisper so light.
“These hot lips will be all over you when we return to my tent. Or your room. Or whatever corner in your territory there is that we can have privacy.”
Desire flooded his system and thickened his blood. He turned his head, too, until his mouth was close to hers. “Oh, yeah? What corner did you have in mind?”
“Any hidden area in your greenhouse?”
Images gushed out of him fucking her against one of the greenhouse’s many toolsheds while his kisses tried to keep her moans quiet. A hot flush ran down his spine, and it took everything in him not to jump her then and there. When she abruptly retreated and squeezed his shoulders in warning, he shifted his ruminations until the fantasies dissipated—just in time as two figures arrived and climbed branches where they could still see each other.
“Anything?” Nico asked, clearing his throat to keep his voice steady.
“Nothing,” Charlie said. “It was boring out there.”
“It’s boring here, too.” He stifled a chuckle when Anne elbowed his stomach, warning him not to be obvious. “Let’s hold out until midnight.”
The sun descended and the night was clear. When clouds parted and the stars gleamed, the fog began forming below. That quieted whatever conversation was happening as they all grew watchful and noted the path the fog took. The white blanket was a sight to behold as it rolled through the lands and covered areas that it hadn’t the last time, making all green grounds disappear. Around nine, it rose to head level had they been down there, but the off feeling didn’t come back. It just felt pleasant all over, as it added to their camouflage.
A quick check with Anne determined that she felt the same as he did. They blended with the silence and nature, anyway, senses perked for any change in tune. Casually, he reached for her hand while her focus darted towards the other two. Charlie was busy whittling a stick down to a sharp weapon, movements short and soundless. Daria twirled a leaf in between her fingers, letting it disappear and reappear at random times and bored beyond her wits. But she didn’t protest or ask to leave.
They agree,Anne mouthed.No trouble. Bored.
She squeezed his hand and jerked her head in the Fae’s direction. He nodded and squeezed it back, then lifted it to kiss her knuckles before he placed their joint hands on her lap. There was a sense of intimacy to this, too, as if they were the only two people in the world and there was no harm in savoring it.
What?she mouthed once more, curious over his expression. He grinned, unsure how to explain it to her without speaking. That was when he noticed something that hadn’t been there before—or wasn’t happening before.
The fog was dancing.
Chapter 14
Anne knew she wasn’t the only one staring at the spectacle below, and she couldn’t blame them. It was difficult to remove one’s eyes from the clouds on the ground that swirled and glissaded in slow motion. It reminded her of ballet, the patterns so graceful that she couldn’t help being mesmerized. It should have made her suspicious, but her body didn’t tense and no warning bells rang, indicating that there was no danger here.