Under his stare I felt stripped bare, and there was nowhere to hide. All my vulnerabilities were laid out for him to judge. If his face was anything to go by, I had his wild approval.
His tempo increased as he moved down my body. He used his free hand to tug my clothes farther down my legs. Then he bent his head down, and—all that is holy—I lost myself to sensation.
Breathing heavily, I lay boneless on the bed.
Needs met. Needs most definitely met.
Andre gathered me to him on the bed. Limply, I rolled onto his torso.
He chuckled and stroked my back, holding me close. “This is my heaven. Your scent on my skin, your taste in my mouth,”—I definitely managed to get a blush going at that—“your spent body draped over mine.”
I buried my face into his chest, at a loss for words or action. What was the etiquette here? Did I reciprocate? Did we do more? Should I thank him? I should probably thank him.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
Beneath me, Andre stilled. “‘Thank you’?” he repeated.
I knew it was the wrong thing to say by the tone of his voice.
He sat up, forcing me to look at him. “Soulmate,” he chastised, “that is not how this works—how we work. You never need to thank me for anything I give you. Especially not that.”
I winced. Now would be a great time for a horde of angry supernaturals to strike—anything to break up this awkward-as-hell conversation that I just had to start by opening my big, fat mouth.
Seeing my expression, Andre cursed under his breath. “I did not mean to embarrass you.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I forget sometimes that you have not been with me since the very beginning. That you are young and your feelings are fragile yet.”
“Andre,” my voice was barely a whisper, “you are killing me. Can we please change the subject?” I mumbled.
He gave me a sly smile. “Of course—though I’m afraid it will be hard for me. My mind is replaying the last twenty minutes on repeat.” More quietly he added, “You cannot know how long I’ve craved you like that.”
Andre was proving to be horrible at changing the subject.
He lay back down, and I readjusted myself so that I was half on half off of him.
“Soulmate, that is only the beginning,” he whispered in my ear.
I shivered.
Not the beginning, a small voice whispered. The end.
Chapter 6
“Why is there a blanket over my face?”
“Hmmm?” I stirred, hearing the rustling next to me.
A moment later I was flipped onto my back. I blinked several times and stared up at Andre. He gazed down at me with amusement in his eyes. “Did you cover my face to protect me from the elements?”
I rubbed my eyes. “Blanket?” I dimly remembered Andre falling asleep. I’d been nervous that the material over our heads wouldn’t be enough against the power of the sun, so I’d made sure to cover him with another layer.
“You did.” He appeared oddly touched by the action. “I promise you I am more resilient than that.”
His fingers brushed the skin of my lower belly, and my thoughts went back to the previous evening. My pulse picked up at all the things that Andre did. Judging by his smoldering expression, he wanted to resume last night’s intimacy.
Andre stiffened, his eyes unfocusing. He canted his head, his hungry look changing to one of concern.
His eyes refocused. “The forest has betrayed us.” He spoke so low even I had to strain to hear him.
I sat up at that. Oh, I knew this was going to happen. One does not fuck with forests.
“The trees must have whispered our location to the folk that live here,” Andre continued.
“How do you know that?” I asked quietly, reaching for my weapons. Andre helped me strap them on before getting his on as well.
“I can hear them.”
Them who?
“They haven’t found us yet, and they’re still some distance away. If their senses aren’t too good, we might be able to slip by undetected.”
“Who are the folk that live here?”
Andre shook his head, his eyes concerned. “We might find out soon enough.”
Andre’s form blurred as he rapidly deconstructed the tent. I did my part by shoving our provisions back into the enchantment bag after I dressed.
I still hadn’t heard any of these forest folk, and I really hoped that was because they were far away and not because they were covertly surrounding us.
“Ready, soulmate?” Andre asked, putting the last pieces of the tent back into the sack.
“Where’s our bike?” I asked, glancing around.
Andre sauntered towards one of the trees and reached out. His hand seemed to sweep the air, until it wasn’t sweeping air. It looked like a rip in space as he pulled off the same refractive material that made up our tenth. Beneath it was the motorcycle.
I grabbed my helmet and fitted it over my head while Andre stowed away our provisions in the bike’s little trunk.
“Is it safe to ride this motorcycle two days in a row?”
Andre came around to the front of the vehicle and pulled out his shades. “Of course.”
“But what if they trace our plates?”
Andre smiled at that, like I was cute. “My license plates are enchanted. They rearrange themselves for each pair of eyes that read them.”
I whistled. “That seems useful for breaking the law.”
“It’s served me well.”
Yep, Andre was definitely a bad dude.
Andre patted the seat. “Ready?”
I hopped onto the back of the bike. “Let’s do this bitch.”
We’d been on the bike for only a few short minutes when I began to hear what sounded like thunder. Slight tremors ran through the earth, making me think that the devil himself was about to split the ground open and crawl out from beneath.
A flash of movement blurred in my peripherals, but by the time I turned my head, it was gone. Another blur sped by on the opposite side. This time when I swiveled, I got a good look at the source.
Holy-mother-of … hooves. Those were the forest folk?
Centaurs?