The cold did not do a thing to shrink his goods.
“He must be a shower not a grower.”
“Wrong,” he calls out, chuckling lightly—and I realize I just projected that thought. “Totally a grower.”
I blink. “That’s not humanly possible.”
“Not human, remember? In fact, that’s why we’re out here. Because you aren’t human either. Now, let’s go. I can’t wait to see your wolf.”
The squeezing panic is back. “I’m not ready—”
Perth’s tone is soothing as he walks back over to me, fully nude. But his joking evaporates and his tone turns soothing. “Noah, you are. You’re strong and capable, and I’m going to walk you through it and shift with you.”
I breathe him in. I’m being obvious about it, but I don’t even care, because the rich musk with a hint of smoke that laces my every inhale, is grounding in a way I desperately need right now.
Everything is about to change. I know it with every fiber of my being.
They’ve only been talking about this moment since I woke up after the Hunt. I’ve watched Gannon shift like it was no big deal. But me shifting feels more profound than anything else that’s happened so far. I’m about to reshape myself in a way that there’s no coming back from. I don’t know how not to feel terrified by that, because I’m about to go from conceptually knowing I’m not human to literally becoming an animal.
“I don’t know how to do this,” I admit, sucking in deep pulls of his reassuring scent.
“That’s why I’m here.”
I laugh and lean into him more, nuzzling my cheek against his bare chest. Skin to skin touch soothes away the frazzled clouds of worry inside my body. They part to let a starlit sky shine through, tranquil and peaceful. He lets me stay, not saying a word, not moving, just breathing steadily as I collect myself and rally.
And when I lift my head, his eyes are swimming with an emotion so deep I can almost taste it.
Shit.
I want to taste it.
Doing exactly what Perth has been telling me I need to do, I lean into my instincts and pull his face down to mine. I lean up on my tiptoes to meet him, my arms going to the broad muscles on his shoulders. I watch his throat bob with a swallow as I move closer.
Entranced.
Ready.
I’ve been waiting for this moment since our dance in the dress shop. And now, before I take this massive step into a new world, a new me, I want to savor my last truly human moment with the man who showed me that it was okay not to be one.
I let my breath ghost over his lips as I cinch my hands behind his neck. “Perth,” I murmur, stopping inches from his mouth, giving him a chance to close the distance or tell me no.
He strikes. Kissing me like he’s making up for lost time, like he’s plying me with all the passion I always should have had but didn’t.
Both hands come down to palm my ass, pulling me hard against his naked torso. His lips dive down and devour mine, and starbursts flash behind my eyes. It’s like a million stars are falling all around me, and on every one, all I wish is for Perth to keep kissing me just like this.
We fall into each other easily. Tongues dancing. Mouths worshipping. Bodies singing with the rightness of this, the stunning brilliance. My fears aren’t simply lifted. They’re erased. Obliterated.
More.
I need more.
Hunger, heavy and insistent, pulls me into him, and I scramble to get closer.
But he removes one hand from my ass and smacks it hard. The sting reverberates up my spine, shocking me a little, though the ferocity does absolutely nothing to dull my sexual ache. If anything, it intensifies.
I lean in, but Perth pulls out of the kiss with a breathy scolding. “Bad girl.”
What?
Breathing hard, he steps back from me. His chest is heaving nearly as much as mine, and his cock is standing at attention.
Holy fuck. He is a grower.
His words rip my gaze from his dick and yank it up toward his face. “Right now, I want to stretch you out on this forest floor and eat that cunt before I flip you over and rut you hard.”
Oh fuck. Yes. Please.
“We’re not going to do that.”
“But—”
“You’re going to shift. Now.”
“No. Please. I want the other thing. Option B. Door number two.”
My body is still singing, and that horrible fear from earlier is gone. How can he possibly want me to go back to that?
Perth runs his fingers through his hair and looks at me like I’m a dangerous livewire that demands caution and focus.
“You have no idea how bad I want that, but you’re not getting out of this,” he scolds, and I glare at him. “This is new. It’s intimidating. But think of it like your first orgasm. Once you open that door and make that discovery, there’s no going back. It’s going to be that good.”
I press my lips together as a little edge of that anxiety creeps back into my chest. “Promise?”
“I promise.”
“Fine,” I huff out petulantly and Perth chuckles. “How do we start?”
“Well, first, I’m going to take off your clothes,” he informs me lightly, stepping closer.
“But no fucking?” I question, and I’m not even a little embarrassed by the hint of whine in it.
“Not yet.”
A flash of heat almost melts me with the promise I hear in that statement, but I can tell by the look on his face that I’m not getting out of this.
I sigh. “Ugh. This is going to be the most unfulfilling naked time I’ve ever had with a guy.”
“No, it’s not.” Perth’s laugh vibrates in the space between us, and I have to force myself to ignore the way it resonates in this really delicious way inside of me.
Perth’s hands come up to my jacket, and he slowly unzips it. The sizzle in his eyes from everything we just did lingers in his hooded gaze. My stomach reacts, flipping and fluttering in response. “Now you’re going to open yourself up to your instincts. You’re going to search for that feeling of other inside of you. When you find it, I want you to make space in your head, in your heart, and in your soul for it.”
My jacket falls to the ground at my feet, and I nod as he reaches for my shirt and pulls it up over my head. My skin pebbles against the nip in the air, but I don’t focus on that. I can’t. Not with the way his eyes linger on my chest.
When his gaze darts back up, it narrows. “I said focus.” As he gently takes off my shoes, socks, and pants, I do as Perth tells me, fighting against the urgent need for him. It’s hard to do, nearly impossible while his hands are on me. But then he steps away and I feel a path erupt inside of me, one made of strong emotions like the ones he’s just stoked. I walk down it, seeking out the thing I’ve been feeling inside of me for longer than I’ve had a name for it.
My wolf.