Page 42 of When the Woods Go Silent

“Oh yeah? And what about me is hot to you?” he asks, wrapping one of my purple streaks around his fingers and tugging me closer, getting my heart thumping a little faster. Even though our conversation is a bit stop-and-go, there’s nothing wrong with our chemistry.

I indulge his question, although surely he knows how good-looking he is. “Hmmm. I like your eyes. How they flash all golden in the sun, like fire. And how tall you are. It makes me feel protected.”

“Protected from what? I thought you were a killer.” His voice is lower now, the irritation from a few minutes ago smoothed into something teasing, and my body begins to wake up as his fingers brush against my neck, still toying with my hair.

“I’ve been known to bring a man to his knees,” I say, tossing my head and pulling my hair free as I lean back a bit. “And what do you like about me?”

He considers me, those amber eyes burning a path down my body, and his mouth hooking up on one side. “You smell delicious. And I like how small you are. It makes me feel like I could steal you away and keep you.”

It’s not the sort of compliment I’m used to hearing, but I kind of like how unexpected it was. Something about it shoots straight past my heart and settles in my core. I like the thought of being protected by someone who’s a bit of an asshole with everyone except me.

Torrence is intense in a way I haven’t known before, and something tells me that dating him would be like falling down a deep hole. Disorienting and dangerous, but a hell of an adventure.

“Do you like the dessert?” he asks, offering me another bite.

“It’s so good, it’s magical,” I say, laughing when his brows pull together in a glare. But I let him feed me the chocolate and fruit, chasing it with a swallow of pomegranate. A moan slips from between my lips at the delectable combination, and his eyes darken with promises of pleasure.

I try to remind myself that I want to take this slow. I’m never as quick to jump in bed as Rose. Not even close. I need to knowa guy well enough to form a connection, before anything too physical.

Still, the look in his eyes is unfurling some need deep inside me that I’m having a hard time ignoring.

I hold out my empty glass. “Take one more with me?” I shouldn’t have more than that if I want to keep my memories of tonight, but the taste is impossible to resist. Addictive, even. We do another shot of the liqueur, and Torrence shifts his body even closer to mine, propping his elbow on the back of the couch as he stares down at me.

“Your lips are like ripened berries now,” he murmurs, his gaze snagging on my mouth, still wet with pomegranate juice. His hand falls to my jaw, tilting my face up until my lips are like an offering to him, and he takes it, sucking away the sweet alcohol.

I glimpse the full moon over his shoulder before my eyes close, focusing on the soft slide of his lips against mine, the slow but demanding push of his tongue into my mouth. His fingers grip my neck before slipping into my hair and tangling there, holding me closer to the heat of his body.

I’m lost in sensation, a moth fluttering and blinded too close to the light.

Without breaking his intoxicating rhythm, he yanks me even closer, pulling my legs across his lap and folding me beneath him, one arm tight around my waist to hold me there as he deepens the kiss. My hands are free to wander, exploring the tight ridges of his stomach, clinging to the bunching of his arm muscles as my head spins.

He says magic isn’t for humans, but I’m falling under a spell here, trapped in the cage of his arms. My body arches into his, all of my soft places molding to the hard heat of him, and a gasp of need escapes my lips when he nuzzles lower, dragging his teeth across my neck.

“Not... too fast,” I manage, the demanding pulse at the apex of my thighs already calling me a liar. I want to go so much farther and faster than this, but I can’t trust my instincts when I’m sex drunk. Even people-pleasers need boundaries.

“We’ll see,” he whispers with a chuckle, still sucking at the sensitive places on my neck, nibbling and kissing behind my ear. But he doesn’t move to undress me or do anything more than what we’re doing, and my heart soars with how easily he respected me.

Just for that, I want to take it all back, strip him down, and fuck him like a nymph under the full moon. But I force myself to wait.

Instead, we kiss until my lips are bruised and swollen, rubbing against each other in the cooling night air until even the tiniest amount of friction between us grows almost unbearable.

“I could make you feel so good,” Torrence rasps, his breathing ragged in my ear, but his hands stay wrapped like a vise around my waist and buried deep in my hair, never straying to the parts of me that ache the most for his touch.

I don’t answer because I’ll give in if I do, and I’ll regret it in the morning no matter how good it feels now.

I duck my head and try to catch my breath, burying my nose in the hollow of his neck and learning his scent. It reminds me of winter, despite the inferno between us. Like the woods in January, with snow on the pines and a warm musk like wood smoke. Slowly, our breathing calms, and everything feels right and sweet as he holds me tightly to him, respecting the line I set.

A rebellious part of me wishes he would push, though, just so I could push back. So we could clash and spark together.

Instead, we settle deeper under the blanket, a pocket of warmth and protection from the chilly night, and I watch the stars twinkling beyond his shoulder, my eyes feeling heavy. Myhand rests on the ridges of his stomach, and his arm curls behind me like we were made to fit together.

I could stay like this forever.

My eyes begin to droop closed, and Torrence murmurs something that sounds like an invitation to sleep. My mind relaxes as much as my body, and I feel safe enough to close my eyes and drift, knowing I’m anchored tightly. His lips settle in the crook of my neck, and I fall asleep to the tickle of his breath, warm against my skin.

ROSE

As soon as I turn the corner and can no longer see the restaurant, I force myself to take a pause and a few deep breaths.

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