Page 6 of Danny's Dance

“I know,” I breathed back, pressing my lips lightly on his again, tasting more honey. Another smile slipped on my face. I couldn’t help it. JP always tasted of honey and home. It was definitely reassuring to know that with him by my side, I could have a little slice of home even in the middle of nowhere. Which remindedme...

Reluctantly, I pulled away from JP and cleared my throat. “Time to move... We don’t want to linger too long and wait until Chesca returns to finish the job,” I reasoned, wanting to move out of the dark forest as fast as Icould.

“Let’s get out of here. They say the forest gets haunted at night. Frankly, I don’t see how it could get any worse, but let’s not gamble,” JP added as he turned to my mate, who was always our navigator. Regan pulled a neatly folded map from inside his pocket and I leant over his arm to get a good look. The scent of oak and maple hit my nose and I pressed myself just that little bit harder into him. I admired the strong lines on his face as he studied the vague lines on the parchment and couldn’t help my wolf happily running to the surface. She never could resist Regan, but then again, that was no surprise. He was my first mate after all. My fated mate. My one andonly.

I snorted softly, trying to muffle the unflattering noise against Regan’s muscledarm.

Nature could suck it. I loved JP just as much as I loved Regan and I fought enough with my wolf until she accepted that both the slender man and the muscled giant were to be my life partners. I knew she pretended to be upset about that, but secretly, she tolerated him. How could she not. She knew how happy he made me. After all we’d been through together, if there was one person my wolf would make an exception for, it was him. My rather nervous and twitchy, yet somehow incredibly agile teenage sweetheart. But that didn’t mean she didn’t like biting him every now andthen.

“We came from that direction. The end of the forest should be near,” Regan coordinated, pointing at the direction where he and JP appearedfrom.

“Okay,” I agreed, still clinging to his arm as he meticulously folded the map and hid it in hisjacket.

“You comfortable there?” Regan mused, a little twinkle flickering through his usually darkeyes.

“Very,” I answered, pressing my full body against his side. A soft growl escaped from the back of his throat as he wrapped a strong arm around mywaist.

“Don’t tempt me now,” he warned, his grip on me tightening as he pulled me harder into him. A flutter darted through my tummy as I felt him possessively curl his fingers around the curve of my waist. I should really work on keeping my hands off of him at inappropriate times, like after almost dying and being lost in the notorious Woods of Erald. Not exactly a romantic scene. But then again, with a chest and muscles like Regan, who needsromance.

“Or what?” I teased as I threw my red hair over my shoulder and looked Regan daringly deep in his stormy blue eyes. He wetted his lips as he hungrily stared back atme.

“Or I’ll decorate your back with bark lines,” he growled, his eyes turning a shadedarker.

I frowned, not sure what he meant. “What do you mea...Ooooh.”

Regan cocked an eyebrow as I caught on and I could feel my cheeks heat up. Damn him and his suggestions. Now I couldn’t help but wonder how the rough bark would feel against my naked back. Would it hurt too much or just the right amount when he slid into me and drove meto....

Focus!

This isnotthe time for dirty thoughts about Regan and his delicious... Oops, almost got lost in thought again. I batted my eyes down as I broke the intense staring contest and peeled myself away from Regan’s hardbody.

“Not the best timing or place, right?” I ask my men, my cheeks flushing as I stare at my two heroes. JP chuckled and shook his head. “P-Probably not, no. I t-think the sun will set s-soon. Let’s g-getmoving?”

“Let’s not get caught here for the night,” Regan agreed, quickly stealing a kiss from my lips as he motioned to the edge of the forest. The same unsettling feeling overcoming me. I was almost sure the trees had come a little bit closer. Even with our map and Regan’s excellent navigation skills, I couldn’t help shake the eerie feeling that the Woods of Erald might not let us leave as easily as wewanted.

Chapter Four - Circles

“Ihate the forest,hate it, hate it, hate it,” I grumbled, kicking a stray leaf. If things kept up like this, we’d really be stuck here for the night and somehow, I had a feeling the woods of Erald wouldn’t take kindly to us. No, spending a night in here, was not anoption.

“W-We need to break out of the c-circle,” JP mumbled, his head sunken down in his shoulders. He seemed to be having a really tough time. I studied the bark of the tree next to me, checking if this was one of the trees we had already marked or not. The small notch at eye-height letting me know that wehad.

“Guys... We’ve been here before. That is the third tree in a row with marks that wound us back in theclearing.

“D-Definitely our mark,” JP stated, his hand running over the carvings in a fallen tree. Carvings I made only an hourago.

Frustration rose up in me as I kicked a heap of rotten leaves and watched as they hit the ground with a moist splatter. “Damnit!”

“We can figure this out,” Regan tried to calm me, but it was no use. The forest was getting to me. It was dark and creepy. I could feel sets of eyes burning on my back, but every time I turned around, I was just too late to catch who was watching us. But one thing was sure. We were beingwatched.

“Show me the damn mapagain?”

With a sigh, Regan unfolded the parchment for the tenth time. We had been over this before and no matter what direction we tried, we kept finding ourselves back in this stupid clearing with the fallentree.

“Are you sure we’re here?” I asked Regan, for the I don’t know how manieth time, pointing to a spot on themap.

“Yes. We were following this trail when we found you and Chesca,” he pointed out, his finger trailing along thin lines that don’t really mean anything to me. Maps were a mystery tome.

“So what does thatmean...?”

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