Page 296 of Primal Bonds

They continued walking in a companionable silence, the wind ruffling their hair, the sand damp beneath their toes. Overhead, seagulls wheeled and shrieked.

She slid Adric a look. She’d never seen him so relaxed, almost boyish, his spiky hair tousled, a slight smile curling his sexy mouth.

She knew so little about him. Oh, she knew he was the bad-boy Baltimore alpha, the man who gleefully provoked Dion every chance he got.

That he hadn’t won alpha in a challenge, as honor demanded. Instead, it had been a sneak attack. And worse, the alpha had been Adric’s own uncle.

Some of the Rock Run men, like Davi, sneered that Adric was a coward with no respect for fada tradição, tradition. But Leron Savonett had dragged Baltimore into the Darktime, an internal war that ripped his clan apart. Even Dion said Adric’s uncle had been a self-centered, sadistic cabrão.

As far as Rosana could tell, if Adric hadn’t killed his uncle when he had, his clan would’ve been wiped out.

Adric angled his head in a very catlike way. “You’re frowning.”

“I am?” She smoothed out her forehead.

“No, don’t hide. Tell me—what were you thinking?”

She hitched a shoulder. “That I don’t really know you.”

“You know the important things.”

“But I want to know the unimportant things.”

“Like what?”

“Like…do you bleach your hair tips?”

“Nah.” He shook his head. “It happened the first time I shifted to cougar, and never changed back. It grows spiked-up like that, too. My dad had the same hair.”

“Huh.”

“Here’s one for you. What’s up with the claws? Your animal’s a dolphin, isn’t it?”

She let the short but sharp black claws slide out. “Otter. We can shift to other water animals, you know. We’re not limited like you earth fada. I just prefer my dolphin.”

“Limited, huh?” He grabbed her, tickling her until she was breathless with laughter.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“You should be.” He kissed her on the mouth and then released her, keeping an arm around her shoulders as they resumed walking.

“I have more,” she said. “What’s your favorite color? The one dessert you can’t pass up? What do you do for fun? I don’t even know how old you are.”

“Peach ice cream. Music—I don’t play an instrument, but I like to dance. And thirty-three turns of the sun—eleven older than you.”

Of course, he knew her age. The man probably kept files on everyone in her family.

“As for my favorite color”—he swung her to face him—“that would be blue. The deep blue of the ocean out there, where the color is so intense you can almost feel it.” He nodded at the horizon. “The blue of your eyes.” He cupped her face, his fingers warm against her chilled skin. “Sometimes I forget how incredibly blue they are.”

She swallowed. “Yeah?”

His own irises were a brilliant golden-brown. She swayed toward him, entranced.

“I mean it.” His voice was a low rasp that reverberated in her body. “I love your eyes. Almost as much as I love your face, your body. Your smile.”

Her heart gave a hard thump. “My smile?”

“Um-hmm.” His fingers curled around her waist. He reeled her in, slowly, deliberately, until her body was flush against his. The firm muscles of his chest pressed her breasts, his erection hard against her belly. “Your smile is so wide and happy. It makes me…want.”

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