Page 22 of Roaring Heat
I adjust my position slightly, acutely aware of every inch separating us. His gaze hasn't left mine, and something inside me flips. Uncertainty collides with curiosity, and fear twists into something closer to fascination.
I don't know what happens next, but I know I won't look away first. It turns heavy with potential, with heat, with the gravity of the truth stretching out between us like a fault line. My entire life just pivoted on this axis, and yet, staring into his eyes, I don’t feel lost. I feel seen.
And maybe, for the first time, I feel like I’m exactly where I’m meant to be—not because everything makes sense, but becausesomething deeper inside me recognizes this moment as mine. The weight of uncertainty still lingers, but it doesn’t push me away. It draws me closer, threading possibility into the fear, like light breaking through fog. I don’t know what the future holds, but I know I want to face it here, with him.
CHAPTER 11
BEAU
The air between us still hums with everything unspoken, but Anabeth doesn't look away. Her gaze is steady, clear, and unflinching, but I see the rapid pulse at her throat and the way her fingers curl slightly into fists at her sides. Questions churn in the quiet, tangled with an ache for clarity, a glimmer of awe, and a tension that could easily tip into fear.
It crackles between us, a live wire strung tight through the silence. I see it in the way her chest rises sharply, in the flicker of hesitation behind her steady gaze. She doesn’t run. That choice, made entirely by her, sends a fierce rush of heat through my veins, weighted with emotion and meaning.
I reach out and offer my hand. She slips hers into mine without hesitation, the warmth of her skin a quiet promise against my palm. As I help her to her feet, her breath catches slightly, chest rising with a soft shudder. Her eyes stay locked on mine, wide and luminous, and for a moment the rest of the world fades away. The silence between us isn't empty. It's alive, thrumming with something new and potent. Whatever just passed between us, it's altered everything, and we both feel it in our bones.
We walk back toward the cottage in silence, though my mind is anything but quiet. The air crackles between us, thick with unspoken truths and tangled emotions. Every step I take feels weighted with the gravity of what Anabeth just saw. I glance at Anabeth, half-expecting her to bolt, but she walks beside me, eyes locked forward, jaw set with quiet resolve.
She glances over at me, expression wary but curious. "Does it hurt? The... change?"
I huff a short laugh. "No. Not at all. It's fast. Mist comes up, wraps around you, and then boom. You're either fur and claws or back to bare skin."
Her brow arches. "Bare skin?"
I flash a grin. "Yeah. Clothes don’t survive the shift. So you learn to plan ahead. Either strip first or stash a change where you’re going. Learned that one the hard way."
She snorts. It might not be ladylike, but it warms my soul. "Let me guess. Middle of town?"
"Middle of town, right in front of the bakery. I have yet to live it down, and it happened when I was nine."
That gets a full-bodied laugh out of her, short but genuine. It eases the tension just enough to let me breathe.
"Are you sure you're okay?" I ask softly, not breaking stride.
She snorts, the sound less bubbly, but real nonetheless. "I had the most mind-blowing kiss of my life, and now I can't stop thinking about the man who turns into a bear and claims I might be his fated mate. It's thrilling and terrifying all at once, like stepping onto a tightrope with no idea where it ends. So, no. Not okay. Not remotely. But I’m also not running. So that counts for something."
I reach out and brush the back of her hand with my fingers. "It counts for everything."
Anabeth lets out a breath, part laughter, part disbelief. "Jesus, Beau. I thought my ex blindsiding me with a divorce was the most surreal thing I'd deal with this year. This is next-level."
We reach the front steps of the cottage, and I pause, tugging gently on her arm to make her look at me. "I don’t expect you to have all the answers. I just need you to trust that I won’t let anything hurt you. Not while I’m breathing."
Her eyes soften slightly, and she nods, but the wariness doesn’t fade completely. That’s fair. She’s still reeling, still trying to find footing on ground that has suddenly tilted beneath her. The woods feel different now. Still thick with pine and shadow, but quieter, almost reverent. As if the forest itself is waiting to see what comes next.
We climb the stairs to her front porch, and I pause. "Just to be clear. A shifter can't get a human pregnant and STDs are unknown in our kind... superior genetics and all that."
She laughs. "The number of times I've heard a guy use that line so he doesn't have to wear a condom..." I laugh, feeling the tightness in my belly start to ease. "But for the record, I had to have a physical right before I could take this assignment. I tested clean, and I've been on birth control for a long, long time."
Inside the cottage, the warmth hits us like a tide, wrapping around our limbs as I close the door behind us. Anabeth stands in the center of the room, looking smaller than she did outside, but just as fierce.
She turns to face me. "Everything okay?"
I nod, swallowing the knot in my throat. "You?"
"Not even close," she says with a half-smile that trembles at the edges. "But I'm here."
That undoes me.
One step. Then another. And suddenly I’m in front of her, cupping her face in my hands, my palms soaking in the warmthof her cheeks. My thumb grazes her cheekbone, slow and deliberate, as if memorizing the shape of her.
