Page 78 of Can't Help Growling in Love
A crack of a twig, a rustle of leaves. And the scent of honey, carried over on the wind.
June is running from me, and I will always follow.
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
JUNE
My breath comes in quick, shallow pants. I fight my way through the forest. I can’t run fast because I can’t see well in the darkness—the night comes so much faster under the treetops, even if some of the leaves have already fallen. They cushion my footsteps, a damp carpet underneath, but there’s the occasional fir tree, its long branches reaching out to tangle in my hair.
Glancing behind me, all I see is the faint outlines of tree trunks and the shadows between them.
It hits me that this would be incredibly stupid of me in any other scenario, running into the woods at night with no flashlight or phone, dressed only in a borrowed sweatshirt and boots.
But Asher is coming for me, and I trust him to know these woods well enough to guide us back home. He won’t let me get lost.
He’ll catch me any moment now, swipe me up in his arms, and carry me to the house to ravish me.
I stifle a laugh at the thought of telling this story to our kids someday.
How did you two get mated, Mommy?
Oh, you know, your father chased me through the forest at night, but you should never do that because you could get lost, honey.
Bushes rustle to my left, startling me into stopping. I heard that howl before, echoing through the night, but the forest has grown quiet, as if all the animals are aware of the wolf’s presence.
Whereishe?
My heartbeat thunders in my ears, making it impossible to hear anything but the loudest of noises.
Asher wouldn’t be loud. His soft wolf feet would carry him soundlessly through the undergrowth.
I duck and hurry back in the direction of the house. I think. My plan is to come up behind him and surprise him, but if I misjudged the direction and distance, I could very well be going in circles.
I hope Asher isn’t doing the same. We could spend hours trailing each other without?—
An arm loops around my waist, and I’m pulled back into a wall.
I shriek, flailing, before I realize the wall is warm, furry, and emanating a low growling noise my body recognizes before my brain comes fully back online.
I melt against Asher’s chest. “You found me.”
He sniffs my neck, then licks a long stripe on my neck, the rough texture of his tongue scraping my skin. “June.”
I try to turn in his arms to hug him, to kiss him, but he’s holding on to me tight, so I relax and let him touch me like he needs to.
He slides his palm down my side, to the hem of his sweatshirt, and makes contact with my bare ass. He hisses in a breath, then reaches forward, between my legs.
A shiver goes through me. He parts my lower lips and finds my clit, slippery from the lube and my own arousal.
“Wet. Thank fuck.”
Before I realize what he’s doing, he kneels, taking me down to the ground with him. I put out my hands to break my fall. I shouldn’t have worried—Asher doesn’t let me tumble down but holds me in place against him, his warmth seeping into me. His fingers roll over my clit, then plunge deeper to probe the entrance of my pussy.
“We-we should get back inside,” I pant, squirming in his grip.
He shakes his head. “No time.”
