Shelly had never been told she smelled delicious. It was hot. Yep, very hot.

“Thank you,” she told him.

He dipped his head at her in a regal bow that made her think he was born in the wrong century, and then he reached up and ran a finger across her cheek. “Your blush is beautiful.”

This, of course, only made her blush harder. “You’re killing me, Ra.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because with every word you speak and every touch you give, you make me want you more. You make me want the whole destiny thing to be true, and I feel like I will shatter if it isn’t.” It cost Shelly a lot to make that admission. But for some reason, she felt she could be honest with Ra and he wouldn’t judge her.

Ra finally gavein to what he’d been wanting to do and tugged her closer to him. He leaned forward until their foreheads were touching. “It’s true,” he said, knowing it with every cell in his body. Shelly was his. The longer she was with him, the surer he was. “You don’t have to shatter,Mery, I’m yours.”

Her breath caught and then she asked, “Why did you call me that?”

“It’s an Egyptian name that means beloved.”

“I’ve never been called that before.” Her words were so soft.

“I’m glad,” he admitted. Ra didn’t want another male calling her something so precious. He liked that he was giving her these firsts. He loved it that he was the one giving her these feelings and that she was the one giving him the same in return.

Ra lifted his hand and ran his fingers through her hair. It was like silk against his flesh. He should probably stop touching her, but no amount of him telling himself to pull his hand away caused him to do it. Instead, Ra continued to caress her hair, loving the way she closed her eyes and leaned into his touch.

He watched her face and noticed the instant something changed. Her relaxed features turned into a frown. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Do you want me to stop?”Even as he asked it, he didn’t know if he could do it if she said yes. The pull he felt toward her was nothing he’d ever experienced before. It was growing stronger with every second in her presence.

She shook her head. “No. Don’t stop. It feels nice.”

His gut unclenched, thankful she hadn’t said yes. “Why are you frowning?”

“Because I had a thought and I don’t like it, but now that I’ve had it, I can’t un-have it.”

When she didn’t continue, he said, “Would you share the thought with me?”

“What? Oh, sorry,” she said as if she’d forgotten she’d been talking. “I just wondered if this is true and wearesomehow meant for each other.”

“We are,” he said, the doubt he heard in her voice making him uneasy.

“If it’s true,” she continued without acknowledging that he’d interrupted her. “Then I just wonder how we would have met if Tara hadn’t been what she is and Elias had never come to our school. I would have had no reason to know anything about the elementals. We would have never come into contact.”

“We would have found a way to meet each other,” he told her. “I believe that two people bound for one another will eventually find each other no matter their circumstances. But the fact of the matter is, Taraiswhat she is, and Eliasdidcome to your town, and you learned about the world I’m a part of, and, in doing so, we met. It doesn’t matter that we don’t understand how we would have met in other circumstances. What matters is that we are together now.”

Her eyes had opened while he’d been speaking, and she was staring at him with a curious look. “How has some chick not snatched you up by now?”

“Because none of them were you.”

“You say that as if it’s an absolute, like the laws of gravity or the tide coming in.” She sat up straighter, and, in doing so, pulled far enough away that her hair slipped from his hand. Ra flexed his fingers as he rested his arm on his leg, already missing the feel of her.

“Why does it bother you so much?” he asked.

“Because this isn’t normal,” she huffed out. “This connection, these feelings. It’s not. I mean, it can’t be real. Can it? We’ve known each other for less than a couple of hours. How can I feel like the oxygen would be ripped from my body if I never saw you again?”

It was Ra’s turn to frown. It frustrated him that she couldn’t explain what was happening between them. But something was off. Shelly didn’t seem to be herself. At least, as best he could judge from the brief time he’d known her. She wasn’t the same girl she’d been when she’d awoken, spitting mad and ready to fight a demon. Now she was this worried, scared girl, and the change didn’t make sense. It was as if the girl who’d faced down the ruler of the underworld had been replaced by a timid clone.

“Does thewhybehind it really matter?” he asked.

“Yes,” she answered instantly and then added, “no. Hell, I don’t know.” She stood and began to pace as she rubbed her forehead. “I just don’t want to be wrong. I don’t want to let this grow into something powerful, only to later find out some other chick is your destiny and then have to give you up.”

Ra stood and waited until she paced back toward him. When she was within arm’s reach, he snagged her around the waist and pulled her to him. She hit his chest with a soft huff and quickly pressed her forehead against his body. Again, he found it frustrating she wouldn’t look at him. He knew it was because she was embarrassed, but he wished she wasn’t.