When I glance up, Perth is in front of me. He carefully reaches for my hand and takes it, the warmth of his palm sinking into my skin. “You were a beast tamer even then,” he teases lightly, and I laugh and shake my head.
“Guess so.”
Perth’s amber eyes practically glow as he looks deep into mine. “Well, get ready, because we’re about to create memories that rank right up there with Shadow.”
He’s so close, still holding my hand as he makes his declaration, and my mind instantly goes somewhere it shouldn’t. I know he’s talking about shifting, and yet, suddenly, all I can picture is him closing the distance between us, pulling me into his arms, and giving me no choice but to lose myself in his kiss.
My breath hitches and I force myself to shake away the wayward vision, ignoring the flush that crawls up my neck. “So full of yourself,” I gibe in an effort to redirect my thoughts to an easier, safer place.
He shakes his head. “You’ll see.” He drops my hand and retreats a few paces before shucking off his shirt. A light dusting of red hair covers his chest, and his freckles are everywhere. The solid definition of his pecs and the way his arms flex have me swallowing hard.
And that’s the exact opposite of what I need to knock the lust right out of my thoughts.
When Perth reaches for his belt buckle, I blurt out, “Wait. So, we’re just, like, doing this?”
“Yup.”
“Don’t…don’t you need to go through the rules again or something?” I squeak, fear constricting my vocal chords. My breath comes more quickly even though it feels like the air isn’t making it all the way to my lungs. My eyes drag across the ground, and I want to run, though my feet feel stuck in place.
“Sure. Get naked. Then call your wolf.” Perth gives me a naughty grin—he knows how fucking annoying he’s being.
“Thanks, Captain Obvious.” I’m about to lay into him when he shucks his pants.
Damn.
The cold did not do a thing to shrink his goods.
“He must be a shower not a grower.”
“Wrong,” he calls out, chuckling lightly—and I realize I just projected that thought. “Totally a grower.”
I blink. “That’s not humanly possible.”
“Not human, remember? In fact, that’s why we’re out here. Because you aren’t human either. Now, let’s go. I can’t wait to see your wolf.”
The squeezing panic is back. “I’m not ready—”
Perth’s tone is soothing as he walks back over to me, fully nude. But his joking evaporates and his tone turns soothing. “Noah, you are. You’re strong and capable, and I’m going to walk you through it and shift with you.”
I breathe him in. I’m being obvious about it, but I don’t even care, because the rich musk with a hint of smoke that laces my every inhale, is grounding in a way I desperately need right now.
Everything is about to change. I know it with every fiber of my being.
They’ve only been talking about this moment since I woke up after the Hunt. I’ve watched Gannon shift like it was no big deal. But me shifting feels more profound than anything else that’s happened so far. I’m about to reshape myself in a way that there’s no coming back from. I don’t know how not to feel terrified by that, because I’m about to go from conceptually knowing I’m not human to literally becoming an animal.
“I don’t know how to do this,” I admit, sucking in deep pulls of his reassuring scent.
“That’s why I’m here.”
I laugh and lean into him more, nuzzling my cheek against his bare chest. Skin to skin touch soothes away the frazzled clouds of worry inside my body. They part to let a starlit sky shine through, tranquil and peaceful. He lets me stay, not saying a word, not moving, just breathing steadily as I collect myself and rally.
And when I lift my head, his eyes are swimming with an emotion so deep I can almost taste it.
Shit.
I want to taste it.
Doing exactly what Perth has been telling me I need to do, I lean into my instincts and pull his face down to mine. I lean up on my tiptoes to meet him, my arms going to the broad muscles on his shoulders. I watch his throat bob with a swallow as I move closer.
Entranced.
Ready.
I’ve been waiting for this moment since our dance in the dress shop. And now, before I take this massive step into a new world, a new me, I want to savor my last truly human moment with the man who showed me that it was okay not to be one.
I let my breath ghost over his lips as I cinch my hands behind his neck. “Perth,” I murmur, stopping inches from his mouth, giving him a chance to close the distance or tell me no.
He strikes. Kissing me like he’s making up for lost time, like he’s plying me with all the passion I always should have had but didn’t.
Both hands come down to palm my ass, pulling me hard against his naked torso. His lips dive down and devour mine, and starbursts flash behind my eyes. It’s like a million stars are falling all around me, and on every one, all I wish is for Perth to keep kissing me just like this.
We fall into each other easily. Tongues dancing. Mouths worshipping. Bodies singing with the rightness of this, the stunning brilliance. My fears aren’t simply lifted. They’re erased. Obliterated.
More.
I need more.
Hunger, heavy and insistent, pulls me into him, and I scramble to get closer.
But he removes one hand from my ass and smacks it hard. The sting reverberates up my spine, shocking me a little, though the ferocity does absolutely nothing to dull my sexual ache. If anything, it intensifies.
I lean in, but Perth pulls out of the kiss with a breathy scolding. “Bad girl.”
What?
Breathing hard, he steps back from me. His chest is heaving nearly as much as mine, and his cock is standing at attention.
Holy fuck. He is a grower.
His words rip my gaze from his dick and yank it up toward his face. “Right now, I want to stretch you out on this forest floor and eat that cunt before I flip you over and rut you hard.”
Oh fuck. Yes. Please.
“We’re not going to do that.”
“But—”
“You’re going to shift. Now.”
“No. Please. I want the other thing. Option B. Door number two.”
My body is still singing, and that horrible fear from earlier is gone. How can he possibly want me to go back to that?
Perth runs his fingers through his hair and looks at me like I’m a dangerous livewire that demands caution and focus.
“You have no idea how bad I want that, but you’re not getting out of this,” he scolds, and I glare at him. “This is new. It’s intimidating. But think of it like your first orgasm. Once you open that door and make that discovery, there’s no going back. It’s going to be that good.”
I press my lips together as a little edge of that anxiety creeps back into my chest. “Promise?”
“I promise.”
“Fine,” I huff out petulantly and Perth chuckles. “How do we start?”
“Well, first, I’m going to take off your clothes,” he informs me lightly, stepping closer.
“But no fucking?” I question, and I’m not even a little embarrassed by the hint of whine in it.