Grae’s warmth seeped into me as I breathed in his comforting scent. His familiar bonfires and rainstorms encircled me, but also the crisp smell of snow that clung to his hair. Even in his human form, his scent was imprinted on my mind now, as if our bond somehow connected us in every possible way. I sighed, savoring that scent, so uniquely him. I didn’t shuffle backward to give him space, letting him wrap his arm around me and gather me into his chest.
Navin had taken the nightshift driving the oxen out of town and Sadie offered to ride along with him. We plodded out of the city at a slow, lumbering pace. Apart from the rumble of the wagon wheels, the rest of the cabin was quiet, not a single clink of teacups or shuffle of boots. How late had Grae stayed up before coming to bed with me?
He brushed a soft kiss against my mouth and breathed me in.
“Do I smell like lilies in the summer sunshine?” I whispered against his lips.
“Yes.” His chest rumbled against mine as he kissed me again. “It’s intoxicating.”
His smell did the same thing to me. That heady earth and smoke made my heart race, rousing me from the depths of slumber. I deepened our kiss, tracing my tongue along Grae’s bottom lip until he opened for me. A low groan reverberated in his throat.
Grae’s chest rose and fell against mine. “What mischief are you up to, little fox?”
“Nothing,” I murmured as I hooked my leg over his hip, tilting myself closer against him.
His fingers traced up my knee, pushing up the hem of my nightdress until they reached my bare backside.
Grae groaned. “Are you trying to kill me?”
I grinned, rocking myself against his hardening length.
“What do you want, little fox?” Grae’s hand circled lower, slowly curving around my thigh, and I writhed against him, trying to get his fingers closer.
This. I’d always wanted this. Us.
My wanton voice sounded foreign to me. “I want you.”
There was no shyness, no embarrassment, not with Grae. With him, one moment just rolled into the next, no questioning it. We were inevitable.
“Gods, promise me at the next stop we’ll find time away from this bloody group.” His chuckle morphed into a growl as I ground against him. His hand stilled my hip. “Not here,” he whispered. “I told you what will happen the first time I have you.”
I pulled my swollen lips away from his, trying to find his eyes in the darkness. “You promised to make me moan so loud even the Moon Goddess would hear.”
“Yes.” The word hissed out between his clenched teeth. His fingers began circling again. “And I mean it. But I think you need a little taste now.”
“Desperately,” I panted, arching as his fingers skimmed the hair between my legs.
Grae’s lips found my ear as he whispered. “This is just a glimmer of the way I’m going to make you feel.”
My nipples peaked against his chest as his finger slid into a teasing glide, drifting up my folds and parting my warm, wet flesh. Grae nibbled on my ear, and I moaned into the pillow as his fingers found the tight bundle of my clit. Every muscle in my body tightened as he slowly circled that throbbing button. He slid his fingers up and down again, coating me in my own wet heat.
His voice was nothing but feral as he growled, “You’re so ready for me, aren’t you?”
“Gods,” I moaned, tipping my hips into his fingers as he continued his maddening slow circles. My inner muscles flickered, desperate to be filled, as I begged, “More.”
The pad of his fingertip circled at the entrance to my thrumming core, waiting as I writhed.
“Yes,” I mewled, my voice louder than I had intended.
His lips left my ear, finding my mouth as he dipped his finger inside of me. His kiss absorbed my moan, muffling the sweet, lustful sounds he wrung out of me as he slowly slid his finger in and out. He added a second finger, stretching me wider and deeper than I’d never felt before. His thumb continued to circle my clit as his fingers curled inside me, massaging my inner walls in a way that made my eyes roll back.
I ground my hips into his fingers, my body taking over as I chased that sensation building within me—a precipice I’d only ever reached with my own hands . . . and never, ever like this. Grae’s fingers strummed through my body like he was playing the sweetest song. The rhythm of his fingers matched the circling of his thumb, thrusting faster as my movements became wilder. With every breath, I climbed higher, my body becoming light and dizzy as every inch of me homed in on those fingers.