Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
The first time.
The last.
A tear escaped, rolling down my cheek, dripping off my chin in slow motion as his amber eyes glowed down at me.
For one brief second, he looked like himself with heated amber eyes and dark emerald hair, teeth clenched like he was trying to hold on when he knew it was time to let go.
It was always time to let go, after all, wasn’t it?
His rock-hard body shuddered as he followed me into oblivion, and then he rested his forehead against mine and breathed me in, breathed us in as the forest came alive around us.
I wondered if I had ever told him that this was my favorite part? Lightning bugs glowed around us as I lifted a hand in the air to feel the warm spring breeze against my skin.
The smell of flowers permeated the distance between us. And when I looked down, there were daisies sprouting out from the thick forest floor.
“Beautiful,” I whispered.
“They’re for you,” he rasped, still inside me, still holding me prisoner.
I wanted to stay in his arms forever.
I didn’t want him to pull out or away.
“Stay.” I felt more tears then as if they would solve this. “Just for one more minute, I want to pretend.”
He kissed me again. This was the kiss that all kisses should be measured against, with just the right amount of pressure as his tongue slid past my lower lip and mated with mine.
I clung to him as he continued to deepen the kiss. He tasted like springtime, fresh and sweet, like flowers and newness, like the earth itself.
Too soon, he pulled away, eyes no longer glowing but filled with so much sadness I wanted to sob against his chest.
His fingers twirled around a piece of my hair, no longer black but gray, like I’d just gotten one solid nineties-style chunky highlight or was impersonating a comic superhero.
He dropped the piece of hair. “How do you feel?”
“Like you just hate fucked me against a tree, then changed your mind and made me want to live with you in the forest forever.”
His smirk was enough to drive me insane. “Is that so?”
“Yup.”
“How do I even manage to exist without you, Luna?”
“Because…” I swallowed the thick well of tears building up in my throat. “You know that one day I’ll come back—because I always come back for you.”
“You shouldn’t.”
“And yet here I am.” I clung to his biceps. “We should probably get dressed.”
He growled. “I prefer you naked.”
“I mean, if we’re taking votes, I prefer you naked too, but you did do this whole ‘stomping around the forest is dangerous’ macho talk about ten minutes ago, so—”
“It was at least twenty.”
I winked. “Sure, okay.”
“Must you be so provoking?”
“Must you be so easy?” I countered.
“Only when it comes to you…” He cupped my head. “My moon…”
I sighed with happiness. At least we had this moment when so many people never got a sliver of the love I have from him. I can at least count on small moments like this sprinkled across the darkness of my life. “Why does it always sound more romantic when you say I’m your moon but not your stars?”
“Because the moon’s the only reason the massive oceans have tides. It centers the earth and makes living here possible. The moon is so much more powerful than the stars. If you ask me, the moon is the goddess that the stars wake up to worship.”
“For pretending to hate me, you can be pretty romantic.” I licked my lips, earning his gaze yet again before he shook his head and slowly started to untangle our bodies.
I shivered when he started to help me dress, his fingers so warm against my cold skin.
“I don’t hate you,” he finally said. “I could never hate you. I hate what I’ve become; I hate that I want to push you away as much as I want to pull you close and never let go. My mind and my heart are at war with each other when it comes to your safety, but one thing I can guarantee—both are in agreement with how much I love you.”
“See?” I kept the tears in just barely. “Romantic.”
My body hummed with awareness as he smirked down at me, his lips swollen from kissing.
“We should get back to the inn…”
“Or…” I grinned. “We could go check out the care center, then go back to the inn and do that again?”
“Do what again?” He frowned.
I glared. “You know what.”
“So, you can do it but can’t say it?” he teased.
I gave him a light shove, even though I felt a bit weak. At least my arm wasn’t re-broken.
Another blur of white caught my attention. “Ben, did you see that?”
“Yeah.” He shoved me behind him. “It’s probably a wolf.”
“As in a real wolf or one that talks?” I whispered.