Wildfire Griffin (Fire & Rescue Shifters: Wildfire Crew #1)(57)

“I love your hands.” He took them in his own, resting her palms atop his. Her fingers trembled a little. “Beautiful hands. Dancing hands. Loud hands.”

He opened his grasp, as though releasing a pair of birds. Shyly, hesitantly, her hands took flight. She let out a soft sigh, some of the tension draining out of her body. In the graceful flutters of her fingers, he could see her smile.

She tilted her head, giving him one of those subtle sideways glances that never failed to make his heart stutter. “Rory. What are you stopping yourself from doing?”

He realized own hands had clenched into fists, knuckles whitening. Edith might not stare, but she missed nothing.

“Touching you,” he said, honestly.

His breath hitched as she shifted a little closer. Her thigh nudged his. “Why don’t you?”

“Because…because I still haven’t told you everything.” He closed his eyes, fighting for control. “You’re braver than I am, you know. You dared to bare your true self to me…and yet here I am, still hesitating because I’m scared of how you’ll react.”

“Rory.” The warmth of her hand covered his, fingertips tracing delicious circles over his skin. “I’ve worked it out, you know. The bear and the other creatures…they were targeting me. But I’m no one special. Unless…unless maybe I am special. To one person. The one person that the lightning-thing can’t attack directly.”

His heart was pounding so hard, he was sure she could hear it. “You’re right. This is going to sound horribly egotistical, but I think that creature is going after you as a way to get to me. Because if it captured you…there’s nothing, nothing I wouldn’t do or give to get you back. I’d let it burn down the state, if that kept you safe.”

“Why?” she whispered.

“Because you are special to me. More special than you can know.” He took a deep breath. “It’s a shifter thing. All shifters have a true mate, a perfect match. Just one person in all the world. And we know when we meet that person.”

Her fingers stilled. “How?”

He shook his head. He still had his eyes shut, not daring to look at her. “I can’t explain it. The animal in us just knows. It’s like a little voice in our heads whispering, yes, that one. And after that…there will never be anyone else for us. We’re completely fixed on our mate, forever. No matter what.”

“Oh.” Her voice was softer than the sound of the water over stones. “And I’m…?”

“Yes. You’re my mate. I knew the moment I looked into your eyes.”

Silence.

Then she took her hand away.

His heart seemed to disappear from his chest entirely. He felt as though he’d fallen through ice into a frozen lake. He couldn’t feel her warmth against his side anymore.

“I know it sounds impossible,” he said hastily, grasping for words that might bring her back. “To fall in love in an instant like that. And maybe you think it’s unhealthy, to be so bound up in someone that you literally can’t live without them.“

Her hands closed on the sides of his face, stopping his desperate babble. He opened his eyes at last, and discovered that she was standing over him, looking down. The full moon backlit her, hiding her own expression in shadow.

“Rory.” Her thumb brushed his lips, silencing him. “That doesn’t seem strange to me. I know what it’s like, to be so wrapped up in one thing that it’s all you want, even when it seems stupid to everyone else.”

She slid onto his lap, still holding his head. The warmth of her strong thighs shook him to the core of his soul. She pressed her forehead against his, lips almost touching his own.

“I’ve always been told that sort of obsession is wrong,” she whispered. “But I never understood why. It’s stupid, how other people put limits on how much they let themselves love. I don’t.”

Her hazel eyes filled his world. He looked into them, and saw her love shining back.

Without restraint. Without limit.

He closed that last gap between them, kissing her fiercely, not holding back anything. Everything he gave, she gave back, magnified and doubled. His need was hers; her joy was his.

Her hands were everywhere—tangling in his hair, caressing his face, trailing fire down the side of his neck. He explored her with equal fervor, learning the sweep of her spine and the exquisite curve of her hips. All the time, he devoured her mouth, glorying in her heat, her softness, the boldness of her tongue against his own.

He scooped her up, never breaking the kiss. Her legs wrapped against his waist, her strength holding her in position as much as his own arms. He’d had a vague plan of carrying her back to the cabin…but the night breeze whispering through the trees gave him a better idea.

“Edith.” With an effort, he pulled back far enough to speak, though his mouth never quite left hers. “I need you.”

“Good.” She nipped at his lower lip, making him groan in response. “Because I need you too.”

“I want to make you my mate.” It was hard to keep hold of human words, with his animal need pounding through his blood. “Tonight. Right now.”

She broke off tormenting him with her kisses, looking puzzled. “I thought I already was.”

“We’re mates, but we’re not mated. It’s different. A joining of souls. A bond between us. Kind of like marriage, but deeper and more primal.”