Page 312 of Warlords, Witches & Wolves

“I could carry you.”

Carrying me wasn’t a good idea given how my body reacted last time. I needed to put space between us before I burst into flames. “How ’bout I race you instead?”

His wicked dimpled grin curled on his mouth a second before he dropped my hand and dove to the waterfall.Damn cheat!But the joke was on him. From where I stood, I’d already won. Watching him, the way those muscles in his arms and back flexed with each stroke, made a girl drool. Especially this girl.

I took my time, following the same path as Noah to one side of the falls where I treaded water, admiring the fresh, misty spray hiding Noah behind the falls. He held out his hand, guiding me behind them.

On the other side, he boosted me onto a ledge made by a natural groove in the rocks. The view from behind the waterfall was nothing short of magical. Sun sparkled and glistened in the water. Toasty warmth from the rock spread along my skin, making me want to hide here all day.

Oh, wait. That heat came from Noah.

He settled in beside me, hands curled over the ledge, feet swinging back and forth in the falls. Water sprayed in every direction.

I couldn’t wipe the grin from my face. This place was the coolest, I could hide out here forever.

“Okay, the water’s cold, but totally worth it for this view.”

“Great rewards come from great sacrifice.”

He said some strange things. “Pity we didn’t bring snacks.”

He glanced at me and something expanded in my chest.

“I have some in the bag. You want me to get them?”

I shook my head, torn between feeding my stomach and not wanting this moment to ever end. The more time I spent with Noah, the more I imagined a different life. One where everything was simple, easy. That I had a normal upbringing like him. A life where I stayed with Joan instead of going back to Seattle with my mother. Maybe then, Noah and I would’ve met earlier. Maybe then, this would have worked.

I wiggled my toes, splashing water over my legs. Noah’s body radiated so much heat that before long, my goosebumps disappeared.

I easily imagined a life here. An alternate life with someone like him.

Without a shirt on, his tattoos were on full display. The forest art continued up his arm, past his elbow to his shoulder. A large wolf’s head spread along his shoulder, with a smaller one covering the spot over his heart.

“Tell me the story behind your ink.”

A hint of sorrow swept his face before he shrugged one shoulder. “I love wolves.”

“You have a lot of them. Are they like your spirit animal?”

He shifted, hands clenching and unclenching on the rock. I guess the tattoos meant something to him. Maybe they were symbolic, representing someone he lost or loved. Maybe he adored wolves like me.

“Wolves are pack animals. They value and protect family above everything else.”

Now I got it. Family was important to him. If I had one, I imagined it would be important to me, too. “Just like you?”

“Something like that.”

“But this one is alone, like it’s lost in the woods.” I traced my finger over the smaller black wolf near his wrist. My heart pounded. Him touching me seemed natural, comfortable, as though he’d done it hundreds of times. But when I touched him? That zapped little pulses of heat straight through my middle.

His gaze lowered to my finger then back to me. “That’s a lone wolf. One without a mate.”

“Without a mate?”

He peered at the waterfall. “Wolves mate for life. Once they find the one for them, they don’t let go. But every now and then, a wolf doesn’t find their other half.” He paused a moment, glancing at his toes dipped in the water. “That tattoo represents the wolf who never found its mate and instead, wanders the earth alone.”

Morbid much?“That’s kinda sad.”

The pain behind his eyes made my heart ache. I sensed there was more to the story, more to the lone wolf, but all thought disappeared when his gaze lowered to my lips. My heart sped to that delicious point right after I finished sketching a picture, where I stood back to admire my handiwork. The moment where my chest swelled beyond belief realizing I’d created something magical and beautiful.

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