Page 24 of Love in the Wild

A butterfly with black wings, marked by two bright-blue spots that resembled eyes, fluttered around Thorne’s head before settling upon his shoulder. He held still, his breath even as he carefully moved the butterfly to his finger. Then he knelt in front of Eden and held it out to her. He placed the butterfly on her fingertip.

“Eden stay with Thorne?”

Her throat tightened. She did want to stay with him. If she had no life calling her home, no family, she might have thrown logic and reason to the wind and stayed here forever with this wild man. She couldn’t indulge in crazy romantic notions of living in the jungle with him. He may be cut out for the wild, but Eden acknowledged that she wouldn’t make it a month without a real shower, shampoo, a hair dryer—the list was endless.

What she needed to focus on was a way to convince him to leave the jungle and find his uncle. Cameron Haywood deserved to know what had befallen his brother’s family. But this was still a sensitive subject for Thorne. He did not trust humans, and no doubt he had good reason for it.

“I can stay for a little while, but not forever.” She hoped he understood. The butterfly took flight, leaving them close enough that she shivered, but not out of fear. She was lost in the bright blue of his eyes, and she couldn’t help but reach out to touch his face. He held still as she explored his dark eyebrows, the lines of worry creasing his brow, down to his straight aquiline nose, and to his lips. They were full and lush, tempting.

Thorne has never kissed a woman. He might not even know what a kiss is.Eden was secretly thrilled at the thought, but she wondered if she would be taking advantage of him. Based on the journal, he was twenty-five, a year older than her. One kiss wouldn’t be bad, would it?

“Thorne, may I kiss you?” Eden asked.

This was insane. Kissing a strange wild man who’d been raised by gorillas in the jungles of Uganda. What if he did return her to her people and then disappear back into the forest? The thought of him never knowing the magic a kiss could hold broke her heart.

“Kiss?” He echoed the word, his brows drawn together. He seemed to decide that whatever terrible thing a kiss might be, he would endure it. His reaction almost made her laugh.

“It’s okay. I promise. Just ... close your eyes.” She demonstrated what she meant for him to do.

Thorne closed his eyes, his hands clenched into fists as he tensed. It was adorable, the way he seemed to think she was about to mete out some medieval torture.

Eden cupped his face in her hands, feeling the light rasp of stubble beneath her palms. Then she leaned in and feathered her lips over his. She took her time, enjoying the tight heat coiling in her belly and how good it would feel to kiss him deeper if she had the chance. He was as still as stone as she continued to kiss him. Then she pulled back to examine his reaction. His eyes were open, and he was staring at her, soft-eyed, almost dreamy.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” she asked.

Thorne was silent a moment, and then he licked his lips and scooted an inch closer. “Thorne kiss Eden?” he asked.

She nodded. “Yes, you may kiss me.”

He cupped her face and mimicked her movements as he brushed his lips over hers. She opened her lips and flicked her tongue against his mouth. He stiffened a second and then opened his own mouth and touched her tongue with his. A pulse, like a drum, began to beat inside her, burrowing deep as her body hummed with life.

It was so innocent a kiss, but in that moment it was also the most important kiss of her life. Her first true kiss with this jungle lord would be her undoing. It would also be her everything.

This time when they broke apart, Thorne gazed at her with heavy-lidded eyes, the eyes of someone awakened to desire.

“Do mates kiss often?” he asked. The gentle rumble of his question sent zings of arousal through her. At the same time, something softer wrapped itself around her heart.

“Mates?” She was having trouble thinking now because he was so close, and his scent filled her head with wild, hungry, yet sweet thoughts.

“Yes. Tell Thorne about human mates. Please.”

He completely destroyed her heart with that plea. This gorgeous, raw, primal man was so desperate to know the ways of his own people. How could she deny him?

“How does Thorne mate Eden?” he asked more specifically.

“Mate?” Eden reached up to grasp his wrists, but she didn’t pull his hands away from her face. After everything she’d been through in the last two days, it felt good to be held.

“Yes.” He smoothed the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip. “Gorillas do not kiss. The male is ...” He struggled for words. “Rough. He uses power to convince female to be mate.”

“Oh ...” Eden blushed. She thought of everything he must have witnessed in the animal world. Mating in many species was rough, sometimes even violent. But humans were different, and she sensed Thorne was beginning to realize that such a difference existed.

“Well, people,humans, when they both like each other, they decide to date.”

“Date?” Thorne listened as if she was telling him the most important secrets of the universe.

“Dating is where two people do things they enjoy, like eating together or having fun. Playing.” God, how could she explain this? He had no memories of movies, art museums, or coffee shops, the places where she usually went for dates. “They do it so they can get to know each other. To decide if they want to be mates.”

“Eden and Thorne ate together.” He nodded toward the remaining mangoes on the leaf nearby. “And play in water?”

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