Page 46 of Sage Haven
The air started to shift.
Colder and Thicker.
And I knew.
I didn’t need to turn.
I knew it was him coming from behind me.
Reich.
A towering silhouette framed in twilight.
And every nerve in my body lit up.
My breath hitched in my throat.
I froze, but not from fear, from something else.
Something that didn’t make sense to me.
He closed the distance between us slowly.
Deliberate steps. Giving me time to run. To step away.
But it was almost as if he knew I wouldn’t.
And I knew it too.
My pulse raced in anticipation; each beat harder than the last as my peripheral caught his hand that lifted from behind me.
Before I could react, fingers ghosted along the frame of my cheek.
Feather-light.
I leaned in, breath catching, even as I told myself not to.
And I let his touch drift lower.
Down the curve of my arm over its skin that prickled in response to him.
His hands continued to drift, as I stood frozen, while his fingertips brushed the bouquet of wildflowers I had in my hands.
He held them with me for what felt like a heartbeat too long.
Like he was weighing its worth or mine.
He leaned in.
His breath warm against my ear and his voice low and commanding, “You shouldn’t take what isn’t yours.”
The words hit me hard causing a shiver to chase itself down my spine.
Not just because of what he said.
But because he was here.
In this field.
