brush her lips against his. “Hello.”
He put a hand at the back of her neck, and he deepened the kiss. When he raised his head, he smiled. “You just brushed your teeth.”
She blushed. “And you just had a cup of coffee.”
“Shall we head to the café?”
“Please. This conversation is going to deteriorate.”
He laughed and offered her his arm. She put her hand on the back of his wrist, but he took it in his other hand and moved it so that she had herself wrapped around him and they were hip to hip.
They walked out of the Axion and headed to the café in a comfortable silence.
The lunch went well. Gera was comfortable with him, but there was one thing for him to see.
“After we finish, I need to take you to the shifter’s meadow so you can meet my beast.” She nodded at his confirmation of what she needed before she slept with him.
“I have already seen it, albeit at a distance.”
“Well, it is a little different up close.”
He gestured to her empty plate. “Don’t you have to wait an hour or something?”
“It isn’t swimming.” She grinned.
Riox shrugged. “I am sure I will get the hang of it.”
They paid, and she took him by the hand, hauling him to the meadow. With long strides, she pulled him past the cabanas and deeper into the meadow along the treeline. When she was sure that they were alone, she kicked off her shoes and unzipped her dress.
Riox stared at her. “Are you sure that you want to do that out in the open?”
“The only reason to strip in private is when you are with strangers. You are not a stranger.” The dress slid down her body, and then, she unclasped her bra before she slid her thumbs under the edge of her panties and pushed them to her ankles.
When the cool breezes were touching all of her, she glanced at Riox. He was locked in place and staring at her body with an absorbed fascination.
“Now you see it, now you don’t.” She shifted, and her beast was standing next to him.
She lifted her head and turned it so that she was staring at him. Her vision wasn’t great if someone was right ahead of her, but that was why she had the horns.
He reached out and rubbed her forehead. “I remember these.”
She snorted and jumped up and down on her small hooves.
She turned away from him, springing and prancing in the grasses, and then, she rolled on her back and waved her legs in the air. When her back was appropriately scratched, she got back to her feet and returned to him. She pressed her head against his chest and shifted into her human form.
He lifted her chin on two fingers and kissed her. “You are beautiful in either form.”
She analyzed it, but she didn’t hear that air of seduction that he had tried before. She smiled and pressed herself against him, kissing him wildly.
Her beast was happy, so she was happy.
Riox ran his hands down her back, and he cupped her butt. With a sudden move, he pulled her up to him, and she wrapped her legs around him.
He reached between them and stroked her between the thighs.
Gera wanted to blush at the wetness he discovered, but he groaned against her lips. He slid two fingers into her and moved them in a slow and deliberate motion.
She shivered as heat swamped over her. It was apparent that her body was trying to make up for lost time.
She bit at his lower lip with all the care she could muster.
He grunted, and his hips jerked toward her.
Her skin was alive, hot, and every touch of his skin on hers caused an electric shock. She shivered and tried to climb higher to get a better angle on his body.
Riox pulled away. “No. Not here. Not like this.”
She looked at him and pondered how hard it would be to pin him down and take what she and her beast wanted. Her logic centre emerged, and she reluctantly unlatched her legs and dislodged his hand as she stood on her own feet. A moment later, she was getting dressed. He held out his hand, and she balanced with it while she put on her shoes. Her cheeks heated when