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Scarlet leaned into Mal’s body, trying to absorb his strength and comfort. She was so filled with yearning and emotion that she didn’t know what to do with any of it. She hadn’t spoken of Aaric or her guilt over Beehag’s zoo to anyone, bottling it up as deeply as she could manage.
Her trust of Mal was alarming in its intensity. His motives were clear now and all of their past strife had logical, if misguided, explanations once they’d bothered to sit down and untangle the underlying confusion.
It felt amazing not to have secrets, for the first time in such a long time... almost as amazing as it felt to have strong arms around her, holding her close.
Scarlet could not help but remember his gaze—amused and full of wonder—as he told her why he knew she wasn’t a shifter.
Her mate. Was it true?
It was impossible not to realize he wanted her; he was trying not to press his erection against her, but Scarlet was not oblivious to its hardness between them, or the way his fingers kept caressing her and stopping as if the desire was rising in him like it was in her and he wasn’t sure what to do with it.
“We never finished our dance,” he murmured near her ear.
“That’s a shame,” she whispered back. “But I suppose we still could...”
With small adjustments, one hand was in hers and one was at the small of her back, and they were no less close as Scarlet walked her fingers to his shoulder, wishing now that she hadn’t encouraged him to put his shirt back on. The runes on his forearms gleamed slightly in the darkness below his rolled-up sleeves.
She smoothed the mossy ground to a seamless flat dance floor and when he led her out into a slow, sensual salsa set to the sounds of the jungle at night, she let herself close her eyes and melt into him the way she had been dying to when he first danced with her.
This time, he did dip her, and she rose back up to the unheard music that they were dancing to and pressed her mouth against his, too hungry to resist any longer.
They made love slowly this time, the frantic need they felt tempered with the will to prolong every touch, every caress, every discovery they made of each other.
Scarlet drew a fingernail curiously along his runes as she pulled his shirt off of him for a second time and he hissed and yanked too hard on one of her blouse buttons. She forced herself to be patient and let him remove every piece of clothing and was rewarded with careful kisses that made her whimper in anticipation.
Mal slipped off his shoes without untying them and when they were finally naked together, he kissed her again and again, and it was even more glorious without anything keeping their moonlit skin apart.
He laid her down onto the moss—she made a thick, moss-soft bed for them without more than a thought for it—and she spread her legs for him eagerly.
Mal teased her, pressing but not entering, until she was begging him without words, scratching his shoulder and tugging at his strong arms and arching up to thrust herself at him in desperation.
When he finally slid into her, she was wet and more than ready and her world exploded into light. He brought her wave after wave of pleasure, every thrust a crest, every kiss a surrender, and Scarlet felt as if her heart would give out from sheer joy.
He finally gave a cry of release and cradled her through their aftershocks as he succumbed to his own need at last.
They lay tangled together as Scarlet remembered to breathe again and Mal’s heartbeat returned to something more normal against her ear.
“Do you always do this?” he gasped suddenly.
Scarlet opened her eyes, and realized that they were surrounded by flowers. Where there had been soft moss and short grass, there were now riots of knee-high flowers. Even day-bloomers were reaching for the weak moonlight, filling the entire clearing.
Scarlet laughed helplessly. “I’ve never done this,” she admitted as she sat up. She held a hand to an orchid that bobbed to touch her and unfurled a happy new leaf. “It’s beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful,” Mal said, rising on one elbow. He traced the line of her leg with a finger that promised more of what they had just enjoyed and Scarlet had to keep herself from falling upon him once again.
“It’s vanity,” Scarlet confessed. “I could look my age, if I wanted. Or... if there was something you liked...” she added shyly.
Mal sat the rest of the way up. “You are perfect just this way. I want nothing else. You are exactly the Scarlet I fell in love with... the beautiful pain in my ass that told me where to shove it the very first time we talked.”
Scarlet had to smile and when Mal reached to kiss her, she flowed into his arms.
When he ran out of air, she held his face in her hands for a long moment. “Did you mean it?”
“That you’re beautiful?”
“That you’re my... my mate.” Scarlet almost didn’t dare to say it.
“Can’t you tell?” Mal traced the line of her neck with one finger and his breath stirred the hair that was loose around her face. “Don’t you feel it?”
His touch raised fire in Scarlet’s veins, but she hesitated. “If you will recall your Greek mythology, dryads are regularly described as lusty,” she said primly. “I run hot, and it has been a long, long time. Maybe I’m confusing need with... with...”
“With love?” Mal asked intensely.
Scarlet took her hands back from his face and then didn’t know what to do with them. “We just met,” she chided.
“We’ve known each other for more than a year,” Mal pointed out, taking one of her hands in his own and kissing it. He looked insufferably pleased with himself.
“A year that you were a complete ass to me,” Scarlet pointed out.
“Did I ever actually do you wrong?” Mal still had her hand, and he turned it over to lay a second kiss on her palm.
“You tried to sell my island to horrible people. You attempted to steal my staff,” Scarlet reminded him, trying to dampen the desire he was igniting. She rallied. “You wanted to have Gizelle committed to a mental institution.”
“I couldn’t let that poor woman stay here and be destroyed,” Mal said firmly. “And I gave you as many carrots as sticks. You never admitted to your staff how much I offered to pay you if you broke the lease.”
It was hard to think with her hand captured in his, with his shoulders and chest bare, with the warmth of him so close it made her skin prickle. “You could have told me the truth,” she pointed out faintly.
“It didn’t occur to me that I needed to,” Mal said. “But I’m sorry that I didn’t, if that helps.”
It did, somehow. “We still have a problem,” Scarlet pointed out. “I would also like to not be destroyed and you said that we were running out of time.”
Mal sobered.
“So tell me how you plan to battle this creature, and how I might help.”
“I’ll do better,” Mal said, pulling away from her seriously. “I’ll show you.”