We stayed that way, eye-to-eye, for a long time. Or maybe it was only seconds. Our breath came fast, hard, leaving clouds of fog around us. The night air had gotten very cool, but I hardly felt it. I didn’t feel a thing, other than the heat racing through me.

I didn’t know which of us shifted back first. Maybe we did at the same time. In seconds, we were standing there in human form, naked, eyes still locked. I didn’t need to see his body to know what it looked like.

He would be the same, the way so much was the same. Just as strong, with thick muscles just begging for my fingers to dig in and grip him tight. Long legs, a tight butt, a broad back waiting for my nails to scratch down its length.

He didn’t say a word before charging me just like the wild hog had, only I didn’t jump out of the way.

I clung to him as he crushed his mouth to mine.

Yes!

My entire body screamed it as I gave it what it had longed for. So many years of nights spent wishing it were him in my bed, him inside me. I might have been able to convince my brain over the years that I loved and wanted Pierce, and maybe even my heart, but my body always knew the truth. It knew how I longed for him every minute we were apart.

He pried my mouth open with his tongue and thrust it inside.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed the length of my body to his while his hands ran all over me, touching places that had gone untouched for years since I was widowed.

Years of never being stroked, caressed, fondled. I moaned into his mouth, a moan of passion and permission and urgency. I needed more. I wanted more. My skin sizzled under his palms, his fingers. Everywhere he touched felt like it burned, but it was a fire I welcomed. I would die if he wasn’t inside me, soon.

His hot, twitching shaft stabbed my belly.

I slid a hand between us to stroke him as we kissed, and he trembled a little when my hand wrapped around its thickness. His need made my need grow, spreading between my legs until I was soaking wet and pulsing with desire.

His fingers found my slick cleft and I cried out, digging my nails into his shoulders as the first shudders of bliss wracked me so soon.

I couldn’t believe it, but then I could. I had been ready for him almost from the moment I first saw him that day. Everything between then and the moment we met up in the forest was foreplay.

He let me ride it out, his breath hot on my neck, grunting between gasps for air.

Then his strong hands pulled me from him and shoved me to the ground. I barely had time to gasp in surprise before he flipped me over and positioned himself behind me. With one swift, strong thrust we were together again. I closed my eyes and let out a long moan of thanks, and joy, and relief.

“Yes,” he whispered, his hands on my hips, riding me mercilessly. It was all he said, the only word that left his lips.

Otherwise, the sound of our grunts and gasps filled the air around us as he went faster, harder. Our bodies slammed together.

My core tightened as his thickness filled me better than I had ever been filled before, driving me to another orgasm in almost no time. My hands tightened into fists, pulling up the moss and grass beneath them, and I wanted to be dirty. I wanted him to take me like an animal and leave me dirt-streaked and shaking.

“Vincent!” I gasped in a choked whisper as I fell over the edge again, and he joined me after a few rapid, almost painful thrusts that drove me into the dirt.

I collapsed there, panting for breath, my body shaking and my mind reeling. It all happened so fast.

He fell over beside me, covered in sweat. “I’m—I’m sorry for that,” he gasped.

“Sorry?”

“It shouldn’t have been like that. It should’ve—been nicer.”

I could only chuckle. “It was the way it needed to be. You just saved my life. Things happen when the blood is up like that.”

“It was more than that,” he replied with a chuckle of his own. “It had been a long time.”

“For me, too.”

“And a longer time since you and me.” He looked at me, then reached over and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “But you still look the same. How is that possible?”

“You do, too.” I looked up and down the length of him.

Yes, he was just as perfect as he had ever been. Even moments after having him, I wanted him again. In every way possible. He kindled something in me that had been dark and cold for as long as I could remember.

He looked up at the sky, and I could just make out the stars over our heads through the thinning leaves and crisscrossing branches. “I’m glad I decided to hunt when I did. That hog would’ve torn you to pieces.”

“I could’ve defended myself.”

“I didn’t think it would be a good idea to test that theory,” he murmured.

“Thanks for your faith.” I sat up and inspected myself. I was a mess, down to the dirt under my nails. There was a brook not far away—I could hear it.

“So you never had anybody after…?” he asked, trailing off.

“After my husband?” I shook my head. “You?”

“No. Nobody since my wife. I was always too busy, and it never seemed worth the effort.”

I laughed. “The same for me. Except in my case, I was always worried that a man would try to take over my position.”

“Then they would’ve been underestimating you,” he smirked. His beautiful golden eyes sparkled brighter than the stars. “Come on. Let’s wash up. You’ll be missed soon.”

Just like that, the moment was over. The magical moment that was only ours, just the two of us, nobody else’s.

He’d brought Christian into it, and I had to remember my responsibility to him and my branch of the clan. I couldn’t forget that in the light of everything my body and heart needed.

We parted without anything but a light, gentle kiss. I waited until he was out of sight to make my way back to the building over a wide, deep lawn separating it from the forest.

* * *

I barely slept that night. Between thoughts of Vincent and fear of what would happen in the morning, sleep was impossible.

I wasn’t a child. I knew that a single romp in the forest didn’t mean Vincent and I were back together. It didn’t mean anything. Our bodies wanted something and we gave in. It was instinct. Nothing more. Even so, I couldn’t stop replaying every delicious moment. The way he’d caressed me and kissed me, the thick rod moving inside me and touching me like only he could. The thrill of it. How wrong it was but how right it felt. Knowing it was wrong only made it hotter, sweeter.

Vincent. He still knew every inch of my body. I wondered what it would be like if we had more time together… in a bed, in front of a fire…

My phone buzzed, signaling the start of a new day. I had just drifted off to sleep with thoughts of being with him dancing in my brain and it was time to get up.

Get up and watch Bradford die.

I felt sick, and it wasn’t just fatigue.

I washed and dressed mechanically, without thinking about it. The sheath dress and cardigan sweater, the pearl earrings and matching necklace. My engagement and wedding rings. I had taken them off and left them in the bathroom before going out to hunt. They sat there, sparkling, waiting for me. Accusing me. I slid them on and reminded myself that my husband was long gone.

I only wore the rings out of loyalty.

Circles ringed my eyes. I put on some makeup to hide them and wondered why it mattered what I looked like. Nobody would be looking at me. Nobody would even remember what I wore. I needed something to hold on to, I decided. Something that felt normal.

Christian walked with me out to the courtyard.

The whispers I’d heard before the trial were much quieter, but still present.

This time, it was speculation: Would they go through with it? How would he behave? I was almost sure he would take it with his head held high, but he had surprised me before.

Where was Vincent?

I scanned the Everglade side of the large, square courtyard for sight of him.

Even among shifters, he stood head and shoulders over the rest.

He wasn’t there. What could be keeping him?