CHAPTER SIXTEEN
There had to be some way he could cheer her up.
Roxie’s sadness wasn’t obvious. In fact, she was putting up a very impenetrable front, one full of sparkle and sunshine that had he been any other man, he’d have believed it instantly and moved on already. Urban certainly believed it, and the young man was obviously taken in by Roxie’s genuine sweetness to him as he subtly guarded her and made sure her needs were met while Isaac got busy with taking care of things he hadn’t attended to since his absence.
His instincts had been right on Urban and the young man’s initiative, and his mind eased in that department.
As for Roxie…well, she was a different case.
She did her best to mingle, but mostly kept to herself. She also avoided him like the plague, and he could feel the guilt and the pride warring inside her whenever she dropped the act, and he happened to be looking.
And that just wouldn’t do.
He wanted the fighter in her back, raging and telling him and anyone else who crossed her to go to hell. Isaac knew it was unreasonable, even irrational. But before he could stop himself, he was already ordering one of the cooks to cook some of her best dishes and create a table setting within one of the more private halls of the cave. He knocked on Roxie’s room, waiting as she opened the door. When she did, he tossed a box at her.
“Get dressed tonight.”
“Why?”
“Just get dressed. Urban will take you somewhere in an hour.”
He left it at that.
An hour later, he was the first to walk into the hall, where a table was set up with candles. Five minutes later, Roxie walked in, and he heard the gasp come out of her as she stopped just behind him.
“Isaac? What’s this?”
“Dinner,” he said simply.
He turned around, and the next thing he was about to say left his head at the sight of her.
He was used to Roxie wearing outrageous fairy cloaks and simple jeans and shirts, as well as pajama pants, which she seemed to love to wear at night. But this Roxie, in a simple black dress that accentuated her small curves softly and only emphasized the gold gleam of her hair and those eyes…he felt his mouth water and something intense throb inside him. Isaac forced it down and attempted a smirk, remembering his goal.
“Come on. I’m hungry.”
Tonight, it would be all about her.
*****
Dinner was light, and he managed to convince her to take some of his world’s food other than the fruit, reasoning out that since she was stuck here with him for a while, her magic wouldn’t really be needed since she was automatically under his protection. She was reluctant at first—until she tried the cook’s roasted duck and closed her eyes in bliss.
Then she tried the wild rice, then the dessert tray consisting of cheesecake and assorted pies, and after a while, Roxie was enthusiastically gobbling everything up and making little sounds of pleasure that had him amused and turned on at the same time. Again, he stifled his reaction and simply ate with her, then brought her into conversation until he felt her body relax and a genuine smile tug at her lips. Her eyes lit up every now and then as she began asking questions about his people and his culture, and her genuine interest had something inside him reacting as well as he did his best to explain.
He had never hidden the fact that he cared and loved his people with a fierceness that belied everything else, and he let her feel it now. It was his silent way of telling her that she was accepted and welcomed here, that everything that happened in the past should be forgotten, and he hoped it would be enough.
As someone who wasn’t very forgiving, it was big of him, and he even surprised himself.
After dinner, she made a request that surprised him all the more.
“Can you show me around?”
“Hmm?”
Her cheeks colored, but she went on. “I mean, I’ve already explored the cave when I was bored, but the forest…”
He immediately thought of the colorful forest at her Autumn Court, and the wistful tone in her voice when she stared at that lake. Again, before he could organize his thoughts, he found himself already standing up. Then he motioned for her to follow him, where he led her to the cave halls down to the back, which led to a large clearing that he often used for outdoor parties and gatherings. Beyond the clearing was one of the forests, and beyond it were the cliffs and the sea.
“Would you mind terribly if I shifted?” he asked.
She shook her head and grinned. “I’ll catch up with you.”
He raised his brows but didn’t comment on it, knowing her magic was lessening now due to the food. To his amusement, she turned around, and he would have teased her but decided against it. Instead, he quietly shed his clothes and shifted as fast as he could, then gave out a yowl before running in the direction of the forest.
Come on. Catch up to me.
He was alone at first, the fresh scent of the trees filling his nostrils. Then the scent of freshly cut grass hit the air, and her feminine scent replaced it, and a blur whizzed by him and went ahead. Shocked, he watched as she ran with her magic enhancing her movements, her feet bare and her limbs loose. With her lithe body, it almost seemed like she was flying through the forest before breaking into the field that led to the cliffs.
Laughter filled her face and resonated in him, and he sprinted after her. She kept laughing as she bounced around, and then made a high jump that had her rocketing up in the air before she landed on the soles of her feet. But she lost her balance and rolled around the grass before stopping on her back, where she giggled like crazy. Golden light vibrated out of her, and he finally caught up to her and bumped her on the shoulder until she sat up.
A mischievous gleam entered Roxie’s eyes, and her smirk tilted them further. Then she was using her fingers and her magic on his fur and rubbing, setting a rhythm that made him ticklish and set his loins on fire at the same time. He was pretty sure she wasn’t eliciting the second reaction on purpose, and he tried to stop her by crawling over her. He gently but firmly set his paws on her wrists and limbs, and an answering vibration responded in her body.
Then instead of stopping, she was wrestling with him.
They rolled around, each one of them trying to overpower the other. The challenge rose in him as he balanced strength without hurting her, while she simply enjoyed the silly use of her magic to stay on top of him. But her magic was slowly weakening, and he decided to wait her out until he felt it go out of her bit by bit.
When it was gone, he pounced on top of her and stayed there, snarling and showing her his sharp teeth. He was much bigger than her and definitely heavier in his panther form, but she held her own and made no complaints—the first time that a woman had ever matched his sheer power.
She grinned up in response to his snarl, and joy filled him. Then, just as he was about to rejoice, more magic filtered out of her and snuck in his senses, rendering his shifting abilities in reverse. To his shock, he was rapidly shifting in front of her until he was back in his human form and unable to stop it.
Her shoulders settled back, and she heaved a deep, tired sigh, her magic disappearing completely. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist. I wanted to test that out.”
His own breathing turned harsh. “Cool trick.”
She laughed, and he couldn’t stop staring at her. His hands fisted on the grass as he tried to keep from pressing his body against hers, the need in him stronger than ever.
Take her, it called out.
Make her yours.
He kept his eyes on hers, memorizing her face as he did so. He’d been wrong—she wasn’t conventionally beautiful, but she was beautiful inside and out, and she had no idea how much that affected him. He drank the sight of her in, etching it in his memory forever.
The laughter trailed off her as the realization came in her eyes—realization of their position, at what was on his mind.
And at what was about to happen.
“Oh, autumns,” she murmured. “I didn’t mean it.”
“I know,” he murmured back.
Then he was lowering his mouth to hers.