I was pretty sure he heard me, but he ignored me, moving with the music—which suddenly stopped. People yelled, moaned, groaned. A couple of guys yelled obscenities. A slow song started up. Joyous shouts and clapping echoed through the room.
Before I could make a hasty exit from the dance area, Daniel had pulled me into his arms.
“I’ve never—” I began.
“Just relax into it, Hayden.”
He put my arms around his neck and wound his around my waist. We weren’t really dancing. Just moving our feet. But it was nice. So nice. To be this close to another Shifter, to not feel his emotions, to only be distracted by mine. And they were darting all over the place. Contentment, quickly followed by that sense of fright again because what I felt I felt so strongly. I was loving this moment with Daniel. I didn’t even have to pretend I was normal. For these few moments I truly was.
I nestled my face in the nook of his shoulder, grateful I’d spent so much of my hard-earned money on these boots that made me tall enough to fit so perfectly against him. “How did you know I was thinking about going back to Wolford?” I asked quietly. “Are you a mind reader?”
“You stopped smiling.”
“I never smile there. Please don’t take me back, Daniel.”
“I have to, Hayden.” He lowered his head, his breath skimming along the sensitive skin just below my ear. “I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you. I truly believe that it’s the only place where you’ll be safe.”
Until that moment it hadn’t occurred to me that maybe taking me back to Wolford wasn’t any easier for him than going was for me. I could continue to be difficult, to search for ways to escape. Or I could accept the inevitable as I’d told him I would last night.
I felt the lingering remnants of a fight seep out of me as I truly accepted my decision to return to our secret sanctuary. My body relaxed against Daniel’s. His arms closed more tightly around me, drawing me nearer.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
I wondered if he knew what I did—that everything would change once we returned to Wolford. That I would change. That the emotions of others constantly slamming into me would wear me down. That I would know no peace. Then my full moon would arrive….
He wanted me to have faith that everything would be all right. But all I was sure of was that I had tonight. So I held on tightly. I didn’t flinch when people bumped into me. I let the music flow through me. I listened to the din of conversation. A cacophony of sounds surrounded me but they were all outside of me. Inside of me I knew only my thoughts, experienced only my emotions. While they were a little scary—because I was enjoying so much being within the circle of Daniel’s arms—they were also so totally amazing. Because they were mine and mine alone.
The slow music had barely drifted away before a louder, faster beat was thumping through the room. People separated and returned to more enthusiastic dancing.
Daniel took my hand and we threaded our way through the crowd to the French doors. We didn’t stop on the deck, but he led me down the stairs, our feet crunching on the snow. The heeled boots were really difficult to maneuver in as we crossed the drifts. The moonlight cast a blue haze over everything. For just a moment I wondered if it was possible to defeat the harvester, but then all thoughts—except for those centered around Daniel—left my mind as he brought me around to face him.
“All the insanity and craziness in there, all the noise, is that what it’s like for you when the Shifters’ emotions are hitting you?” he asked, his gaze latched on to mine.
“Not exactly but it’s probably the closest way to describe it. It’s not noise, but it’s overwhelming and chaotic. It’s mostly mental but physical, too, because I can’t help but respond to what I’m feeling.” I shook my head. “It’s impossible to describe.”
While the music drifted out from the condo, it was too far away to be bothersome. The snap of a twig or branch—probably weighted down by snow—broke through the stillness. An owl hooted.
I hadn’t grabbed my jacket before coming out here. I should have been shivering with the cold. But I wasn’t. All I seemed able to manage was to stare into Daniel’s eyes and to welcome the warmth emanating from his body.
He cupped my face with both his hands. The pads of his palms were heated, rough, and callused. Where once I had been suspicious of him because I couldn’t feel his emotions, now I relished the fact that when he touched me like this, the emotions that stirred within me were mine and mine alone.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he said quietly, fiercely.
His lips touched the corner of my mouth, and desire spiked through me. I turned my head into the kiss, to meet his lips as they skimmed over mine, before returning to settle firmly into place. Winter faded away, and it was as if I’d stepped into the middle of summer. Heat consumed me as passion rose up and swirled through me.
This kiss was different from the one he’d given me on the ski lift. That one had been tentative, a testing, a need for closeness to celebrate what we’d accomplished. This one was more, so much more. I’d never dared hope that I could experience something so intimate with a Shifter without being destroyed by it. But even as inexperienced as I was, I knew no other kiss would have been as thrilling, as satisfying, as marvelous.
When Daniel drew back, I looked deep into his eyes, became as lost in them as I had in the kiss. For the first time since I’d initially spotted him, I truly wanted to leave with him.
He stroked his thumb over my lips. They were sensitive, damp, and swollen.
“Say your good-byes. We leave just before sunrise.”
With that he released his hold on me and disappeared between the trees, into the forest. He wasn’t sleeping on the couch tonight, and I wondered if it was because he feared the temptation to ascend the stairs would be too great. I didn’t want to feel this closeness to him, and yet I couldn’t deny the wonder of it. I didn’t want to contemplate that perhaps he could be my mate. I’d never before felt this deep yearning. I’d never before welcomed the nearness of a Shifter more than the nearness of a Static.
The warmth I’d felt with his nearness dissipated, and the cold swept in. I released a hard shiver, wrapped my arms around myself, and scurried back to the condo.
To enjoy my last hours of peace before beginning the journey that would see me either victorious standing beneath a full moon—or dead.