Chapter 13 #2
“If you had someone, they would have been with you at the Wall,” he stated logically. “They never would have let you go off with a stranger alone. They would have made sure you were safe.”
Maybe I should have taken offense. After all, the guy had only known me for two days. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to muster up any real anger—only a sense of amazement that he was so good at reading me.
Or that he even had the desire to try.
A few steps later, Tauren crested the hill and stopped at the top.
“There it is,” he said.
It took more effort than I wanted to admit to pull my gaze away from Tauren’s face and look out over the scenery. But when I did, my jaw fell open.
“Holy shit,” I whispered.
“You like it?”
Like it?
That was far too tame a word for the sense of awe that rushed through me.
Somehow, the waterfall was even more beautiful than Tauren had described, bringing new colors to the palette of the forest—the fresh green of sprouting life along the sides of the pool, the white mist of crashing water softly billowed through the air, the deep shadows of damp rocks, and the crystalline glimmer of clear water.
“I—I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Good.” Tauren’s smile was one of pure pleasure. “Would you like to get a closer look?”
“Hell, yes.”
“Then hold on tight,” he said.
Even though he’d given me fair warning, nothing could have prepared me for the sensations that ripped through me as Tauren started down the steep hill, surefooted and swift. I clung to his neck for dear life as he pressed me close, all while effortlessly dodging fallen trees and brambles.
If I tried anything like that, I’d end up a tangle of broken bones at the bottom.
But for Tauren, it was no trouble at all. Once we were at the water’s edge, he slid me down the length of his chest until my feet were back on solid ground.
“I hope you can take some good pictures,” he said, moving back to rest on a broken log that had clearly been dragged to the edge of the pool to act as a bench.
Was he kidding? “This is going to be amazing.”
And it was.
I started snapping photos—one after the other—all of them great. It was almost as if, when dealing with something this beautiful, there was no such thing as a bad angle.
But as gorgeous as they were, none was the one.
The kind of shot I knew was only possible in a place like this. The type of image that wraps itself around a person’s heart and refuses to let them look away. The kind that could make a whole career.
Something was missing.
And after about twenty minutes of searching and failing to find it, I went over to sit next to Tauren’s side on the log, as I flipped through everything I had so far.
“Those are beautiful,” Tauren commented, looking at the view screen over my shoulder. “You have a lot of talent.”
“Thanks,” I said. “Though I’m afraid I’m losing my touch.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t seem to capture this place’s true majesty.”
“I disagree. These photos all look amazing to me,” Tauren said before pushing himself off the log and standing upright. “But I’m sure you’ll figure out what you’re missing. And while you do that, I’m going to bathe.”
I stared up at him, eyes wide. “Here?”
“Where else?” he asked.
“Somewhere with soap and hot water and towels.”
And walls. And a door...with a lock.
A twinkle of amusement shone in Tauren’s eyes.
“Tell me something, Hannah,” he said.”Do all kirre actively look for reasons to deny themselves pleasure?”
“That’s not what I’m doing.” At least I didn’t think it was. “It’s just that there are more important things than pleasure.”
“Like what?”
“Like avoiding pain.”
Tauren thought about this for a second before nodding.
“And that’s why you need someone to take care of you. Someone who can deal with the danger, so you can relax enough to feel the pleasure.”
Then, as if to put an exclamation point at the end of his statement, he pulled off his shirt.
Suddenly, I was faced with the sight of Tauren’s broad, muscular, and very naked chest.
My breath stopped dead in my throat as I stared at the pure display of animal strength in front of me. No wonder Calindra said that all the other animals in the forest fled at the first sign of a ferus.
I should be doing the same thing.
But just like so many times before, just the sight of Tauren was enough to make all woulds and shoulds fly out of my head. And shirtless Tauren was even worse.
The sight of all that bare skin made rational thought impossible.
I couldn’t pull my gaze away as he turned his back to me and started making his way toward the water.
And I still couldn’t make myself do it when he loosened the waist of his pants and let them drop down over his hips.
And when they pooled around his ankles, I thought my eyes were going to pop right out of my head.
The sight of his naked backside was almost more than I could take.
God help me, I couldn’t pull my eyes off of him as he walked over the damp rocks and into the rippling water.
But it wasn’t just my animal senses that came alive at the sight. My artistic ones began to tingle as well—especially as his ass dipped down below the waterline.
Suddenly, the frame perfectly came into focus before my eyes: Tauren’s broad back, standing as powerful and as unstoppable as the crashing waterfall at his side.
The blue pool below, reflecting the gorgeous masculine symmetry of his upper body.
The ripples on the surface hiding the erotic promise of his naked body below.
And all of it framed in a breathtaking, lush forest filled with verdant life and forbidden mysteries.
Slowly and carefully, I lifted the camera and started snapping, checking the view screen after every one to see if I’d managed to capture the shot in my head.
It took less than a minute to get it.
A contented sigh escaped my lungs the moment I saw it on the screen. That was it—the kind of photograph that could crown a whole career. Goosebumps swept down my arms at the sight.
“Did you get it?” Tauren’s voice carried across the rocky shore, startling me with its suddenness.
“Sorry?” I said, snapping my head and eyes back to reality.
He didn’t turn around. His back stayed to me, straight and proud.
“Did you finally get the picture you were hoping for?” he repeated.
“Yeah, I did,” I said. “It’s amazing. Better than I could’ve ever hoped for. Do you want to see it?”
“No.” His voice wasn’t harsh, but it was firm. “I want you to join me in the water.”
For a long moment, I sat there, blinking, utterly dumbfounded. After a few stunned seconds, I managed to find my voice. “I-I can’t.”
“Of course you can.”
“I don’t have anything to wear in there.”
“Then don’t wear anything,” he said.
It made sense. After all, that’s what he was doing. But I wasn’t that wild.
“I’m afraid someone will walk by and see us.” Just the thought was enough to make my shoulders tense.
“I already told you to stop wasting time with fear,” he said. “I will take care of whatever dangers arise. I will keep you safe, Hannah. All you have to do is let go of worry and give in to your desires.”
Damn, those were some seductive words.
Almost as seductive as the sight of his naked body.
But that wasn’t what I desired, I reminded myself. Despite all this talk of fates and mates, the last thing I wanted to do was give myself to Tauren. Drool over the sight of his bare chest? Sure. Give myself a forbidden thrill imagining what was bobbing beneath those waves? Damn straight.
But actually opening my legs and letting him slip inside? Absolutely not.
I wasn’t even sure how that would work. Assuming his private anatomy was proportional to the rest of his body, then the size difference between us was just too damn big. One thrust and he’d split me like firewood.
But on the other hand, a bath sounded amazing. Even without soap or shampoo or the latest face wash I was trying out, the chance to rinse two days’ worth of sweat, blood, and dirt off me was too good to pass up.
“Okay,” I said, standing up from the log. I peeled off my shirt and ragged jeans, figuring that my bra and panties were close enough to a bikini to count as decent. “But just to get clean.”
I hissed in a sharp breath as soon as my toes submerged in the bitingly cold pond. Even though it was summer, the crashing water still felt as cold as alpine runoff. Goosebumps rose up on every inch of my body.
“Cold?” Tauren said, finally turning around to face me.
“Aren’t you?”
He shook his head. “Alphas run hot.” And apparently kirre didn’t. “Come here, and I’ll warm you up.”
Oh, I bet he would.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said.
His bare chest was back in view, and my resolve to simply bathe was already slipping. I knew what kind of thoughts popped up in my head any time I touched him.
“Fine. Then I’ll come to you.” He took a step toward me, his waist starting to rise above the water line, giving me a glimpse of the exquisite plain of his lower abdomen, and the thin line of hair running down from his belly button, all the way down to his—
“Wait!” I called out before he revealed any more of his body. “Stay there. I’ll come to you.”
My knees started to shake as I inched into the water, one baby step at a time.
Calves, knees, thighs, hips, waist—one by one, every part of me slipped under the chilly water.
Once the waterline was at my chest, I sucked in a breath and dunked my head beneath the surface, immersing myself completely.
I came back up a second later, soaked, invigorated, and surprised to find Tauren only inches away.
“Feeling better?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said, kicking off the bottom of the pond with my toes, pushing myself into deeper water and away from temptation. “I haven’t been swimming in a long time.”
“Why not?”
“Lack of opportunity,” I explained. “In the city, I’d have to pay a membership fee somewhere to have access to a pool, and I don’t have that kind of money.”