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I could sense her distress. The smell pinched my nose, and I bristled that they’d tried to hurt her.
“I don’t know where I am,” she finished.
How was I supposed to answer that question? I couldn’t tell her where we were—it went against our code. We had to protect what was ours, and that meant keeping the humans away. If she knew, and she left and told others where we were, it put us in danger.
She could feel magic, too. She had to be able to if she was so aware of the boundary around the cabin, and if she connected with the tree spirits all around us—even if she didn’t know she was doing it. Lorraine was a wild card I wasn’t willing to play.
We heard footsteps through the trees, and I felt Lorraine’s fear skyrocket. Her steps faltered, and my throat closed until I realized I felt what she was feeling.
That was another thing—why did I know what she was feeling? I could feel the intent around me, the atmosphere when it shifted, and the menace of bad intentions, but her emotions shouldn’t have been like an open book.
“Well, well, well,” a familiar voice said. “If it isn’t Ash, awake and wandering.”
“Rowan,” I said with a grin.
Lorraine glanced at me. When she realized I knew the man who approached us, she relaxed. I felt the tension in her ease, and her fear fade enough to become bearable. She took a deep breath and let it out in a shudder.
Rowan appeared. Lorraine looked up at his tall, thin form and blinked. He had to be a sight to behold to a human woman who hadn’t seen any mythological creatures in her life.
“Who are you?” Rowan asked her.
I rolled my eyes. Rowan knew exactly who she was.
“This is Lorraine,” I said. “Lorraine, meet Rowan.”
Lorraine only stared. And why not? Rowan was everything short of a fairy tale creature, with snow-white hair and pale skin, sharp features, and violet eyes.
“It’s nice to meet you. What are you?” he asked.
“What?” Lorraine asked, looking confused.
I elbowed Rowan in the ribs, and he let out a gush of breath. He was being full of shit. He glared at me, but a smile played around his mouth.
“It’s nice to meet you, Lorraine,” Rowan said, smiling now. “Ash told me he had a visitor. How are you enjoying our neck of the woods?” His smile widened when he asked the question.
“It’s beautiful out here,” Lorraine said. “Everything is so different than what I’m used to.”
“I can imagine. You don’t get something like what we have just anywhere anymore.”
Lorraine nodded her head in agreement.
A breeze picked up while we made small talk, and as the sun set, the night crept in. It brought a chill with it. I felt the leaves of my tree rustle as the wind tugged at them, and the forest around me came to life with magic. I sensed the other spirits, the way the forest responded to their power. The trees and the earth all sang with the glory of its existence. Magic danced on my skin and ruffled my air, blowing along with the breeze.
Rowan closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying it, too. He turned his head toward the wind, and his white hair blew back, showing off his sharp nose and pointed ears.
I glanced at Lorraine. She didn’t look at Rowan, didn’t see what he looked like in his mythical state, because she was looking around her. Her arms broke out in goosebumps again, and she ran her hand down one arm.
Did she feel the magic, too? Or was she just cold?
My body came to life as I watched the way her slim fingers trailed a line up and down the back of her arm, the blond flyaway hairs around her face blowing in the breeze.
Heat washed over me, and my cock twitched in my pants.
I shifted my weight from one foot to the other and cleared my throat. Rowan’s eyes flew open, and he pinned me with a hard look—he could smell my arousal.
He glanced at Lorraine.
“I think we should head back. It looks like a storm might be headed this way,” I said to Lorraine.
