“Yes.” She reached out to touch the side of his arm, trying to take his attention away from Aura. He deserved better than Aura. “The world is full of wonderful, worthy people, you know.”
He laughed at that once, without humor. “Is it?”
Zara stepped a little bit closer to him and she tried to get him to look at her. “I’m looking at one.”
He did turn to face her, and for once, he didn’t look away from her eyes. Strange as they were, he had to admit they were beautiful, designed, some would say, by the gods, to draw people in closer to the Heartborn and make them more enticing. Through the contact with him, which he didn’t try to avoid or shake off, she could feel his nerves starting to tingle, the same as hers were, with the approach of the Fulness around them.
Their senses were at their sharpest, their power almost painful as it pushed at them from within. Most wolves around them had already shifted in preparation for the onset, and Nick normally would have as well, but for some reason he was resisting it that night. He stepped closer to her, fighting the urge that was rising up in him to break his human form and run on four legs until the moon took hold completely. “That’s how I want to die someday. Not in battle, not because my son felt he could rule better than I could, but in peace, at the end of a long life with the ones I love.”
Slowly she lifted up her hand and caressed the side of his face. “That’s a beautiful death to want.”
“No.” He said calmly, his voice not betraying how much of a struggle it was to keep himself calm at the moment. “It’s an unlikely one.”
“That’s not true.” She said softly as she only moved a step closer. “It wouldn’t hurt so much to want it if you really believed that you couldn’t have it.”
“Maybe not.” He said without moving away, sighing once almost in defeat as a spike of power went through them both, the first of many warnings the moon always gave those who were resisting its pull and remaining human as it rose. He ran a hand up her arm as he looked down at her, his fingers trailing up to her shoulder over the fabric of the dress she wore. Slowly, his fingers went down over her collarbone to the first button in the center of her chest and undid it for her, his fingers going to the second as his eyes met hers again.
Her heart started to race as he touched her, but she only moved closer so that he could continue. Her eyes remained glued to his beautifully intricate hazel ones, and her hand that had been on the side of his face dropped to the side of his neck, her fingertips caressing his bare skin before her hand dropped again to the edge of his shirt. Zara tugged it upwards slightly so that her fingers could run across his stomach and around his belt without actually touching it.
When she did so, he obligingly lifted up his arms so that she could get his shirt off, then stepped in closer to her to continue with her dress, barely a hand’s space between them. It was the first time she’d seen him without a shirt on, and the chain tattoos that wound around his shoulders and arms looked almost more real than those that formed the fence beside them, moving with their own life along his skin.
Both of her hands moved to trace the ink on his skin while he continued his torturous pace of undressing her. The need to shift was burning at her muscles, but she kept fighting it to continue the moment with him. After her last button came undone, all it took was a shrug for the dress to fall to her feet. When she stood there completely exposed to him, she looked up into his face again as her hands went further to help him get completely undressed.
He didn’t stop her, having no need to hide himself from another wolf, and enjoying the fact that she was so unabashed about herself as well. As she stood back up, his fingers traced over her arm, completely unmarked by scars or tattoos or any other blemishes that he could see, and he could see all there was of her to be seen.
With only a moment’s hesitation, his fingers ran over the frail gold chain she wore at all times around her neck, unclasping the pendant without breaking eye contact. With a smooth gesture, he tossed the chain up to the top of the barrier wall, where the tiny golden links tangled themselves with the steel links of the fence. He’d retrieve it for her when the Fulness had passed.
When he looked back at her, she could hear his thoughts take her in, the simple perfection of everything about her. Her only adornments were her eyes, each a more beautiful gem than the one fastened in her pendant. You are beautiful, Zara. She could hear the simple honesty of his thoughts as he appreciated the sight of her, wanting her to know what he thought of her as clearly as he could make it known.
Zara dared to step in closer to him still, their bodies nearly touching. He could hear her thoughts as well, her sincere desire for him as well as her attraction to him. He was strong and sure, and she wanted to help him feel even more so. Be with me. She traced a single finger along his bottom lip. All I can think about is how much I’m drawn to you. I feel like I need you.
She could feel how much he wanted to give in to her at that moment, but even as he leaned in towards her, his hands along her waist, he shook his head, his
