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“Sometimes. If the situation calls for it and you seemed a little tense. I just wanted to loosen you up.”

I tap his elbow with mine and see him doing just that.

“See? That wasn’t so hard. Oh, look. Snapdragons.”

I point to the row next to us and realize we’re in the middle of the snapdragon area. Somehow, I had walked past half of them without even noticing.

We find a section of snapdragons that we think would go well with the colors we already have going in the basket and choose a few stems. When I notice Hunter’s large hands and body absent from my periphery, I stand up straight and turn in a circle, looking for him. Spotting him about ten feet away, staring into the thick forest of trees that surround the gardens.

“Hunter?” I call, but he doesn’t respond or even flinch. Just stands stock still staring, hands fisted around a stem of snapdragons, crushing them between his fingers.

“Hunter,” I call louder, trying to get his attention.

He finally turns his eyes in my direction but doesn’t budge his stone posture.

“Are you okay?” I ask, coming to his side and looking out in the direction he was staring.

His eyes turn back to the trees and glare daggers. I try to see what he sees, but to my eyes, there’s nothing there.

“Is there something out there? I know there are wolves around here, but I was assured they were harmless.”

Hunter grunts and shifts his body in front of mine to block my view of the forest.

“Everything’s fine. Thought I saw something, but I was mistaken. Come on, why don’t we go find Daisy. She probably got distracted by a wilting vine and forgot about your vase.”

His body remains taut, but his expression softens, and he even gifts me with a small smile without trying to smother it, and I completely forget about whatever he might have seen in the trees and allow him to guide me away. His hand settles on the small of my back and heats my skin where it makes contact.

The sensation trickles through my body and makes my nipples harden under my shirt as a needy throb starts between my thighs.

Holy fuck.I have never been turned on so fast before and by only a hand on my back. He’s not even touching my skin, and it feels like he’s caressing my naked body with his tongue.

Next to me, Hunter takes in a deep inhale and growls low in his throat. The vibration reverberating through his hand, still connected to my back, only intensifies the heat growing in my body. The tumbling of my stomach and quickening of my heart add to the turmoil inside.

Large fingers curl gently but possessively into my shirt, pulling it tighter against my chest. Displaying the points of my nipples through the soft material.

Before I can even attempt to comprehend what the hell is happening, Hunter’s searing touch is gone from my back, and he’s taking a large step away from me, clearing his throat and trying not to look me in the eye.

“I’ll see if I can find Daisy. You wait here.”

Without waiting for a response, he walks away and disappears inside the greenhouse to find Daisy. Leaving me hot and panting and wet in the panties, standing here like a fool with egg on my face.

What the actual fuck was that?

Chapter 12 – Hunter

No fucking touching.What’s so hard about that to remember? I knew it the moment I made contact with her that I was fucked. But I was so distracted by what I saw in the tree line that my sanity fled briefly. A moment too long, and I slipped. My tentative control fucking slipped.

Touch is very personal for shifters, especially between sexual partners and lovers. We like to rub our scent on each other, so all others know who we belong to and to not even think of touching what isn’t theirs. With the soul of a beast at our core, we tend to be very possessive.

The moment she heated under my touch, I could smell her arousal. There was no way I could suppress my growl of approval. Even surrounded by flowers, I could still smell her distinct scent mixed with my own from when I rubbed against her yesterday.

It had made my inner beast extremely happy to smell the mixture of our scents, and it had drawn me right to her. I hadn’t planned on talking to her, but she was in the damn Tsumugi rose section, and the stupid hose tripped me, knocking me into her. I was only trying to get a scent of her emotions. Those scents were weaker underneath her heavenly smell, and I had to get closer to discern them properly.

She was happy again, only sugary sweetness this time. No salt.

I could kiss and kill Daisy for her brash pushiness. Nymphs aren’t always as observant of people. They are generally more concerned with plants and animals, as that’s what their magic is connected to.

Daisy is only a half earth nymph, unable to use a glamour for very long. Thankfully, her non-human characteristics can be explained as tattoos or style choices. I doubt Lottie realized the flowers were actually growing from her hair or that the green tattoos shifted slightly on her skin when she got excited about her plants and flowers.