Page 25

That tension in Remy’s chest eased at the prince’s warm eyes and smoldering smile. She took a step on her left leg, steady. The prince released her hand as her shaking dissipated. It was a mistake. She shifted onto her right leg, which immediately gave way. Hale shot his arms out to catch her. With a gasp she fell forward onto him, pushing his foot back against a tree root. The two went down. Hale took the brunt of the fall, his brawny arms slowing Remy’s fall onto his chest.

He chuckled.

“I knew I should’ve just carried you.” He smirked up at her. Remy’s midnight curls hung down around his shoulders.

“I had a cramp in my right leg,” she shot back. “It just gave out from under me.”

“Here?” Hale asked.

His hand snaked around the back of Remy’s knee and up to the bottom of her right thigh. He pushed in, and Remy’s thigh seized again. Hale dug his thumb into the muscle and slid it up the back of her leg. Hissing, Remy gritted her teeth. He did it again, and the muscle relented for a moment. Hale rubbed deep strokes up and down the back of her thigh.

At last, the muscle loosened and Remy sighed in relief. Hands still cupping the back of her leg, Hale smiled up at her. Remy was aware of how close those fingers drifted to the apex of her thighs.

Hale’s eyes dropped to Remy’s lips, chest rising and falling against hers. She felt all the places their bodies met—that claiming hand on the back of her thigh. It would not be far at all for that hand to drift up . . .

In the shadowed forest light, she stared at Hale. Scattered rays of evening sunlight highlighted the red streaks of his hair. His face glowed faintly red, and Remy knew it was from her glowing red eyes again. They were not glowing out of fear now. He stared and stared into them. He did not shrink away, mesmerized by their glow. It would take nothing for her to bend down a mere inch and press her lips to his.

She heard a barking call through the trees.

“That’s Tal, they’re following our scents,” Hale said, his voice rough with a frustration that Remy was feeling all too well. What would she have done with one more minute with this prince warrior? It was easy to imagine what it would look like if she and this gorgeous male were in the same position, but with fewer clothes.

The prince cleared his throat. As Remy climbed off him, she wondered if his mind was wandering to similar places.

She shook the thoughts from her mind. It was pure adrenaline. She was in shock. She had a bashed-in face and the stink of vomit clung to her. Whatever fantasy swirled in her head was a delusion. The attraction came from relief alone: Hale had saved her. That was all it was. She would feel different in an hour.