Page 16 of Roaring Heat (Shifters of Redwood Rise #2)

BEAU

T he air between us still hums with everything unspoken, but Anabeth doesn't look away.

Her gaze is steady, clear, and unflinching, but I see the rapid pulse at her throat and the way her fingers curl slightly into fists at her sides.

Questions churn in the quiet, tangled with an ache for clarity, a glimmer of awe, and a tension that could easily tip into fear.

It crackles between us, a live wire strung tight through the silence.

I see it in the way her chest rises sharply, in the flicker of hesitation behind her steady gaze.

She doesn’t run. That choice, made entirely by her, sends a fierce rush of heat through my veins, weighted with emotion and meaning.

I reach out and offer my hand. She slips hers into mine without hesitation, the warmth of her skin a quiet promise against my palm.

As I help her to her feet, her breath catches slightly, chest rising with a soft shudder.

Her eyes stay locked on mine, wide and luminous, and for a moment the rest of the world fades away.

The silence between us isn't empty. It's alive, thrumming with something new and potent.

Whatever just passed between us, it's altered everything, and we both feel it in our bones.

We walk back toward the cottage in silence, though my mind is anything but quiet.

The air crackles between us, thick with unspoken truths and tangled emotions.

Every step I take feels weighted with the gravity of what Anabeth just saw.

I glance at Anabeth, half-expecting her to bolt, but she walks beside me, eyes locked forward, jaw set with quiet resolve.

She glances over at me, expression wary but curious. "Does it hurt? The... change?"

I huff a short laugh. "No. Not at all. It's fast. Mist comes up, wraps around you, and then boom. You're either fur and claws or back to bare skin."

Her brow arches. "Bare skin?"

I flash a grin. "Yeah. Clothes don’t survive the shift. So you learn to plan ahead. Either strip first or stash a change where you’re going. Learned that one the hard way."

She snorts. It might not be ladylike, but it warms my soul. "Let me guess. Middle of town?"

"Middle of town, right in front of the bakery. I have yet to live it down, and it happened when I was nine."

That gets a full-bodied laugh out of her, short but genuine. It eases the tension just enough to let me breathe.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I ask softly, not breaking stride.

She snorts, the sound less bubbly, but real nonetheless.

"I had the most mind-blowing kiss of my life, and now I can't stop thinking about the man who turns into a bear and claims I might be his fated mate.

It's thrilling and terrifying all at once, like stepping onto a tightrope with no idea where it ends. So, no. Not okay. Not remotely. But I’m also not running. So that counts for something."

I reach out and brush the back of her hand with my fingers. "It counts for everything."

Anabeth lets out a breath, part laughter, part disbelief. "Jesus, Beau. I thought my ex blindsiding me with a divorce was the most surreal thing I'd deal with this year. This is next-level."

We reach the front steps of the cottage, and I pause, tugging gently on her arm to make her look at me. "I don’t expect you to have all the answers. I just need you to trust that I won’t let anything hurt you. Not while I’m breathing."

Her eyes soften slightly, and she nods, but the wariness doesn’t fade completely.

That’s fair. She’s still reeling, still trying to find footing on ground that has suddenly tilted beneath her.

The woods feel different now. Still thick with pine and shadow, but quieter, almost reverent.

As if the forest itself is waiting to see what comes next.

We climb the stairs to her front porch, and I pause. "Just to be clear. A shifter can't get a human pregnant and STDs are unknown in our kind... superior genetics and all that."

She laughs. "The number of times I've heard a guy use that line so he doesn't have to wear a condom.

.." I laugh, feeling the tightness in my belly start to ease.

"But for the record, I had to have a physical right before I could take this assignment.

I tested clean, and I've been on birth control for a long, long time. "

Inside the cottage, the warmth hits us like a tide, wrapping around our limbs as I close the door behind us. Anabeth stands in the center of the room, looking smaller than she did outside, but just as fierce.

She turns to face me. "Everything okay?"

I nod, swallowing the knot in my throat. "You?"

"Not even close," she says with a half-smile that trembles at the edges. "But I'm here."

That undoes me.

One step. Then another. And suddenly I’m in front of her, cupping her face in my hands, my palms soaking in the warmth of her cheeks. My thumb grazes her cheekbone, slow and deliberate, as if memorizing the shape of her.

She leans into the contact with a quiet sigh, her eyelashes fluttering as her eyes soften, lips parting just enough to tell me she’s holding her breath. The space between us disappears, filled with the raw thrum of anticipation, of want so sharp it tightens my gut.

"You have no idea what you're doing to me," I murmur as I raise my head and search her face.

"I think I have some idea."

I lower my head--my lips hovering above hers. "Tell me to stop."

"Don't you dare."

The kiss crashes into me like a rogue wave, fierce and all-consuming, knocking every coherent thought from my mind.

My lungs seize, not from lack of air, but from the shock of how instantly and completely she consumes me.

Her mouth is urgent and seeking. The way her body presses to mine sparks a deep, aching hunger I’ve kept caged for too damn long.

Every muscle locks tight as I lose myself in the heat of her lips, the rhythm of our mouths tangling, the sharp need that pulses through me like a drumbeat I can’t ignore.

Her mouth opens under mine, hot and demanding, and the taste of her is like lightning against my tongue.

Her fingers thread through my hair, tugging just enough to send a spark of heat straight down my spine.

I grip her hips and pull her flush to me.

She gasps, her body arching like she’s trying to crawl inside my skin.

The heat between us flares, raw and electric, no space left for hesitation or doubt.

Just the fierce, visceral certainty that this connection, this wildfire between us, is real.

Her hands grip the hem of my shirt, yanking it upward with a hunger that makes my pulse pound. I raise my arms, helping her strip it away, and the cool air hits my skin, heightening every nerve. I toe off my boots, my jeans follow, shoved down and kicked aside.

Her fingers are clumsy with urgency as they fumble with her clothes, and I reach to help, brushing her trembling hands aside.

The fabric parts under my touch, sliding off her shoulders to reveal skin that glows in the low light—bare, flushed, rising and falling with shallow breaths that match my own.

She’s beautiful and burning, and all mine.

My hands slide slowly down the length of her arms, feeling the tremble in her muscles before circling her waist and sweeping around to her back.

Her skin is warm and soft beneath my fingers, and as I lift her, her legs lock around my waist in a move so fluid and natural it punches the breath from my lungs.

Her body presses close, heat meeting heat, and I carry her to the bed with a single-minded urgency, her weight a perfect counter to my strength, as if she was made to fit against me like this.

We tumble onto the mattress, breathless and tangled, our bodies magnetized in the rush of want.

My lips find hers in a bruising kiss, then trail down the delicate line of her throat, tasting the heat that pulses just beneath her fevered skin.

Her breath catches, nails biting into my back as she arches into me, her need like a rising tide that pulls me deeper into the undertow of her desire.

Every scrape of her nails, every stuttered gasp, ignites something primal, anchoring me in the storm of her unraveling.

"Beau," she gasps, arching into me.

I slow for a beat, bracing on my forearms to look into her eyes. "I need you to be sure. This isn't just heat. This is... more."

Her voice is a whisper, but there's no uncertainty. "I know. And I want it. I want you."

I press forward, breaching her warmth with my cock.

Inch by aching inch, I let her wet heat pull me deeper.

Her breath hitches, soft and desperate, her thighs tightening around my hips as her body draws me in.

Every subtle movement, every tremble of muscle and flutter of breath, wraps around me like fire and silk.

Her lips part on a low, raw moan that knocks the air from my lungs, landing in the center of my chest like a fist.

She feels like salvation and sin, everything I never believed I could have, wrapped in an aching beauty.

Her hands claw at my shoulders, fingers digging in with the same desperation I feel in my gut.

Her heels press into the backs of my thighs, anchoring me deeper, like she can’t bear even an inch of space between us.

I move in a rhythm we carve together, every thrust deliberate, dragging a ragged breath from her lips and a guttural sound from my chest. The slick heat of her body surrounds me, pulls me deeper with each driving stroke.

Her name tumbles from my mouth, raw and unguarded.

She clutches me tighter, her legs trembling, back arching as she shatters beneath me with a cry that echoes off the walls.

The moment she falls apart beneath me, I lose myself too.

Her name rips from my throat as I spill into her, my body locking against hers, muscles taut with release.

The world narrows to the molten tangle of our limbs, the rhythmic crash of pleasure, and the slow, powerful settling of something deeper.

Something permanent sinks into the space between us, anchoring us in a connection that feels both primal and impossible to undo.

The room pulses, a low vibration thrumming through the floorboards and into our bones. The walls seem to breathe, the wood beneath us alive with an energy that makes my skin prickle and my chest constrict with something primal.

Anabeth’s eyes widen as threads of golden light shimmer across the ceiling, faint but undeniable. The air grows heavy, charged like the moments before a lightning strike. Every nerve in my body sharpens, resonating with the unseen current surging through the cottage.

The ley lines respond with a low thrum that reverberates through the floor, a pulse of ancient energy that coils up my spine.

Threads of light shimmer faintly across the ceiling, swirling and alive, as if the mountain itself acknowledges what we've become.

The power feels sacred, a primal echo that confirms what we both already know—this moment changed everything.

The sensation climbs my spine, as though the land itself is echoing the bond we’ve forged. Energy gathers in a charged hush, wrapping around us, bearing witness.

A tremor ripples beneath the floorboards, subtle but insistent. My breath catches as the vibration threads through the foundation, the mattress humming faintly beneath us. For a heartbeat, it feels as if the ley lines have claimed us, recognizing what we’ve become.

I glance at Anabeth. Her pupils are wide, chest rising in shallow pants.

Her fingers dig into my forearm, the unspoken question trembling in her muscles before it ever leaves her lips.

The ley lines answer, energy spiraling low in our cores skin.

A shimmer ripples through the air, like static before a summer storm.

I collapse beside her, one arm wrapping around her waist, holding her against me.

She blinks up at the ceiling. "Okay... what the hell was that?"

"That?" I laugh, relieved that her tone of voice holds no fear. "That was the ley lines responding. They feel it when mates bond. When something sacred happens."

"Like sex?"

"Like claiming," I say, kissing her temple. "Like soul-deep recognition."

She swallows hard, her eyes searching mine. "That’s what that was?"

"It’s not just physical. My bear recognized you the second he saw you. So did I. Everything in me says you belong here. With me."

She presses her lips together. "And if I wanted to belong more fully? If I wanted to be... like you?"

My heart stops.

"You don’t have to decide now," I say, voice rough. "But if you ever wanted it, I could turn you. Make you one of us. It would bond us completely. Physically. Emotionally. Energetically. The ley lines would anchor you."

Her breath hitches. "What would that mean? What would I lose?"

"Nothing essential. You’d gain strength, heightened senses, longevity. You'd still be you. But you’d be grizzly too. And mine in a way that binds deeper than words."

Anabeth goes quiet.

I let the silence stretch.

She finally whispers, "Would it hurt?"

"No. It's ceremonial, deliberate. There’s a sacred circle, a ritual blade to draw blood from our palms, and a binding sash to join us together. My DNA will overwrite yours and you will transition. It’s not just change. It’s a vow written into the fabric of who we are."

She turns to face me fully, eyes wide and uncertain. "I don’t know what scares me more. That you’re real, or that I’m considering this."

I brush a knuckle along her cheek. "I’m not going anywhere. You don’t have to do anything except stay. Just be here with me. The rest can wait."

Anabeth exhales shakily and leans into me.

"Okay. I’ll stay."

With those words, something inside me steadies. But I know the storm hasn’t passed. Not even close. The weight of what's coming knots low in my gut, pressing hard and biting, the air thick with things unseen and still on the horizon, but moving toward us.

Something is coming. I feel it like a low hum under my skin, a warning threaded into the bones of the mountain. The air tightens, charged with an unease I can't name. A vibration, distant but familiar, prickles along the back of my neck.

Now that she’s mine, I’ll level Redwood Rise before I let it take her from me.