human. I’m sorry. But I can’t.”
Fenrir stopped walking. He caught her upper arm, turning her to face him. In the twilight, his eyes were shadowed, and utterly serious.
“You are right,” Fenrir said. “I was wrong to put this pressure on you. If, if turns out this was only chance, is my fault for wasting it. Is not right time to mate. But…”
His hand drifted up, cupping her face. Very gently, he brushed a snowflake from her cheek with his thumb.
“I hope,” Fenrir said, voice as soft as his touch, “that someday, it will be.”
Darcy had a momentary deep regret that she wasn’t a shifter, and thus couldn’t blame impulsive behavior on an unstoppable cascade of sex hormones.
She stepped back, pulling away from his hand. “We’d better keep moving. Don’t want you keeling over with hypothermia again.”
“Am fine. Shifters run hot.” Sudden worry furrowed his brow. He struggled out of his jacket, pulling at the sleeves. “But you’re human. Here.”
At that moment, Darcy felt anything but cold. Her whole body burned. She was only surprised that the snowflakes weren’t turning to little puffs of steam where they hit her skin.
Before she could protest that she couldn’t take Fenrir’s jacket, he settled it around her shoulders. The heavy fabric draped her from neck to knee, still warm from his body heat. She caught a whiff of his masculine scent, and her objection dried in her throat.
“Better?” he asked.
“Y-yeah,” she managed, praying that his shifter senses couldn’t detect her rampaging libido. “Uh. Thanks.”
She started walking again, and promptly tripped. Fenrir’s hand shot out, catching her elbow.
“Path is icy.” He hesitated, fingers still encircling her arm. “Safest to stay close. Side by side.”
“I’m short, not incompetent.” Darcy shook him off, cursing her own klutziness. “I can walk on my own, thanks.”
He dropped his eyes, shoulders hunching. “Know. Sorry. Just…wanted to help.”
“I don’t need any help.” With as much dignity as she could manage, she set off again—this time taking care to watch her feet.
Thankfully, there wasn’t far to go. She managed to make it to the cabin where she’d left her stuff without either falling on her own face or tackling Fenrir around the waist.
The latter was more difficult than she liked to admit. Damn it, the man smelled good. If that was a shifter thing, it should be classed as biological warfare and banned under the Geneva Convention. She was seriously tempted to steal his jacket.
Darcy opened her mouth to say good night—and found that the words wouldn’t come. She didn’t want him to leave. No matter how much common sense screamed that this was a bad idea, certain parts of her were staging a coup against her better judgment.
“Stupid shifter sex hormones,” she muttered.
“What?”
“Nothing.” She cleared her throat, feeling as awkward as if she was fifteen again. “Look, uh, we both agree mating is off the table. But…would you like to come in?”
His eyes went dark, in a way that sent fresh heat surging through her. He took a single, jerky step toward her, as though she’d tugged at a rope around his throat.
Then he stopped. He drew in a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment.
“Yes,” he said, voice rough. “Would like that very much. But can’t. Not yet. Not when cannot promise you forever.”
“I don’t need that.”
“But I do,” he whispered. “To have you for one night, and then lose you…it would break me, Darcy.”
“I’m sorry.” She took off his jacket, holding it out to him. “I didn’t mean to make all this worse for you. I’ll see you in the morning.”
He took the jacket from her, looking down at it. His thumb rubbed across the collar where it had lain against her skin. She wondered if he could still feel the heat of her body.
“Cannot promise,” he said, very softly. “If, if I cannot…I want you to remember me like this. Not as an animal.”
“Hey.” She put a hand on his arm, forcing him to look down at her. “You’ll figure out this shifting thing. Your friends are sure of it, right?”
He drew in his breath. “Yes.”
“Well, there you go.” She released him again, lifting her chin, doing her best to feign confidence. “So I will see you again. If not tomorrow, then soon. Good night, Fenrir.”
He nodded, but made no move to leave. He just looked at her, like he was trying to memorize her; like he knew that she was the last thing he would ever see.
Then he turned, and was gone.
In the middle of the