Sobering, he looked down into those celestial eyes that seared him to the core of his soul. To that tantalizing dimple that haunted his dreams. How could she make him feel like this? His entire life had fallen apart and yet she made him laugh. Made him forget that he was trapped in a realm with demons who tortured him every chance they got. That he had sold his soul to keep her safe.
How was this even a little possible?
Aimee shivered at the look on Fang's handsome face. His hair fell forward into his eyes while he looked at her with an expression that was hot and deadly.
What was he thinking?
Then slowly, he lowered his lips to hers. She groaned at the taste of him as she wrapped her arms around his body and held him close. She closed her eyes as she inhaled the scent of his tawny skin and let his tongue dance with hers.
This was so wrong. She had no business here. With him. Yet she couldn't imagine anyplace else she'd rather be.
It's not real.
This was a dream. She was only here in spirit. Did that count?
Maybe.
Reluctantly, she pulled back. "I have to go, Fang."
"I know." He nuzzled her neck, sending even more chills through her as his whiskers tickled her skin. "I just needed to feel warm for a minute."
Those words broke her heart. He was still grieving and he was lost in this nether place with no one to trust.
"Here," she said, taking off the locket she never went without. She fastened it around his neck.
Fang scowled at the heart-shaped locket that was engraved with interlocking vines and swirls around a skull. There was nothing masculine about it at all. He should be horrified by its presence.
Yet he wasn't.
Aimee placed her hand over his as he held it. "I'm just a shout away if you need me."
I need you now. . . .
But he couldn't bring himself to say those words out loud. Instead, he leaned in to breathe her lilac scent in one more time. "Be safe."
"You too."
And then she was gone. It was almost enough to make him whimper. But at least her scent lingered on his skin like a phantom whisper. If only he could hold on to her warmth the same way.
Sighing, he pulled her necklace off and opened it. Inside was a picture of her as a cub with two men he'd never seen before. They were holding the small black bear between them and smiling with pride. These must be her brothers who'd died and that made him think of Anya. It felt like a knife was twisting deep inside his gut.
Even now that pain was raw and biting. Worse was the fact that he knew it would never ebb. He would miss his sister for the rest of his life.
Running his finger over the picture, he realized there was a poem hidden inside as well.
Where I am always thou art. Thy image lives within my heart.
He choked back a rush of emotions that left his eyes cloudy at words that touched him. Blinking fiercely, he cursed the sensation. He was a warrior. A wolf with a capital W. He wasn't some old woman to cry at Hallmark commercials.
And yet this one tiny bearswan made him feel like he'd never felt before.
Like he was human.
More to the point, she made him feel wanted.
How stupid was that? His brother and sister had always wanted him . . . well, maybe Vane didn't want him right now because he was useless in the human realm, but Vane and Anya had always been his shelter. They loved him and he loved them.
But what he felt for Aimee . . .