That day with her had been good. Easy. No veiled attempts to seduce him, no carefully staged aura shifts to attract attention, no lyrical sighs, no perfectly arranged poses to highlight the symmetry of their faces or the glow of their magic. No High Blood theatrics.
Beth hadn’t played any of those games. If anything, she’d looked deeply annoyed to be in his presence half the time.
And still, she’d laughed with him. Talked with him, even just for a few hours. As she relaxed, as her guard dropped, he sawher, a woman with dirt on her hands and sunlight in her hair. Sharp-tongued. Quick-witted. Someone who could coax life from bare earth and make it beautiful.
That mouth had been starring in his fantasies lately. A lot. More than was remotely appropriate. That fire in her eyes, the defiance in her chin when she challenged him. It all got under his skin.
He shifted on the rock, discomfort flaring.Great.Now he was hard. From memory.
He closed his eyes and opened his senses, reaching for the pulse of the forest, hoping it would ground him. Normally it worked. Normally nature answered, but today it barely blurred the heat humming just under his skin.
Then he heard the car. A truck, rumbling from a distance. He had just enough time to tug off his sweater, tie it low around his waist, and raise every shield and emotional barrier he had. No need for Elara to pick up on his highly inconvenient state.
His cousin’s truck rolled into view a moment later.
And when the passenger door opened, Beth stepped out.
She met his gaze without a flicker of surprise. That meant Elara had told her he’d be here.
She knew.
And she’d still come.
He sat straighter. Okay. She knew. Well, Gael thought, throat tightening. This just got interesting.
“You’re losing your edge,” a voice drawled behind him. “In the old days, I would have sucked you dry already.”
Gael smiled, not turning around right away. “I heard you coming from a mile away, Baby Bat.”
“No, you didn’t.” Emma stepped up beside him, channeling full vintage glam in oversized white sunglasses and a wide-brimmed sun hat that would’ve made Greta Garbo proud. “You’re too polite to ignore someone on purpose, and yet you totally ignored me. Which means something got you distracted.”
“Elara’s car is loud.”
She arched a sculpted blonde brow. “Sure it is.”
“Where’s Rick?”
“Working. Fixing that fence behind the bakery. Again.”
He was about to reply, but then Elara and Beth neared, strolling toward them from where they’d parked. Beth offered him a small, polite smile, but something else flickered beneath it, and it made him curious enough to lower his mental shields. He didn’t press—direct emotional reading without consent was a violation–but he let his senses skim the surface. There it was.
Nerves.
And maybe hope.
The day suddenly got very interesting.
“That’s all of us for today,” Elara said brightly. “Rex might meet us at the lake; he’s patrolling the ridge. Aryon stayed back to deal with a supplier issue at the pub.”
“It’s such a beautiful day,” Emma added, tipping her face to the sky but giving her back to the sun. Then she grinned, wicked and gleeful, and swatted Elara’s arm. “Race you to the lake?”
“You’re on.”
And just like that, the two of them vanished into the trees, blonde hair flying, magic flickering around their heels like a pair of mischievous forest spirits returning to their wild home.
Beth blinked after them. “Did they just—?”
“Abandon us?” Gael arched a brow and nodded. “Yes. And not very gracefully.”
