by Zoe Chant
And he almost never had company.
Emilia nodded, chewing her own burger enthusiastically. “Jonathan’s a genius – I don’t know what he puts in his patties, but they’re amazing. He says it’s a family secret, passed between generations only on their deathbeds.”
“Well, if I were his competition, I’d definitely be worried,” Rowan laughed as he dipped some fries in ketchup. “This is amazing.”
Emilia smiled. “I’ll let him know you said that. Since I guess now that you’ve contacted your boss, you’ll need to be moving on?”
She bit into her burger quickly as soon as the words were out of her mouth, almost as if she wanted to hide the fact she’d said them. Rowan felt a rush of warmth in his stomach.
I can tell her I’m staying for a few days.
The thought made his heart feel as if it was glowing. It was a few days in which he could get to know her, and then tell her who he truly was – and what they truly were to each other.
“Actually, I’m staying on,” he said. “For a few days, at least.”
Emilia looked up at him, her black eyes open wide.
“That’s great!” she said, before shaking her head quickly. “I mean, uh, it’s just that Fairhill is such a great place, but we really don’t get visitors very often. It’d be awesome to have a chance to show someone around. I mean, if you’d like that.” She blinked, her voice suddenly shy.
Rowan smiled, warmth filling him. “I’d like that very much,” he said.
Emilia’s cheeks colored charmingly and she lowered her eyes, hiding them beneath her dark lashes. Rowan found himself staring, unable to help himself, and he wondered if she knew how truly beautiful she was, with her waves of dark hair, rosy cheeks and lips, and curves that couldn’t be hidden even beneath her winter clothes.
She was utterly enchanting, and Rowan knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from kissing her for much longer – she was utterly irresistible. She called to him like a siren’s song, more alluring than anything he had ever known before in his life.
“So,” Rowan said, as he took another couple of fries from the basket. “What do you suggest we do first?”
Emilia frowned, thinking. “You said earlier you wouldn’t mind basking in some Christmas spirit,” she said. “And I can’t think of anything that’s more soaked in Christmas spirit right now than the town square. Since the weather’s lifted, we’ll probably be lucky.”
“Lucky?” Rowan asked.
“Yeah. They may have Santa’s grotto set up again. You can get your picture taken sitting on his lap, if you like.” Emilia grinned. “Provided you’ve been nice, of course.”
“Depends on your definition of nice, I suppose,” Rowan mused, quirking an eyebrow at her and having to hold back his laughter as she colored once more. Emilia blushed more readily than anyone he’d ever met – or perhaps that was just because she too could sense their attraction to each other.
Rowan certainly had never known anyone else who could send such a throbbing heat through his veins, no one else who could make his stomach wind tight in arousal.
Swallowing heavily, he tried to drag his mind back to the here and now.
“And you’re willing to put aside your distaste for all things Christmas to show me around?”
Emilia shook her head, her eyes dancing with laughter. “I suppose I could, for a couple of hours. But only a couple.”
Rowan couldn’t help but laugh. He never had found out why Emilia didn’t like Christmas, but if she was offering to put it aside then he’d certainly take her up on it. Christmas was still something he had little experience of, but he was curious – and if he got to understand it more with Emilia, then so much the better.
They munched on the remainder of their burgers together in happy silence. As Emilia finished hers, she drew each of her fingers into her mouth in turn, licking off the remains of the salt and ketchup, and making a happy mmm sound after each one.
Rowan found his gaze pulled irresistibly to her mouth – her full red lips, her pink tongue just visible between them, the smear of ketchup across her cheek...
He grinned. “You got something.” He gestured to his face. “Just there.”
“Oh my God,” Emilia muttered, reaching for a napkin. “Sorry.” She wiped a little, completely ineffectually. “Gone?”
Rowan shook his head. “Still there.”
Emilia grimaced, wiping again. “How about now?”
“Not even close.” Laughing, Rowan grabbed his own napkin, reaching forward. “Here. Let me.”
Rowan had been acting purely on instinct – it wasn’t until his hand brushed over the soft skin of Emilia’s cheek and he once again felt that jolt of pure electricity run through him that he realized what he’d done.
The feeling of heat raced through him once again, settling directly in his groin. He had to resist the urge to groan out loud – the heat that ran through him was burning in his veins, setting them alight with desire.
And one look at Emilia’s face told him that she was feeling exactly the same thing.
Her eyes were alight with a dark fire, her cheeks flushed, full lips slightly parted. And while he had been struck by her beauty from the very first time he had seen her, Rowan thought she had never looked more radiant than she did in this moment.
He watched, entranced, as her tongue darted out over her lips, moistening them and making them shine. He wanted to kiss her – more than he had ever wanted anything else in his entire life. But he knew if he started now, he didn’t think he’d be able to stop, and they were entirely too much in public for that...
“Rowan,” Emilia whispered. Her voice was soft, but sounded loud in his ears – the only thing he could hear over the sound of his blood pounding.
He needed to get her alone and in private, he thought, before he went crazy. He didn’t know how much longer he could go on resisting his attraction to her.
I need her.
Nothing had ever been more true in his life. He had his calling as protector, but the pull he felt toward Emilia was like nothing he’d ever known before.
The spell was only broken when the door of the diner suddenly burst open, and a large, noisy family came bustling inside, the children laughing excitedly while the adults chattered amongst themselves.
Giving himself a shake, Rowan forced himself back down to earth, wiping the last of the ketchup from Emilia’s cheek. She blinked at him, breathing heavily, her cheeks still flushed.
“It’s gone now,” Rowan told her. “You’re decent.”
His thoughts as he looked at her, however, were anything but.
“Thanks,” she said, as the family, still talking loudly, took the booth across from them.
“What do you say we get out of here?” Rowan asked, watching the way she swallowed, before nodding enthusiastically.
“Yeah. I think... I think that’s a great idea.”
Sightseeing in the town would have to wait for another day, Rowan thought. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see everything Emilia had to show him around the hometown she clearly loved – it was just that right now, he knew that both of them had things they’d rather be doing.
“How was everything?” Anthony asked as they reached the counter.
“Amazing, as always,” Emilia said.
“Best burger I’ve had in my life,” Rowan agreed, reaching for his wallet.
“Well, in that case, let’s call it a free sample,” Anthony said. “We’re confident enough in our food that we know you won’t stop at one.”
“Are you sure?” Rowan asked, hesitating. If life had taught him anything, it was that there was no such thing as a free meal.
“Positive,” Anthony said blithely. “Really – don’t worry about it. Call it a loss leader. You’ll be back.”
Rowan laughed. “With burgers that good, you might be right.”
“All right, kids. Enjoy the rest of your day.” Anthony smiled, waving at them as they exited.
The cold was a shock against his heated skin, but at least it had stopped snowing.
Rowan glanced over at Emilia, and could read her thoughts clearly in her eyes: Let’s go back to my place.
He nodded, and watched as a smile twitched across her lips, a look of hunger in her eyes.
I should tell her before we go any further, Rowan thought as they headed toward her car. About what I am. About what we are.
It was a conversation for a private place, though, not in the middle of a diner parking lot. Back at her place, he could shift for her, and show her his griffin. She could make up her own mind about how she felt about it – if she felt she could accept the mated bond.
Only then would they seal their connection. Rowan was determined that, as much as he wanted her, Emilia would have the final decision. She might need some time to process things, and he was more than prepared to accept that. But he hoped she could feel their connection just as strongly as he did – and that she could accept him as he was.
Of course she will, his griffin huffed. She’s our mate. She’s perfect.
They reached her car, and he was about to open the door when a sudden sound made him turn his head.
It was immediately recognizable: the sound of a child in distress.
His griffin snapped its head around, tracking the sound with its sensitive hearing. Someone needs our help.
“Rowan?” Emilia said. “What’s up?”
“Do you hear that?” Rowan asked, as his griffin finally pinpointed the sound, over to their right, about one hundred yards away.
Emilia frowned a moment, before cocking her head to listen. Her eyes widened as she heard the sound of crying, followed by the sound of a woman’s voice, calling out a name.
“We should find out if they need help,” she said, hurrying around the side of the car.
“My thoughts exactly,” Rowan agreed, and together, they set off in the direction of the distressed sounds.
It didn’t take them long to find the child and his mother – not with Rowan’s increased griffin senses to guide them.
The boy and his mother were standing on the edge of the dark forest that surrounded Fairhill on its northwest side, and which stood between the town and Emilia’s little property. It was deceptively thick, and Rowan could see how hikers regularly found themselves lost in it.
The little boy was in tears – he must have been about five or six, Rowan guessed, while his mother looked frantic. His griffin was immediately on the alert. Was there some danger? Had someone threatened them?
We’ll deal with it, his griffin growled. If someone was disturbing the peace in Fairhill, then they would have him to answer to, Rowan thought grimly.
“Georgia,” Emilia called out as they approached. “What’s happened?”
The woman, Georgia, turned to them, relief showing plainly on her face.
“Oh God, Emilia. I’m so glad you’re here. You’ve always had a way with animals.”
“Has something happened?” Emilia asked again, confusion showing plainly on her face.
Georgia grimaced, shaking her head. “I’m an idiot, that’s what’s happened. I got Logan a puppy for Christmas. But... well, you know me. I couldn’t make him wait until Christmas morning – so I let him have it now.” She sighed. “I say puppy, but I took your advice and got him from a shelter, so he’s more of a small dog, I suppose. I let Logan hold his leash for just a moment, and, well –”
“He ran away,” Logan broke in tearfully. “He went in there.”
The little boy pointed into the dark, snow-strewn depths of the forest.
“Maybe he was chasing something, a rabbit I guess, I don’t know,” Georgia said. “But suddenly he just took off, and the leash jerked right out of Logan’s hand. We’ve been calling and calling him, but I don’t think he knows his name yet...”
Rowan turned to look into the forest, his griffin still on alert, even though this wasn’t the emergency situation it had been bracing him for.
There were a lot of animal sounds and smells in the forest – but still, Rowan knew that with his heightened senses, he’d have a far better chance of finding the lost dog than anyone else. His griffin was already scanning through the trees, sorting the fresh tracks from the old ones, picking out the scent of dog from the scents of the other animals that dwelled in the woods.
“We’ll help you look,” he said, turning to face the boy’s mother.
Georgia looked like she might be about to cry. “Will you? I know this is all my own stupid fault and I should have been taking better care, but –”
“Don’t be silly, of course we’ll help you,” Emilia broke in. “Aside from anything else, you can’t go traipsing around the woods with Logan in tow. And it’ll be getting dark before too long. You stay here, in case he comes back. Rowan and I will see if we can find him in the woods.”
“You’re a lifesaver, truly,” Georgia said, her tears at last breaking free. “I don’t know what I would have done.”
“It’s no problem,” Rowan assured her. And really, it wasn’t. He knew with his griffin helping them, they’d be able to track down the lost puppy in no time.
“I know you said he may not know his name, but what did you call him?” Emilia asked.
“Freddy,” Logan said, his tears stopped for now.
“He’s a black Lab,” Georgia said. “Logan loves your Coop so much, and he’s such a gentleman. I wanted to get him a dog that looked like him.”
“We’ll find Freddy, I promise,” Emilia said, smiling down at Logan. “He’ll be back before you know it.”
Logan nodded, hiccupping slightly. “Thank you, Ms. Lopez.”
“You’re welcome,” Emilia said with a smile. Then, she glanced up at the sky before turning to Rowan. “Come on, let’s get going while there’s still some light.”
Chapter Five
Emilia
“Freddy! Come here, Freddy, there’s a good boy! Where’d you get off to?”
Emilia felt like she’d been calling for hours, but in reality she knew it’d really only been about fifteen minutes. But between the cold and her concern for poor runaway Freddy, time seemed to be going far more slowly than it should.
Freddy might not have been with Georgia and Logan long enough to have learned his name, but hopefully he would come to the sound of human voices once he realized he’d run too far.
“Thank you so much for coming with me to look,” she said, turning to where Rowan was trudging through the snow alongside her. “I can’t tell you what it means to me.”
Rowan shook his head. “Honestly, it’s the least I can do.” He shot her a quick smile. “It’s Christmas, after all – not that I wouldn’t do this at any other time of year.”
Emilia felt her heart warming, both at his gentle teasing about Christmas, and at the knowledge that Rowan was the kind of guy who’d look for a little lost dog without a second thought. She hadn’t expected anything less, given what she already knew about him – but still, seeing how quickly he’d offered to help had only made him more attractive to her.
And he was already pretty hot, she thought to herself, feeling her heart speed up as she recalled how ready she’d been to race back to her place after he’d touched her face in the diner. If they’d been somewhere private, she was pretty sure she would have started tearing his clothes off on the spot.
She’d never responded to anyone the way she’d responded to Rowan – and honestly, Emilia wasn’t sure she wanted to question it any longer. He was kind, quick to offer help, and good Lord was he ever handsome. He could have stepped straight off the cover of a high fashion magazine, except for the fact that he was a bit too rugged and masculine for that.
She watched him now as he looked down at the snow-covered ground. The thick snow from the storm hadn’t fallen quite so deeply on the ground here – not with the thick covering of trees above – so it was a lot easier to walk through. Rowan was looking down at the snow, frowning.
“Wh
at’s up?” she asked.
Rowan looked up at her. “I just lost his trail for a moment, but I found it again. He went this way.” He pointed off to their left.
Emilia raised a surprised eyebrow. “You can track? Is that part of your police training?”
“It’s partly that, yeah,” Rowan said, as they began following the tracks he’d pointed out through the thick undergrowth. “Partly just... personal interest. I guess I’ve always had a way with these things.”
“Useful skill,” Emilia said, her admiration sincere. “I grew up around these parts, but I’ve never been one for outdoors adventuring. I know my way around these woods, though – my grandparents saw to that. They said if they were going to live in the wilderness, it’d just be irresponsible of them not to teach me how to get around in it.”
“Very true,” Rowan said. “Hopefully then you’ll be able to get us back to civilization once we’ve found Freddy.”
Emilia laughed. “Hopefully so! And hopefully we’ll find this pup soon. It’s getting a little dark.”
They continued on, Emilia calling and Rowan pointing out the dog’s tracks through the woods. His ability was uncanny – Emilia often couldn’t tell at all what he was following. But she trusted that he knew what he was doing. He displayed a quiet competence with every movement that was nothing like arrogance – instead, it was a simple confidence in himself and his body.
Despite her earlier reassuring words to Logan and Georgia, however, Emilia was starting to get concerned. The days were short at this time of year, and though it was only mid-afternoon, darkness was beginning to fall.
She refused to leave a defenseless dog alone in the woods overnight, however. If Freddy was used to being indoors, the night would be far, far colder than what he could handle. A small dog could easily freeze to death at this time of year. Not to mention the predators that stalked these woods at night.
