I nod, content to sit in comfortable silence beside him. The afternoon is warm and golden, with birds singing in the trees overhead and the stream babbling peacefully beside us. It feels like something from a dream: a perfect moment suspended in time.
But underneath the peace, electricity is humming between us. I’m acutely aware of his presence, of the rise and fall of his chest, of the way his wet hair curls slightly at the nape of his neck. Every breath brings his scent to me—clean and masculine and utterly intoxicating.
“Astra,” he says quietly, and something in his tone makes me turn to look at him.
His gaze sears me, and what I see there makes my pulse stutter. Desire. A raw, undisguised craving that takes my breath away.
“What?” I whisper.
For a moment, I think he’s going to say
