“Do you think we should start moving? Shouldn’t we wait here to be rescued?” I shifted my head, the rough bark catching in my hair as I attempted to see the room I’d woken in. Maybe it was time to take the other desert scented door. But, of course, a thorough scanning of the area indicated that the forest had eaten the round room.

I wondered if that door had led back to the desert part of the sanctuary. I’d be okay with taking it now, even if we had to deal with the jinn, but it seemed that avenue was gone. Typical magic. I’d chosen the forest, chosen Braxton, and that had negated the other doorway.

Braxton looked around us again. “No. We definitely shouldn’t stay put, the noises are closing in. Let’s move to somewhere higher so I can get a lay of the land. Plus, I need room to shift.”

He was right. If we could get out of the dense jungle, both of us could turn into dragons and fly our asses right out of the Congo, or whichever mess of wilderness held us. I didn’t even care about releasing my marked power. Now was not the time to give a shit about the Four. Let them come at us. I was tired, hungry, and pissed off … it was lucky that wolf shifters only had a fertile window once every three months – and I was still a month out – otherwise we could have added PMS to that list of personality traits. It was only four times a year – useful in preventing unexpected pregnancy – and there was no mistaking when the time was upon us.

Braxton seemed reluctant to let me go, which I was kind of liking … a lot. As his heat finally escaped from me I almost swooned like some human in a romance novel. I hadn’t even noticed how much of my weight he’d been supporting, and despite the fact it was not cold at all in this place, I already missed the warmth of his body.

Braxton forced me to focus: “We should move. I don’t see a sun to track, so it’s hard to determine how much light we have left.” He turned, and I was drawn to the sight of his muscles rippling across his broad back. I leaned forward, my tongue already extended. I was so licking him.

Wait, what? No, Jessa!

I lifted my hand and unobtrusively slapped my cheek. I had to pull myself together. This was not the time. Not. The. Time.

Braxton started to walk. I managed to suck my traitorous tongue back into my mouth and follow him, focusing on the simple task of stepping right into each of his footprints. He was clearing the path beautifully.

“Have you ever seen plants like this?” he asked, a trace of unease in his voice.