Something told me he already knew it was far from the first time I’d made myself disappear. “Sometimes, I just…” I tapped my nail against the glass. “I need to visit another place.”

“To take a break,” he said, his eye opening. “On another continent. How?”

To warp meant you had to be familiar with an area. You couldn’t just hope to wind up somewhere you’d never seen safely.

“I haven’t actually been to many others, but I read a lot, and I paint what is described if there are no pictures. Detailed images are usually enough.”

“That’s a nasty little trick if I ever heard one, not to mention dangerous.” But he was grinning, wolfish and evidently intrigued. His grin waned as he then said with lowered brows, “What makes you feel the need to disappear, wildflower?”

Unsure what to say but wanting to give him something, I admitted, “Survival.”

His gaze immediately darkened, and I smiled before he could unleash the worry and fury rolling from his form in heated waves. “Nothing like that.” He waited as I tried to find the right words. “When I’m feeling overwhelmed, sometimes it helps to go someplace else.”

He was quiet for a long stretch before saying, “Makes sense.”

And the way he’d said it, gentle and affirming, made me wonder if the horrifying missions he conducted for his king stemmed from more than just loyalty.

“Come here,” he said again.

I smirked, veiling it behind the wine as I drank some more. “But I’m enjoying the view.”

Though it was drawled playfully, he said with utter seriousness, “Why watch when you can touch?”

I snorted, coughing a little. “I’m also enjoying the wine.”

The way the green of his eye glowed brighter in the candlelight made my skin twitch. “You look good in a tunic.” He eyed my body languidly, pausing upon my bare legs. “Especially mine.”

I refrained from ensuring the too-large material wasn’t gaping over my chest, uncaring if it was.

The air warmed further, each breath burning hotter as the wolf swiped a hand over his face and into his dark hair. The thick strands were slicked back over his head to display every devastating inch of his fierce features. Water beaded over his forehead and slid down his rock-hewn cheeks to settle at his parted lips.

Why, with every prolonged glance at him, my chest swelled more and more, I couldn’t dare to decipher. He’d already had me, and far too many times. Yet when he stared at me, the rushing weight of anticipation, heady as though it were the very first time, threatened to both burn and drown me.

“I’m…” I swallowed and turned. “I’m going to go finish my wine now.”

Water crashed. Sleek movement at my back. Then teeth pinched at my neck. “Not so fast.”