"I miss you too, Z."
The steam rising from the stone tub was thick and scented with the lavender oils Zarek had poured in with a heavy hand.
It curled against the high, arched window where the full moon hung in the sky, a bright, silver coin watching over the Iron-Wood forest.
Roxy stared at it. For the last months, that moon had looked different. It had been distorted by miles of water, a shimmering, unreachable wobbling light. Now, it was sharp. Clear. Real.
But she couldn't focus on the moon for long.
Behind her, the water shifted as a massive, muscular body pressed closer. Zarek's chest, hard as granite pressed against her back.
He wasn't moving to take her. He wasn't rushing. Instead, he was destroying her resolve.
His lips trailed down the column of her neck, hot and wet. He kissed the sensitive spot just below her ear, then moved lower to the curve of her shoulder.
