Chapter 143: Kiss Under The Rain

Aina

The rain hammered down through the thick pine canopy, turning the dirt trail into a muddy slide. Aina and Vance sat tucked beneath the massive, sprawling roots of an ancient oak tree, huddled as close to the thick trunk as possible to keep away from the blowing wind.

A small gap of space separated them, both trying desperately to avoid touching in the dim, freezing dark.

This is a disaster, Aina thought, shivering so hard her teeth clicked together. Her wet uniform clung uncomfortably to her skin, and the dull, throbbing ache in her sprained ankle made her want to scream. I am freezing, I am starving, and I am stuck in the middle of a fake forest with my absolute worst enemy.

Vance pulled his knees up to his chest, looking completely miserable as he stared out at the gray sheets of rain.

"I’m so sorry again... this is all my fault. I have no idea what I was thinking, booking a botanical garden date when I knew damn well I couldn’t read a map."

Aina let out a sharp, humorless huff. "Yep. It definitely is your fault."

"We’re probably going to freeze to death out here," Vance muttered, his voice sounding small and hollow.

"Yep," Aina agreed flatly, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. "Yep, we are."

As the damp chill settled deeper into the air, the natural scent of her skin began to slip. The sweet, rich scent of wild jasmine leaked from her pores, drifting out into the enclosed space beneath the roots.

Great, Aina groaned, closing her eyes in annoyance. Now I smell like a walking perfume bottle. Just what this miserable night needed.

A sudden tickle hit the back of her nose, and she sneezed loudly into her elbow.

Before she could blink, Vance was peeling off his heavy wool coat. He leaned over, holding it out toward her. "Here. Take this. You shouldn’t be freezing when all of this is my fault."

Aina looked at the coat, then up at his shivering frame. "No, it’s fine. Keep your coat. If you catch a flu out here in the middle of nowhere, how am I supposed to get back? I have a sprained ankle, in case you forgot. I can’t walk us out alone."

"Yeah, but just take it," Vance insisted, pushing the fabric closer to her hands. "It’s fine. I’ll manage. I don’t get sick that easily anyway."

"No, I’m fine," Aina argued, pushing his hand away.

"Just take it," Vance said firmly. Without waiting for permission, he draped the heavy jacket over her shoulders, pulling it snugly around her cold frame.

The moment the fabric settled over her, it radiated his body heat. More than that, it carried his dark, rich alpha scent which wrapped around her like a warm blanket. Aina felt a sudden, dangerous wave of warmth spread through her chest, making her breath catch.

Damn it, she thought, her fingers curling into the wool. It’s warm and it smells entirely too good.

"Fine," Aina mumbled, refusing to look him in the eye. "I’m only taking this because you’re forcing me."

They sat in silence for a long, agonizing minute, the sound of the rain filling the dark space between them.

Then, a sharp achoo! echoed from Vance’s side. Aina turned her head, narrowing her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I’m fine," Vance sniffed, rubbing his nose. "Do you need your coat back?" Aina asked, shifting the fabric off her shoulders. "Because I’m totally warmed up now. You can totally have it back."

"No, no. I’m perfectly fine," Vance lied through chattering teeth. Aina stared at him for a second, shaking her head. This is the most ridiculous stubbornness I have ever witnessed.

Deciding she couldn’t watch him freeze out of pride, Aina pushed herself across the dirt and slid right up against his side. She grabbed half of the thick coat and pulled it over his shoulders, wrapping it around both of them.

"There," Aina said, pressing her shoulder against his. "Now we can both share the coat."

Sitting this close together, with their bodies pressed side-by-side and their conflicting scents bleeding into the damp air, a sudden, violent reaction hit them.

Vance felt a sharp, electric pull deep in his stomach. It felt as though a thousand frantic butterflies were clawing at his insides, and a sudden rush of white-hot heat flooded his veins, spiking his alpha instincts until his pulse hammered against his ribs.

Aina felt it, too. A heavy, dizzying warmth curled low in her belly, making her breath hitch. Every single nerve ending in her body flared to life, screaming at her to lean in, to bury her face in his neck, to climb him like a desperate vine.

She clamped her teeth together, fighting a brutal internal war to keep her instincts locked down. Control yourself, Aina, she scolded herself fiercely. Do not give into this biology bullshit.

Vance swallowed hard, his throat dry. He cleared his voice awkwardly, staring straight ahead at the rain. "So... we should probably talk about something."

"Yeah," Aina agreed quickly, her voice a little too high as she stared at the mud. "We should definitely talk about something."

Both of them were desperately trying to find any topic that would distract their screaming minds from the intense, suffocating heat humming between their bodies.

"Math," Vance blurted out suddenly. "Math is my absolute favorite subject."

Aina whipped her head around, staring at him like he had grown a second head. "What? No way! I hate math. How can math possibly be your favorite subject when it’s so impossibly hard?"

"Well, of course, if it’s hard for you, math won’t be your favorite," Vance said, warming up to the topic as he tried to ignore the way her hip pressed against his. "But when you finally figure out an equation, when everything clicks into place... you feel like you’re floating on cloud nine. It’s amazing."

"I have literally never gotten it to click," Aina scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I once scored a two out of a hundred and fifty on a math test. It was genuinely horrendous."

Vance threw his head back and laughed, a rich, genuine sound that echoed softly against the oak roots.

Aina blinked, caught off guard by the sound. She found herself laughing right back, a soft, bright giggle slipping past her lips.

Her laugh hung in the rainy air like music. Vance stopped laughing, turning his head slowly to look down at her. He got entirely caught up in the sight of her face, lost in a sudden, trance-like daze as he stared through the thick lenses of her glasses.

Aina noticed the way he was looking at her. Her breath hitched in her throat. The heat between them flared into an unbearable flame, stripping away every ounce of common sense they had left.

Moved entirely by pure, uncontrollable instinct, Vance leaned down toward her.

And, just as instinctively, Aina tilted her head up.

Their lips met in the dark.

It felt like a lightning bolt had torn straight through the oak tree, a blinding surge of electricity racing through their veins as their mouths collided. Their hearts hammered in a frantic, shared rhythm, the barrier of their months of hatred instantly burning away as their bodies tried desperately to fuse into one.

For one breathless second, Aina surrendered to it completely, her fingers gripping the lapels of his coat.

Then, reality slammed back into her brain.

Aina ripped her head back, scrambling away until her back hit the rough bark of the tree. "Nope!" she gasped, her chest heaving as she pressed a hand to her mouth. "No, that did not just happen!"

Vance blinked rapidly, his eyes wide as he snapped back to his senses, his lips still tingling. "Oh... no. I am so sorry."

"Nope! There is nothing for you to be sorry about!" Aina lied frantically, waving her hands in the air. "Nothing happened! Let’s just completely forget it ever happened! Do not bring it up ever again!"

"Okay," Vance whispered, looking completely shell-shocked. They sat in a thick, suffocating silence for a long moment, the rain pouring down around their shelter.

Aina cleared her throat, her face burning red as she stared at the mud. "Okay... but honestly? Wolf shifter biology is the absolute worst."

Vance let out a shaky, nervous chuckle, running a hand through his damp hair. "Yeah... yeah, it really is."

As the tension slowly broke, the heavy, awkward atmosphere between them began to fade into something a little softer, leaving them sitting together in the dark as the storm raged on.