#Chapter 49: Chin Up

Raven Neil’s arms around me were an unexpected comfort. His warmth enveloped me, the steady beating of his heart thrumming against my chest. I didn’t know how to react, didn’t even know how to breathe at the contact. I just stood there, my cheek pressed his body, my eyes wide and unblinking. This wasn’t like him. Neil was all sharp edges, a porcupine in human form. Comfort was the absolute last thing that I associated with him—at least, not in a way that involved holding me close like this. And yet, the warmth radiating from him was impossible to resist. His scent wrapped itself about me, invisible tendrils seeping up my nostrils. Had I ever even experienced his scent like this before? Had it ever been so… tantalizing? Slowly, my body began to relax, the tension melting from my shoulders like frost melting on a spring morning as I pressed my forehead to his chest. My arms slid around his neck without even meaning to, my fingers tangling in the dark fur col