Free Wild Boys - Heath by Melissa Foster

musky scents hung in the air. Without the road noises or people milling about, Ally was focused on Heath. His stride felt easier, as if he wasn’t on alert, ready to fend off strangers, like he seemed to be when they were out on the busy streets. Ally thought they’d hear animal noises more clearly at night, but there weren’t many discernibleanimal sounds, just the sounds of their shoes on the pavement and every now and again a random feral noise in the distance.
    They walked through the aviary, and she was delighted to hear the sounds of wings flapping, as they must have scared a bird into flight. Ally’s sense of smell and sound were heightened, but while she tried to focus on spotting birds, she was distracted by the man standingbeside her and the feel of his shoulder pressing intimately against hers.
    Heath was right: They didn’t see many animals, but just being together was nice, walking in the moonlight, having the zoo all to themselves. Knowing that he cared enough to go to the trouble of pulling whatever strings it took for him to get George to open the zoo made Ally feel special.
    She marveled at the way herheart skipped a beat when the glowing eyes of deer appeared in the tufted deer habitat. Deer were fairly common. Why did this feel so magical? Heath kissed her temple, and she had her answer. Being with Heath was magical. Everything else—the animal sightings and sounds—was a gift.
    As they made their way through the zoo, the otter and porcupines were not curious enough to appear when they passed.They continued along the path, and Ally felt like every minute brought her and Heath closer together. She glanced at him, and he smiled down at her. Each time he caught her sneaking glances, he pulled her in closer, and she felt as though they were becoming more than just physically close. They were both relaxing into their surprise coupling.
    “You were cute in the lab today,” Heath said asthey walked around the temperate territory, where the snow monkeys and red pandas were kept.
    “Cute? I was so nervous. I had no idea you worked there.”
    They stopped at the stone wall by the snow monkeys, and he tugged her in close again. “Nervous? What worried you?”
    “Well, let’s see. You and I were both looking for a night of no-strings-attached fun, which somehow turned into two nights,and then you somehow got me to have phone sex with you. Then you top it off by walking into the lab where I work. What about all of that sounds comfortable to you? I wasn’t sure if you’d be pissed that I worked there, or, for that matter, if I would be that you worked there. I was kind of shocked, to be honest. I had just written you off.”
    “Written me off? Why?” He tightened his grip on herhips. “Am I that bad?”
    “No, but…” Her eyes skated nervously over the monkey enclosure. Rocks lined a pool of water moving in the evening breeze on the far side of the exhibit. Ally tried to figure out how to explain what she’d felt earlier.
    He stepped into her line of sight and gazed into her eyes with a soft, worried look that she hadn’t seen before.
    “Talk to me, Ally. We’ve bothbeen lied to. We established that the other night. I’m not going to do that to you.”
    “I’m not worried about that.” She dropped her gaze. “Or maybe I am. I’m not sure. But this afternoon I realized I was anxiously awaiting each text from you, and I kept thinking, what happens when they stop? Eventually they would, and I’d already felt myself getting tied up in you in a way that I probably shouldn’t.”

    “That’s why we’re here.” He said it so easily, like it made perfect sense, and she didn’t have a clue what he meant.
    “At the zoo?”
    “No, sweetheart.” He smiled again.
    Somehow his words, his smile, eased her worries. He looked trustworthy and sincere, and she knew it was genuine, but she’d been hurt before.
    Hasn’t everyone?
    She hated the conflicting feelings warring insideher.
    “That’s why