I lower down as far as I can go and let the heat of the cove surround me as my head lowers fully under. My heart still taps incessantly against my ribs to stride through this beautiful water, swim right up to that intoxicating man, and do all the things I’ve wanted to do to him since the moment we met. Hiding below the surface, I calm my demanding thoughts as well as my lovesick heart.
As for my frustrated monster of a sex drive… that’s a loss. All women understand that we can’t do anything to fix that. It’ll rage on until I or someone else slays the beast.
I kick off from the luxurious sandy bottom and rise up from the waters. Moisture clings to my lashes as I open my eyes.
And one hell of a sexy man is standing right in front of me.
That deadly dark smile of his parts his lips.
“Told you it’d feel good,” he whispers like he’s the god of deviance and desire.
Shit.
Heat burns my cheeks.
Is it too soon to sneak back under the water again?
Droplets trickle from his fingertips as he lifts his hand to my face. He skims his palm along my jawline, down my neck, across my collarbone.
“So much blood on such a pretty face,” he says as he tenderly swipes away the remains of battle that still stain my skin.
He stands tall, the surface hitting inches above his belly button where it meets my body just over the curve of my breasts. I slink down to cover myself, feeling more intimate with Aric than I’ve ever felt with anyone in my entire life. Our reflections cast between us. Those images ripple away as he takes a single step closer. The slickness of his chest meets mine, my nipples tingling at the sensation of his body pressed perfectly against my own.
The warmth of his hand lingers along the side of my throat.
His head dips low and an ache forms deep inside me.
“Can I kiss you again?” he whispers like it pains him not to.
My wanting gaze never leaves his.
But something inside me cracks beneath the perfection of this fairy-tale moment.
“No,” I answer suddenly, and it truly does pain me as much as my voice trembles to say it.
His mouth opens as his hand slides away. With a single step he steals all that delicious desire he gave me just moments ago.
“Sorry,” he murmurs, and suddenly the cocky dragon shifter can’t meet my eyes. He can’t seem to look at me.
“I—” I breathe through the tense pressure of confused want and fear swirling between my body, head, and heart.
“Maybe we should go,” Latham calls out to us.
I turn and he’s staring up at the sky, avoiding looking at me as much as his friend is.
“Darkness falls quickly out here,” Latham adds.
“Yeah.” Aric’s tone is cutting and awkward.
With heavy steps that push at the waves of the water, he passes me. Water streams down his perfect body, licking at the tattoos along his arms and neck, cascading down the muscular globes of his ass and corded legs. Latham offers him a black towel and he presses his face into it. As the two men stand side by side, they appear as though they were made from the mystical magic that surrounds us. The hard lines of their bodies, the sharpness of their jaws, and even the stance that they hold themselves in is the epitome of enchantment.
I wade to the shore with quiet steps. Warm water slides down my flesh, but I don’t take the towel Latham holds out to me. I stare at Aric’s back. He refuses to turn around. There’s no hostility in him, but he won’t face me. It seems he’s…
Embarrassed.
Oh my gods, the psychotic dragon shifter is embarrassed.
And he’s also wrong.
