Gawain came up soaking wet and sputtering as he stared at me as if he had never seen me before.
It was my turn to grin mischievously.
“Was that the waterboarding you spoke of?” he asked, reaching up to wipe some of the moisture from his face with his hand.
I splashed a handful of water up at him. “Nope, waterboarding is when you stick a cloth over someone’s face and pour water onto it,” I told him, mimicking the motion.
“Would that not be torturous?”
“Oh, most definitely. The people do it to get information—but don’t you guys have the rack or something?” I mimicked lifting my hands over my head and stretching as tall as I could go.
Gawain’s nose scrunched and he shook his head. “I have no recollection of any sort of device such as that, that has always been Bedivere’s specialty.”
I gaped at him. “Seriously?”
Gawain’s face was dead serious for a moment before he began laughing again.
With a half-irritated groan I began splashing water at him again, this time with more force than before. “Stop messing with me, you cheeky alpha! I thought you weren’t kidding and Bedivere was out here torturing people!
“Ack! Gwen!” he protested, holding his hands in front of his face as an especially large swathe of water blasted him in the fast. It was almost a supernatural amount of water and I stopped, shocked as he stood dripping in front of me.
The air around us suddenly shifted as he stared at me, chest heaving and the droplets still clinging to his curly hair gleaming in the dim light of the setting sun overhead.
Before it had been playful and silly, but now his expression was different than anything I had ever seen from the sweet man. His blue eyes had darkened—all teasing gone as he began to wade through the water to me.
“You—” he began.
I held up my hands. “Don’t be mad, I didn’t mean to go so hardcore with the splashing.”
“I am not angry,” he bit out, reaching up to grab my hands and move them away from my face. “I amvexed.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?” I asked, sucking in a deep drag of his musky sage scent, the same one that had clung to my skin like a warm blanket every night as I fell asleep on the uncomfortable bed roll.
Gawain shook his head roughly, sending droplets of water flying. “No, I just do not have a better word for how I am feeling. You—ever since you fell from the sky you seem to dance through my every waking thought like some sort of fae bewitching me.”
My fingers curled around his, my thumb brushing along the calluses from many hours practicing with not only his sword but the lute he treasured more than anything.
“I didn’tmeanto bewitch you, or whatever. I’m nottryingto do anything,” I told him, my eyes on his as I watched his gaze shift from mine down to my lips.
He’s going to kiss me,I realized with a confused jolt as he dipped his head and our noses brushed.
I wanted it—I felt like I now knew Gawain the best out of the four alphas that Merlin and his gods seemed to have chosen for me—but at the same time I was married to a man who I still wasn’t sure would be okay with me accepting any other alpha into our relationship.
His bite on my neck was still tender, though the connection was dark, telling me Arthur was far enough away that we would not be able to feel each other.
Kiss him,my inner omega who had grown increasingly demanding ever since I touched that stupid sword, whispered to me as Gawain’s lips touched mine so lightly that I wasn’t sure if it had happened or if my mind was playing tricks on me.
“Gawain,” A gruff voice had us jumping apart. We turned until we found Bedivere standing on the shore with a stony look on his face.
“Bedivere—” Gawain began, his face paling before a harsh red flush filled his cheeks.
Bedivere held up a hand, stopping him from explaining…whateverhad just been going on between the two of us.
“Let go of her majesty and head back to the camp,” the older alpha said, his tone brokering no argument.
Gawain looked down to where our hands were still clasped and he shot me one last longing look before letting go of me and slogging back through the water until he reached the shore again.
As he passed Bedivere he whispered something to the man who just nodded before jerking his head in the direction of the campsite.
