“You know, you’re always so damn secretive—going off by yourself whenever we go to the Cook-pot,” he said, swiping his wet hair out of his golden eyes, the better to glare at me. “I figured you were just shy and wanted your privacy. But if I had known you were a drowning risk, I never would have left you alone!”
“I’m not a drowning risk!” I protested but just then L’eesha reached me, splashing through the shallow water, and nearly bowled me over.
“my Auri, i am so sorry! i never should have asked you to go out deep!”
If a dragon could cry, she would have been weeping in my arms.
“It’s all right, sweetheart.” I put my arms around her neck and scratched her golden hide comfortingly. “I’m all right—I’m fine, I promise.”
“you are not fine but you will be,” she informed me as she nuzzled her soft snout against my cheek. “i have told M’alex to tell Ryse to teach you to swim and he has promised that he will.”
I looked up at Ryse, who had a strange expression on his face.
“M’alex informs me that the Queen has ordered him to tell me to teach you to swim,” he said.
“Oh, you don’t have to,” I protested quickly.
“Oh, yes I do,” he said grimly. “I agree with L’eesha—I don’t want to risk you drowning again.”
“Well…I guess I’m getting swimming lessons,” I said helplessly.
L’eesha nuzzled me happily.
“yes you are—because i said so,” she told me.
“Come here,” Ryse said to me, but then he came to me instead, because I still had my arms full of my dragon. “Let go of her for a minute,” he said.
I slipped my arms from around my dragon’s neck and found myself drawn into his strong embrace.
Both of us were wearing the standard issue swimming shorts since the Dragon Baths were considered a public area, not just for bathing like the Cook-pot, and I was wearing a thin, white, short-sleeved shirt that clung to my breasts. I hoped my Dragon Glass pendant would keep him from noticing them pressing against his hard chest.
“God and Goddess, when L’eesha was shouting at M’alex that you were drowning, I felt so much panic I could barely breathe,” he murmured in my ear. “I thought I was going to lose you, Auri!”
I shifted in his embrace, not sure what to say. I wanted to hug him back. I wanted to kiss him like I had the night of the Hatching…and hadn’t ever since.
Neither of us had spoken about the “kissing lesson” or what had almost happened between us, though there was still a red mark on my neck where he’d kissed and sucked me and I had left a mark on his throat as well. I think we both knew it was dangerous and had decided by silent but mutual consent not to pursue our feelings. Also, I’d been distracted enough with L’eesha that I’d been able to push the desire I felt for Ryse to the back of my mind.
Now I felt it roaring to life again, rushing through me like dragon fire as Ryse held me close to his big, muscular body and I remembered how sweet his kisses were.
“if you want to put your mouth on Ryse’s mouth, why don’t you?” I heard L’eesha say. She was watching us with her head cocked to one side, like we were some kind of experiment she couldn’t figure out.
“Because it’s not that simple,” I sent back.
“why not? it is a want—a need—like when I need to eat, I just eat,” she pointed out. “mating is a need too—isn’t it?”
I wasn’t about to explain the facts of life to my dragon—not right then, anyway.
“It’s complicated with people,” I told her. “You can’t just mate with someone whenever you feel like it.”
“why not? here—i will help you.”
I had a bad feeling about this.
“L’eesha, no—what are you doing?” I demanded, turning to look at her.
But she had already done it.
When I turned back to look at Ryse, he had that look on his face again.
