You are not alone,Caliel breathed.
Lost in my melancholy, I came around a curve in the path and found the showers.
As well as the Dragon prince.
He stood within a cascade that fell from a rock ridge about twenty feet above. The dawn’s golden rays lit the steam rising from the water as it hit the cooler rocks beneath his feet, and it curled seductively around him.
He was naked, and he had his hand rhythmically stroking his shaft.
Partially screened by the dense foliage, I froze.
He was magnificent. The water splashed against the leather skullcap, and over his powerful shoulders, before streaming over contours so perfect they could have been carved from marble.The cascading water brought to vivid life the Dragons he had tattooed across his skin.
His eyes were closed, totally focused on the sensations his hand was producing.
As the muscles in his arm flexed with each stroke along that glistening shaft, heat flushed through to my core. My knees trembled, and my pulse throbbed between my legs. I pressed my thighs tight together, seeking pressure, but it wasn’t enough.
I wanted him with a desperation that robbed me of breath.
Then every muscle went rigid, and with a cry, he exploded.
He very nearly took me with him. I stood there, trembling on the very verge, as his head dropped back, his hips thrusting into his hand. In another moment, his eyes would open, and he’d see me standing there, trembling with need.
Caliel saved me. He seized control and backed us up the path. The moment I was out of sight, I took a shaky breath and turned. I leaned against a tree trunk with my pulse thundering in my ears.
Meanwhile, Caliel spun rapid, agitated circles in my brain. I couldn’t form any words suitable to ease his angst. My mind was spinning like a top, and my entire body burned.
I’d just got my breathing back into a rhythm when Riggs appeared around the bend. He held his wet shirt in one hand, and he’d clearly rinsed out his torn pants before yanking the damp fabric partway up his hips. His exposed skin—and there was a lot of it—glistened with water droplets.
Not helpful in the least. He was beyond delicious.
He stopped when he saw me. For a moment, we simply stared at each other. Then, the intense purple flared through his unnaturally darkened eyes.
His mouth opened and closed. Then he managed, “Hi.”
Mine did much the same thing. “Hi.” I cleared my throat. “All done?”
When his eyes flared again, I winced. Did he know I’d seen him? “Nothing as refreshing as a good hot shower,” he said. “The water’s a perfect temperature.”
I took a breath. Sort of. My voice was high and squeaky. “Think I could use a cold one.”
He tweaked a brow. “You might be out of luck.”
Yeah, that about summed it up. Unless I climbed up onto him, right on this path. Which was what I desperately wished to do.
He also seemed unable to look away. Finally, he lifted the hand holding his singed, but dripping shirt. “Everything I’m wearing still reeks of smoke. I hope Cara has some ex-Dragon-sized replacements handy. Or we’ll be giving ourselves away with one sniff.”
I was immediately grateful that he’d at least decided to pull on his sweatpants. Or I’d be a goner.
I hadn’t managed anything other than the opening salvos, and now he eyed me a bit uncertainly. He settled for, “Enjoy your shower.” And then he smiled.
Which effectively guaranteed my inability to speak. It was like the sun had suddenly emerged from the clouds, turning him from broody and handsome to drop-dead gorgeous in an instant. I trembled all over, and only the tree trunk held me upright. I couldn’t have moved if my life depended on it.
Something chose that moment to rescue me by crawling across my foot. With a yelp, I stumbled backward—and looked down at a creature the size of my fist determinedly marching along the path, regardless of who might be attempting to stand upon it.
Suddenly I screamed. Not a full-out shout of fear, but a high-pitched girly squeal, accompanied by a full hoppy kind of spin, and hysterical waving of arms.
As I wondered what the heck was happening, Riggs stared at me in astonishment. I could well understand his reaction—I had never, in all my life, done such a thing. Certainly not over something that I could get rid of with one swift kick.
