Page 34 of An Accident Waiting to Dragon

A horrible idea, it turned out.

A flash of movement under the surface caught her eye a second before Asher came up out of the water, facing her, lifting his hands to slick back his dark hair, his muscles rippling with the movement.

Godsdamn it. Now that was just freaking unfair.

It was like nature was trying to highlight all the hotness she’d been missing all this time. Hotness that had just been inside of her.

Oh. My. Gods.

Heat flared in her cheeks yet again.

Which was when Asher opened his eyes and caught her staring. His gaze locked in on her, and for once she couldn’t make out what he was thinking.

But she couldn’t look away, her chest growing tighter by the second.

Was he?—

Asher swam toward her. “Why aren’t you coming in?”

She nearly shook her head. No, it couldn’t be.

Her oh-so-serious dragon wasn’t trying to…tease her, play with her?

Was he?

He’s not your dragon, Gwendolyn Moonsoar. He’s not your anything, she tried to remind herself. But that thought was feeling more and more flimsy by the second…considering the way he was looking at her.

She shrugged, trying to play it cool while her face was probably still flaming red. Maybe he’d put that down to their trek? “I’ll wait until you’re done.”

A frown flitted across his features, far more familiar and comfortable than his teasing, but then he swam forward until he could stand in front of her. “You don’t have to wait. There’s plenty of room.”

Gwen opened her mouth to wave him off with something vague only to get a little lost in the deep navy of his eyes. “I…don’t think that would be a good idea,” she found herself saying.

His jaw tightened visibly. “I would never?—”

Without thinking, she pressed a single finger against his lips and they both sort of froze at the contact. Gwen swallowed and pulled away slowly.

“I know,” she whispered. “You’re not the one I don’t trust.”

Asher’s brows drew together, stopped, then crept back up as her meaning sank in that she was the problem here. Her and all her discombobulated feelings.

That glint from a moment ago reignited in his eyes, only up close it was even more potent, more dangerous. “Do you need rescuing?” he asked, his voice dropping lower.

Oh my gods.

The memory of their first kiss, the first time he’d said those words to her, swirled and blended with this one, and excited butterflies hit her insides full force. But she couldn’t.

They couldn’t. Could they?

What she wanted to say was, “From you?” like she had back then. Instead, she just shook her head and went to stand up, to put distance between them.

Only Asher grabbed her hand, his hold gentle as she stilled.

“I’ve missed you, Gwen,” he said softly. “I want you to know that.”

A lump of emotion and longing formed inside her throat.

Was he trying to make this a thousand times harder for her? More confusing? More need-inducing?

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