Page 11 of Surge of Heat

She sighs loudly and releases me. “You always say that, and you rarely are.”

I almost smile. She knows me too damn well.

“You have to take care of yourself,” she continues. “I know you think you’re this big, bad mountain man, but you’re only human.”

She doesn’t mean it to be an insult, but it is. Somehow, Sam has become something other than human. It’s created a separation between us that I never thought possible. And in that fragile separation, a big gray dumbass dragon has wiggled in and made himself at home. I know she cares about him, but I’m having a hard time not hoping he’s a carcass rotting in the woods somewhere.

“You’re still human,” I say, and I don’t know why I need to remind her.

She gives a funny little smile. “Sort of. I mean, like how a blow job is sort of fun for a woman. A mouthful of cum and an aching jaw is justsomuch fun that women all over the world just love to give them and have the guy roll over and fall asleep like a lump of turds.”

I blink at her slowly. “Still doing that, I see.”

She laughs. “Can you blame me? This situation is weird. I’m a human, Aydan, but I’m also a giant scaly sky lizard. It’s not a normal thing.”

I can’t help it. I smile. “Okay, it’s weird.”

“Thank you!” she says, throwing her hands up in the air. “I’m glad we’re not tiptoeing around it anymore.”

Unfortunately, this isn’t the only subject we’re not addressing, and I need to handle it now. When things are calm. When we’re safe. When there’s a cum bomb ticking, and I don’t want Sam just throwing herself on the first thing with a dick.

“Are things with this Evander guy just about sex?”

Her amusement fades away. For a second I think she won’t answer me, and then she says, “No.”

It’s like a punch to the gut. “Do you love him?”

Fuck. I don’t want to hear this.

After a second, her tight grip around my heart loosens as she shakes her head. “No. It’s not love. I don’t even know if I like him as a human, but it’s not just sex. It’s like we’re connected. Like, I can feel him, even now, and it hurts to be away from him.” She looks up at me through her lashes. “It’s a dragon thing. A complicated dragon thing.”

I should be staggering from all the blows this woman is giving me. “How do you feel about me?”

Her brilliant green eyes widen in surprise. “Aydan, you know how I feel about you.”

“Tell me.”

She combs her curly red hair back behind one ear in a way I love. “You’re my best friend. My family. I love you and Granger like I love my mom. It’s like my heart isn’t capable of loving anyone more.”

I hesitate, then take a deep breath, unclenching my hands. “Is that all?”

Her gaze grows guarded and uncertain. “What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean.” I pause, then press on. “The other night at the institute. We almost had sex.”

Her freckles darken as her skin pales. “We were drunk.”

“Is that all it was about?”

She doesn’t answer.

Fuck it.“It was about more than being drunk for me. I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.”

Her lips part. Her mouth forms anO.

Here goes. Don’t chicken out now.

“I don’t want to lose you, Sam. If all we can ever be is friends, that’s enough for me. But if there’s any chance we can be more, that’s what I want. What do you want?”

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