Page 38 of Power of Draken

“Three half-brothers, one half-sister.”

“Favorite food?”

“Chocolate cake.”

“What’s the best dream you've ever had?"

“The one where I get a full night's sleep. Let's see if we can get there tonight, aye?”

Rowan sighs and shimmies into a better position, flinching each time a branch rustles. I know she’s exhausted and aching, and yet the tension vibrating inside her is enough to send the squirrels running for cover. “What’s wrong, Ro?” I ask against her hair. “Tell me.”

“Nothing.”

“Let me rephrase. Tell me honestly.”

“I’m cold,” she says. And it's true. She isn’t as freezing as she was when we lay down, but cold still.

But there is more. “Cold and?”

She swallows and I can imagine her biting her lip before she answers. “I can’t get my mind to settle,” she says finally. “I’ve not done this before—sleeping in the cold woods, with wild animals evaluating me for a late night snack, while the very Eryndorians I was raised to protect hunt me instead. What if it’s someone I know who comes at us on the trail tomorrow? What if it’s someone from the clinic? What am I supposed to do?”

“Sleeping is a good start,” Kyrian says from the other side.

“That’s not nearly as helpful as you imagine,” Rowan mutters, and a wave of absolute recklessness washes over me.

“I can offer something more useful,” I say, raising up on my elbow to hover recklessly above her. The darkness obscures the finer details of Rowan’s face, but my eyes have long since adjusted, allowing me to admire the gentle slope of her nose, the mess of her hair fanning over the bedroll, the fullness of her slightly parted lips. Carefully, I gather her two hands together and wrap them up in one of mine. She inhales slightly, but doesn’t pull away. So far so good.

Even through the layers of our clothing, I can feel the tantalizing softness of her curves molding perfectly to the hardness of my own muscles. It's a delicious torture, having her so close, but it can be even more.

“I can make it all go away for you,” I whisper, my heart suddenly pounding.“The cold. The fear. The racing thoughts. I can make you forget it all.”

Rowan gasps slightly, and I nearly groan from the effort of staying so very still.

“All you have to do is say yes, rabbit,” I breathe. “Say yes, and I will do the rest.”

Chapter 19

Rowan

“Yes,” I whisper so quietly that I can barely hear it myself. I am crazy. I must be, because how else does one get into this situation to begin with? My bedroll presses into my back, the small imperfections of the earth beneath transfering to my skin. But it’s Logan’s dark hair and eyes that seem to glow in the starlight that fully capture my attention now.

Logan kisses the edge of my mouth. He is strangely gentle, nothing like the way he was when he pounded into Alyssa the first day I met him. “I’ll need something with a little more confidence.”

Confidence? Where in all the worlds am I supposed to get that? My breath hitches as Logan’s mouth slides down my neck, the stubble he’s grown since this morning scraping along my skin. It’s a little ticklish, and a bit arousing, sending shivers down my spine.

"Don't overthink, rabbit,” Logan coaxes. “It's just a bit of… physical fun. A bit of release to quiet your mind and your body. No strings attached, I promise." His mouth is right over my pulse now, making it difficult for any coherent thought to survive more than a second. Which, I imagine, is the point. Heat is already tingling low in my belly and making my apex twinge. Whatever Logan is offering, my body wants it.

"Yes," I say with more confidence.

Logan purrs against me in approval, then scrapes his teeth right over the pulse point on my neck. A jolt of sensation shoots down my body at once, more intense than anything I've ever felt from Collin's touch.

Collin. The hum in my body shuts down, choked by memories. By reality.

I'm an adult. I know exactly where these gentle touches are going… And I know that once we get there, the current euphoria will disappear at once. Except at that point, it will be too late.

I blink, realizing that Logan is no longer nuzzling my neck. Instead, he is raised on one elbow once more, leaning over me to peer into my face. Concern etches his golden eyes. "What just happened?" he asks.

I shake my head, ready to offer an apology. The last thing I want to do is upset him.

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