Page 49 of Fated to the Grumpy Dragon
He looked around the house a little wildly, trying to come up with something.
“Uhhh.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve got an idea,” I said, rolling up the sleeves of my imaginary shirt and then getting to work taking the wood he’d split and stacking it neatly against the house, ready for burning.
Rhyse watched for a moment, saying nothing.
“Stop staring at my ass and get back to chopping,” I said, already breaking out into a sweat.
I wasn’t dressed for this sort of work, but I didn’t care. Right then it was about showing that I wasn’t helpless.
Whether I was proving that to him or myself was still undecided. But it felt good to do something for once.
After a minute, Rhyse tossed another thick log onto his splitting block and then drove his axe head through it in one blow.
I watched the entire motion of his shirtless body, without ogling him at all. It wasafterturning away I licked my lips and drooled wildly.
Why did he have to be so damn hot? It wasn’t fair.
A trickling answer of interest entered my mind as I bent over to pick up some wood.
He really was staring at my ass.
In minutes, I was sweating profusely, too, as the heat of the sun beat down on us both working together to get the house all stocked up on firewood.
Again and again, I witnessed him raise the axe over his head, his muscles flexing and popping with each swing.
Fuck, he’s so hot.
In an unscripted daydream, I sent myself back to the boat. To that moment when he hoisted me onto the rail, his tongue parting my lips, the fire of his fingers tracing designs across my hips and ass as he touched me wherever he desired. Unbidden, a question of what his tongue would feel like parting myotherlips came to me.
Rhyse grunted, and the axe went wide on his swing, planting itself into the ground an inch from his foot.
I gasped then blushed fiercely as he looked up at me sharply, clear knowledge on his face. We both knew why he’d missed. And what had distracted him.
Hurriedly, I grabbed up a piece of firewood, fumbling the movement and nearly dropping it as I hurried to stack it.
I was back to being nineteen again. Young and foolish. No idea of how to proceed.
A hand landed on my shoulder. I nearly jumped out of my shirt. When had Rhyse come up behind me?
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said, gently turning me to face him. “If you don’t want to explore this any further, we won’t. Just because we both want it doesn’t mean wehaveto do anything about it.”
“I know,” I found myself saying. “Idowant to, Rhyse. I think. I mean, I do, but I’m confused. I want it. I can’t help but asking myself, though, what if?”
He blinked. “If what?”
“I don’t remember the past nine months. What if, in that time, I found someone? What if there’s someone waiting for me at home.”
Rhyse’s face bunched up in a frown. A spike of pity followed by care reached me.
“Pity?” I questioned.
“Emma,” he said, placing both hands on my shoulders now. “If there was such a person there … why did you volunteer to come here? When you can’t go back to them?”
My mouth opened to reply. “I … Umm. Hmmm. You know, that’s a very good question. Though, why would I volunteer at all?”
Rhyse shrugged. “I can’t answer that one. Only you can.”
