Page 17 of Cleansed By Water (The Nature Hunters Academy 3)

“You’re too close,” she huffed out and noted that she sounded like she’d just run a couple of sprints.

“I’m not bloody close enough,” he growled out as he moved with the fluid-like grace of the water he could wield and was right back in front of her a second later. He held her face in his firm hands, and his lips were only a couple inches from her own. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

Gabby was too shocked at his reaction to shove him away again. He looked genuinely concerned about her.

“Nothing is wrong,” she said. “I’m fine.”

He looked back and forth between her eyes, his own narrowing on her. “If you’re fine, then I’m Rudolph.”

“Where’d you leave your glowing nose?” she asked, her lips almost turning up into a grin as the thought of gorgeous Liam wearing a glowing red nose popped into her mind.

His own sensual lips twitched as his eyes dropped to her mouth. “I only wear it for special occasions.”

“And I’m not such an occasion?”Holy hell, did I just say that?Was she flirting? Gabby pinched her thigh to make sure that she was actually awake and hadn’t fallen asleep in her dorm room. Nope. Definitely awake.

Liam’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second but then narrowed again and filled with heat. “Beautiful Gabby, you are more than an occasion. You’re a life event, and you deserve more than a damn glowing nose to celebrate.”

It was the most convoluted and yet romantic thing anyone had ever said to her. “You could have just said you forgot it.” Yep.Wow, brilliant response. Someone, shoot me … now.

Liam chuckled, and it was so sexy she nearly swooned.Like a girl. Gabby hadn’t been in his presence for ten minutes, and she already wanted to kick her own ass for her reaction to him.

“I like you, Gabby,” he said as he tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ear.

“I have a feeling that has something to do with the fact that I have girl parts,” she said dryly.

The smile fell from his face, and a rumble that sounded suspiciously like a growl came from him. “I definitely like your girl parts, but make no mistake, it’s more than that. If you walked away and another girl took your place standing there glaring at me, I wouldn’t give her a second glance. When I say I like you, I damn well mean I likeyou.”

Gabby’s mouth dropped open. Once again, she saw a side of Liam that didn’t seem to come out often. The few times she’d been around him, he never seemed to stop playfully flirting. But now, he had suddenly turned serious. Apparently, he didn’t want his feelings toward her questioned.

“We should probably join the rest of our group,” she said and pointed to the people she recognized as those Terrick had earlier singled out as their teammates. She didn’t give Liam a chance to respond. Instead, she turned quickly and began hoofing it over to them. Gabby could hear Liam walking just a step behind her and could feel his eyes on her back. She had no idea how she was going to survive being in his presence for … how long?However long it was going to take to save the freaking world, I guess.If she was being honest with herself, she was mostly worried she’d give in to his advances. Okay, so it was more than that. She was terrified that she’d throw herself at him and beg him to claim her.Claim her?Damn, what did she think he was, a freaking werewolf? She seriously needed to lay off the paranormal romance novels, like yesterday.

When they reached their group, Liam stopped next to her. He was so close that his arm brushed hers. She started to step away from him, but suddenly his hand was on her lower back. He slipped it around until it rested on her hip. He pulled her against him and held her firmly.

“Gabby, I didn’t know you were seeing anyone,” Professor Frost said as she stepped up into the circle of their team.

“I’m not,” Gabby said at the same time that Liam said, “It’s new.”

Gabby snapped her head around, tilting back to look up at him. Standing this close, she realized how tall he was. “It’s nothing,” she bit out through gritted teeth.

“Is this why you wanted to switch teams?” Frost asked. “Are you worried your relationship with Liam will interfere with your task?”

Liam’s brow rose as he stared down at her. His gaze was so intense she felt as if he was trying to see into her soul. “You wanted to switch teams? That’s hurtful, lovebug,” he purred.

Gabby clenched her jaw and swallowed down the string of curse words she wanted to throw at him. “I am not your lovebug, and I’m sure you will recover.”

“You’re definitely my lovebug, and I’ll recover fine after you show me you didn’t mean your cruel words by giving me a little loving.”

Gabby didn’t even realize she had moved until she saw the blade of her dagger pressed to Liam’s throat. She heard a couple of gasps but ignored them. “The onlylovingyou’re going to get is the kiss of my blade.”

He growled, and it was definitely a growl this time. To her surprise, he leaned down and pressed his forehead to hers. The movement caused her blade to break his skin, and a trickle of blood ran down his neck. “Bloody hell, female. If you were any sexier, I’d get kicked out of the academy for completely inappropriate public groping.”

“It would most certainly be inappropriate to grope yourself in public,” Gabby whispered as she soaked in the heat from where his skin touched hers.

Liam chuckled. “Sexyandfunny. You’re the whole package, baby. You can pull every blade you have on me. Cut me a thousand times, and it won’t change how I feel about you.”

“Perhaps it’s time we talk about our mission and where our team is going,” said a voice Gabby recognized as Zuri’s.

Before Liam pulled back, he shifted his head, pressed his lips against her forehead, and whispered. “You’ll realize it soon. I’m yours and you, Gabby, are mine.”

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