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“You...” I couldn’t find the words to express what I thought of that joke, but that was fine. I had a whole pool of water to work with. I aimed a splash right at hisface.
Marco’s eyes gleamed. “Are you sure you want to go there? Don’t start a battle you’re not prepared tolose.”
“Big talk from a wet cat,” I retorted, and splashed him again for goodmeasure.
He wiped his face with a playful growl. “You asked forit.”
Instead of splashing me back, he sprang at me. I squealed and dove out of the way. I managed to get in one more splash before he caught me by the waist. With his other arm, he scooped up a heap of water and dropped it right overme.
I shook my head, sputtering a laugh, and squirmed out of his grasp. The kick of my legs sent a good spray back at him. Then Marco snatched my ankle. “Hey!” I protested as he reeled mein.
“Look what I caught,” he teased. “A rare dragonfish.”
In a stunning show of maturity, I stuck my tongue out at him and kicked up another wave with my other leg. Marco tugged my ankle past him, surging forward at the same moment to grab my wrists. He pinned them gently against the side of the pool. “That’s enough ofthat.”
My feet came to rest on one of those ledges he’d mentioned. “You’re no fun,” I toldhim.
“Oh,” he said, his voice dipping lower as he eased closer, “you have no idea how much fun I canbe.”
I snapped into sudden awareness of the rest of his body, just inches from mine in the water. His very naked body.Myvery naked body ached with the longing for him to cross those last few inches. I held his gaze, warmed by the heat in his indigoeyes.
“I don’t know,” I said, my own voice dropping. “I think I’ve gotten a pretty good idea. But you’re always welcome to give me anotherdemonstration.”
“A very tempting invitation,” hemurmured.
He bent his head, and I tipped mine to meet his kiss. His mouth was slick and hot, demanding enough to send a tremor of desire through me. I wanted to touch him, to run my hands over that sleekly muscled body and pull it against mine, but he held himself away from me and kept my wrists locked in place. All I could focus on was thekiss.
His tongue slid into my mouth, and mine rose to tangle with it. A needy whimper crept up my throat as the kiss deepened. I was drowning in it, in the faintly spicy taste of him, in the craving formore.
Marco released my mouth to trail his lips down my neck. My eyelids fluttered open. My gaze caught on a stark red mark that ran from behind his ear down the base of his scalp. I winced, my heart stuttering with an emotion that had nothing to do witharousal.
Marco pulled back. “What’s the matter?” he asked, his eyes concerned. His grip on my wristsloosened.
I drew back one of my hands to touch the side of his neck. My thumb traced over the fresh scar. “I didn’t realize Julius got you here.” So close to histhroat.
“It doesn’t really matter, does it?” Marco said lightly. “I’m the one who got him in theend.”
“I know.” But the fear I’d felt during their fight echoed through me. “I hated watching the two of you,” I said in a small voice. “Every time he hurt you, I felt it too. You have no idea how much I wanted to leap in there and go dragon ballistic on hisass.”
I finished that sentence with a growl. Marco smiled. “That would have been a sight to see. Maybe you’ll still get a chance, the way things aregoing.”
I didn’t want to think about that—about the rogues and the threat still looming over us. That huge problem would be right there waiting for us when we left the greenhouse. Fornow…
Lowering my head, I pressed my lips against the scar. Marco’s breath hitched. His heart thumped under my hand where it rested against his chest. I kissed every inch of the ruddy line that had been just a hair’s breadth from a fatalwound.
A light that was almost wild shimmered in Marco’s eyes when I drew back. He leaned in, close enough that his nose brushed mine. His voice came out slow and almostchoked.
“I meant what I said before. About wanting you more than I want to be alpha. When I was facing him, that was all I thought about. Beating him so I could stay your mate. Being able to kiss you again. Being able to laugh with you again.” He paused, pulling back again so he could meet my gaze. “My Princess of Flames. My Serenity. My dragon shifter. No matter what else happens, there’s never going to be anyone else for me. I love you,Ren.”
My throat had gone tight. Emotion swelled in my chest, bright and heady. “I love you too,” I said without even needing to think about it. It was almost a relief to say it. God, why hadn’t I already, to all of the guys? I needed to, more. All of the time. Until they couldn’t possibly forget it. Because it was true. In the midst of all the chaos, I’d fallen for them with every bit of myheart.
The same rush of feeling flowed back to me from everywhere Marco and I touched. He grinned at me, so brilliantly I almost lost my breath. He moved as if to kiss me again, but at the same moment voices carried from the other end of thegreenhouse.
“What do you think, trees orground?”
“Why not both? I could use a goodrun.”
Shit. Of course, all the feline kin had free run of this place. I grimaced, and Marco shook his head, his smile turning wry. I was getting used to all the shifters seeing me unclothed, but I wasn’t exactly keen to make this private moment with my mate suddenlypublic.
