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“There aren’t any snakes. And if there were, I’d kill them. Now jump in.”
“I’m fine right here,” he said, plopping down on a nearby rock.
“Don’t make me come after you,” I warned, frowning at him. “The water is warm, and it feels great. You’ll love it, and it will be good for your aches and pains. Now take off your clothes and come in.”
“I’ll take off my boots and just dangle my feet in,” he said, trying to compromise.
He proceeded to toe off the coat and the boots, which were a little too big for him and rolled up his pants legs so he could put his feet in the water.
“Oh, it is nice and warm,” he said, looking up at me in surprise. “How is it so warm?”
“Volcanic, according to what Grimora once told me. This whole area is full of pools and some of them are too hot to get into. This one is just right.”
Brandon wiggled his toes and looked up at me and smiled. My heart did one of those crazy little flips it did sometimes when he looked at me, and I tried to harden myself against the feelings it produced inside my chest. Not to mention other places that hardened all on their own. It wouldn’t do to forget the way he’d made me suffer, and the way he’d abandoned me to my fate. I didn’t like to admit it, even now, but I had cried when I left him that last night at school. Most un-Alpha like behavior, and it still embarrassed me to admit it. My only excuse was that I’d been very young, and he’d hurt me badly when he refused to come with me, knowing my father would be after me, and I’d need his help and his big brain to figure a way out of the mess I found myself in. It was the last time I’d ever allowed anyone to hurt me like that, and I’d vowed that it would never happen again.
I waded over toward him, and he saw me coming and made a little noise, suspiciously like a squeal. Again—very un-Alpha like. Most would have been squaring off for a fight by now. Hell, maybe there was something wrong with both of us.
I grabbed him before he could scramble out of the way, and pulled him in, clothes and all. He pushed against me, but I got his arms trapped down by his sides and took him out to the middle of the pool. He was such a prima donna that he wrapped his legs around my waist, rather than put them down on the bottom of the pool. Not that I was complaining.
Little puffs of steam were wafting above the pool here in the middle. We must be directly over the crevice in the ground that was releasing thermal currents. Brandon was clinging to me through sheer stubbornness alone. He looked up and scanned the woods around him, as if expecting to see anyone observing us nearby.
“Relax,” I said tersely. “There’s no one around. Now, get down off me and wash yourself. Unless you want me to do it for you.”
He gave me an evil look and then dropped to his feet and began taking off his clothes and tossing them back to the edge of the pool.
The water was blessedly warm, but not uncomfortably so. It wasn’t too deep, and he must have been aware I was staring at him because he looked up defiantly, as if braced for an attack, but instead I tossed a small sliver of soap at him. “Use this and wash your hair.”
He caught it and began to rub the sweet-smelling sliver over his body, dipping his head back and wetting his hair. He lathered it up, combing out most of the tangles with his fingers and then rinsed the soap from his hair a couple of times before he was satisfied. He even used his finger to try to clean his teeth a bit with the bitter tasting soap. All the time, I watched him. He was beginning to relax and drift in the warm water when I began to move to the side of the pool to seat myself on the little ledge of rock there.
He turned his back on me, as if the water wasn’t clear as glass, and I couldn’t see all his assets, which were plentiful indeed.
He turned and walked over to ease himself into the other side of the pool, and I was reminded what a fine ass the man had, with plump cheeks that were round and white and seemed made to fit my hands.
I leaned back against the rocks and stared at him as he eased himself onto a rocky outcropping.
It was amazing to think that after all that had happened between us, after all the betrayals and the recriminations, after so many years apart, all I had to do was reach for him.
“Brandon,” I said. “Come here.” When he hesitated, I said, softly, almost whispering, “Please, dearie.”
I could see the mistrust in his eyes. But just when I thought I’d have to go to him, he slowly began to slide off the rock and approach me, obviously tense and ready for anything.
I held out a hand to him when he got closer and pulled him to stand between my legs. Brandon took in a sharp breath and closed his eyes. I thought it was so I wouldn’t see the leap of hot desire in his eyes. His legs were shaking so hard from trying to hold himself in check he could barely stand. I caught his hand and pulled him closer.
Brandon squirmed uneasily. Maybe this was too reminiscent of the old days when we used to love on each other all the time, whenever we had an opportunity and found time to be alone.
Randomly, the idea occurred to me that if I wanted to hurt him or get back at him for his betrayal, now would be the time to take it. A little of the residual anger inside me approved of the idea—for a moment—but no part of me really thought I could or should take any kind of revenge on him. His damn beautiful cock, unaware of any danger, jumped up to meet my hands. I was happy to nudge his thighs apart as I pulled him closer. I admitted to myself that Brandon was in no danger at all from me. I’d much rather harm myself than touch a hair on his head. I gripped his ass to lift him off his feet and bring him up to straddle me. He gasped and grabbed my shoulders.
“I’ve been trying to decide what to do with you since I first saw you on the ship.”
He stared back at me, his eyes wide, but not the least bit alarmed.
“Have you decided yet?”
I put one hand on his throat, not pressing, but making little circles with my thumb. “A little part of me wanted to kill you for just a moment.”
He smiled at me defiantly. “Maybe I’d have killed you first, before you got the chance,” he said, lifting his chin and reaching down to stroke a finger along my shaft. I’d expected anger at my words and prepared myself for it. But not this—never this.
“Oh, I know what you’re capable of, Brandon. I wish I didn’t.”
