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Heaven help her, she was doing it again! Getting all gushy over the man’shair.
And it wasn’t even the long, flowing, wavy sort that rivaled women’s locks. Just thick tufts to cover his scalp and tightly packed bristles to define his harshly angular jaw.
Steeling herself, she tried to survey the rest of him with absolute indifference.
Two long, jagged scars ran diagonally across his face, from his temple to his jaw. One of them bisected his eyebrow and barely missed gouging out an eye before continuing down his cheek. The other one ran into the top of his lip and ended in his bearded chin.
Something very large and very mean had raked their claws across his face. She wondered immediately what other scars he might have.
Miraculously, the scars didn’t distort his features, which were rough enough on their own—high ramparts for cheekbones, a tall, Roman nose with a bump in the bridge. Thick, heavy brows over hooded, eagle-sharp eyes.
His skin was a natural bronze, as if he labored in the sun all day. But given that there was little sun to be seen in these parts, and given the evenness of the tone, she’d wager he was the same smooth tan all over.
A muscle ticked near her right eye as her brain short-circuited on the last thought.
She’d never before wanted to fully explore the definition of “all over” with respect to another person.
What in the universe waswrongwith her?
His was the mostmaleface Rui had ever laid eyes upon. Not because this warrior was any more “masculine” than her two accompaniments. But because, for the first time across the millennia that she’d existed, thefemalein her sat up eagerly and took notice.
Rui had never labeled herself as “female.” It was simply her gender.
First and foremost, she was a dragon. A treasure-hunting, sea-loving dragon. Second, she was a warrior. Who obeyed the laws of the Universal Balance and protected the humans under her watch. Third, she was a student, a sister, a dependable, trustworthy acquaintance if not a bosom buddy.
But when she found herself irresistibly, inconceivably aware of this male, in his presence, the first and only quality sheownedto the roots of her being was: female.
This realization discomfited her so startlingly, she forgot the pretense of her nonchalant perusal and whipped her head back around to face her own table again. As if the man’s visage had scalded her irises.
“Something wrong?” Ere asked, immediately picking up on her nervousness.
Rui counted to ten as she deepened her breathing to slow her heartbeat, forcing a calmness upon herself that she didn’t particularly feel.
“It’s nothing,” she replied, her voice annoyingly breathless.
Ere’s eyes flicked over her shoulder, and a knowing glint entered them to irritate her even more.
“That big brute over at the next table catch your fancy, unimpressible Rui?”
She pressed her mouth into a thin line to prevent from engaging. It would only give the confounded male encouragement.
“Want me to invite him over for a drink?” Ere continued to needle her. “This table is a bit small, so you might have to sit on his lap to make room.”
Rui gritted her teeth to stay quiet, but her hands clawed into fists on her thighs beneath the table.
If she didn’t break every bone in her antagonist’s body before their mission was complete, she should be sainted with a Celestialchimu.
Sorin made a low, rumbling noise, sending his Mate a warning glance. He obviously had more sense, for he picked up on Rui’s mounting ire.
Perhaps Ere got the unspoken message, for this time, when he looked at the next table again, there was calculation in his gaze.
“We could use a local guide in these lands, in this confounding time,” he mused thoughtfully.
“I noticed the ugly barbarian and his sidekick readying to come to our defense, or rather yours,” he nodded to Rui, “when we got here.”
“He’s not ugly,” she blurted.
“No?” Ere asked with his oft-worn smirk. “I’ll take your word for it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and all that.”
