“You have a point,” he said, moving closer so he could snatch up her robe and put it back over her shoulders. He briefly held the robe closed in front of her. But as soon as Aidan released the wool material, Brannie tossed it off her shoulders again.

Growling, Aidan picked it up again and put it around her shoulders. There was a struggle between them. Aidan trying to keep the robe on her. Brannie trying to take it off.

Brannie yanked the robe from Aidan’s grip. “What is wrong with you?” she asked, still laughing.

“Nothing,” he lied, stepping away from her. “Nothing. I . . . just don’t want you to get sick. It’s cold out here . . . and you’re”—he swallowed—“wet.”

“I’m a dragon.”

“Yes, I know,” Aidan snapped. “I saw your tail.” He glanced off. “It’s perfect, by the way.”

“Really? I’ve heard it’s stubby.”

“It’s not stubby.”

“Huh.”

Aidan heard that tone and immediately got defensive on her behalf. “Tell me you’re not listening to those two idiots.”

“Caswyn and Uther? Hardly.”

“That’s good because their ‘stubby’ opinion may be my fault.”

“Oh?”

“It was when we met with you and Izzy that first time and Uther and Caswyn were practically drowning in their own drool while they watched you bathe, so I may have said something about your tail—”

“Being stubby?”

“I never said stubby. I said ‘a little short,’ assuming they would lose interest since they are definitely dragons who do like a good tail.”

“They’re that easily manipulated by you?”

“Yes. Yes, they are.”

“I see. But you didn’t mean it?”

“Absolutely not. I just didn’t want Éibhear tearing off their wings for lusting after his favorite cousin.”

“But you like my tail.”

“Of course I do . . .” Aidan cleared his throat. “In a . . . non-lusty, just as friends way.”

“I see. Well that’s good. I’m glad you cleared that up for me.”

“Me too.”

He peered up at the sky—not hard since Brannie had tossed off that damn robe again—and still saw no signs of the two suns yet. “Still dark, but I know Rhona. She’ll be getting everyone up in a bit.”

Without looking at Brannie, Aidan headed back toward the trees. He’d just reached the line when Brannie’s hand fell on his shoulder and she turned him to face her.

“Wha—” he began but Brannie shoved him against the nearest tree trunk.

Startled and annoyed, Aidan barked, “What did I do now?”

She stood in front of him, hands again on her hips, and staring directly at him.

“Well?” he demanded. “What did I do?”

Her left hand slipped behind his neck and pulled Aidan close.

“Branwen—”

“Quiet,” she ordered, her gaze fixed on his mouth.

Aidan knew he could have stopped her. Knew he should stop her.

But as his lips neared hers, all he could think about was what it would be like to kiss Branwen the Awful. He had to know. Even though he knew he shouldn’t.

Just a kiss, though. That shouldn’t be too big a deal. Just one kiss.

* * *

He appreciated her tail and warned off Uther and Caswyn. How could she ignore that?

Brannie knew she couldn’t. So she decided to try her test. The kiss. If the kiss fell flat . . . then she wouldn’t think about Aidan in any other way than as the best friend of her favorite cousin. It was her easiest way of ruling out males—dragon or human—that would be a waste of her time.

A bad kiss usually meant a bad everything else, so why bother?

With that in mind, Brannie pulled a gawking Aidan close until their lips were inches apart. She took a breath and leaned in, pressing her lips to his.

Her first thought was, Yeah . . . okay. Eh.

That was . . . until Aidan kissed her back.

He tilted his head a bit and used his tongue to open her mouth. A shock, like getting hit with a lightning bolt from a Northland dragon, went through her. From her lips and down her body until it shot out her fingers and toes.

Aidan’s hands, balled into fists at his sides, loosened and came up until he could cup her jaw.

Their kiss deepened, their tongues delving. Brannie pushed her naked body against his chain mail–covered one. Her arms going around his shoulders, her fingers digging into his hair.

That’s when he turned them both and pinned Brannie’s body against the tree. He was reaching for his leggings, but she beat him to it, shoving them down while she kept up their kiss. Not letting him break away.

She lifted her leg and wrapped it around his waist. With one push he was inside her and they both gasped and smiled at the same time.

Brannie returned her hands to his shoulders, digging her fingers into the back of his neck. She knew that might hurt a bit, but she got the feeling Aidan would like that.

She wasn’t wrong.

Aidan hiked her raised leg a little higher and pinned her body to the tree trunk with his weight. Then he pulled his hips back and, with one glorious push, he shoved his cock back in.

Her breath caught and her fingers dug harder, urging him on. He wasted no more time, fucking Brannie hard with long, powerful strokes.

When Brannie had pulled down his leggings, she’d still been kissing him, and hadn’t managed to catch sight of his hardened cock. But she didn’t need to see it. She could feel it. Filling her up completely, hitting a spot deep inside her.

Every nerve inside her came alive, her body now meeting his stroke for stroke. It took little time before she was panting and trembling, her pussy contracting tight around him. She pulled her mouth away from their kiss so she could bite down on his shoulder. She did that to stifle her screams as she came hard, her brain briefly shutting down as everything around her exploded.

* * *

She moved his chain mail aside just so she could bite down on his shoulder. The bite was hard, drawing blood. And it was all Aidan needed to send him over the edge, coming hard inside her, his hips jerking, his hands gripping her waist.

She was coming too and that made his release even stronger. If they were attacked right now, he was sure he couldn’t fight back. He’d be oblivious even if a sword rammed into his spine.

But Aidan didn’t care. Not when something felt this good. It was like her pussy had been built just for his cock, wrapping around him perfectly and holding him tight.

And when her pussy began contracting . . . his eyes crossed and he briefly wondered if he’d lose consciousness.

He didn’t, but when they’d both wrung themselves dry, they were still clinging to each other, panting and sweating, even in this cold.

Aidan had no idea how long they stayed like that but Brannie’s tap against his shoulder pulled him back to the moment.

“The suns are coming up,” she warned, meaning the rest of their camp would be rising at this very moment.

“Right,” he muttered, working hard not to growl when he forced himself to pull out of her.

He stepped back and gazed at her.

“No, no,” she said with a shake of her head, trying to pretend she wasn’t still panting. “We’ll have none of that.”

“None of what?”

“That look.”

“What look?”

“That look on your face that says you’re feeling a bit . . . clingy. We needed to get this out of our systems and we did. That’s it.”

“Is it?”

“Aye. It is.”

Brannie took a step and nearly crumpled to her knees but Aidan caught her, got her back up, worked even harder not to laugh.

“Not a word,” she cautioned.

“Wouldn’t think of it.”

Tossing her head back, she took a few tentative steps, found her balance, and headed toward the water.

“Need to cool down?” he teased.

Throwing her arm back, she raised two fingers at him.

“Awwww,” he said, laughing, “now that was just rude!”