Chapter 8

Holy Cheez-Its, Batman. Greyson Dragos Perpetor was sculpted like a god. In the distance when he was naked I could tell he was built, but up close, he was beautiful. His arms, his chest, his delicious abs that I could run my tongue over, and his . . . wow, um, okay. I blinked, then met his gaze.

I pressed my lips together and watched him as he strode toward the water. “So, cold much?”

He frowned. “What?”

“I mean . . .” I trailed off and motioned to his nether region.

“Yeah, it’s cold. There’s fucking snow on the ground, or did you miss that?” He lowered himself into the water, and a shiver rushed through my body. He went completely under, then rose and pushed his wet hair back. His body glistened, and, my Goddess, I wanted to hump him right there and then.

He splashed water into his face, then wiped at his eyes. He looked over at me and a lopsided grin played on his lips. His nipples were taut from the chill in the air, or was it because he was just as horny as I was?

“Oh, no, I saw the snow, but, wow, I guess I expected more from a man who takes such pride in his body.”

He chuckled and raised a brow and took a step toward me. “Oh, princess, I’m a grower, not a shower.”

I grinned and looked down through the water, hoping to catch a glimpse of him “growing.” Alas, I couldn’t see much, thanks to the reflection of the suns on the water’s surface.

Greyson changed directions and swam to the other end of the pool. His ass crested above the water, and I had to press my lips closed to keep myself from screaming out, “Let me bite it!”

A part of me wanted to swim down with him, wrap my body around his, ride him till the suns went down. As I daydreamed about touching every inch of Greyson, Mister Tall, Dark, and Sexy as Fuck swam back my way. I tried to pretend I hadn’t been humping him with my mind and tilted my head back. I needed a bank to relax my arms on, but I didn’t favor placing my bare skin on snow.

“What are you looking at?” I heard him ask.

When I lowered my head, I gasped. He was right in front of me. Like I could spread my legs and wrap them around him, he was that close.

“Um,” I started and cleared my throat. “Clouds?”

“There are no clouds, Cesha,” he said and moved in that much closer. He touched my bare hips and drew himself against me. His torso was hot and so fucking sexy, and to touch it, hell, I was going to climb up on him, regardless of how much the cold caused his package to shrivel.

Then I realized, something hard touched the top of my leg. It was large and thick.

He grinned and leaned in to whisper in my ear, “I told you, I’m a grower, not a shower.” His breath fanned across my ear, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself from moaning.

When he didn’t pull away I said, “What . . . what are you doing?” My voice came out hoarser than I wanted, but, whatever. He was hot, naked, and hard.

“Are you scared now, princess?”

Fuck me, just fuck me right now. One of his hands moved around my waist to my back and the other grabbed my messy bun, tugging my head to the side. His teeth grazed my neck and I needed to touch him. My breasts pressed against his chest and I ran my palms over the valleys in his stomach to the strong pecs on his chest. His torso was bare of hair except his nether regions.

“No, but I am intrigued,” I whispered, and my breath came out in a rush.

“Good,” he said and let me go. “You intrigue me as well, but not enough to fuck you.”

My mouth dropped open; I’d never felt rejection like that in my entire life. Should I be pissed, grateful, sad, confused, or all of the above? The man had come on to me in a fierce way I wasn’t used to, then just turned me down like I was nothing more than a rag doll.

“Why did you do that?”

“Do what? Play with you?” He chuckled and went under the water once more. When he rose, the water ran off his body. Damn him! I wanted to lick it off and kick his ass at the same time.

“Yes, play with me. That wasn’t funny.”

“Neither is calling me names and making fun of my cock before fully exploring what it’s capable of doing.”

“Touché.”

He raised a brow, obviously confused by my response.

“It means to acknowledge a clever point. You, basically, called me on my shit.”

“Ah, yes, well, touché then.”

I grinned. “It doesn’t quite work like that, but I’ll let it slide.”

Greyson held his arms above his head and stretched. “These waters have healing properties. So, if you’re injured or just need to relax, this is the place to go. We’re unsure why the sorceress, Ilayna, left these untouched, but no one has bothered to remind her they’re here.”

“So, can we call her the big bitch?”

“Yeah, sure if you’d like. I can handle calling her big bitch.”

“Great.” Well, since it had become awkward between us, what the hell would we talk about? If I were at a bar, I’d ask about liquor, so I tried that. “Greyson, besides wine, what do you like to drink?”

“I like mead, I believe you call it beer.”

“Yeah, of course you do. Right.”

“What’s wrong with mead?”

“Oh, nothing, if you’re a Neanderthal.”

“I know that word and no, I’m not. What do you like to drink?”

I shook my head. “Yeah, you are, but I’ll let it pass because of the size of your package. Call me pleasantly surprised.” He grinned and the man really did have a beautiful smile. “I like a blow job shot, lemon martini, and appletini.”

His brows furrowed. “I’m not familiar with any of those.”

This time my eyes widened. “Have you ever had a blow job?” When he didn’t answer, I made the universal sign with my hand and tongue like I was giving someone head.

Give it to the man, he blushed. And it was completely adorable. He looked away from me and cleared his throat. “Um, no.”

“You’ve never had someone slob your knob?”

He turned back to me, and I could see he was trying really hard not to laugh.

I tried again. “Have you ever gone down on a woman?”

“To what, slob her knob?”

This time I laughed. “I don’t have a knob. I have more of a doorbell.”

Greyson did chuckle and he shook his head. “I’ll have to admit I have never slobbed on someone’s doorbell.”

I continued to giggle. “Well, you wouldn’t exactly slob on it. You’d lick it, suck on it, do stuff like that. It’s a complete turn on for women. There are thousands of tiny little nerve endings in the clitoris . . . err doorbell.”

“I’ll have to keep this in mind the next time I’m with a woman.”

Suddenly, a streak of jealousy rushed through me; I didn’t want Greyson with someone else. I couldn’t tell him that, though. We were merely business partners, not lovers. Were we even friends?

“So, there’s no woman in your life.”

He shook his head no. “I haven’t had any time to court anyone.” He looked over to the snowbank and continued. “When the big bitch poisoned the waters, almost everyone died.”

“Remember when I touched your hand last night?”

He turned back to me. “Yeah?”

“I kinda want to do that again but hug you instead. I’m so sorry for everyone you’ve lost because of the big bitch.”

He offered a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I think I’d like that.”

So, doing what I do best, I sauntered through the water to the man, and rose up just high enough for my breasts to almost crest above the surface. Greyson didn’t look down to catch a peek, he kept his gaze locked on mine, and, for that, I wanted to hug him that much more. Maybe even kiss him.

Maybe.

He bent down, respecting my privacy, and allowed me to wrap my arms around his neck. Our bodies touched once more, but this time in innocence. When he embraced me back, it was warm, welcoming, and nice.

“I’m so sorry this happened,” I whispered and cupped the back of his head.

Greyson pulled back and looked into my eyes. The dark brown with silver rings were sad, yet content. He pressed his forehead to mine and he let go a long breath. I hoped he wouldn’t cry, because, dammit, then I’d cry. It doesn’t bother me to watch people cry from not getting their way, but the moment someone was emotionally hurt, it took a part of me with them.

“Thank you for your kind words. You protect yourself with sarcasm and wit. Don’t think I don’t see you, Cesha.”

It was me that pulled back this time. “No idea what you’re talking about.” I smiled and he returned it.

I’m not sure what had just passed between us, but I’m pretty sure Greyson, the dragon Fae shifter, and I had become friends.