I heaved, coughing up water and gasping for air. I couldn’t have run if I’d wanted to, not that it would’ve done any good. Horrible cold shook every inch of my body. My teeth chattered uncontrollably.

“Why…so c-cold,” I stammered before taking another moment to cough up a lung. I hugged my arms around my middle. “F-feels…like…i-ice.”

“C’mon. Let’s warm you up.” For the second time that day, he scooped me up and hugged me to his chest. Before I knew it, he was running with me, so fast that everything beside us blurred. “I keep it that cold as a punishment to the guys for falling in. They have extra…protection against…certain elements, so it needs to be cold enough to ice over. My magic keeps it from actually icing over.” I could tell he was choosing his words carefully, probably so as not to give away secrets. He apparently thought I gave two rats or knew anyone with friends they could tell. “I had other things on my mind when you were dangling above the surface. Without…protection, the temperature of the water will give most mammals hypothermia.”

“Probably…n-not. W-wasn’t in…for long.”

He lowered me onto a blue exercise mat still within the private obstacle course area, next to a bundle of sweatshirt. Without ceremony, he hooked two thumbs in the waistband of his sweats and slid them down his legs. Black boxer briefs hugged his powerful thighs and put a very large bulge on display.

I probably should’ve asked what he thought he was doing, or done more than slap at his hands as he went to lift my shirt over my head, but for one solid moment, I could do nothing but stare at the size of that bulge.

It wasn’t one of my finest moments. I blamed the deathly cold cocooning my thoughts.

“S-stop.” I slapped his hands from the bottom of my soaked shirt, hanging limply off me like a pliable ice cube. He’d already removed my cross-body purse and lowered it to the ground. There went any receipts I needed. “Wh-what are…you do-doing?”

“You need to get out of these wet clothes, Alexis. You can keep your underwear if you want, but the pants and shirt have to go.” He captured both of my wrists in one of his large hands before lifting them over my head and grabbing my shirt with the other hand.

I probably would’ve struggled if I weren’t so damn cold.

The sopping, freezing fabric on my face made me feel like I was being dunked again. It hadn’t warmed up in the least. Definitely magically treated.

It fell to the side in a wet glop.

My lacy bra with more holes than lace and very little support gave him an absolute eyeful, but if he noticed for more than a moment, he didn’t show it.

“Here.” He snatched his sweatshirt up off the ground and pulled it around my shoulders. “Tuck in.”

I didn’t need to be told twice. I pushed my hands through the armholes and wrapped all that material around my torso. His smell permeated my senses. Clean cotton, masculine spice, and crisp ocean. I closed my eyes and breathed it in while swimming in the sweatshirt’s warmth.

Which was why I was late to the party when he unbuttoned my jeans and slid them down my wet thighs.

“Are those…poop emojis on your underwear? Is that a warning?” he asked.

“Oh my…” I bent in mortification and pulled down the sweatshirt, covering what I could. “They were free, okay? I wouldn’t have worn them if I’d thought they’d be seen.”

He chuckled darkly. “And to think, if I hadn’t chased you into the water, I never would’ve seen what you wear on a day-to-day basis. Step out.”

Still bending with the sweatshirt pulled to cover what I could, I braced a hand on his hard shoulder and jerkily lifted my legs out of the jeans.

“Here.” He ran to the wall, a blur of movement, and extracted sweats from a basket beside a rack of weights. Back in a moment, he bent and opened up the leg holes for me to step into them. “You’ll probably have to hold them up. They’re made to fit me.”

“I sure as h-hell hope I have to ho-hold them up.” I pulled the sweatshirt a little tighter as he brought up the sweats.

“I wouldn’t have hurt you,” he said softly as he bunched the sweats around my middle. His mostly nude body stood nearly pressed against mine, and his warm breath dusted my face. “Not in a way you didn’t like.”

Tingles raced the shivers across my skin. I fought from leaning in, craving the warmth I knew his body would provide.

“Don’t fear me, Alexis. Don’t ever fear me. I may hurt a lot of people before this is through, but never you. Do you understand?”

“Before what is through?” I asked, struggling to keep my teeth from chattering. “Helping your mother?”

He looked down at me for a moment, but didn’t answer. Instead, I felt one of his hands tighten into a fist, pulling the sweats around me that much tighter. His other hand slid upward until the heat of his touch burned across my lower back.

“Did you hear what I said? About your magic level?” he asked, stepping just a bit closer. His arms tightened around me, pulling my body flush with his. “About my plans for you?”

I could hardly breathe. His proximity vibrated through my body, his power drilling into me until it soaked deep down into my middle. His hand drifted a little lower on my back, and his grip on the pants loosened, his fingers dipping down into the waistband.

My whole world stilled in that moment. I let my eyes drift shut, feeling the glorious heat from his magic and body. I wanted his touch much, much lower. I wanted those shapely lips to skim my fevered skin as I moaned out his name.

I wanted to feel the rush of his size as it thrust into me.

“Please…” I meant to say “stop,” but the word wouldn’t come out. He was, quite possibly, the epitome of a bad idea, but I just wanted to throw caution to the wind and take him for a ride.

“You’re mine, Alexis,” he whispered next to my ear. His hand dipped lower, his fingertips brushing the top of my panty line.

And that was part of the reason he was the epitome of a bad idea.

I tried to reel away. To back up. But my body wouldn’t obey.

In a quick movement, he pulled his hand from my back and nudged my chin up.

His lips settled against mine, soft and full. He increased the pressure of his kiss as his first two fingers slid along my jaw, the touch light and teasing, making my insides dance. He sucked softly on my bottom lip before his tongue flitted in, teasing.

I fell into that kiss. That sinfully decadent kiss.

Fireworks went off in my middle and color exploded behind my closed eyes. Lightness filled my body until it felt like I was floating up off the ground. My skin felt alive, brimming with electricity. My core burned for his touch.

“Your magic feels…unbelievable.” His kiss deepened as his hand roamed down my chest.

My own hands betrayed me, loosening their grip on the sweatshirt to allow his hand to slip in and cup a breast.

I moaned, reaching out now and running my palms across his cut body. I’d been with a couple of lookers in my day, but no one who could even remotely compare to the perfection that was Kieran.

He pinched a nipple softly, and I gasped at the shock of pleasure that speared through my center and boiled in my core.

“I want to fuck you, Alexis,” he said against my lips, his hand moving faster now. It slid over my belly and down to my panties. His fingers traced along the edges before slipping in. I moaned. “I want to fuck you right now.”

33

Alexis

My brain buzzed with desire, blocking out all thought. All of the many reasons why this was a terrible idea.

Kieran’s tricky fingers slid along my wetness before dipping in, nearly buckling my legs and sending me to the floor. His thumb massaged my clit while his fingers plunged into me, starting up a rhythm, the perfect speed.

His other hand rubbed a nipple, the pleasure from all the stimulation pulsing within me.

I yanked on his neck with one hand, the kiss bruising now, while running my other palm along the hardness in those boxer briefs. His rigid length filled his underwear and then some, straining to get out. His fingers worked me higher, his skill with his digits just a glimpse of what was sure to come.