Sympathetic, I patted the side of the tub. “Come satisfy your curiosity then.”
As he walked over, the light gleaming on his defined chest, I scooted back to make room for him. There was no way we were sharing a bench. If he had been into me, I wouldn’t have invited temptation in, but I was positive he would sit there and be confused about the appeal of a hot tub and then get out. Maybe we could calmly have that discussion on boundaries while we waited for the goblins.
I looked away when he climbed over the edge, everything on display and highlighted against the dark backdrop of the lake.
“This water smells of chemicals. I fail to see how dousing oneself in them is relaxing.”
“The bubbles make it therapeutic for your muscles. Sit down and find a jet to lean against.”
Zav looked at me on my side of the hot tub, as if wondering if he should join me. I pointed to the opposite bench.
He sat down, but then sprang up as if something had bitten him, and I got a face full of dragon penis.
“Zav,” I protested. “What are you doing?”
His head was craned over his shoulder. “A strong gust of water shot up my cloaca.”
“I promise that you don’t have one of those as a human. Unless you’re not as anatomically correct as you think you are.”
He shot me a dark look, as if he thought I’d played a trick on him.
“You sat on one of the jets. They’re for massaging your muscles.”
Judging by the way he rubbed his butt, he’d gotten more of an enema than a massage. I couldn’t blame him for being offended.
“Here, sit down.” I patted the bench beside me to make sure there weren’t any jets on it—he must have sat on a lounging seat designed to massage calves—then pulled him down.
He let me, fortunately putting his lower half under the surface, and settled beside me. Sort of. He felt the jets pushing at his back and kept adjusting himself. It was amusing seeing all the goofy facial expressions on someone who usually wore a hard mask that was either full of arrogance and indignation or simply difficult to read.
Finally finding an acceptable position, he looked at me, his shoulder brushing mine. The touch sent an electric tingle along my nerves, and my thought that this might not be a good idea returned. Though the goblins probably would believe we were suitably distracted now.
His expression had returned to its usual, harder masked mien, and I had no idea what he was thinking. But I steeled myself for the conversation we needed to have.
“You are not attracted to me, right?” I asked.
He blinked. That must not have been the topic he expected me to bring up.
“Correct,” he said.
“And you don’t want to skylitha me, right?”
“Correct.”
“And I’m not attracted to you and don’t want to skylitha you.”
His eyebrows drifted upward. “You do not?”
“Of course not. You’re arrogant, you’ve tried to use me, and you wanted to kill me the first time we met.”
“But it would be a great honor for you to have a dragon mate. Many males and females from lesser species attempt to get dragons to shape-shift into their form so they can seduce them.”
“That’s not going to happen here. That kiss was Dob making me try to seduce you. I assume you know that.” I hoped he believed that, anyway. If he were human, he wouldn’t, not after catching me peeping at him.
He gazed at me now, his face only a few inches from mine, as if he were trying to discern the truth. Maybe he couldn’t believe that some mongrel Earthling girl wouldn’t want him.
“Why do you bring up this subject?” he asked.
“Because you got huffy when that guy hit on me. You don’t have the right to get in the way of any relationships I may want to pursue with men, simply because you’re in the area. I don’t know why you would care, anyway, unless you’ve been lying to me and you’re having secret fantasies about getting horizontal with me.”
“It is improper and a sign of disrespect for another male to attempt to skylitha a female who is with me. It would not matter if you were my sister, my offspring, or my mate. A male dragon is a warrior, trained from birth to use magic and fight when necessary to defend the females in the clan. They are the rulers among our kind. Many are very powerful and capable fighters themselves, but it is our role to protect them and keep the peace, if that is their wish, or fly into war, if that is their wish.”
Huh, a matriarchal society? I believed what he was telling me, but it was hard for me to grasp that his behavior hadn’t been more possessive than protective. Maybe that was my human way of interpreting things and it couldn’t be applied to him, but…
“You got huffy when I was talking to Thad, too, and I know he doesn’t want to skylitha with me.”
“That is incorrect. He had sexual desire for you.”
“No, you’re wrong. We’ve been divorced a long time, and he has a new girlfriend.”
“As I said, I can see the thoughts of humans, of the men around you. They do not all desire you, but many do.” He smirked. “Those who don’t mind a challenging female with a tongue as sharp as her sword.”
“You’d think that would cut things down a lot.”
I should have been dwelling on what the revelation about Thad meant, but I was busy being aware of Zav looking at me, of his face so close to mine, of the way his eyes gleamed, even when they didn’t light up, when he smiled. Or smirked. His humor—he’d promised me once that dragons had senses of humor—was on display, and it made him more appealing. It would be easy to shift over and kiss him, but there wasn’t another dragon around for me to blame it on this time. And I wasn’t going to give in to his assumption that all lesser species wanted to seduce dragons. Please.
“I guess it’s good that you don’t feel that way,” I said. “How embarrassing would it be for you to be caught in bed with some mongrel from Earth?”
“Dragons do not care what other dragons do for meaningless recreation.” He shifted his arm out of the water and rested it on the edge behind me, his chest turning more fully toward me. A faint furrow creased the skin between his eyebrows. “My kin would not approve if I chose a mate from a lesser species. That would be cause for familial embarrassment.”
“I bet. Those lesser species from the wrong side of the tracks. A plague to families throughout the galaxy.” I thought about moving away from him and his arm. I also thought about scooting closer. If I slipped into his lap, I’d find out for sure if he was attracted to me. Right now, his lips were saying one thing and his eyes were saying something else. He wasn’t looking away from me, though his gaze occasionally dipped to my mouth or my chest—funny how boobs tended to float in bubbling water—and I felt like a mouse in the hawk’s sights.
“Is that something you’ve contemplated before? Dob said something about an elf.”
Zav hadn’t been moving much, but he froze at that. A long frosty moment passed, and I got a chill even in the hot water.
“It was not his place to do so,” Zav said.
“What happened?”
Would he tell me? I shifted toward him, attempting to look curious and guileless. Which I truly was.
For the first time, he turned his gaze toward the distant lake instead of me. “I was sent as an ambassador to the home world of the elves and lived several moons among them in their form. The king’s eldest daughter spent much time with me, showing me around, teaching me elven ways, and flirting with me. More than that. She seduced me. I believed she desired me and had no reason to suspect anything malicious, but as with you, and with many of the more powerful elves, I could not read her surface thoughts. And I had no reason to force my way deep into her mind. I was attracted to her and cared for her, inasmuch as one can a lesser species.”
I snorted. “You’re not exactly the material of romance novels, you know.”
“So you’ve told me before. Because I lack money.”
“Trust me, that’s not the only reason.”
He frowned at me. “I did not think you would bring your blade into this place of relaxation.”
I glanced toward the bench—the forgotten bench—and was relieved to find my gear still there, but then I realized he was referring to my tongue, not Chopper.
“Sorry, but it’s your arrogance that brings out my blade. I can’t resist the urge to let you know that the galaxy doesn’t revolve around you.”
“You are a strange female.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Other beings take the greatness of dragons for granted.”
“How lovely for them. What happened with the princess that you cared for inasmuch as one can a lesser species?”
Zav shook his head, and I feared I’d put him on the defensive. I wasn’t good at quiet, vulnerable moments with guys—or anyone—and even if he was being his arrogant self, I regretted pointing it out. I wanted to hear the rest of the story. Maybe this had to do with why he didn’t trust me.
“Did the elf princess betray you?” I lifted my arm and rested it next to his—only because I was getting warm in the hot water.
“Yes.” His gaze shifted toward the lake again, his eyes unfocused. “She almost succeeded in assassinating me. It was not our first night together. I would have been more on guard if it were. But we were a few weeks into an invigorating relationship.”
“Invigorating?” I mouthed but did not say aloud.
“I’d even spoken of her to my mother and brother. Perhaps unwisely since they both counseled me to stick to my kind. They were right.” His mouth twisted. “She drugged me at dinner one night, putting something that affects elves in a beverage not dissimilar to what was in those bottles you gave me.” He turned a sharp eye toward me.
Hell, how was I supposed to have known someone had poisoned him with wine once?
“Since I was in elven form, I was somewhat susceptible to what affects them. I believe she thought I was completely susceptible. We proceeded to have sex and as I dozed off, she planted a small device on my chest and turned on its magic. It had the power to stop a heart instantly. Even a dragon heart. My kind are feared throughout the Cosmic Realms, and lesser beings have put great effort into creating artifacts that can harm us, even kill us. Many of them want to end our rule and get rid of us forever.”