Page 38 of All's Fair in Love and Magic

“I might only try surfing once,” I said.

“I don’t care. Keep it.”

My gaze met Liam’s in the mirror. He was steaming again. “How does it look?” I asked, just because I wanted to know how he’d respond.

“Really fucking hot.”

It went back over my head, but I left it on the countertop so I could put it on before I left.

Four of the five swimsuit coverups worked, and I put the one I didn’t want back in the bag.

I tried on the rest of the bikinis too, and most of them were fine. None were as cute as my floral one, and the fabric on most of them was simpler than I preferred, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. I kept four, only returning the two that didn’t even somewhat fit.

Liam made a noise of irritation when I put the plain bikinis in my keep pile.

I ignored him—but he was at my side a moment later, pulling them out.

“You clearly don’t like these,” he said.

“They fit me.” I tried to take them back, but he lifted them out of my reach. Since he was so freaking tall, that wasn’t difficult for him to do.

“If I’m buying the clothes, I’m buying shit you actually want, Clove. We’re not keeping them just because they fit.”

I huffed. “Fine.”

He tossed the bikinis back into the bag from the store.

I was pickier when I went through the rest of the things, only choosing the ones I really did like. I put back one of the swimsuit coverups, too.

When I was done, I pulled my single new bikini on and grabbed both a coverup dress and the swim shirt. My hair was still damp, hanging tangled around my shoulders. I hadn’t seen a brush, so I grabbed my one remaining hair tie off the bathroom countertopand threw the strands in a quick bun at the base of my skull. Two of the pins I needed to work my magic went in, too.

Liam had the same pair of shorts on that he’d been wearing earlier when I stepped out.

Guess we needed to stop at his room in the tower before we went to the beach. I still had two hours until the surf lesson Madison, Vera, and I had signed up for, so I wasn’t in a rush anyway.

We spent thirty minutes outside the front of the bungalow while I runed the place to keep everyone else out, tying the magic to our blood and the plants around the building. Liam didn’t flinch when I wove his blood into the runes too. It felt good to use magic I was actually good with—unlike spells.

I’d need to hold onto the feeling when I started comparing spells in a book to the intricate ones Liam’s mother had created.

eight

LIAM

“Are you sure this is safe?”Sage asked for the second time, as she adjusted her position on my back. Her hands were buried in my feathers, and her thighs were squeezing the hell out of my shoulders.

The dragons I’d spoken to said that flying with their mates on their backs feltright, but so far, I didn’t agree.

I nodded again.

She gripped tighter. “Alright. Let’s get this over with.”

I grimaced inwardly.

While I could adjust to pretty much anything as far as a mate bond was concerned, I didn’t think I could adjust to rarely flying.

Or to dragging my reluctant mate onto my back whenever I wanted to be in the sky.

I’d just have to deal with it.