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That goddamn sundress is riding up her thighs, the firelight dancing over her skin like it knows what I’m thinking.

What I’m barely keeping myself from doing.

She brushes a strand of hair from her face, unaware—or pretending to be—that I’ve been watching her through half-lidded eyes for the last hour.

Like I’m starved.

And she’s every goddamn course.

My zipper’s tight. Too tight.

Been that way since she licked frosting from her finger after dessert and laughed at one of Kian’s awful dad jokes.

My Dragon’s prowling under my skin, low and lazy now.

No longer agitated.

No longer patient either.

She glances up at me, her smile soft. Her voice even softer.

“I should probably put the fire out.”

“No.”

She tilts her head. “No?”

“There’s no way that fire’s going out.”

She doesn’t know what I’m really talking about.

She can’t know.

But still, there’s recognition in her amber eyes as she gazes at me.

Casey stills, her eyes locking on mine.

“Zeke,” she whispers into the night and fuck me, but it sounds like a prayer.

A plea maybe.

I’m not sure.

All I know is my name on her lips is enough to make me shift forward, slow and deliberate.

She doesn’t move.

Not away.

Not toward.

She just stays put and watches me, wide-eyed.

The reflection of the flames catches in the gold-brown of her irises like they were made to glow.

“I tried,” I say roughly. “Tried to stay away. Thought I could keep things simple. But there’s nothing simple about you, Casey.”

Her breath hitches.