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I lay a hand against his cheek, the touch gentle enough to startle some sanity back into him, to make his wings flare wide and the punishing pace of his hips to falter.

“Only if I get to feel you, too,” I whisper, and kiss him.

There are no more words after that. There’s nothing but the unrelenting stroke of his hand, the fullness of him moving in me, the shared rasp of our breath, and the balm of the summer air surrounding us. And as soon as I feel the first tremors of his release, I’m right there, too. Falling apart. Just as undone as he is.

Ewan spills into me with a hoarse shout. Wave after wave of liquid heat lashes my core, feeding into the storm of my own orgasm. Unable to stay on his feet, he sinks to his knees on the forest floor, taking me with him so I’m straddled across his thighs, still hugged tightly to his chest.

It’s a few long, hazy minutes before either of us speaks again. I take the time to savor this, savor him, savor these moments of connection like I already know they won’t last much longer.

Because as the minutes pass and the silence stretches on, I swear I can feel the distance growing between us. And when Ewan finally speaks, I can hear it in his voice.

“I’m so sorry, Kenna,” he rasps, low and distraught.

“For what?”

His eyes snap to mine and a short, disbelieving laugh breaks from his lips. “For what? For all of it. Reacting the way I did. Losing my head like that. Kidnapping you—”

“Not kidnapping,” I interrupt him, stroking my hands through his hair. “I agreed to come with you.”

He holds my gaze until the pleasure of my nails raking over his scalp is too much and they slide shut, another rumble of pleasure kicking up in his chest. At the sound of it, though, he seems to snap back to reality.

He gives his head a sharp shake, and I drop my hands.

“I’m sorry for what happened with Harrison,” he says. “You should have never been involved with any of it.”

Strange, how I haven’t really even thought about Harrison for the last hour.

Well, maybe not so strange considering I was dealing with a massive golden dragon who may or may not have been about to eat me.

The reminder of what happened back at the Bureau makes my stomach clench. “Does he… does he know?”

“If he doesn’t at least strongly suspect, he’s an idiot.”

“Suspect,” I repeat slowly. “About you? Or us? Or…”

“All of it,” Ewan says bitterly.

He looks beyond me, scanning the forest around us like he’s seeing it for the first time. And maybe he is. I still don’t know how much of him was here with me before he shifted back.

I take his chin in my hand and turn his attention back toward me. “What… what do we do now?”

As soon as I ask, something in Ewan’s gaze falters, then shutters completely.

Don’t do that.I want to plead with him.Don’t keep shutting me out.

But I know it wouldn’t be any use. Already that expression of his is morphing back into certainty.

“I’ll handle it.”

My heart sinks. Sure. I’m sure he’ll handle it. Like he’s been handling it when things get too heavy and he decides to pull away. Like he’s been handling tough conversations by avoiding them completely.

I don’t say any of that, though. How could I?

I know what this is, and what it isn’t. I know who I am to him, and who I’m not.

I should probably be angrier about it, but right now all I feel is tired. All I want is to get the hell out of this forest and go home.

“Alright,” I say finally, dropping my head to lean my forehead against his shoulder. “Alright.”