Page 12 of A First for the Playboy Dragon (Mysteries of Dragon’s Island #7)

CHAPTER 11

***HARRISON***

I t would have taken a blind man not to notice that something was wrong with Juliet, Harrison thought as he followed her into the cabin. Her cheeks were flushed, her pulse was pounding, and her hands were shaking as she gathered her things for the hike. It had been a couple of days since he’d seen her this flustered around him, and he wondered if she was having second thoughts too, a thought that filled him with a cold feeling of disappointment even though he’d been thinking the same thing.

He didn’t want to fall in love, didn’t want the responsibility, didn’t want the heartache, didn’t want the pain that seemed to go along with it. Max’s words had gotten to him, made him stop and think about what he was doing, and now he could see clearly that backing away from Juliet was the smartest thing to do for both of them. He’d let his attraction to her get out of control, let it blur the lines he never crossed, and if he wasn’t careful, he’d end up like the rest of his friends, tied to a woman, his happiness dependent on hers.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. I’m finally ready,” Juliet said, breaking into his thoughts, and he looked over at her. “Where are we going?”

The answer was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t quite form the words. He was too distracted by the sight of her shapely legs no longer covered by the baggy shorts. Instead, she’d put on a pair of hiking shorts that not only revealed her legs but fit snugly over her butt and hips, making his hands itch to touch her. Barely able to hold back a groan as he was flooded with desire and the creature inside him began to awaken, he had to take a deep breath to get control.

“Well, that depends on you,” he said, unable to stop himself from wondering what she was wearing under the long-sleeved shirt that was buttoned up all the way to her neck. “Do you want an easy hike or a challenge?”

“I go hiking almost every weekend in the summer,” she said, grinning at him. “I could use a challenge.”

“Okay, but remember you asked for it,” he said, grinning back at her. “We’ll head for the cliff. It’s a three-mile hike if we make it all the way there.”

Juliet didn’t even hesitate. “Then we’d better get moving if we’re going to make it back before dark,” she said, heading for the door, her hips swaying as she walked, sending another wave of desire rushing through him. “Are you coming?”

“I wish,” he mumbled, trying to get control, then shook his head, reminding himself he was backing away. “Right behind you.”

They walked side by side on the trail until it narrowed, and he let her go ahead to set their pace. However, that forced him to watch Juliet as she climbed up the trail, making thoughts that shouldn’t be there pop into his head. By the time they stopped for a break, he was out of breath, but not from the hike, and he wondered if someone was trying to torture him.

“This is great; it's just what I needed,” she said, smiling at him, completely unaware of what she was doing to him. “How much farther to the cliff?”

“About a mile,” he managed to say. “But it’s the hardest part of the trail, uphill most of the way. There are roots and other hazards on the trail, so you have to watch where you put your feet.”

“Then I think you should lead from here,” she said, looking up the trail. “You’ve been here before, I haven’t.”

Relief poured through him. “I think that’s a great idea,” he said. “I won’t go too fast.”

“Oh, don’t worry about me,” she said, grinning at him. “I’m not even tired yet. I’ll be able to keep up; I thought you said this was a challenge.”

“It’s not over yet,” he said, grinning back at her, unable to stop himself. “I was going to go easy on you, but now you’ve asked for it. You’d better get rehydrated, you’re going to need it.”

When they set off again, he set a crushing pace, using his longer legs to his advantage, but every time he turned around, Juliet was right behind him, looking like she was having the time of her life. He was out of breath, his heart pumping dangerously when they got to the cliff, and stood panting as Juliet stepped up beside him, not even breathing hard, her cheeks only a little pink. A look of wonder appeared on her face as she took in the view from the rocky outcropping, and he could only stare at her as he tried to recover, halfway tempted to let out a little of his magic to help.

“Oh, Harrison, this is incredible,” she said, taking a few steps toward the edge. “You can see everything from up here. Thank you for bringing me, I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, stepping up next to her, unable to resist putting his arm around her. “It’s even better when you can share it with someone.”

Juliet turned and looked up at him, a smile on her face, but it quickly faded, replaced by what looked like guilt to him, and then she slipped out of his arms. “I don’t know about you, but I’m really thirsty,” she said, slipping off her backpack. “It’s so easy to get dehydrated when you’re hiking.”

He watched her take a long drink from her water bottle, groaning when some escaped from her lips and ran down her neck and under the collar of her shirt. “That’s better,” she said, wiping her face with the back of her sleeve when she was done. “Can’t be too careful up here.”

By the time she looked over at him, it was all he could do not to pull her into his arms and kiss her until he was satisfied, but he forced himself to stay rooted to the ground, aware that would be a huge mistake. She was dangerous, the one woman who could take him down, the one woman he was having difficulty resisting, but he knew exactly what was at stake.

“No, you can never be too careful,” he said, slipping off his backpack. “I’d better drink some water too.”

***Juliet***

Juliet turned her back on Harrison and walked over to the edge of the cliff; the hike had helped her make up her mind.She wasn’t going to sacrifice herself for her brother. It made her slightly breathless to think about what her decision meant, but she was sure that Harrison could help. He’d been a Navy Seal. He’d be able to rescue her brother if she just asked him. A man like Mr. Adaloni shouldn’t be able to get away with what he was doing, and she hoped that Harrison’s sense of justice would compel him to help if nothing else did.

She turned to find Harrison staring at her back, and their eyes met across the distance; thrills shot through her instantly, but she took a deep breath, reminding herself that she was about to destroy the fragile connection between them with the truth. It left her feeling cold inside to think about what he would say when he found out that she’d lied to him, that she was here to spy on him, but it had to be done. It might be the only way to save her brother and herself.

Harrison turned away first, “We should probably head back before it gets too late,” he said. “We’ve only got a couple of hours before the sun sets.”

“Okay,” she said, turning to take one more look at the view and took a deep breath to give herself courage. “I’m ready when you are.”

Talking on the first part of the trail was impossible, so she had to wait until they got to an easier part. Her stomach churned dangerously the entire time, and a feeling of loss was already settling over her. When they stopped for a break, she took a long drink from her water bottle, then put it away and took a deep breath, reaching for all the courage she could find to do what she had to.

“When you were a Seal, did you ever have to rescue anyone?” she asked. “You know, like they got kidnapped or something like that.”

“I’m really not supposed to talk about most of the stuff we did,” Harrison said, putting his water bottle away. “But that was part of the job sometimes.”

“Do you think you could do it again?” she asked, slipping her backpack on and trying to pretend she was just making conversation. “It’s probably not something you could do alone, is it? You’d probably need help.”

“Maybe it depends on the situation,” Harrison said, holding out his hand. “Come on, we should get going.”

She took his hand ignoring the warmth that spread through her, telling herself it wasn’t hers anymore, she’d lost the privilege. “Have you ever had to kill someone?” she asked, following him down the trail. “That was probably part of the job, too.”

“Juliet, I can’t answer that question,” he said, shaking his head. “Why the sudden curiosity about my time in the Seals?”

“I’ve never met anyone like you, Harrison,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “I was just curious about that part of your life, I guess.”

He studied her for a second. “Those were some pretty specific questions,” he said. “You’re not planning on kidnapping someone, are you?”

“No, of course not,” she said, smiling at him. “I’m not the kidnapping type.”

“Well, that’s a relief. For a second there, it felt like you were hiding something from me,” he said. “You know that you can trust me, Juliet. If you ever need help, I’ll be there for you. It’s who I am and what I do.”

She was so close to telling him everything, even opening her mouth, but the words wouldn’t come. Instead, she fell silent, earning Harrison a concerned look. To her relief, he didn’t push her, and they walked on in silence as the sun began to slowly sink in the sky behind them. A few minutes later, Harrison came to an abrupt stop, almost tripping her, and she was forced to grab onto his arm or fall to her knees.

He steadied her, his eyes scanning the jungle around them, a look of confusion on his face, and she began to get worried. “Harrison, what’s wrong?” she asked, following his gaze. “Is there something out there?”

“No, but something isn’t right,” he said. “We should have reached the turn in the trail that leads back to the village by now.”

She looked back the way they’d come. “Do you think we missed it?” she said. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t really paying attention to where we were going.”

“We didn’t miss it,” Harrison said, shaking his head. “Maybe we haven’t gone as far as I thought we had. Let’s keep going; we’ll probably find it in a few minutes.”

Ten minutes later, the turn still hadn’t appeared, and Harrison pulled her to a stop, a frown on his face. “This just doesn’t make sense; we’ve been walking for almost two hours now, the sun is about to go down, and there’s no sign of the trail we need.”

“Are we lost?” she asked, looking around. “The island isn’t that big, we can’t be lost.”

“Let’s retrace our steps. I must have missed the turn after all,” Harrison said, turning around and heading the other way. “This is really embarrassing. I thought I knew every inch of this island, but I guess I was wrong.”

It was almost dark when they came to a fork in the trail. “There it is,” she said, pointing. “We did miss it.”

Harrison looked around. “I don’t know, this doesn’t seem right,” he said. “I thought the turn was on the other side of the trail.”

“What do you want to do?” she asked. “We don’t have much daylight left, and I didn’t bring a flashlight. We won’t be able to see anything in a little while.”

“Let’s take it and see where it leads,” he said. This island isn’t that big, and we can’t be that far from the village. I bet this will lead us there.”

“I hope you’re right. I’m getting hungry,” she said. “And I’m not too crazy about the idea of spending the night out here.”

“We’ll be fine,” Harrison said, but the look on his face didn’t reassure her. “I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.”