Page 22 of Claimed by the Savage Dragons

But I grab her long before she’s in any real danger, loving the way her shuddering frame grips me for dear life, her body pressing against mine.

He’s impatient for her, but I make him wait.

This is for me, not him.

Chapter Three

MARI

Torvial swims around the large pool with my fingers digging into his body, looking like a completely different person than the serious dragon man I’ve known for the past however many hours. A smile plays on his lips as he watches me, and I frown at him.

‘You don’t need to make fun of me for not being able to swim,’ I mutter.

He snorts. ‘That’s not why I’m smiling.’

‘Why then?’

‘It’s just been awhile since I had this much fun.’

I roll my eyes. ‘At my expense.’

A laugh rumbles out of him. ‘A little. Do you want to learn?’

‘To swim?’ I regard him with suspicion.

I don’t even try to hide it.

‘To tread water, at least. It’s pretty easy. Just push your fingers together to scoop the water, keep air in your lungs, and always move. Never know when you might need a skill like that.’

I scoff. ‘If I fall into water deep enough to need to swim, I’m already dead.’

He shrugs and I regard him, reassessing what I thought I knew about him. I don’t want to like him, especially with howadamant he is that he won’t help me even though he knows that I’ll be abused by his kind.

‘Okay,’ I say, and he looks surprised.

His hands circle my waist, and I try to hide the shiver that runs up my spine from his touch. If he notices, I hope he misconstrues it as fear.

‘Relax. Feel the water. I won’t let you go.’

I nod jerkily. What if he drowns me, or something?

I banish the unhelpful thoughts. If he wanted me dead, he’s had a thousand opportunities to do it. He literally held my measly human life in his claws all day while we flew, and he did sort of save me from Orin. That dragon had looked pissed that I’d kneed him in the junk. He was probably about to incinerate me. I can’t believe I thought Orin was the less dangerous one when I first met them.

‘Okay, treading water isn’t exactly like swimming. You have to walk in it like you’re climbing stairs while you paddle with your hands. Try it with your legs first.’

‘You won’t let go?’ My voice wavers.

He’s quiet for a minute. There’s an odd look on his face. ‘I won’t let go.’

I try to do as he says, pretending I’m going up steps like he said, and he nods.

‘That’s good. Slower. This is something that you should be able to do for a long period. It needs to be low effort. Easy, languid movement. Like the water itself.’

‘Okay.’

I try again and hate that I get a warm feeling in the pit of my stomach at his approving gaze, but that’s immediately overshadowed by my own excitement.

‘I’m doing it!’ I exclaim, feeling his hands leave me, and I don’t begin to drown.