Page 10 of The Phoenix Inheritance

I draw in a sharp breath. The noise is enough in this part of Sowilo to reach her ears. Isobel glances backwards, and it just so happens that this new angle provides me with a glimpse of her breasts. Small, but perky and perfectly round. The crotch of my pants feels dreadfully tight.

“You! What in the world are you doing?!” Isobel shrieks, not without plunging into the lake to hide the tantalizing rest of her. “Don’t you have any shame at all, to prey upon a woman alone while she’s bathing?!”

A bead of sweat trickles down my temple, that has just as much to do with my sudden horror, as the fierce need she awoke in my body. I lift up my hands in a display of innocence, hoping that she’s too far away to notice the raging evidence below my belt that proves I’m not so innocent at all.

“It’s Dane,” I blurt stupidly, but it does nothing to erase the indignation on her face. “I just came…” I wrack my brains for a reason that doesn’t sound as needy as I kept wishing I could hear you laugh again. “I wanted to show you that my wrist is healed.” I twist my forearm. “See?”

Isobel doesn’t look impressed. “Good for you. Now that you’ve shown me, can you leave?”

I’m not entirely sure why I’m here in the first place, but one thing I’m certain of is that departing so soon would be depressing. Not to mention plain embarrassing.

“Isobel, I’m sorry for…” I gulp awkwardly as redness creeps up to my face. “Look, can’t I stay around a bit? We can talk, and… things like that.”

She glares at me, but some of the fury has left her pale face. “I generally prefer to have my conversations fully clothed.” When I stay put with my arms still in the air, she sighs heavily. “Turn around, won’t you?”

I promptly obey, and find myself a rock to sit and simmer down. My cock is achingly aware that a certain female is without a stitch of clothing only a few feet behind. I close my eyes but I can still see her, nude and bashful in the water. Rubbing my lids won’t drive the vision away. It’s like it’s seared into my brain.

My brother’s words at the table this morning drift back into my mind. There was a lot bare about Isobel right now. And to be honest… There was quite a bit of beautiful too.

My face flames as I think about what Warwick had been implying. What would it feel like, to make love to Isobel? I swallow with difficulty, as my body answers the question with a painful hardening in the area of my groin.

I shake my head. It’s just that she’s the first woman that you’ve seen without a dress, I reason. There are prettier ones out there. And more importantly, ones that aren't human.

When I hear Isobel’s footsteps approach me, I nod with resolve. Only the sight of her loose, dripping hair is a maddening reminder of what I just witnessed.

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