Page 17 of A First for the Playboy Dragon

“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, butI’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 saywhen 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.”

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