“Jesus, Taya, pivot!”

Taya swiped at the sweat stinging her eyes and nodded wordlessly.

Pivot, she repeated in her head. Right.

As Mina’s flying back-fist came at her, her brain made the command but her weary body didn’t roger that, and she took the stunning blow full to the solar plexus.

One second she was standing, the next she was flat on her ass, mouth opening and closing as she gasped for breath while simultaneously wishing for death.

“What the fuck was that?” Etienne bellowed, charging toward Mina, face screwed into a mask of fury.

“Calm your tits, Etienne. I didn’t hit her full force,” she grumbled.

The words penetrated Taya’s temporarily paralyzed brain and she blanched. Thank god for small favors.

Etienne pulled her gently to her feet, his hand resting on her shoulder for a moment before drifting lower to rub her back in comforting circles as he encouraged her to breathe low and slow.

“Shh, you’re all right,” he murmured.

When the weight was finally lifted from her chest, she sucked in a gulp of air and stepped away from him. He felt too damned good to be that close.

“Holy shit, that hurt,” she croaked.

“Yeah, sorry,” Mina said, wrinkling her nose. “But to be fair, you were supposed to pivot.”

Right.

And duck.

And roll.

And kick.

And scratch and bite and eye gouge and junk-punch, apparently.

She’d been doing everything she’d been asked to do, but they’d been at it for six—she glanced at the clock overhead and let out a weary sigh—make that seven hours now, and she had nothing left in the tank.

If she’d ever wondered exactly how physically superior her shifter companions were to the average human, she wondered no more. While she was bathed in sweat, entire body trembling with exhaustion, Etienne wasn’t even breathing heavy and Mina was still only slightly dewy, looking gorgeous.

Taya turned, catching sight of herself in the gym mirror, and winced.

Drowned rat didn’t even scratch the surface. Sea hag was more like it.

Red-faced, sopping wet, stringy haired sea hag.

Even if Etienne could be with a human, why would he want to be? Her two companions were fresh off the lot Lamborghinis and she was a rusting, nineteen eighty-three Nissan Sentra.

She swallowed the lump of self-pity clogging her throat and blinked back tears.

There was no time to worry about the state of a relationship that had been cut short before it had even really begun. She had to be focused on survival.

But god, was she tired and her whole body ached nearly as much as her heart did.

“I think that’s enough for tonight, Mina,” Etienne said softly. “She’s going to hurt herself if she pushes any harder.”

Taya looked up just in time to see a look pass between them before Mina nodded grudgingly.

“Yeah, all right. We’ll break for a few hours, let her catch some z’s, but not a full night’s sleep, Etienne. I truly think we’re on borrowed time here.”

He murmured his agreement, and it took all Taya had not to pitch forward and collapse against him in relief. She could feel the warm strength of his body still just a few inches away and the lure was almost too strong to resist.

“I’m going to go make some calls and see if I can find out who they’ve sent and how much time we have before they get here. Then, I’m going to get a couple winks myself,” Mina said with a muffled yawn. “Wake me up in a few hours and I’ll spell you so you can get some rest, too,” she said to Etienne.

She seemed to melt from the room as Taya turned to face Etienne. “I wanted to thank you both for trying to teach me. You’ve gone above and beyond to help me, and I really appreciate it.”

He pursed his full, firm lips and raked an agitated hand through his hair. “Look, Taya, about what happened this morning and the stuff Mina told you—”

She met his golden gaze and shook her head sharply. “Please, don’t. I can’t have this conversation right now. I’m running on fumes and I can barely think straight.”

And if he kept talking, she was liable to dissolve into a sobbing mass of goo right on the floor.

He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger like he was fighting a headache and then rolled his shoulders before locking gazes with her. “Okay. Can I make a suggestion, then?”

She nodded reluctantly and tucked a damp strand of hair behind one ear.

“There’s a hot tub and steam room through that set of doors. You’re going to be sore as hell tomorrow and it probably wouldn’t hurt to make use of one or the other.”

She thought about the hot water on her tired muscles and swayed on her feet. That sounded like heaven. Then, she cocked her head and eyed him warily. “And where will you be?”

She was okay with a truce for the time being, but sharing a hot tub was the worst idea in history when she needed to do everything in her power to fall out of love with him.

“I’m not going to leave you down here alone, but I’ll give you some space. I can hit the shower in the next room and, when you’re ready, I’ll take you upstairs and you can sleep for a while.”

She averted her gaze, refusing to think about the way his white T-shirt clung to his muscled chest, or the way that chest had felt beneath her fingers less than twenty-four hours before.

“Okay, yeah.”

He reached out to lay a hand on her shoulder, but she sidestepped him and headed toward the door across the room. She was one touch away from breaking into a million pieces and that was the last thing she wanted him to see.

She yanked the door open and stepped through, eyes on the hot tub that took up the majority of the room. It was huge, big enough for half a dozen people, and she couldn’t wait to get in and let the heat and bubbles go to work. Maybe it would clear her head some, because as it stood, she was a wreck. And even still, she couldn’t stop imagining she and Etienne tangled together in that water. His hands on her. Taking and giving and—

“I’ll be right in the next room,” Etienne said gently from behind her as the sound of a switch clicked and the surface of the crystal clear water began to roil. “Towels are on the rack to your right. Just give a yell or a knock when you’re ready, yes?”

She nodded dully, but didn’t risk turning to face him again. The room went thick with the weight of their silence and she clenched her hands to keep them from trembling.

Just go, she willed him mentally. Just go before I do something stupid.

He blew out a sigh and she let her eyes drift closed as he padded from the room. God, she was fickle. She wanted him to leave. Needed him to leave. But now that he was gone, all she wanted was for him to come back.

The sweat on her body had dried, leaving her chilled and shaky, and she rushed to strip off her—Etienne’s—gym clothes.

She made her way to the edge of the tub and gingerly dipped a toe in, letting out a hiss of pleasure as the heat of it shot up her leg.

Twenty minutes. Just twenty minutes to let her mind shut down and let the water leach some of the exhaustion from her body.

She took the first step, then the second, and when she could bear the heat, finally submerged herself to her shoulders. The whirlpool had bench seats around the entire perimeter and she settled onto one with a contented sigh. Everything might be shit, but this was a tiny slice of heaven.

She shimmied until her back was pressed against one of the jets that shot water from it, and groaned out loud as it worked on the knotted muscle behind over shoulder.

There was no question it had been a terrible day. Nearly everything that could’ve gone wrong had, but she couldn’t help the tiny spark of pride buried deep beneath all the worry and despair.

She had to hand it to Mina. The Valkyrie was a class A, bona fide bitch a lot of the time, but she had hit the nail on the head with bringing her down to the gym. Even if it was all self-delusion, Taya really did feel a little better knowing she didn’t have to just stand there and get murdered. After the attack that fateful night in the woods, she’d been feeling like the victim of her circumstance, but even now, when all felt pretty hopeless, she still preferred this.

She settled more deeply into the tub and let her eyes drift shut. Her thoughts instantly went to Etienne. What had he been about to tell her before she’d cut him off? Sure, he’d made mistakes. He’d hurt her with his lies of omission. But he was still a dragon who had slain wolves for her and she couldn’t suppress the rush of emotion that swamped her.

She wasn’t made of stone, for god’s sake. He was a knight in shining armor in 3-D. She could no more turn off her emotions about him than she could put out the sun, but she had to do her best not to act on them anymore. It would only make the inevitable even harder.

Sadness welled up to choke her and she swallowed it back.

This wouldn’t do at all. She needed to use every second she could to relax, let her body heal itself and prepare for the battle ahead.

She clenched her fists together and forced him from her mind, instead trying to imagine a serene field of wildflowers. She’d always been good at that. Blocking out the world and meditating when the bustle of life got to be too much. It took a solid ten minutes, but soon, she could feel the tension draining from her and her head clearing.

Tired.

So tired…

“Taya?”

A muffled voice called her name from a distance and she shifted with a grumble. “Go away.”

“Taya.” The voice was closer now, just a few inches from her ear, and her eyes snapped open.

Etienne.

She moved to sit up and sent water sloshing over the side of the tub. Shit, she was still in the hot tub. Her mind was fuzzy, her muscles languid and slow as she tried to figure out how long she’d been there.

“I didn’t mean to scare you. You were in here for a long time and didn’t answer when I knocked.”

“I was drifting off,” she said, blinking away the sand scratching at her eyes. It was only then that she looked up to see Etienne’s gaze burning into her.

He was clearly doing his best not to look, but he couldn’t seem to stop his eyes from flickering from her face lower, down the line of her neck, to the swell of her breasts that just broke the surface of the foaming water.

She lifted an arm up to cover herself reflexively, but there was no denying the rush of heat that flooded her core at the stark need on his face.

He clenched his jaw as his Adam’s apple worked in his strong throat.

“I apologize. It’s just—” He broke off with a muttered curse and turned to face the wall. “I’ll go so you can dress.”

His hair was damp from his shower and she stared at his naked, muscled back. She wanted so badly to spear her fingers into those golden curls. Run her hands over that back.

“Don’t go,” she heard herself whisper.

The room was quiet but for the whirl of the hot tub, and the breath sawing in and out of his lungs.

“Taya, I can’t stay here with you like that. I know I should be made of sterner stuff than that, but don’t ask it of me. It’s too hard. I’ll be right outside the door.”

She hadn’t even known what she was asking for until she found herself rising. Water sluicing down the length of her body as she reached out and traced a finger over his calf.

It was nuts. Crazy, really. Handing her heart over on a plate when he had the power to grind it to dust in one hand.

And still, suddenly she couldn’t get the dream she’d had earlier that day out of her head. Especially the part where they had been plummeting to the ground, toward certain death. She might want to protect her heart and wallow in sadness and despair, but the reality was, she would likely never have to worry about Etienne breaking her heart because she’d be dead before he ever had the chance.

It was that knowledge that had her reaching out a hand to him.

“Be with me.”

“I never wanted to hurt you, Taya,” he said, his voice raw and so full of heartache and regret, it made her hands tremble.

“And I don’t want to be hurt. But we both know what’s likely to happen here. You’re a dragon shifter. A genetic killing machine with strength unparalleled. That strength and those healing powers are likely to save you.” She straightened her shoulders and took the three steps up to stand behind him, pressing her wet, naked front against his back. “I’m just flesh and bone. And odds are, I’m not getting out of this alive.”

His whole body quaked against her and he let out a snarl as she wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed.

“If I’m going to die, Etienne, I want my last night to be with you.”