The shock of the water hit her in an instant. She felt like she had just jumped into a bucket full of ice, and when she resurfaced she shrieked. “Oh my god, this is freezing.”

Jasper, who had recovered from the surprise of being splashed by Julia’s sudden jump into the pool, was laughing. “It’s not that bad. After a second you get used to it and it’s really rather refreshing.”

Julia shook her head at Jasper in disbelief. Her teeth were already chattering. “You dragons have some sort of internal heater or something. I can’t handle this cold.”

She started swimming back toward the boat, but Jasper was still laughing.

“Your face when you came up for air was priceless. You looked so shocked.”

“Glad I could amuse,” Julia said. She feigned a hurt look, but she couldn’t help but smile, too. It must have been pretty funny.

When she reached the boat again, Jasper helped push her up. His hands were surprisingly warm, which confirmed her suspicion that the cold didn’t bother him as much because he was naturally hot-natured. She, on the other hand, could hardly wait to wrap herself up in one of the giant blankets still laying across Jasper’s boat.

“There are towels in the hatch,” he called up to her.

Julia grinned. “No need.” She loved the way shifters always forgot that wizards were capable of some very practical magic. With a flourish, she raised her magic ring above her head and called out, “Magicae siccum.”

Instantly, the water on her body and bikini disappeared, and her hair was once again perfectly dry. This helped a great deal with warming her up, but she still wanted more. So she wrapped herself in one of the blankets and said, “Magicae therma.”

Between the blanket and the warming spell, Julia soon felt cozy and comfortable once again. She snuggled in happily, then sat up with the blanket still wrapped around her and reached for another beer from the cooler. Jasper grinned at her from the water, where he was still happily treading water. “Toss me a beer,” he said. “I could use some refreshment.”

Julia tossed him a beer, but looked skeptically down at him. “Are you sure you’re okay down there? I’m not sure I could rescue you if you got too tired or cold to keep yourself afloat. I suppose I could throw you a lifejacket, but if you were tired and cold that might be hard to hang onto.”

Julia looked doubtfully back at the front of the boat, where the lifejackets they’d worn while the boat was moving were sitting in a pile on the driver’s seat. Julia wondered if she should throw one to Jasper now and insist he put it on. Having him drown would definitely put a damper on this day.

He was laughing again, though, and he tilted back his head and guzzled his beer down before answering her. “I’m fine, really. We dragons don’t feel the cold that much, thanks to our internal heat. But if it makes you feel better I’ll come up on the boat again.”

Julia nodded sheepishly, and Jasper climbed back up a moment later. Julia pointed her magic ring at him as he stepped onto the back of the boat, and once again said “Magicae siccum.” Instantly, Jasper dried off. He looked down in wonder at his completely dry body and shook his head.

“Nice party trick,” he said. Then he grabbed the other blanket and wrapped it around himself, sitting a little closer to Julia than he had to on the back of that small boat. Julia was surprised to feel a little thrill of excitement going through her. She’d determined not to let herself fall for him, but it was hard not to feel at least a little bit of chemistry sitting out here on a boat in such a beautiful setting with such a handsome man. To distract herself, she took another sip from her beer and scrambled to think of something to talk about that wasn’t related in any way to the fact that Jasper and she were on an actual date. She finally settled on the name of his boat. She’d been curious about it since the beginning, but hadn’t had a chance to ask him yet.

“So why the Sapphire Diamond?” she asked. “Seems like a pretty intense name for a boat.”

Jasper chuckled. “Well, the diamond part is just because it sparkles a bit thanks to the metallic paint. And I like to say that the sapphire part is because the boat is blue, but in reality it’s because of me.”

“You?”

“Yeah. My dragon form is blue. That’s relatively rare.” Jasper looked embarrassed and hurried to add, “It’s not like it means anything special. It’s just a rare gene or something that makes me have blue scales instead of the more common red or green scales. And like most blue dragons, I breathe acid instead of fire.”

Julia raised an eyebrow. “That all sounds pretty special to me.”

But Jasper shook his head, looking uncomfortable. “It’s nothing, really. It doesn’t make me any stronger than any other dragon or anything.”

Julia let the subject drop, but in her head she was thinking that Jasper was being too modest. After all, he had singlehandedly defended his clan. That sounded like an extraordinary level of strength to her. But she understood feeling out of place and embarrassed because of your past. For her, it was because her past was so humble and nondescript. She had no good education or resources, and no exceptional magical abilities that made her stand out. For Jasper, it was the opposite. His abilities were too exceptional, and his past was too special. But she imagined the feeling of wanting to be judged for who you were now rather than who you’d been was somewhat the same. She felt a sudden strange kinship with him, and she reached over to pat his knee underneath his blanket. He looked up at her in surprise, then smiled warmly, which made Julia’s whole body feel tingly.

Careful, she told herself. She knew she was treading on dangerous ground. She was starting to think of Jasper as more than just an annoying coworker. This shouldn’t have surprised her, but it did. After all, she’d enjoyed her time with him quite a bit the first night they’d met. She’d felt then like they “clicked,” but she’d put up a wall when he ended the evening by asking her out. She did not want a relationship with any man, not even one as handsome and fun as Jasper.

At least, that’s what she kept telling herself. But it was getting harder and harder to believe. Jasper was handing her another beer now, and the buzz was making it harder to remember her resolve to hate Jasper, and easier to remember everything good about him. Julia relaxed just a little bit more, and let herself enjoy his company as they talked and laughed for the next two hours. She was so comfortable here. The water had been cold, but the air temperature was mild and the sun was warm. Not to mention the blankets were cozy. Neither of them bothered to take their swimsuits off and change back into their normal clothes yet. That would require getting out from under the blanket, and Julia didn’t want to do that. She felt so comfortable.

Jasper brought more food out at some point—fruits, crackers, and cheeses. Julia was glad for something to soak up the alcohol a little bit. She was starting to feel a bit lightheaded from her beer buzz, and, perhaps worse, she was starting to feel like she could actually imagine a future with Jasper. Surely, that must just be the alcohol talking. Julia did her best to push away the thoughts, but they kept coming, harder and faster. She was trying to remember why she had thought that a man was not compatible with her career plans. Some men would drag her down and ruin her focus at work, true. But surely, not all men? Was Jasper one of the good ones?

Julia wasn’t sure, but what she was sure of was that when Jasper leaned in for a tentative kiss, she wanted it, too. She wanted to feel his lips on hers, so strong and warm. And she wanted to feel the delicious tingles that spread through her body at his touch. She couldn’t remember the last time she had craved a man this badly. Perhaps never. She’d had her share of crushes, but none of them had ever been quite as intoxicating as Jasper.

When he pulled away, she felt instantly disappointed. She wanted to reach for him and pull him back. But how could she, when she’d sworn up and down that she didn’t want him? How could she change her mind now?

As he looked into her eyes, though, she realized that perhaps the question was how could she not change her mind? This moment was too perfect. The weather was beautiful, the lake was dazzling, the food was delicious, and Jasper looked adorable wrapped up in that ridiculously oversized blanket. Perhaps he’d planned it all this way. The perfect romantic picnic that managed to not be cheesy. It sure made up for the cheesiness of the huge flower bouquet he’d bought her—although Julia had to admit that those flowers had been gorgeous.

Julia’s thoughts continued on this train, a mile a minute, until Jasper leaned in and kissed her again. His kiss was slow and questioning. She knew he was asking her whether she wanted more. He was giving her plenty of time to pull away and stop him if she wasn’t on board with this. Julia’s mind screamed at her that she shouldn’t be on board, but her heart pounding in her chest told her that she was all in.

And so, she kissed him back. As soon as she gave in, truly gave in to him and focused on their kiss instead of the thousand reasons why they shouldn’t be kissing, she quickly realized that this was the best kiss she’d ever experienced. She felt her body warming up as his hands reached for her cheeks. His palms against her skin sent a fresh wave of tingles through every fiber of her being, and she knew in that moment that she wasn’t going to be satisfied until she had all of him. She knew even before he did that they were going to take this all the way.

She did not protest as he unwrapped himself from his blanket and scooted himself into hers. After making sure they were both completely covered by the blanket’s soft warmth, he pressed his body against hers as he continued to kiss her. His body felt unbelievably warm. His skin burned almost like when someone has a fever, but Julia knew he wasn’t sick. He was merely a dragon, filled with an impossible heat. The only fever he burned with was one of passion—passion for her.

For perhaps the first time, Julia found herself a bit awed by that. She’d been too proud to admit how flattering it was to be wanted by a dragon. But now all she could think about was the fact that Jasper could have had almost any woman he wanted, and yet he’d chosen her. She let out a happy sigh and wrapped her arms around him as best she could as he continued kissing her under the blankets. He slipped his tongue into her mouth, and she closed her eyes to fully enjoy the sensation.

He was a damn good kisser. He was confident and moved with authority, but he was gentle, too. The perfect balance of strength and sweetness. This was a side to dragons that not many were lucky enough to see, and now that Julia was going for it, she wanted to fully experience the moment.

Everything faded away except the two of them. Jasper reached gently to unclasp the back of her bikini top. Julia no longer felt embarrassed about how her body might look under Jasper’s gaze. He must have liked what he saw, if he was continuing to move forward in their makeout session. He slid the top off her shoulders and threw it over his shoulders to the front of the boat. Then he reached to slide off the bottoms as well, struggling just a bit with the awkward bending and maneuvering required to get that off. And, not to be left out, he quickly slid off his Speedo.

Julia lay naked beneath the blanket with him. She normally would have felt nervous and embarrassed, but all she could feel right now was desire. His hands reached to explore her body, and the warmth and tingling she felt made her feel like she was going to explode. It wasn’t easy to keep it all in. He paused for a long time at her breasts, wanting to explore those completely, it seemed. First he took the whole of her breasts in his hands, massaging them and seeming to be awed by their size and shape. Then he ran his fingers across the nipples. He went back and forth across the surface of her skin and then drew circles around each hard, alert nub. Not satisfied with using just his hands, though, he soon bent and put his mouth on her. His tongue flicked back and forth, and he used his teeth to nibble at each nipple.

By this point, Julia felt like fireworks were going off in her body. She had long ago lost any sense of reason. Between her legs, she could feel the wetness of her desire. Her whole body felt like it was pulsing and begging for more of Jasper. She couldn’t think about anything except how badly she wanted him inside of her. Needed him inside of her.

She had no illusions of being in love. This was too soon. Too new. There’s no way this was anything more than a pure, primal need for each other’s bodies. And yet, she couldn’t escape the depth of caring she saw whenever she opened her eyes and met Jasper’s eyes. He was interested in fucking her, yes. But he was also…interested in loving her? There was no denying that the emotions simmering under the surface of his gaze went much deeper than just carnal lust.

Julia couldn’t process what that might mean right now. It was getting harder and harder to think as Jasper’s hands continued to explore every part of her. His fingers found her entrance, and he grunted in approval when he slipped one inside of her.

“You’re so wet for me.” His voice sounded deep and husky. Hungry.

Julia only managed a moan. She reached her own hand down to find Jasper’s dick. She had felt his erection pressing against her, hard and stiff. But she wanted to explore what he felt like with her hands as well. And her exploring did not disappoint her. His shaft was huge, thick, and long. He moaned as she rubbed him with her palm, then used her fingers to tease his head. She kept going, and he kept moaning, until finally he let out an actual growl.

He pushed her down onto her back, then moved to hover over her under the blankets. His eyes, feral and desperate, searched hers. “Julia, if you don’t want more, you better tell me right now. Because I’m about to show you what it feels like when a dragon takes you.”

Julia only smiled. She did want more. She wanted everything he had to give. And he gave it.

With a roar that seemed to reverberate across the entire lake, he slammed into her. She gasped as he did, unable to believe that any man could be so large. And yet he was. He filled her completely, pushing deep into her and setting every nerve ending within her on fire. He slid easily against the wetness of her inner walls. The juices of her desire covered him as his heat emanated into her. They were one in that moment, and Julia had never felt so overcome by ecstasy. She closed her eyes and moaned as the heat, tingling, and pressure quickly built up to a wonderfully unbearable level.

And then, she let go.

She arched her back and threw back her head as she screamed, letting her release take over her in steady, strong waves. Her inner walls pulsed and squeezed around Jasper’s shaft. Every tremor came from deep within her and filled her with a rush of pleasure. She had never known such deep bliss before.

Jasper followed not far behind her. He thrust into her, hungry and desperate. He roared and moved under the blankets with increasing speed, going deeper and deeper with each thrust until he too found his release. He stiffened and pulsed into her, his whole body giving itself to her in that moment. For a perfect, brief moment, they reached the heights of pleasure together out on that lake.

When he finally slid out of her and lay beside her, Julia feared she was going to come crashing back to reality. Surely, now that the moment was over, she would realize that she’d just made a passionate, foolhardy mistake. But there was no immediate rush of regret. There was only a heavenly warmth filling her body, the soothing sound of waves lapping against the side of the boat, and the surprisingly reassuring feeling of Jasper’s fingers intertwined with hers. This had not been at all how she’d thought this date would go. And yet, she knew as she lay there that it had gone exactly as it should have.

She couldn’t explain how, but she had a deep certainty that her life and Jasper’s had been destined to intertwine.