“I see. Well that’s good. I’m glad you cleared that up for me.”

“Me too.”

He peered up at the sky—not hard since Brannie had tossed off that damn robe again—and still saw no signs of the two suns yet. “Still dark, but I know Rhona. She’ll be getting everyone up in a bit.”

Without looking at Brannie, Aidan headed back toward the trees. He’d just reached the line when Brannie’s hand fell on his shoulder and she turned him to face her.

“Wha—” he began but Brannie shoved him against the nearest tree trunk.

Startled and annoyed, Aidan barked, “What did I do now?”

She stood in front of him, hands again on her hips, and staring directly at him.

“Well?” he demanded. “What did I do?”

Her left hand slipped behind his neck and pulled Aidan close.

“Branwen—”

“Quiet,” she ordered, her gaze fixed on his mouth.

Aidan knew he could have stopped her. Knew he should stop her.

But as his lips neared hers, all he could think about was what it would be like to kiss Branwen the Awful. He had to know. Even though he knew he shouldn’t.

Just a kiss, though. That shouldn’t be too big a deal. Just one kiss.

* * *

He appreciated her tail and warned off Uther and Caswyn. How could she ignore that?

Brannie knew she couldn’t. So she decided to try her test. The kiss. If the kiss fell flat . . . then she wouldn’t think about Aidan in any other way than as the best friend of her favorite cousin. It was her easiest way of ruling out males—dragon or human—that would be a waste of her time.

A bad kiss usually meant a bad everything else, so why bother?

With that in mind, Brannie pulled a gawking Aidan close until their lips were inches apart. She took a breath and leaned in, pressing her lips to his.

Her first thought was, Yeah . . . okay. Eh.

That was . . . until Aidan kissed her back.

He tilted his head a bit and used his tongue to open her mouth. A shock, like getting hit with a lightning bolt from a Northland dragon, went through her. From her lips and down her body until it shot out her fingers and toes.

Aidan’s hands, balled into fists at his sides, loosened and came up until he could cup her jaw.

Their kiss deepened, their tongues delving. Brannie pushed her naked body against his chain mail–covered one. Her arms going around his shoulders, her fingers digging into his hair.

That’s when he turned them both and pinned Brannie’s body against the tree. He was reaching for his leggings, but she beat him to it, shoving them down while she kept up their kiss. Not letting him break away.