Zanaikeyros - Son of Dragons (Pantheon of Dragons #1)(82)

Would he bring her a bottle of wine?

Oh, well, probably not, considering the Vicodin, but she would probably be done with it by then. In fact, Dr. Parker had said she’d be up and running in a couple of days, albeit at a slower pace, or he wouldn’t have asked her on a date so soon. It was a benefit of laparoscopic surgery—no large incisions or damaged layers to heal.

Both affirmations gave her enormous confidence.

As she toggled through the line-up of late-night movies, she settled on a chick flick that immediately caught her eye: Dancing with Doctor Right.

Perfect.

Just perfect.





Chapter Thirty-two

Wednesday night - twilight

Zane looked like a bronzed statue of the Greek god Adonis as he strolled across the white sandy beach in his faded blue jeans and no shirt. His hair was wet and mussed from sea-spray, having been splashed earlier as he stood on the edge of an outcropping; his skin was as fine as a baby’s, both golden and smooth; and the crystal-clear ocean reflected off his golden pupils like beams of starlight, twinkling in the sapphire-blue sky.

Despite herself, Jordan had to catch her breath—the male was positively magnificent.

And that was only half of the revelation.

Much to Jordan’s surprise—and dare she say, intrigue—Zane Saphyrius knew how to let his hair down. He actually knew how to laugh and to play.

Caught up in the magic and serenity of the beautiful cove, he had pointed out a school of brightly colored angelfish swimming on the edge of the outcropping; he had encouraged her to help him search for giant seashells, each one a brilliant rainbow color; and he had coaxed her out of her obscure, defensive shell in order to build a sand castle.

He hadn’t bombarded her with questions, and he hadn’t pressured her to talk.

He hadn’t invaded her personal space—well, at least not that much—and he hadn’t made her feel like a captive bird quaking in his primitive palm.

In fact, as the afternoon had progressed, and their hands had been busy—whether collecting shells, or molding sand into ramparts and towers—their conversation had begun to flow, almost in an easy nature: Zane had mentioned playing football on that same beach as a teenager—a dragyri playing football of all things!—and Jordan had confessed to being a tomboy at the same impressionable age. Zane had revealed that he’d tried to play the piano, but despite being the son of a god, he had failed at it miserably. Laughing at the thought of those large, rugged fingers plunking away at a piano, Jordan had admitted that she’d tried the flute, the clarinet, and even the trombone in grade school. For some mysterious reason, Zane could not stop laughing at the thought of Jordan wrestling with a six-to eight-pound instrument, her cheeks puffed out, her right arm extended—he’d said he would have paid good money to watch her try. And in an unexpected moment of levity, she had punched him in the arm.

She had actually initiated physical contact.

Now, as she stood on the edge of the shore, staring out at the ocean, waiting for the sun to go down, if she were totally honest, then she had to admit, she felt like a child on the Fourth of July, waiting to see the fireworks: eager, enthralled, and bubbling with anticipation.

How had he done it?

How had he made her forget her fears?

How had she become so absorbed in the moment?

He stood beside her, like the protective male he was, gazing out at the water, and then he confidently reached out, took her hand in his, and squeezed it.

She let him.

“Do you see how the waves are picking up?” he asked, that deep, sonorous voice playing like musical vibrations across her skin.

She nodded and stretched her neck to see further…

Off in the distance, about a hundred yards away, a string of aqua-blue waves were capping in a high, curved swell, the peaks dotted with ethereal white foam, and inside the deepest arc of the wave, a subtle prism was emerging: an underbelly of crystal, emerald, sapphire, amethyst, onyx, citrine, and topaz. As the colors grew more vivid, more stark, their molecular structure changed, and they began to dance in the air, forming rainbow-like gases. The gases expanded, upward, in combustible zones, and just like that, they turned to fire. Spectacular flames shot out of the waves: dancing in, without, and above the water.

Jordan gasped and squeezed Zane’s hand, barely realizing she was doing it. “Oh my gosh!” she exclaimed. “That’s impossible. That’s amazing. That’s spectacular!” She wanted to squeal like a child—she had never seen anything like it.

Zane smiled with masculine abandon, and pointed just beyond the striking swell. “Watch closely,” he told her. “Fix your eyes beyond the wall of flames.”

She sucked in air and her eyes grew wide, even as she rose to her tippy toes.

Zane laughed aloud, released her hand, and sidled up behind her. Then he wrapped both hands along the curve of her waist, hefted her up in the air, and set her on his brawny shoulders. “Keep watching,” he said.

As awkward as it felt to be lifted like a child and placed on a grown male’s shoulders, Jordan also felt a curious tingle running up and down her spine.

She liked it.

All of it.

The closeness, the contact, and his body beneath her.

The realization was surprising.

But before she could go into analytical mode, the most amazing thing began to happen: Just beyond the wall of undulating flames still cascading toward the shoreline, several powerful geysers began to shoot out of the water, creating magnificent lofty towers—prisms of light, explosions of fire, fountains of vibrant eruptions that fell back into the ocean like a waterfall—a fire fall—of color. She leaned forward, knowing Zane would never let her fall off his shoulders, and brought both hands to her cheeks. “Oh, my gosh, Zane.” She glanced down at him. “This is freakin’ amazing!” She looked back into the water. “Why do you ever do anything else? Why do you ever go anywhere else? If I lived here, I would never leave this spot. I would be here for every single sunset! Holy shit—I would give anything to have access to something like this. It’s…it’s totally beyond comprehension—there’s nothing like it on earth!” The moment the words left her mouth, she realized what she had said, and she stiffened.