Connor, now... oh god, he was something else. Unkempt and touselled but so, so delicious underneath the weather-beaten exterior. Something about him bypassed all my usual mental blocks and went straight to the core of me, flicking every switch and lighting every candle as it capered down.

I squeezed my legs together, bouncing one knee half in frustration, half out of nerves. "Careful, Ceri," I cautioned myself. "Don't go off the map. Dragons. Dragons and sea beasts out there."

But it was no use. I pictured him; the dark stubble of several days softening his jaw, the ragged, un-ironed collar of the blue cotton shirt under his waxed cotton jacket;...