Page 24 of Fake Dating The Dragon

So this was what Ethan had meant about his mother being desperate for him to be with a human. She was certainly wearing her heart on her sleeve.

Minerva plastered on her brightest smile. “It’s lovely to meet you, Cressida. Ethan has told me so much about you.”

“Not all bad, I hope?” Cressida grimaced. “One always worries what one’s children will say to their partner. I’d hate to come across as the overbearing mother-in-law.”

Min tried not to let her alarm show. It seemed Cressida had already earmarked her as marriage material.

Cressida held out her arms. “May I hug you? I promise I won’t set your beautiful hair alight.”

Before she could even answer, she was enveloped in plump green arms. A tiny puff of heat settled on her neck.

“There, you survived.” Cressida drew back, smiling. “Not even singed.” She swept her gaze over Min’s outfit, and Min noticed a double sideways blink that did nothing to disguise her dismay.

I am totally not dressed for the occasion, Min thought, passing a nervous hand over the simple string of pearls at her neck.

“Ethan is not yet home—I think he may have been held up in the traffic. There’s a concert on at that new Pod thing, and I only know that because my naughty son Beau has flown there. I daresay he’ll get home in the early hours and wake us all up. Now, do you want to go to your room immediately, or shall we share a pre-dinner drink in the parlor?”

Cressida was already asking a uniformed snake girl to bring the canapes to the formal lounge, so Min figured she was expected to stay for refreshments. Cressida tucked a green hand in the crook of her arm and escorted her toward a set of big double doors on the other side of the hallway.

They entered a room furnished in rich shades of sapphire, fuchsia and emerald green.

Vases decorated with ancient dragons were displayed on elegant occasional tables, and paintings in ornate gilded frames hung on the walls. All dragons. Mostly modern dragons, Min surmised, judging by their partially human form. One in particular caught her attention. He was seated with his head held high, wearing a dark suit and his eyes were piercing blue, like Ethan’s. Cressida followed her gaze.

“My late husband, Clifton,” she said proudly. “He built Blade Wing Air from scratch.”

Min murmured politely in response. But as Cressida walked her around the room, pointing out more Blade relatives and exquisite antiques, a sense of panic rode up her throat.

How on earth would she carry off being the partner of a wealthy dragon when in every respect she resembled a small brown sparrow? Who honestly would believe it? Least of all, the Tween Council of Towns.

She was a hair’s breadth away from blurting, “I’m so sorry, but this has all been a terrible mistake,” when the double doors were flung wide and there stood Ethan, silhouetted in the entrance.

Big, green, and just as handsome as she remembered—and looking decidedly thunderous.

“Sorry I’m late. The traffic was terrible,” he growled as he strode over. And even though they’d discussed the fact that he would be touching her, she wasn’t prepared for the way he took her hand in his and raised it to her lips.

She went a little limp, the panic draining out of her at the softness of his mouth on her skin and the warmth of his breath, with just that slight hint of delicious cedar.

When he stepped back and looked at her, his blue eyes glowed as if… as if he really did feel something toward her.

“Oh Ethan, darling,” she heard his mother keening from somewhere behind them, “just pretend I’m not here and kiss her properly.”

For a moment they stared at each other. Min’s eyes widened, her pulse suddenly racing.

Ethan’s expression appealed silently to her, as if asking her permission.

Knowing she needed to let him know she was okay with that, Min placed her hand against his chest, and felt his pecs tense up. His chest was… very much human, even if the skin that stretched below his open-necked shirt was definitely dragon in its gold and green hues.

Glancing up into his eyes, she gave a miniscule nod.

Gently, he placed his hand on her shoulder, then bent his head and his lips brushed hers, just on the corner of her mouth. She’d expected… what? That his long mouth would be hard and cold? Instead there was a warmth and softness to the lips that slid over hers. As he drew away the tip of a forked tongue appeared briefly, before he reeled it in, and his eyelids blinked across those mesmerizing eyes.

Something stirred deep in Min’s belly, something she’d kept under wraps for so long. The certainty she’d felt when reading a monster romance, that she was not destined for a relationship with a human. It was the same feeling she’d had when a handsome monster had appeared in the shop, and her body had responded with a primal energy she couldn’t quite explain.

And now… up close and personal to this handsome dragon, there it was again—the mad fluttering of her heart and the warm, syrupy sensation spreading between her thighs.

For a second her hand bunched against his chest, and she felt the tension in his muscles mimicking hers. For a second more, his body length pressed against hers, before he moved abruptly away and said, “I must not forget to say hello to you, dear mother.” Striding over, he gave his mom a kiss on either cheek, while Min tried desperately to bring her heartrate under control.

“Seems like you’ve been making Minerva feel at home, Mom.” He turned now as Cressida stared adoringly from him to Min.

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