Page 31 of Snowed In

“Edries?”

“Mmm?”

“The fire is almost out.” The idea of freezing to death makes my voice higher than normal. No wonder I’m fucking cold this morning.

He yawns as he rolls onto his back, where he stays for a minute before getting up. I watch, transfixed, as his naked ass comes toward me. He’s just… beautiful. A big bear, but not all grizzly. Oh! Maybe a dad bear bod! Oh, yes, I like that a lot.

Even more, I love to watch as he removes the cage and arranges more wood inside on the metal rack. Okay, so I don’t know fireplace terminology. I’ve never had one that wasn’t electric. He does everything with such confident purpose that I’m spellbound as I watch. It’s not long before he has the fire big again and pushing heat into the room.

He gets to his feet, rubbing the dirt from his knees, and turns to me. Yep, I’m still staring. A grin spreads across his face. “Like what you see?” he teases.

I clear my throat. “I don’t remember checking the box for a naked fire tender when I paid for the room. It must have been an upgrade I missed, or I’d have had you doing it that way the whole time.”

Edries laughs. His hand on my waist drags me to his chest. This time, when our mouths crash together, it’s in a breathy morning kiss. Morning breath and all. I don’t even care.

“I’m going to check on the other fire.”

“I’m getting in the shower. Join me when you’re done?”

“Nowhere else I’d rather be.”

God, the way my heart flutters! With a big grin, I turn away from him and head for the bathroom. I flick on the water and then brush my teeth while it heats. I’m all clean by the time Edries joins me, but I don’t mind focusing on him at all. I’ve yet to suck that plump dick, after all.

But when I go to reach for him, Edries grasps my hands in his and pulls me to his chest again. Our mouths lock and I lose myself in what is nearly underwater kissing for several minutes until I inhale water and start coughing.

“Don’t want me to suck you?” I ask once I catch my breath.

Edries pauses, studying my face. His head tilts to the side. “This is going to sound weird, but in all our sex talk, I guess I didn’t mention one thing. I really don’t care for getting my dick sucked.”

“Oh!” I say, surprised. “I’ve heard of people like you. You’re a rare dragon.”

He laughs. “I’ve not heard that one before.”

“No pressure,” I say, my gaze dropping to his semi hard dick. Yep, my mouth is still salivating, but I would never force someone into something they’re not interested in.

Edries pulls my face up. “Eyes up here, buddy.” I grin. “I’ll let you another time. Who knows, maybe I’ll like it with a guy.”

“Well, we do tend to know what we like, but honestly, if you don’t like it, then we won’t do it. It’s not a huge deal, Edries.”

His lips press briefly against mine as he reaches behind me to shut off the water. “Another time. I’m curious to see if I like it betterwith you. But I’m really not interested in that right now. You want to bend over, that’s another story.”

I grin and am about to say yes, but my ass reminds me it still needs a break. So I sigh. His thumb brushes softly across my cheekbone. “I truly love being inside you,” he murmurs and I’m about to change my mind with the way he’s looking at me. “But you need to know that I’m not just… in this for sex. You know that, right?”

Be still my heart. I nod. Because I’m feeling choked up and don’t want to sound like a pansy, I just nod, hoping he can read in my eyes that I definitely feel the same way. The way he’s looking at me is so soft. So goddamn sweet and swoony. My knees shake.

“Good. It was never about sex. Just so you know.”

I nod again.

Following him out of the shower, I’m feeling breathless in a very different way. Not like we’ve been making out like kids or because I nearly drowned while making out, since we had water pouring over our faces while doing so. But there’s something else burning brightly inside of me.

It’s not arousal. I’m confident it’s not heartburn either. It’s something that leaves me unbalanced. Hopeful. Terrified.

I dress in the new pajamas and leave the bedroom to find Edries already pulling things out of the fridge. He looks at me, pauses, and grins. Then I turn around to show him that the flap in the back didn’t come with buttons and it just hangs open. He laughs loudly, his hand gripping my ass cheek.

“Youcan’tbe wearing that all day!”

I shrug, leaving that up for debate.

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