Page 40 of Dragon Detective

He swayed toward me.

I backed up until I reached the wall.

Max, looking between us, scowled, and dashed through his kitty door, aiming for the backyard.

Reylor stopped and delicately squirted whipped cream onto the back of my hand. He placed the can on the narrow table beside us and lifted my hand, closing his eyes and sniffing my skin. His tongue darted out and swept off the cream, tucking it into his mouth. “Sweet. Especially tasty because it holds hints of you.”

My knees shook, and my heart thumped faster than a hummingbird hovering over a flower.

His eyelids opened, and his gaze met mine. “Where else, sweetheart? May I say that I adore seeing you in that outfit?”

I wore only a flower-speckled nightie that skimmed the tops of my thighs. “I should’ve grabbed a robe before I left my room.” Or worn a suit of armor because nothing else was going to hold this guy back.

“Not from where I’m standing.” Taking the cream, he squirted a bit on the indent at the base of my throat.

When he licked it off, shivers tracked through me.

“Maybe I don’t feel like eating brisket for breakfast,” he said. “I’d originally thought of also making eggs. Toasting some of the bread I picked up at the bakery. Instead, I believe I should make a meal of you, Hannah. What do you think about that?”

My breathing fluttered, and my heart was battering itself against the cage of my ribs, determined to break through and surround him.

“I won’t do anything unless you say yes,” he said. “No pushing. I only want to show you pleasure.”

Could this be considered nesting? We weren’t physically standing in a nest, assuming he owned something made of sticks or fur or who knows what. And he wasn’t in dragon form, something I craved to see again when I had time to touch. He would be magnificent, towering over me with his scales gleaming and smoke coiling from his nostrils.

What would it be like to claim such a man for my own?

I wasn’t sure I dared.

His gaze met mine. “Yes or no, sweetheart?”

I jerked out a nod.

“I’m afraid I need to hear your words. I want full consent for what I’m dying to do with this can of whipped cream.”

“Yes,” I croaked, then swallowed. I drummed up some spunk and spoke louder. “Yes. I’d love to see what you want to do with that cream.”

“Yes, indeed.” The whipped cream can in his hand, he dropped to his knees in front of me. Looking up, he gave me such a carnal smile that I could barely remain on my feet.

He peeled off my underwear and tossed it aside.

I’d never felt this wild and unrestrained in my life. My ex was more a missionary guy, and that was okay. I found pleasure in it just the same. But sometimes, I’d wanted to try something new, something that felt like a dare.

This could be it.This guycould be it. And that scared me. What if he hurt me like my ex?

But when he squirted some cream on my inner thigh and slowly licked it off, I forgot about anything but this moment.

“I have an idea,” he said, his eyes smoldering. “Are you open to new ideas, sweetheart?”

If he kept calling me that, I was going to give him my hand and let him lead me wherever he pleased.

“Yes,” I breathed because a nod wasn’t going to be enough.

“Hold that.” He handed me the can and straightened to sweep me off my feet, striding out of my kitchen and down the hall to the library. Inside, he kicked the door shut and peered around before taking me over to the big old desk Justin used when he worked from home as a lawyer ages ago.

Reylor swiped everything off the desk with his arm.

I gasped when the stapler clattered, but when he laid me gently on the surface on my back and tugged me over to the edge and inched up my nightie to expose my lower half to view, I lost all train of thought.

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