Page 18 of Lahaina Noon

“Can I, um. Can you show me your… wings again?” she winced as if he was going to recoil from her crazy request.

He nodded slowly and shook his shoulders, unfurling his wings. He stood there, slowly waving them behind his back.

She sat up on her knees and stared. “It’s true,” she whispered. Her gaze flew to his. “You’re a dragon!” Her voice quaked in awe.

He blew smoke from his mouth in a small ring towards her and nodded. He seemed to be one giant ball of tension and fear.

She could see that her acceptance meant the world to him. Suddenly, her brain and heart caught up with each other, and she realized that regardless of it all, he was still a man, an amazingly gorgeous one, who was enamored of her and desperately wanted her approval. She thought about all she knew about him from their months of collaboration. “Vaughn,” she began slowly. “All that about being a dragon, about Shadow Claws, protecting me and whatnot, does that affect how you feel about me?”

He stood still and looked at her speculatively for a moment. “Not at all,” he finally replied. “Whatever else happens from here, wherever wemay be, I still believe you are the most beautiful woman in this world or any other, and there is nothing I wouldn’t do to be by your side. From the moment we met, I knew I wanted you. It’s been so hard to hold back, and this morning, you looked so adorable, grumbling at your computer. I couldn’t wait anymore. It’s why I asked you out. I— I want you, Bridget, so much it hurts, so much more than you could know.”

He gazed at her with such obvious desire she had no choice but to believe him. She trusted him. She sat up on her knees and dropped the straps of her dress down her shoulders, letting it fall to show a little more cleavage. “Then I suggest, my dear dragon,” she said smoothly, “You ditch that towel and let’s be sure we don’t disappoint my friend.”

He hesitated for a second.

“Vaughn, I want you too.”

He smiled shyly, dropped the towel, and walked slowly, cautiously towards her.

Bridget had a moment to savor that the man was absolutely stunning, head to toe. Apparently, he liked swimming in the nude, as he wasn’t wearing anything under the towel.

He climbed onto the bed with her like a lion stalking prey.

Make that a dragon stalking its prey,she thought as she began to wonder if that’s what she was.

“Little one,” he growled, “You’re thinking too hard again. I need to give you something else to think about.” He stopped before her and rose up on his knees to match her pose. He gently laid his hands on her shoulders and began to caress her collarbones.

Bridget felt her breath catch in her throat at the softness of his touch and raised her own hands to his chest. She kept repeating in her head to not look down as she didn’t want to seem like a total wanton hussy, but it was hard not to take a peek. She couldn’t stop her eyes from sliding down the man like there was a magnet drawing her gaze to a specific point. She bit her lip at the size of that point. She snapped her eyes back up to his, and he laughed softly.

“Don’t worry, my sweet; I’ll make sure you’re ready for it.”

She sure hoped he meant that.

He leaned forward and began to trail kisses over her neck and up to her ears.

She could feel the warmth of his breath on her, and it sent a thrill coursing through her body. Everything was on fire. “I, uh, I haven’t done this in a while,” she admitted, “I may be a little rusty.” She laughed lightly. She was nervous. She hadn’t been with anyone since Brian. She knew she needed to move on, but it was terrifying to trust her body to another person this way.

Vaughn leaned back to take her face gently in his hands. “You will be amazing, Bridget. Relax, and let me take care of you.” He took the straps of her dress and slowly lowered them down over her breasts, and she thanked the gods on high that she let Jorrie talk her into the sexy underwear. He seemed to rumble in his chest, which she took as a sign of approval. “Let’s see what else is under there.” He let go of the dress and watched it pool around her knees. He picked her up, lifting her entire body so she could kick the dress off from around her feet. “Beautiful,” he rumbled again.

“Holy crap,” she said, amazed at his show of strength.

He chuckled as he set her back down. “I think you will find, my sweet Bridget, there are many benefits to having a dragon as a lover.” He put his hand on her hips and pulled her to his body. He wrapped his arms around her and began to kiss her in earnest.

Bridget was so lost in his kisses that she didn’t realize at first that he had removed her bra until she noticed the cool air brush against her nipples. Good grief, this man could make her lose her mind. It had never been like this with Brian.That’s not fair!Her mind protested;he wasn’t a freaking dragon!“Shut up, brain,” she whispered against his mouth.

His head fell back, and he laughed. “So, you can still think? I’ll have to do something about that.” He grabbed her by the hips, lifted her up and threw her down on the bed. Before she could even gasp, he was stretched out above her. He looked deep into her eyes as he slowly lowered his body to hers.

She watched the flex of muscles as he kept himself up just enough to avoid crushing her under his amazing frame. “Show off,” she said with an impish grin. Her earlier nervousness was fading with his playful attitude and obvious appreciation of her body.

He shut her up in the best way possible, melding his mouth with hers. He lifted one hand and began to knead her breast, making her arch her body into his. This of course had the side benefit of helping her feel his hard length pressing into her hip.

She moaned into his mouth, which made him deepen the kiss further.

He broke away from her lips, and while she panted, he made his way down her neck, kissing, licking, and biting lightly until he reached herbreasts. He lightly circled his tongue around one nipple before sucking it into his mouth and putting pressure on it.

She cried out and buried her hands in his silky hair, arching her back again in a way that he knew meant she wanted more. He flicked his tongue back and forth over her nipple while gently sucking before letting a little of his fire warm his mouth and blowing the heat over her.

She bucked underneath him, gasping at the sensation. “What was that?” she asked breathlessly.

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