Page 21 of Destiny of the Dragons

“No. I want to take you hiking, but later.”

“It’s okay.” She didn’t think she could handle being carried. She was already too hot and tight.

Jace led them into the desert mostly following the hiking trail. They stopped when they were a ways away from the trailhead, but nowhere near the mountain. The desert was tricky making close things seem far away and vice versa, but they would still be visible.

He turned and faced her. Grinning, he started unbuttoning his shirt.

It felt like a dare, so she raised an eyebrow, and crossed her arms. “You’re really wowing me with this date, Jace.”

“Just wait.” Jace’s voice was soft. He slowly unbuttoned his shirt, making it a tease. His chest was hard, with a ripple of abs peeking out between the fabric.

She wanted to push the shirt off his chest. She kept her arms crossed, and tried to remain impassive.

“If you were going to do a strip tease for me, you should have said something.” There was a slight catch in her voice. “I would have brought some dollar bills.”

Smoke laughed, sounding surprised. “We’ll have to keep that in mind.”

Jace winked at her and untucked his shirt. He closed the short distance between them, coming close enough to almost touch. He draped his shirt over her shoulders, and took a step back.

Mia swallowed hard again. Smoke watched Jace with heat in his eyes, and suddenly it was too hot. She blamed the hot evening air. It wasn’t the sexy man in front of her giving her a show.

Her skin prickled, and the heat coming off Jace seemed to sink into her skin.

She wanted him to touch her. She wanted Smoke to touch her. She glanced over at Smoke, who was standing close, but not close enough to touch. She reached out, and brushed his arm with her fingers.

Jace grabbed his belt buckle, and Mia’s heart stopped. “Jace, seriously, what are you doing?”

“I don’t want to ruin my clothes.” He unbuckled his belt. “It’s a myth that clothes shift.”

“You’re going to shift into a dragon?” Mia looked around, joy and concern warring inside. “Is it safe? What if someone sees you?”

“They won’t see anything at all.” Smoke brushed his hand against her arm, mirroring her earlier touch. “He’s old enough to cloak himself, and if something goes wrong, I can do it.”

“Okay.” Mia gestured at Jace. “Keep stripping then.”

“As my lady wishes.”

Mia wasn’t a hundred percent certain she could handle seeing Jace naked, but since the opportunity was here, she wasn’t going to tell him to stop. He slowly unzipped his pants and twisted his hips.

Her heart climbed into her throat, and she didn’t know what to do with her hands. She settled for crossing her arms over her chest again. Heat throbbed through her body, and as he slipped his pants off, his erection was obvious through his silk boxers.

Good. She wasn’t the only one horribly turned on.

Jace hooked his thumbs on the waistband of his boxers, and paused. He looked at her, and then at Smoke. “I must say, this is the most fun I’ve had shifting in a long time.”

Jace was going to turn into a dragon. She wasn’t sure if she wanted him to drag out the striptease more or to see his dragon. She always wanted to see a dragon in their dragon form, but they couldn’t exactly stroll down the street, and if they were in the air, they were cloaked.

“Go on,” she said. Desire inside her wound tighter. “Take it all off.”

Jace gave her a small smirk. “You’re playing with fire.”

He stripped his boxers off. She inhaled. He was hard, and big. She didn’t generally think the sight of a naked man was sexy, but he looked at her like he was a present she could unwrap.

She took a step toward him before Mia remembered she was supposed to just watch. Jace kept his gaze on her the entire time, watching her breath catch. It still felt like a dare, like he was trying to see how far he could push her.

For a moment, she thought about closing the distance. She’d kiss him and it would be like kissing flame.

But they hadn’t been on a date yet, and he was about to turn into a dragon. The kissing could come later.

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