Page 42 of Capitally Engaged

“Huh?” She met my eyes. “Oh yes, fine. I’ve been told before I have a ‘concerned reading face’ that doesn’t necessarily match what I’m reading. In fact, a dragon and human woman are about to get it on.”

“Perhaps some concern is warranted though. Assuming the dragon is male, I could imagine some fit issues,” I said, folding the covers back on my side and sliding into bed next to her. I laid on my side, propping my head on my hand.

“Ah, but in this world, they have a magical salve to soothe any soreness created by a size mismatch. All bases are covered.” Jax matched my position, setting her phone down.

“You know, I’ve never read a romance novel. You seem to like them a lot.”

Averting her eyes, Jax said, “You could say that. They’re a big part of my life.”

“Maybe you could recommend one for me to read sometime,” I said, finding I meant it. “Maybe no dragons for my first go, though.”

“I could probably find something you like.”

I sat up and pulled my T-shirt over my head, leaving me in my flannel pajama pants. Jax’s eyes lingered on my chest as I settled on my back.

“What?” I asked. “I noticed you didn’t have any bottoms on. I thought I’d even us out and sleep without a top on. Honestly, sleeping in a shirt for the past few weeks has been killing me.”

“Same with me and pants,” Jax confessed. “I slipped them off every night after the lights went out.”

“Smart woman.” I reached over and tucked some hair that had come out of Jax’s ponytail behind her ear. “Speaking of lights out, it’s probably past time to get some sleep.”

“I got it,” Jax said, twisting toward the lamp to turn it off, her shirt stretching against her breasts, giving me a hint she wasn’t wearing a bra either. “Last chance for a pillow boundary for your virtue,” she said as she settled down next to me.

“I think I’ll risk it,” I said, rolling over, so I could sling my arm across her waist and nuzzle my face in her hair, breathing deeply. My eyes grew heavy as I felt her warmth against me and inhaled her lavender lotion, this time feeling the silky softness of her skin against mine.

“Goodnight,” she whispered into the darkness, her fingers tangling with mine where they rested at her side.

“Night,” I muttered into her neck. As the world faded away, the knowledge I was falling right to sleep on a first night away from home dawned on me, but the thought disappeared in the next instant as sleep engulfed me.

We woke up much as we had those first mornings in my apartment, limbs tangled, Jax’s back to my chest. Theknowledge that we both wanted to be here, touching, made all the difference. I picked my head up to spy the time on the bedside clock. Early morning light filtered into the room from where we had forgotten to draw the curtain. I knew we needed to get up and start our day, but found it hard to move from this bed.

Though I tried to keep my movements subtle, I felt Jax stir. “Mmm, whattimesit?” she asked, her voice muffled and heavy with sleep.

“A little after 6:30,” I answered. “I can get the first shower if you want to sleep a bit longer.”

Jax arched her ass back to meet my morning wood, letting out a sound of appreciation as I did my best to stay still and let her explore.

“We could shower together,” she suggested, sounding much more awake.

“What? Together? Now? But . . .” I spluttered.

Jax laughed gently and rolled over to look at me. “Okay, so no morning sex yet. We’ll work up to that.” She brushed her hand on my cheek, feeling the stubble there. Before I could react to her brief touch, she rolled herself into a sitting position, and stretched, her shirt riding up to reveal pink lace panties. “I’ll shower first,” she said as I flopped over onto my back, throwing my arm over my eyes.

I peeked as she walked past the bed and found her smirking. She knew exactly what she was doing. I’m not sure I could match her energy, but two could play that game. It’s on.

Iwas right, Jax’s game of seduction exceeded my own. How the senator didn’t fire us, I’ll never be sure. She leaned into my space more than necessary, distracting me with her scent andthe feel of her skin on mine. I asked my boss to repeat himself more today than I think I have in the last five years.

He set us free right before dinner, telling us he had a dinner date and he supposed the least he could do after disrupting our weekend was set us free to do the same. I looked at Senator Marsden like he had two heads, which he didn’t appreciate, telling me he was happy to demand speech drafts for next week’s budget session by tomorrow morning if I’d rather do that. I schooled my face better after that.

“So,” I said, once we were alone in the elevator, headed to our room. “Dinner? Or...?”

Jax was across the elevator car in a flash, pulling my head down for a kiss. The door opened with a ding and had me pulling back in a daze.

“Sorry,” she said, biting her lip, looking anything but. “I’ve wanted to do that all day, especially after you took my teasing so well.”

A shudder racked my body at her words, a current of warmth trailing down my spine.

“Interesting,” Jax appraised me with curious eyes. “Preston, do you...” she trailed off, biting her lip as we passed a family with children in the hallway. We walked in silence until we got to the room, me eyeing her curiously.

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