Page 9 of Chase Me

Ciara had never met a person she couldn’t calm down and get to see a dire situation in a new light. It was her greatest skill. The only way she could do that was to remain calm herself.

But this guy wasn’t a guy at all. Was he even a human? Would sensible talk work on a shape-shifting dragon? She’d have to up her game to get him to see her way and let her go.

He was being completely unreasonable about the whole relic thing. That was an emotional trigger point for him. Talking to him about that wasn’t going to get her anywhere.

What he had responded to was her accidental flirting. Some of the things that had come out of her mouth tonight, whew. If she could only talk like that to Wes, they’d be married and on a permanent honeymoon.

Lust was the right emotion, but she sucked at flirting on purpose. It was weird and awkward every time. She got too far inside her own head wondering if the guy was thinking she sounded completely ridiculous.

She felt ridiculous trying to come on to men most of the time. Sure, they all wanted a good roll in the hay, but with a chubby girl like her?

She and the dragon man had already rolled in the hay. Literally. He seemed to like it. Okay then, she’d channel her inner Marilyn Monroe and Happy Birthday, Mr. President him.

God, she was going to look absurd.

Ciara licked her lips and his eyes went straight to her mouth. Sweet. That gave her the confidence boost she needed to do this seduction thing. She took a step closer and straightened her back, hoping her boobs would continue the distraction.

“What are you doing, witch?” His voice was a low purr, not a question.

“Please, call me Ciara.” She walked right into his personal space and placed a finger on his shirt, fiddling with his button. “I don’t even know your name.”

She said it in her best breathy voice, which she didn’t even have to fake.

He didn’t step away or remove her hand. That was a goodsign. “I am Jakob Zeleny, Wyvern of the Green Dragon warriors.”

There was that word again. Did it mean leader? “Sounds important.”

She walked her fingers further up his shirt. She was so close to touching his skin she could almost taste it. This was the worst plan ever. Warmth filled the room, swirling around them.

The fireplace on the other wall burst to life filling the space with light and heat. Uh, automatic timer?

“I’ve never met a witch who had command of more than one element. Is that why you stole the relic? You think it will give you power over earth as well?”

If she played along with this witchcraft baloney, maybe she’d learn something to help her get out of this situation. “What would I do with power over earth? Make mud pies?”

“Or mud baths.” His voice had dropped making that statement sound like a very naughty invitation.

The skin she was so close to touching smelled of earth. Not in grimy way, but like a fresh field newly sown, where green things could grow. Which was a really strange thought for her. She was a city girl. The only fields she'd ever seen were on TV, at golf courses, or around event centers.

What was her brain doing thinking about what he smelled like anyway? She needed to focus on getting the hell out of here. Not on if that spot right below his chin would taste as delicious as she thought it would.

No, no, no. Mind, out of gutter, now. Back to the work at hand.

“Mud baths, huh? Sounds dirty.” Whoops. Her voice had gone all husky and her fingers had walked their way up his shirt to the open button.

“Mmm-hmm.” He rumbled. Lust laced every syllable he spoke. “I’d love to see you naked and covered in mud.”

This guy was a sicko, or she was, because she was completely turned on by the idea of rolling around naked in the mud with him.

“Well, maybe we can do that after you take me home.” What was she saying? At least she'd gotten half of it right with the taking her home part. God, she must have Stockholm Syndrome already. She was having a hard time concentrating on her plan to seduce him into doing what she wanted, while standing this close to him and feeling the heat pouring off of his body. Being kidnapped and held hostage was not supposed to make her want to strip her assailant of all of his clothes and lick him from nose to toes.

He ran the backs of his knuckles across her shoulder and down her arm, creating a trail of goosebumps that sprang up in his wake. His hand slipped off of her elbow and continued down to land on her waist.

Whoo boy. She would not acknowledge the tingles that sent down her spine and between her legs.

“I’ll be happy to take you home as soon as you return the relic.” He made that sound like the best idea ever. She almost wished she had his stupid relic, just so she could give it to him and then have her way with him.

She was trying to avoid the topic of the damn thing, and normally it was a piece of pie to keep anyone away from whatever had them agitated.

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