Page 17 of Dragon His Heels
You are, she thought when she was a safe distance away.You’re more…comfortable.
I’ve never invited anyone to fly with me before.
I know.
He glanced at the ground.We should probably head back.
She liked him a little bit more for the fact he was obviously worried about Ruby. Nodding, she aimed her snout toward the backyard and nosedived. She felt the whoosh of air when he flew past her, clearly determined to win this race she didn’t even know they were flying.
As soon as she landed, shifted into human form, and magicked her clothes back onto her body, he grabbed her chin, held it while glaring down at her.
“I need to get laid.” His voice was practically a growl, like the dragon was still in control.
“O-okay.”With me?No, that wasn’t what she wanted. Was it?
“I can’t take much more of this, and damn it, I’m not going to sleep with you.”
“Uhhh…” What the hell was he talking about? She hadn’t asked, hadn’t given him any inclination she might be interested. Their relationship was strictly business, no matter what her dragon wanted.
“So I’m going out. I will be discreet. And I will be home before she wakes. But I gotta get out of here.”
He didn’t move. Just kept standing there, his fingers holding her chin, his eyes blazing into hers, still dragon-like, so hot she swore her skin was sizzling. And then he leaned forward and kissed her, pressed his lips against her. It was hard, almost like he was trying to punish her, or maybe give her a warning.
But what the hell had she done?
***
She heard his truck pull into the driveway, the sound of the door slamming, his shoes crunching on gravel as he made his way up to the house. The door creaked open and then closed, more gently than she expected. Next, he climbed the stairs.
And then there was silence. A long, long bout of silence. She tried to hold her breath as she fancied he was debating whether to approach her bedroom door or his own. If he entered her room, he’d find her in bed, lying under the thin quilt, dressed in a camisole and pajama shorts. Her breasts grew heavy, her nipples pebbled, and her thighs became damp as she hoped for something she shouldn’t want. Didn’t want.
He’d just come from tomcatting around. He’d probably picked up some skanky woman who might be only half a notch above Jasmine on the scale of bad choices in life. Hopefully, he used a condom this time.
This was her reeve she was having erotic thoughts about. Yes, reeves were supposed to take mates and, yes, the Elders had chosen Gabe expecting he would do just that, but she knew him, and for some reason, that was the very last thing he had any interest in doing.
She should ask him about that sometime. Why was he so adverse to it? Mating was a perfectly acceptable, naturally occurring aspect of a dragon’s life. Most dragons wanted it, couldn’t wait to find their mate, to live happily ever after. Normally, they were a monogamous species of animal.
Even Talia figured she’d take a mate someday. Once her job slowed down. Once Gabe decided to start acting like the reeve she knew she could lure out of him.
He claimed he was worried he’d lose his freedom, but she didn’t buy that. Technically speaking, he’d lost his freedom when he was chosen as reeve. And, like she often reminded him, as his PR manager, she practically controlled his life.
Not that she was suggesting she’d make a great mate. Because she wasn’t.
A floorboard creaked, far too close for him to have decided to go to his own room. Gods above, he really was coming to visit her in the middle of the night. She clenched her thighs. Bad, bad, very bad.
Another sound, and she swore he was standing right outside her door. Maybe even had his hand on the knob.
Turn it. Turn it. Turn the damn thing and put me out of my misery.
She released the breath she was holding when the faint sound of his footsteps against the wooden floor assaulted her ears, and a moment later, a door gently closed. He’d retreated to his own bedroom.
Crisis averted.
Well, not entirely. She was so tightly wound, so damn turned on, there was no way in hell she could sleep. Not without taking the edge off first.
