Page 36 of Dragon His Heels
Gold, gold, everywhere gold. And silver. And bronze. Even copper. And the jewels. Every imaginable color, all winking in the light. She’d bet her left wing it was all real, too. No colored glass here.
The diamonds. For all their clarity, they sparkled and shimmered more brightly than the rest. Talia had to bite her lip and fist her hands to resist diving in headfirst. She wanted to swim in the sea of sparkles.
Her dragon roared her approval, and Talia had to admit, she felt a little tingly too.
“Wow,” was all she could manage after a long bout of silence, during which Gabe watched her, his eyes sparkling like, well, diamonds, while he rocked on his feet and acted impatient to hear her opinion.
He laughed and pulled her into the room. “That’s one way to describe it.”
He lifted his arm and twisted, spinning her in a circle while she continued to gape at this little secret he’d let her in on.
“Why are you showing me this?”
“I don’t know,” he said, frowning while he abruptly stopped twirling her. “It just seemed like…” He shrugged. “My dragon wanted to share it with you.”
Talk about powerful statements. Dragons weren’t keen on sharing, generally speaking. They usually only ever shared with … their mates.
“Oh.” She lifted her hand to cover her mouth while her gaze continued to dart around, admiring the utter beauty of his hoard. “Thank you,” she murmured, tears shimmering in her eyes. She tried to blink them away.
Gabe wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close, his erection pressing against her ass. He dipped his head, and his hot breath fluttered her hair. “I want to have almost-sex with you down here,” he whispered.
She laughed. “Almost-sex?”
“No condoms,” he said, and she felt him shrug.
Oh, right. Good thing he was still at least partially thinking with the head on his shoulders, because if left to her own devices, Talia might have stripped him naked and climbed his body and fucked him into next week, protection be damned.
Dragon treasures were a bit of an aphrodisiac.
Before she could turn around and shove her tongue down his throat, the doorbell rang. Since the housekeeper didn’t usually arrive until after nine and Noah had already left, Talia and Gabe were the only people home at the moment.
Gabe sighed and released his hold on her waist.
“Sure you don’t want to ignore it?” she suggested.
“If I weren’t reeve, I would,” he replied, and then he did something completely unexpected.
He offered to let her stay in his basement, alone. With all of his treasure.
“Let me go get rid of them and I’ll be right back,” he said, walking backward toward the door.
“Are you serious?” She looked around at the shiny object surrounding her.
“I trust you,” he said, and his eyes widened, as though he was surprised he’d uttered the words. But then he shook it off and added, “And Ireallywant to mess around with you down here.” He lifted one finger even as he began ascending the stairs. “Just a few minutes.”
And then he was gone, leaving her staring dumbly after him, while all around her, beauty and riches beckoned.
I trust you, I trust you, I trust you.
His words whispered through her head, over and over, until she pressed her hands to her ears to try to stop the broken record. “I get it,” she said. “He trusts me. Probably more than any other dragon in his world. I’d bet all my treasure and then some that he’s never, ever let anyone else down here before.”
Okay, so Gabe’s trust wasn’t new. He’d always trusted her. She kept him out of trouble—or smoothed it over if he did create havoc with his drunken debauchery. She kept up with colony business, let him know what he needed to do or needed to avoid doing. She told him exactly how to run his meetings with the Elders. Like she’d told him countless times, she basically ran his life.
And he trusted her to do it.
But never over the course of their five-year partnership had he ever invited her into his basement. He’d never even mentioned his treasures to her before today.
And now he left her alone with his prized possessions. This went well beyond simple trust. This was a big step in their relationship.
