Page 19 of Tempt the Dragon
“I feel desire.” It was the smallest whisper but the biggest admission she’d allowed herself to make since seeing him last night.
“Yes.” He moaned. “Thatdull ache that’s been settled in the center of your chest for all these years but is now shifting, opening like a locked door to let the heat inside.”
She didn’t want the heat, had instead become accustomed to the steady chill her body had carried since breaking up with him. Yet, his words were absolutely right and all she could do in response was lean in closer, to press her lips againsthis without needing her sight to guide her actions. His lips parted immediately, opening just like he described that dull ache in her chest, letting her tongue slip inside. The slow, languid touch of his tongue against hers, his hands holding her face more firmly in his grasp, the instinct link clicking into place as if it had never been severed, all took her breath away.
More. The insubordinatebeast inside her wanted more.
Tilting her head she took the kiss deeper, recalling the way a moan always bubbled up from his chest when she did so. The sound was like a favored dish, a comfort meal that soothed the soul, and she matched it with a moan of her own. How much had she missed this? Too much and yet obviously not enough to come back to him.
As if he could read her last thoughts,he pulled back from her, breaking the kiss and resting his forehead against hers. “There’s more, Mel. This heat between us has always been present and profound, but there’s more. You know there’s so much more to it than that.”
Irritated with herself for enjoying the kiss so much and rejecting the words he’d just whispered, her eyes popped open and she pulled farther away from him. “That’sall I have, Aiken.” He only blinked after she spoke. “It’s all I can give you for the time we have to be together.”
Take it or leave it.
Those words lingered unspoken in the air.
His answer was to lean in and touch his lips softly to hers once more.
Last night’s kiss had been purposeful. It was to prove a point to himself and to her. The second kiss, just moments ago, was herinstinctive reaction to the inevitable. Now, this kiss, the beast wanted her, and the man—pride and ego aside—was losing the battle.
She’d taken something from him all those years ago, leaving an even deeper hole in his being than had been there before he’d ever met her. He’d wandered aimlessly for a while after leaving Miami, trying to figure out where he would be most helpful next. Sure,he could’ve stayed with the Collectors and simply transferred to another location, but everything about that entity reminded him of her and what they’d had. Then the Legion, the company and the assembly of Drakon that Theo led, had welcomed him, bringing him into their fold and filling most of the gaps inside the rough emotional track of his life. Working and living with them had made him feel almostwhole again, almost alive.
Now, Mel was back, sliding her tongue eagerly over his. Her hands were planted on the back of his head, holding him to her as if her life depended on this connection. It did. The beast’s answer blared in his mind as it went full throttle, pressing itself into every crevice of Aiken’s human half. Together they could draw their mate to them and hopefully hold her thereforever. That’s what the Selection process was all about, finding that matching soul, and gaining its acceptance to finally become whole. For Aiken, Mel was that match. That she was also a powerful Drakon was just the cherry on top of what could one day be a delicious joining. If only she’d give in to her Drakon half and give in to him. But that had to be her choice and as she’d told him longago, she’d always choose herself.
For the time being he’d have to settle for this kiss, and since that was the case, Aiken was determined to make it count. In a lightning fast motion, he wrapped an arm around her torso, and pulled her across the console until she straddled him in the driver’s seat. The action broke the kiss, obviously, but he kept moving, reaching down to tap the button thatcontrolled his seat until she wasn’t pressed against the steering wheel.
“What are you feeling, Mel?” The urge to call her “babe” the way he used to was there, but he pushed it aside. The way she was staring at him with eyes clouded by desire, forehead scrunched with indecision, said he still needed to tread lightly with her.
“Need.” The word tumbled free and she bit her bottom lip asif wishing she could take it back.
“I need to touch you.” It wasn’t a lie. His fingertips itched with the urgency to feel her skin once more. Acquiescing to that need, he pushed up the fitted T-shirt she wore today beneath that same denim jacket. A guttural groan released when his fingers eased up the smooth skin of her torso, over her rib cage, just beneath the curve of her breasts.
“Aiken.” Just his name. That’s all she said before she leaned closer, taking his mouth in another hungry kiss.
Her fingers moved fast, pushing his jacket off his shoulders, then ignoring that piece of clothing and reaching down between them to grab the hem of his shirt. He tilted his head, taking the kiss deeper as she pushed his shirt up, flattening her palms on his chest.
His beast reachedout, pressing against his skin, feeling her touch and wanting more. She pulled away from the kiss but rested her forehead on his, trying to catch her breath. “It hurts.”
Biting back a curse, he moved his hands until they were against her back, rubbing them up and down the soft skin there. “I know. It hurts me too. It’ll be that way until we let go, Mel.”
His words died when a bright lightilluminated the interior of the truck. She jerked up, looking out the passenger window and his attention went immediately to the driver’s side window. Nothing but a blinding light was there, a blinding light. The truck rocked back and forth.
“Shit!” He tossed her back over to the passenger seat.
She leaned forward, pulling free the gun she’d strapped to her right leg beneath her blackjeans. Aiken had a gun too, but he’d rather use his Drakon power to fight his battles. Only this time he couldn’t see what the hell he needed to fight.
Either way, they both opened the doors of the truck at the same time and jumped out, crouching low to the ground. Even his night vision wasn’t cutting through this glaring light, but just as suddenly as it was blinding him, the light disappearedand in the next instant a searing pain shot through his shoulder. Glancing down, he saw the end of an arrow sticking out and he yanked it free while letting loose a roar that shook the entire neighborhood.
The shooter was in the distance, about a block away, peeking from around the edge of some bushes. Aiken focused his gaze and lifted the bushes from the ground, sending them soaring acrossthe street. Now without cover, the shooter aimed the crossbow at Aiken once more, but this time he was too slow. Zeroing his gaze on the crossbow, Aiken snatched it out of the shooter’s hand and directed it to land somewhere across the street. While the shooter stood there for muted seconds trying to figure out what was going on, Aiken ran toward him at full speed, catching him in a split second,then pummeled him to the ground.
“You out of your fuckin’ mind? Who are you?” The questions came between his punches but it took a few seconds before he realized no answer would be forthcoming as long as he was trying to break the guy’s jaw.
A quick flapping sound tore his attention away from beating this guy’s ass and he lifted his head to look around. A breeze accompanied the sound,ruffling the leaves on trees in the yards as it grew closer. Glancing around now with a more urgent purpose, he searched for Mel. Where the hell had she gone?
He looked all around but she wasn’t there. Every muscle in his body went on full alert, expanding and pressing against his human bones with an urgent need to shift. Above, hundreds of bats circled, causing the quick cool breeze. Tiltinghis head back while still keeping a knee in the shooter’s chest, he opened his mouth and let free a line of fire that sent the bats screeching in pain. Footfalls sounded next, at least fifty or so, coming fast.
“Who sent you out here?” The shooter wasn’t a vamp. His eyes were still a dull gray as blood poured from his nose and mouth. “Why’d you shoot at me?” When there was no answer and thefootfalls were coming faster, he grabbed a handful of the guy’s hair and lifted his head off the ground. “You talk now or you die right here, take your choice.”
