Page 726 of Love Bites

The dragon relaxed, his body settling closer to the ground, and his eyes closed.

He flickered out of existence.

She jumped back. “Math?”

Math Draco, the man, was crouched on the cement, holding himself on his fingertips and toes. His tanned skin gleamed in the sun, not unlike his dragon’s skin.

But there was a whole lot of skin.

Because he was naked.

Bethany got an eyeful of his strong, muscular shoulders and back that tapered to his slim waist, ripped thighs and striated calves, and dimples on the small of his back. A vibrant black and gold tattoo marked his right shoulder and curled down his back and around his ribs. When she craned her neck, she could see it was a winged, snake-like dragon.

His skin was smooth, what she could see of him, and her fingers reached toward his bare shoulder.

Oh my God.Touching Math when he was a dragon was one thing. Molesting him when he was a vulnerable, nude man was something else altogether.

She snatched her hand back and looked toward the casino, where a few other employees had gathered. One woman started to clap slowly.

Bethany did not want all those people staring at Math. He should be protected. He should be sheltered from their raking gazes.

She kept her eyes averted and flicked her fingers, flinging magical clothes at him from the ether.

The cloth wrapped around his body, forming into slim-fitting denim jeans, a white shirt that hugged his wide chest and flat belly, and loafers for his feet.

The cement was hot. The scalding sidewalk probably had felt good to a fire-breathing dragon, but it would be ouchy to human skin. So, loafers.

Math sat back on his heels and examined the shirt she’d conjured for him.“Cool.Thanks!”

She was pretty surprised her spell had worked. “It’s nothing. I’m just glad there was enough magic left in my battery to produce them.”

Math tugged at the shirt’s open collar. “I cannot express how much I appreciate these.”

“It’s nothing. Magical inanimate objects are easy. Most witches can poof them up. They aren’t going to last, though.”

His eyebrows dipped. “Do I need to get back to my suite right away?”

“Oh, no. They’re stable for a while. When you take them off, it’ll trigger the counterspell, and they’ll disintegrate back into the ether. Or midnight. Conjuring spells often end at midnight. You know, pumpkins into carriages and mice into horses? Midnight.”

“I appreciate it. Shifting back to human form is the worst part of shifting. When I shift to dragon mode, it shreds my clothes. When I turn back, I’m—well, you saw what happened.”

Oh, heck, yeah, she had. She’d seen six feet and six inches of glorious manflesh crouching at her feet, broad and strong and ripped in all the right ways.

Too bad his legs had been strategically positioned when he’d transformed back. Bethany suspected she could have seen quite a bit more.

She looked back over to the casino, where the crowd was dispersing. “I’m really sorry,” she said, unable to look at him in her abject shame. “I put sea monsters in the fountain.”

“Yeah,” Math said, staring back at the fountain, though the sludge seemed to be just sloshing slightly in the pool. “That might be a problem when the angel investors come.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Accidents happen. I’m more concerned with the deliberate malfeasance and outright theft occurring on the top floor of this place. Come on. Let’s get some lunch.”

Her stomach rumbled at the thought of lunch. “But we can’t just leave six hungry sea monsters in the fountain. What if they eat someone?”

Math shrugged. “They aren’t going to eat anyone.”

“They might. Evidently, they can get out of the fountain and slither around.”

---