Which was the thing; she was convinced she never would be around him. They were still strangers to each other, didn’t really know much about the other, and yet his presence gave her a sense of comfort she’d never felt before. Like nothing in this world or anywhere else could touch her. It made her feel invincible. And with that rush of giddiness, she felt like she could do anything.
“What’s that?” she pointed out over the crest of his head. “That glowing light.”
“That’s one of our volcanoes. It’s been quiet for centuries, though it does bubble up from time to time. No chance of erupting any time soon. Would you like to take a look?”
“Sure, why not?”
She had never seen a volcano up close before and it could promise to add some excitement to the night, to ask all the questions she had about it.
The closer they got, the warmer the air grew, as did the scents of natural gas. She lifted a hand to cover her nose.
“What’s so funny?” He felt her quivering against his neck.
“It smells like farts.”
“Heh, I suppose so.”
His landing couldn’t have been smoother, his wings beating furiously to keep her from toppling off. He landed with a light grunt and flattened himself once more so she could slide off.
Her feet touched warm ground, warped from layers of lava that had passed over this land centuries ago and hardened with time. Its rippling shape reminded her of whitewater rapids she’d seen once while camping.
“What do you think–”
She turned to find him regressing back to his human shape; his appendages disappearing beneath his skin and limbs twisting back again. Claws disappeared and teeth smoothed into less-murderous tools, but the glow to his eyes remained in the same. It was hard to believe the two forms belonged to the same person.
What mostly stole her breath away, however, was the fact that he was completely naked.
She sheltered her eyes, afraid she would start staring if she saw what he had to offer.
Dominic’s laughter tore through the dark and silence around them, and a distant animal seemed to respond in kind.
“You’re making fun of me,” she replied with a pout.
“Not at all. I think it’s charming you feel the need to shelter yourself from something you have probably seen plenty of times as an adult.”
She was glad for the dark, because then he wouldn’t see the hard blush on her face. He, however, could smell the embarrassment oozing from her pores.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to tease.” He neared, his steps almost silent as he stepped over the hardened ripples of lava.
She tensed with his approach, afraid he would do or say something else to put her more on the spot.
Instead, he strolled right past her, his fingers brushing against her elbow for her to follow. Her shoulders relaxed and she realized just how much she’d been holding in. Being her age and still a virgin was something most people would have teased her about, ridiculed her for never engaging in one of nature’s most primal urges.
That urge, she figured, could be taken care of by herself until she was ready.
She’d been ready for Dennis, too.
She turned and followed him up the incline, keeping her gaze on the back of his head. At least, that was her intention before she caught sight of his curved rump moving in the edges of her vision. It was hard not to stare; he was a very well-muscled man with curves and dips in all the right places.
Dominic could feel her eyes on him too, smelled what the sight of him was doing to her. It would be unfair of him to bring it up and tease her even further. That would make her trust him even less.
The glow was soon bright enough that they couldn’t see anything else around them. Jen expected it to be too hot to get close but was surprised to see they were almost at the mouth of the volcano. Out of instinct, she grabbed his hand and squeezed as she marveled at the sight before her.
“It’s beautiful.”
“You said that about me too.” Dominic stared at the curves of her cheeks, bathed in the orange glow. “You seem to be attracted to dangerous things.”
She felt her heart stop in her chest and a small note of anger fluttered in her chest. Was he teasing or was she that easy to read?
“I’m not.” she blubbered before slipping her hand out of his. He smiled and turned his attention back to the volcano.
“Survivor’s guilt is not an easy thing to deal with, but I understand it. You think you are not supposed to move on because your happiness feels like a desecration of their memory.”
He took a step forward and sat along the edge. The heat from the bubbling orange lava felt inviting on his skin. He would’ve gotten closer were it not for Jen’s sensitivity as a human.
“But you can’t hold onto that forever. It will eat you up inside to the point you will never know how to be happy again. Those women before you? The ones that decided not to stay. They didn’t leave or go off to find new lives for themselves.”
Jen didn’t like where this conversation was going, and she was sure she didn’t want to hear the rest.
“My father had them killed. I wasn’t supposed to know, but I found out on my own recently.”
A painful note rang from her ribs with a sharp inhale. So that explained why he was so terrified for her. Why he seemed so sad about her indecisiveness. He was afraid she would join the rest.
“That is why he was angry when he came to meet you. He discovered that I know. Even if you say no, I can keep you safe.”
She didn’t know he could make that possible, not if she chose to leave.
“You would follow me?”
Dominic shook his head.
“My duty is here, but you would have a contingent of my finest soldiers watching out for you. You wouldn’t even know they were there.”
Jen was overcome by a rush of emotions. She gently touched his side. She could see the conviction in his eyes when he turned to face her. Even if she chose not to be his, it was obvious he would go to the ends of the galaxy to keep her safe.
“You would really do that. For me.”
“I would.”
Jen’s eyes traced his eyes, his forehead, up to his hairline. This couldn’t be real; a man as attractive as this being her knight in shining armor. A man with unheard-of technology that could transform him into that majestic beast. If she wrote all this down in her memoirs, no one would believe it.
Dominic remained still as she looked him over, and he couldn’t help but breathe in the scent of her. What he smelled there was trust. Hope. And, something else.
“Be honest with yourself, Miss Davis. Just this once.”
She pursed her lips; how did he always manage to figure out her thoughts. He wasn’t probing her mind again, was he?
“I can’t do that in this form,” he said with a half-smile. That earned him a pinch to his side.
Which he returned with fervor.
It wasn’t long before they both devolved into a mess of squeals and pinches and laughter, rolling over each other as they prepared their next strikes. Jen didn’t even remember that he was naked beneath her as she tried to make a grab for his wrist.
“You’re a worthy adversary,” he panted, trying to keep his arm out of reach.
“I’ve had many years of practice, would you believe?”
“I would believe, yes.” He finally managed to make a grab at her own wrists and pull her support out from under her, leaving her unable to support herself and prone against his chest.
“But I’ve had more.”
She sulked as she tried to right herself, adjusting her weight onto her knees so she could push herself off him. And that’s when she felt the rigid girth against her. It inspired a spark that danced up her spine but she tried not to pay attention. Doing so would only make things more awkward.
Except for the expression on his face, things already were.
The playfulness in his eyes had become slightly glazed over, and the smile had faded to
a smirk.
Dominic couldn’t help the instinct to swivel his hips once more, to get a feel of her soft skin against him. It was like heaven. Still. She said nothing to protest.
The grip on her wrist adjusted until their fingers were interlocked together.
“You are beautiful, you know that?” he asked breathlessly, not daring to make another pass against her thigh. “I’m sorry that you got dragged into all of this.”
His words were cut off by her lips smothering the words on the tip of his tongue. This was surprising. Definitely not what he was expecting.
He should have grabbed her by the shoulders, pushed her back and asked her what she was doing. Should have questioned himself why he had even done that in the first place. He should have considered a lot of things, but he didn’t have the brain power to commit himself to any of them.
When Jen finally came up for air, she saw that the blue in his eyes was even more intense. She didn’t know what made her do that. Perhaps it was to satisfy her curiosity and what she might miss out on should she decide this wasn’t the place for her.
At the moment, it was feeling like the best mistake of her life.
She pulled him upright and they wrapped themselves in each other’s arms once more, lips and tongues wrestling each other in a tangled affair that could only be described as messy.
Her legs wrapped around his waist to draw him closer to her, to feel even more of what sat between his legs. And she wasn’t disappointed.
“I…” she whispered huskily as he peppered her throat with kisses.
“It’s fine,” he replied, though he wasn’t quite sure what she was trying to say. He just wanted the talking to stop.
Time spun on without them as they continued to explore each other’s body, with hands and mouths. Seeking and searching, teasing and toying and playing to see those boundaries, to see what hovered on the very edge of driving them crazy.
It was a hazy bliss for them both.
But never further. Never the plunge, never the ecstatic moans that filled the night and made the world melt around them. They wanted to remain in the present so the future and what waited for them would wait even longer. This was their time and they had every intention of making it last as long as possible.
Once they were done, they lay next to each other, panting and gasping for air. The smiles on their faces spoke of their satisfaction and their cheeks were flushed with warmth for what they had done.
“Wow. That was...” Dominic’s throat was dry as he spoke. This certainly wasn’t what he had been expecting when he decided to take her out here. A pleasant surprise all around, not simply because of his satisfaction, but because it had been on her terms. She was opening up to the possibility of making a life here.
“Remarkable.” She finished his sentence, placing an arm across her chest as she tried to regain her breath. Even without penetration, that had been the best pleasure she had experienced in her life. To think another body could make her feel so in tune with herself was captivating.
“You have been using that word a lot tonight.” He touched at her elbow in jest.
“Fine. It was fucking amazing, is that better?” She playfully smacked his hand away, unable to help the chuckle that escaped.
After a few more minutes of calming their heart rates and coming down from their highs, they agreed it would be best to return home, to savor the rest of the night in careful contemplation of what this was all supposed to mean.
The flight back was short but sweet, and Jen was starting to feel the pull of weariness on her limbs and mind. She fought it off, however; falling off now would be silly.
Dominic landed back in the garden once more and resumed his shape – Jen would never get tired of watching the process – and escorted her back inside to her room.
He had every intention of parting ways, leaving her to her solitude and thoughts so she could come to a decision on her own. Instead, he felt a tug on his wrist.
“Would you stay here with me tonight?”
The lilt of her voice reeked of innocence; she had no intention of continuing what they started earlier that night.
“I don’t see why not. Just as long as you’re not planning on hogging all the covers.” Dominic winked as he slinked past her into the room.
He heard the door click softly behind him, heard her bare feet padding across the floor behind him, and felt her touch on his arm. They slipped under the sheets together, her head coming to rest on his chest.
Her form fit perfectly against his side, his arm curling around her back to rest on her waist. To think that this woman had held herself so closely to him mere hours ago, had shared a part of herself with him she had never shared with another person.
He didn’t know if that was sad or made him lucky. He, with his many lovers, and then being her first. He was in awe.
He quietly slipped into slumber with that thought dangling on the edge of his mind, unanswered before gentle snoring took him. No matter. He had tomorrow and the day after and possibly the day after that to think about it.
Chapter 12
Weeks passed as Dominic and Jen grew to learn more about each other, as they grew more accustomed to the other’s antics.
Jen couldn’t be sure when she actually fell in love with him, but she could describe their relationship as comforting and fulfilling.
Dominic was practically as giddy as a schoolgirl every time he returned home from his duties. He doted on her as if she were the last person in the world, and although she found the attention a bit smothering at times, he always managed to put a smile on her face.
In time, he taught her the finer points of their culture and their history, the roles people played. He even brought her with him a few times to see the business he conducted and the affairs he managed on a daily basis. She was definitely impressed with how well he kept everything in line and yet still had the sanity at the end of the day to crack a good joke.
In exchange, she told him all about Earth. The many languages, how different the people were in their different countries. Dominic found that absolutely fascinating that one planet could have so much diversity.
“Well, your kind comes in all shapes and sizes too, don’t they? I’m sure they are not all blue with horns like yours. You don’t choose your dragon forms, do you?” She poked his arm lightly with a spoon.
“No, they usually reflect what’s inside us. Which isn’t the same as you’ve described.” Dominic scooped up a healthy portion of stew into his mouth, savoring the different flavors. It had been her turn to cook tonight, and she definitely didn’t disappoint.
“Ugh, if you want to be pedantic about it...” She rolled her eyes. She hated when he won arguments like this. Which was often. One day, she was going to find a topic to best him at.
Dominic glanced at her over the top of his spoon to blow the steam away, knowing he was about to kill the conversation.
“You know, the deadline is coming up,” he said quietly. He hated having to remind her.
That was all it took to sour the mood for the evening. Dominic’s father had been begging for an answer sooner than later when it came to their affairs.
Jen felt like she couldn’t blame him: he needed to ensure there would be a legacy. It was his manner of going about it that bothered her. There was no fondness for her, no attempts to try to get to know her as a person. He probably only saw her as a means to an end and nothing else. A breeding mare.
But that wasn’t what made her decision difficult. She could deal with a terrible in-law any day of the week, even if he meant her harm, mostly because of Dominic’s assurances. What made it difficult was that it would be the final step in moving on from her old life. And that meant putting Dennis behind her.
It felt like she was tarnishing his memory, finding happiness in her life while his bones were being bleached by the sun. It was unfair she got to live like this, while he didn’t get to live at all.
She thought she had put this aside so s
he could stop dwelling on it. It wouldn’t change anything and it wouldn’t make her feel better in the end. Yet, it was still a hurdle that kept creeping up every now and again to interfere with her choice.
It was all or nothing. She couldn’t keep putting herself down like this.
“I know, and I’ve decided...” She finished off the rest of her stew and let the spoon clatter around in her bowl. “That I’ll stay. Here and with you.”
She couldn’t deny that she was happy here. She had been shown so many wonderful things and already grown accustomed to how things worked.
It would be silly and stupid for her to pass this up to start somewhere else on another planet that likely wouldn’t be as friendly as this one.
Dominic couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He was so taken by surprise. He hadn’t expected her to answer so quickly, or to even provide the answer he had been hoping for. Everything was already falling into place.
Before she could react, Dominic was on top of her with his arms wrapped around her. She had the wind knocked out of her and giggled at his excitement.
They sat like that for a while until she realized he was shaking.
“Are you okay?” She ran her hands up his back and tangled them in his soft brown hair. He was definitely trembling.
“I’m just happy. Not because of all of that. I just...”
As he cleared his throat, Jen was sure he was crying but didn’t want to put him on the spot and smother his pride. She embraced him tighter and waited for him to recover.
Indeed, once he stepped away, she noticed he quickly wiped away at his face. His eyes were a little tinged with red and his angular face did look a little puffy.
He cleared his throat once more. “We should celebrate! When do you want to tell everyone? We have a banquet to prepare, invitations to send!”
A banquet?! Jen hadn’t expected that a grand affair would be made out of this. Then she remembered that his royal lineage. Things like this were probably standard for him.
“How big do you expect this party of yours to be?”
“The entire city, of course. Everyone will want to come.”
The Dragon's Gift Page 10
