by Anna Lowe
“Do I really have to cut the onions?” the wolf protested, wiping a tear from his eye.
Tessa asked Silas to set the table — which he did with a tablecloth and everything because it felt like a special occasion, even if none of them could put a finger on what that might be — and even Cruz prowled around the perimeter of the akule hale, sniffing as Tessa cooked.
Humans have magic, too, Georgia Mae used to say, and though Kai had never really believed her before, he did now.
The sun was setting, and its golden rays angled into the kitchen, highlighting Tessa’s hair. Little tendrils curved over her forehead, and the rest swayed like a silk curtain. She tossed a salad, and when she bent her head to her shoulder to flip back her hair, he nearly reached over to stroke it. The scent of charcoal briquettes filled the air, but his nose, like the rest of his senses, focused solely on her. He leaned in closer and everything started to fade away except for Tessa’s alluring scent. Closer…closer…
“Can you open this, please?” she said after a stubborn minute of struggling with a jar.
He jerked back to his senses. When he took the jar from her and popped it open, something inside him sighed at the easy domesticity of the scene. He could spend a lifetime watching Tessa and never get bored.
“So, private chef, huh?” Boone chuckled.
Yes, she is, Kai’s inner dragon swelled with pride.
He’d once seen a video of a famous artist throwing paint at a canvas, turning it into a masterpiece with a couple of flicks of the wrist. Tessa was the same way. When she tossed six marinated steaks on the barbecue, every shifter groaned.
“God, that smells good,” Boone murmured.
Kai took a deep whiff — of Tessa, standing just to his right, and murmured, “Sure does.”
“Just a few minutes and we’ll be done,” Tessa said, totally unaware of the effect she had on him. Her eyes shone with joy instead of fear, and she smiled as she worked.
A drop of oil splattered, and she whisked her hand away. He nearly took her hand and rubbed it, but she showed him her unmarred skin.
“I never burn. Handy for a chef, huh?”
“Handy,” he murmured, though part of him secretly wished for an excuse to stroke her skin.
Kai forced himself to step back and found the other guys grinning, too. Grinning and kicking back to watch a master at her task. Well, Silas didn’t, but the rest did. Even Cruz, who disguised his smile with a lick of the lips the second he caught Kai looking.
Kai took a deep breath and glanced around. The sun was setting over the Pacific. The palms were swaying. The guys were smiling. They’d only retired from the military a few months ago, but they hadn’t really relaxed until now. Cooking usually felt like a chore, as was patrolling the grounds or carrying out the odd jobs they took. But now…
We’re living again. His dragon smiled.
He studied Tessa. Was it the cooking or was it Tessa that put a little gaiety back into their lives?
Then Kai caught Silas glaring at him, and he immediately wiped the dumb grin off his face. This wasn’t paradise. That wasn’t his mate. And whatever magic had wormed its way into their scarred corner of the world wouldn’t last long.
Chapter Six
“Best steak ever,” Boone said, rubbing his belly.
Tessa looked around the table. The wolf wasn’t the only one who looked satisfied. All of the men did. She had to admit to feeling pretty content, too. She liked the chef business, but it had been a while since she had the chance to enjoy a meal with the people she cooked for, so the evening had been a nice change.
Like sitting next to Kai. Nice.
Well, that part was great. Having him so close made her feel peppy and alert, like something slumbering deep inside her had slowly come to life.
“Really good,” Kai said, making her glow.
Going shopping with him had been fun, and he’d even eased up on his domineering ways a little. Well, okay — he had growled at a few people who’d come too close, but that was probably just the bodyguard part of him kicking into gear. And she sort of liked it — feeling special. Protected. Most importantly, he’d given in on a few points and let her have her way. So maybe he wasn’t as much of a control freak as she had feared.
Not that it ought to matter, but somehow, it did. Some part of her insisted on holding out hope — for what, she wasn’t sure — even though she knew they would have to part ways soon. She’d go back to living her old life — if she was lucky — and wondering whether her sojourn in Hawaii had all been a dream.
“So what’s for dinner tomorrow?” Boone asked. “Or did Hunter’s table manners turn you off?”
The bear shifter raised one thick eyebrow but didn’t say a word.
“Hunter’s table manners?” she shot back.
Boone was the one who’d been licking his knife — unlike Hunter, who held his fork in one huge hand and the knife in the other. A bear on his best manners, as if his mother were there. The dragons, Tessa had noticed, seemed to enjoy making lamplight glint off the silverware, and she wondered if the legends about dragons with shiny hoards of treasure were true. Cruz, on the other hand, had checked the sharpness of his knife with his thumb and scowled. But somehow, he didn’t intimidate her quite as much as before.
It was nice, sitting down to a meal for a change. She’d been so busy building up her business, working mornings in a breakfast café and evenings for her clients. Any spare minute was dedicated to planning ads, following up on inquiries — anything to make her business work. She’d been too busy to realize how lonely she’d been — until now.
She glanced Kai’s way just as he looked at her. Had he been lonely, too?
She tore her gaze away from him before she got lost in those blue eyes all over again and dabbed her lips with a napkin. “What does everyone want tomorrow?”
Silas cleared his throat sharply, and there it was again — a reminder that she had to be on her way soon.
Tessa dropped her gaze and knotted her fingers around and around.
A heavy silence ensued until Hunter — the politest hulk of a man she’d ever met — stood and offered to clean up. When Tessa yawned behind her hand, Kai insisted on walking her back to the guesthouse.
“Sorry,” she murmured. “Jet lag.” Jet lag, or sheer emotional exhaustion after the craziest two days of her life.
Kai followed her out of the meeting house and into the night, walking silently at her side. Close, but not too close, which was a pity, really. Or maybe it was a good thing, considering the way her body tingled whenever they touched. Hell, she tingled just from standing beside him. She just might combust into flames if they went all-out and hugged.
“You’re good at what you do,” Kai murmured, holding back a leafy bush for her to pass.
She slowed and brushed past him. Just one little brush, but enough to set off lightning bolts in her veins.
“I love cooking, and it’s nice to have appreciative guests.”
Guests sounded like the wrong word, but she could hardly call the shifters clients. The power-executive mother of five she cooked for was a client. The retired couple with the fancy condo on the golf course out in Scottsdale were clients. Damien Morgan had been a client, too. She wrinkled her nose. She’d been warned about checking out clients before going over to their houses, but damn. She’d been so eager for the job that she’d taken it without thinking.
“You okay?” Kai whispered. Had he been reading her thoughts again, or was the man a master of interpreting moods from body language?
She inhaled deeply, telling herself it was to savor the surrounding hibiscus and not to sneak a whiff of Kai’s rich, earthy scent. Telling herself not to wish for a man — a partner, a lover — who was that in tune with her needs.
“I’m good,” she whispered. “Thanks.”
“Nice night,” he murmured, indicating the stars.
They’d reached the shoreline, and she stood silently, not quite ready to say goodnight.
Not quite able to do anything but wonder whether Kai felt the same electric zing.
He stood still as a statue, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. Tessa tipped her chin up to the stars, wishing she had the nerve to touch his hand or turn for a kiss. Just a chaste little goodnight kiss…
The sea seemed to tease her, whispering all kinds of silly ideas. And the moon — did it really have to ripple over the ocean in that peaceful, perfect-for-a-Hawaiian-honeymoon way?
She closed her eyes, counted to five, and forced herself to focus on the stars instead. The stars, the sky, and the breeze…
“I wouldn’t mind being a dragon,” she mused, voicing an out of the blue thought.
Kai started as if he’d never heard such a thing. But he covered up quickly. “Yeah? Why?”
She made a face then flexed her fingers in the air. “Well, I’d have the claws to put Morgan in his place, for one thing.”
Kai chuckled.
Then she lifted both arms, imagining what it would be like to have wings. To fly away from bastards like Morgan. To fly to her own lair, maybe. Or just to fly, period, as she had often imagined as a kid.
“I’d love to fly on nights like these,” she whispered, dipping slightly to her left as if negotiating a turn over the rippling sea. She dipped her right shoulder next, imagining what it might feel like to soar up to the moon then barrel toward the silver light dancing over the waves. A thousand tropical scents would rush up at her, giving her senses a feast. She’d steady out at the last possible second and swoop an inch away from the waves like a gull. And Kai would be right behind her, whooping and hollering with the joy of it all.
Kai cocked his head, and she dropped her arms. He probably thought she was nuts, like her sister had when she’d mentioned flying in her dreams.
He scraped the edge of the grass with his shoe. “It is nice.”
She looked over. “What’s nice?”
“Flying. On nights like this.”
He motioned toward the water, curving his hand left and right, miming a glider. Or a gliding dragon, she realized.
She looked out over the water, fighting the emotion welling up in her chest. A wistful, achy feeling, like something had been taken from her even before she was born.
“What’s it like?”
His chest lifted and fell with a deep breath, and he thought about it for a while, then spoke so quietly she had to strain to hear.
“It’s nice when the sea is calm enough for the moon to reflect like that. When you fly in the beam of light, it’s almost like a road. My dad used to call it the road to heaven.” His voice grew soft and reverent. “He said it’s the road that led him to my mom.”
Tessa sighed, watching the moonshine stretch away to infinity. If only she could fly. Maybe then she could find her own soul mate.
You already found him, a little voice whispered in her mind. Now it’s time to make him yours.
Tessa took a deep breath, telling herself not to get carried away. Balmy tropical evenings beside a hunky man with perfect manners had a way of toying with a girl’s heart.
Kai cleared his throat and turned to face inland, so she did, too.
“It’s fun to fly over the mountains, too. To glide over the ridgelines and follow the razor’s edge.”
The night was so clear she could see the sharp outline of West Maui’s upper slopes, a dark line in front of an endless sky full of twinkling stars.
“That would be great,” she whispered as an ankle-high wave broke across the beach, making the pebbles tumble and roll. “But don’t you worry people would notice?”
Kai just shrugged. “We’re careful not to show ourselves openly, but most people barely even look up, let alone pay attention to the sky. Our wings have a way of reflecting the light, so unless we fly right up to a human and breathe fire, they don’t notice.”
She turned, more tempted than ever to reach out and touch. To run a hand along his arm and see if she could feel the contours of a wing. To beg him to shift so she could see him in dragon form.
Or maybe she’d just touch him for the sake of a touch — a human touch. A human kiss.
His lips twitched. Was he imagining the same thing?
A moment later, she stepped back and rubbed the goose bumps on her arms.
“I guess I’d better turn in,” she whispered, edging closer to the bungalow.
Kai’s lips moved, and Tessa’s braver half begged to hear what he had to say. The scared, almost-killed-by-a-dragon part, though, had had enough for one day.
“Thanks for everything,” she murmured, stepping up to the porch.
He looked so sad, she nearly stepped back down to hug him. But then his face went expressionless again, and the moment was gone.
“Goodnight, Tessa.” His voice was between a whisper and a sigh.
He stood there a moment as if willing her back then let his shoulders drop and turned to go.
“Goodnight,” she whispered, slipping inside. She shut the door slowly and leaned against it, feeling hollow and tired. Her ears strained for the sound of a light rap on the door, hoping Kai might rush back to say one more thing. Or maybe even to kiss her with those amazing lips.
But there was no knock. No kiss. Just the thump of her own heart and an ache in her soul.
I’d love to fly on nights like these.
What had she been thinking, telling Kai that? She couldn’t fly. She wasn’t a dragon. She was suffering from shock and delusion, that’s what it was.
She sighed and headed for the shower. Barbecuing had made her break into a sweat, and a shower would feel good. So she stepped into the bathroom and slipped her hands inside the waistline of the sarong, then stopped and ran her fingers over the silk. It would feel good to have Kai untie it, wouldn’t it?
The X-rated part of her mind liked that idea — a lot — and followed up with even steamier ideas. Like how good it would feel to have Kai come up from behind and sniff her hair, as he’d done in the kitchen at one point.
She closed her eyes, indulging in all kinds of fantasies as she toyed with the edge of the sarong. Slowly, she slid it off. Not with one quick push the way she would do for herself, but in a long, sensual slide, the way she imagined Kai doing before he ran his hands slowly down her thighs.
She pursed her lips. A little fantasizing was okay. Why fight the pent-up sexual energy that had been building inside her all day?
After shedding the rest of her clothes — and having way too much fun with what should have been a simple act — she turned on the shower and stepped in, picturing Kai’s big hand holding the soap instead of hers. She leaned against one wall of the shower, running the soap up and down, letting the water carry the suds away. Imagining was harmless, right?
She hummed and slid the soap between her breasts, following the curve of the left side up and around. Around…around…
She hummed and slid her hand in ever-tighter circles until she was bumping her own nipple.
I want Kai to do this, her body begged.
Pretend it is Kai, she told herself.
Her nipple peaked, and she circled harder then pinched, making herself gasp and writhe.
Yes. Kai, she’d say if she could.
She didn’t consciously slide the soap over to the other side. It just happened, as if Kai were guiding her hand. Kai, or destiny, or some sensual Hawaiian god who liked to toy with mere mortals like her.
Leaning back against the shower wall, she let her legs inch apart, and she ran the slippery bar of soap lower. Lower. Lower…
“Yes. Kai…” she whispered, touching herself.
Her breaths grew faster and less measured until she was panting and twisting over her own hand.
“Yes… Yes…”
She probed with one finger, then two, imagining how big Kai would be. Imagining him filling her again and again. Pushing harder and harder…
She tipped her head back against the wall, jerking in more aggressive strokes. A dragon wouldn’t be gentle, would
he? No, he’d be a little wild, just the way she liked it.
Her head rolled as she pictured what a perfect lover Kai would be. Teasing her like this, giving her just what she needed. Giving her what no lover ever had before.
“Kai…” she panted, rocking her hips. Imagining it was Kai pinching her nipple and not her.
“Yes,” she murmured, losing control. “Yes…”
Steam lifted and rolled out of the shower as her body wound tighter and tighter with need. The most urgent, most animalistic need she’d ever experienced.
“Yes,” she cried, shuddering all over as the dam inside her finally broke.
A heat wave unlike any she’d ever experienced before spread through her body. She relished it. Welcomed it. Savored it, because that might be as close as she ever came to true satisfaction.
Her heart thumped a little slower, and her shoulders drooped. That wasn’t Kai. That wasn’t satisfaction. That was just her, imagining things.
Just her, alone.
Chapter Seven
Kai strode up the trail, dragging a hand through his hair. What was it with Tessa? What was it with him?
He pulled up and leaned against a palm like a wounded soldier who couldn’t manage another step. Except he wasn’t wounded. He was burning with desire.
He’d been tortured by a mild hard-on all day — one that got so bad by dinner, he’d nearly moaned. Because somewhere between Tessa squeezing the tomatoes and slathering spices over the steak, his secret fantasies went from simmering to full bonfire, and his inner dragon had worked out an entire strategy for winning over Tessa.
Take woman. Bring her to my lair. Make her mine.
The creature purred like it was the world’s most perfect plan, but his human side recognized a few minor flaws.
Flaws? What flaws? his dragon demanded.
Kai sighed and closed his eyes. He’d managed to keep the beast locked in the deepest part of his conscious for most of the day, but now, the damn thing was jumping and screaming in his head. In his heart, too, not to mention in his jeans.
