by Milly Taiden
“I’ll do what you say, but you need to tell me something.”
“Anything.”
The way he said that single word, there was such power behind it. As if he’d go to the ends of the earth for her. “This isn’t a game, right? I don’t do games, Jae. I…I need to know.”
“I’ve never played games. Not with you. Not with any female.”
“What about Hannah?”
“What about her?”
“Aren’t you…and her…you know?”
There was a moment of silence before he answered. “I want you, Avery. You. Not Hannah.”
She sighed and let her guard down. “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Don’t worry, beautiful. You’ll have a great time.”
She grinned. “I better. I’m going out on one of the coldest days of the year instead of staying in my PJs and reading. You better make it worth my while.”
THIRTEEN
Avery felt like a mess. When Jae told her to dress comfortable, she took it literal and put on warm sweater and a pair of corduroy pants. His arrival in a limo did nothing to ease her worries. He jumped out of the back and strode over to her. There was such an intense look in his eyes, she was tempted to take a step toward him, throw herself in his arms and take in his scent.
“You look great,” he said, glancing at her from her beanie hat down to her snow boots.
“Thanks. I didn’t know what to wear. You said casual.”
He held the door open for her to get in the limo and slid right in after her. With all the space in that vehicle, he chose to sit as close to her as possible. It did nothing to calm her nerves.
“This will be casual.”
She raised a brow, a smile tugging at her lips. “We’re in a limo.”
He shrugged. “It’s a matter of convenience. He can drop us off, go to the hotel and wait until we’re ready to be picked up again. Easier than me driving in the city.”
She nodded and took in his features. He might be a great dresser, but he wasn’t classically beautiful. He was too rough for that. His short blond hair and hazel eyes went together perfectly. But that short beard wasn’t his usual clean-shaven look. Not the few times she’d seen him.
His outfit, though casual, was clearly top of the line. The jeans and snow boots looked great on him as did the blue sweater. She wasn’t one to worry about brands, but she wondered if he had a personal shopper picking out his clothes. The man had impeccable style.
His strong bone structure with stubborn jaw and lips that appeared to never smile added to his look. The no-nonsense look. She wanted so badly to do something to see him smile. To see how that simple gesture would transform his face. Then again, he was a dragon. Probably really old. He’d lived and seen things she couldn’t imagine.
“What’s wrong?”
She blinked and stared into his sharp gaze. “Huh?”
“I can tell something’s bothering you. What’s wrong?”
“I was just thinking that you’re old.”
The corner of his lips lifted into a hint of a grin. “Does that worry you? I promise not to die in the middle of…anything,” he said, his voice seducing her as he leaned closer.
What? She couldn’t help it, she burst out laughing at the idea. “That’s the last thing on my mind. I can tell you take very good care of yourself. And have an incredible body under those clothes.”
His eyes widened. “Go on.”
Fuck! “What I mean is that you’re in good shape. That’s all.”
He put an arm over the back of her seat and turned closer to her. “That’s all?”
She gave a jerky nod. “I…look, Jae, I haven’t,” she gulped and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts. When she opened them, his eyes had turned a bright gold that stopped her nerves and pulled her in. “Your eyes are glowing.”
“I know. Now what were you saying?”
She cleared her throat, rubbing a hand on her pants. “I haven’t done this in a long time.”
“What do you mean?”
“Dated. I haven’t gone on a date in two years.”
He didn’t seem surprised. “But you wanted to now. With me?”
“Yes.” She glanced down at her hand and then up at him again. “I don’t know what it is about you. You’ve woken up emotions I never felt before. I can’t explain it.”
He cupped her jaw and leaned even closer. “I know how you feel. I can’t understand why I want to be near you at all times. I just know that I do. I want to see your smile, to watch the sun shine off your hair.” He glanced at her lips. “It might sound stupid, but I’ve been dying to know how you taste, but I won’t touch you.” He pulled back and she felt as if her heart were being torn from her chest. “Not until you tell me you’re ready.”
“Really?”
He gave a solemn nod. “When I kiss you, I want you fully in agreement that my hands and mouth can be on your body. I want you to want me to the same extent I want you.”
“How…how’s that?”
He dropped his head next to her ear. “I know one taste of you will never be enough, but when I get that taste, it will be forever stamped in my brain.”
“Jae.”
“Avery, I’ve done nothing but dream of kissing, tasting, biting my way up every one of your curves. I want to watch you come when I fuck you with my tongue. Then, I want to watch you come again when I slide deep inside you.”
Her throat closed up. The image of him doing those very things made her slick between her legs.
A soft grunt sounded from him. The sound gave her goosebumps.
“That sweet scent of your desire is probably going to be my undoing.” He tipped her chin to look right into his flaming gold eyes. “Hurry up and decide, love. So I can show you how fucking perfect you are. From the top of your beautiful hair, down to your little feet. I will make your pleasure my priority.”
She didn’t get a chance to say anything, not that she could. The limo stopped and the driver came around to open her door. They were at Rockefeller Center.
She got out and saw the almost empty sidewalks and shook her head. What the heck were they doing there? He got out of the limo shortly after her and took her hand.
“Jae, everything is closed down here.”
He grinned and for the first time in the time she’d known him, she almost tripped over her own feet. He was gorgeous. The kind of gorgeous that could get a woman in trouble, like pregnant after the first night of sex. In fact, the idea of having kids with him suddenly warmed her from the inside. God. She needed to get laid badly.
“Come on, beautiful. I’ve got a surprise for you.”
They took the elevator down to inside of Rock Plaza. A few people passed them by, clearly all on their way home. They went to the ice skating rink area. It clearly said closed. She waited for him to notice the sign but instead, he glanced at his watch. A second later, a man in uniform from The Rink opened the door to let them in.
“Good evening, Mr. Drachen,” the guy said with a smile and turned to her. “Madam.”
FOURTEEN
She had no idea what Jae was up to, but the fact he’d gone through all this trouble just for her made her feel damn special.
“Hello, Michael. I’m glad you could meet us here tonight.” Jae winked at her. It was a playful side she hadn’t seen before and it took her breath away. “Tonight’s really special.”
“Happy to oblige, sir. As requested, the rink is all yours.” Michael turned to Avery. “Please, have a seat.”
She sat on one of the cushioned benches.
“I have some skates for you. I hope they fit.” Michael turned and went behind the desk, brought out a box and put it in front of her.
She glanced up at Jae. “What did you do?”
Another wink was his only response. Jae went behind the desk and took a box out of there, more skates. Those were his skates. They weren’t old, but she could tell they had been used a few times. The quality
of the skates and the fact they looked nothing like the ones lining the walls told her they belonged to Jae.
She put on the skates. They fit perfectly. A bit weird but they were her size. She tried to stand on the carpet and was surprised she could. Her legs felt wobbly, and she was scared to take a step.
Once he was done, Jae got up and offered her his hand. She eyed him warily. He was sure on those skates. Like he walked around in them all the time. She took his hand and allowed him to lead her out onto the ice.
Standing on the carpet was one thing. Slippery ice was quite another. She gripped the wood railing surrounding the rink. Jae came up beside her.
“Come on, sweetheart.”
She shook her head, gripping that railing harder. “This is really nice, Jae, but I’m scared half to death. My feet want to go two different ways.”
He chuckled and grabbed her by the waist. “Relax, love.” He held her up or else she would have fallen on her ass. But he was so strong that his hand around her waist was enough to allow her to find her footing.
“You’re doing great,” he whispered into her ear with encouragement.
She glanced up into his eyes with a smile. “That’s because you’re holding me. The minute you let go, I will fall on my face.”
“Is that so bad?” He lowered her to where she had more of her weight on her feet. “People fall all the time learning to skate. Children fall learning to walk. Why are you scared?”
She frowned and realized she was doing most of the skating on her own. He still had her by her arm, but the hand around her waist had moved. Her glides weren’t as slick and pretty as his, but she was still on her feet.
“Oh my god!” She squealed. “I’m skating.”
He nodded, pulling her along in a giant circle around the rink. “You are. And you look beautiful doing it.”
He’d gotten her to do something she had always been too afraid to try. Most of her childhood and high school friends had invited her at one time or another to go ice skating and she’d always declined. She’d been too afraid to fall and make a fool of herself.
“When did you learn to skate?” she asked.
“My parents had a house in Norway. We had a lot of frozen rivers there. My brothers and I played ice hockey a lot.”
“How many brothers do you have?” She liked holding his hand. His warmth somehow kept her from feeling the cold around them.
“Three. Tor, Clacher, and Ker.”
“You mentioned Ker before. That he would stay with Hannah. Are he and Hannah…a couple?”
“No.”
Fuck. “Why are you protecting her?”
He slowed down as they came back by the entrance to the rink. “She’s a Drachen mate. Bad people will try to kill her if we don’t protect her until she mates.”
She had no idea what that meant, but she felt as though he didn’t really want to discuss that subject any longer. She waddled into the room where they’d put the skates on and sat down with a sigh.
“Jesus. Nobody ever told me this would make my feet hurt so much.”
He dropped down to his knees and proceeded to remove the skates off her feet. “How bad does it hurt?”
She waved his concern away. “It’s not a big deal. I think I’m just not used to it and I was tense for a long time before I started relaxing. I think it took a toll on me.”
Once she had her snow boots back on, he took her hand. Michael was at the entrance, waiting on them. He opened the door for them to leave the room and head into the main shop section.
They walked to a set of glass doors not far from the rink. Sea life had been stained into the glass. A woman in a different uniform met them at the door.
“Good evening,” she said with a smile. “My name is Karen and I’ll be your server tonight.” She motioned toward a different elevator. “If you’ll follow me, your table is ready.”
They got inside and went up to the sixty-ninth floor, a number that wasn’t lost on her, and got out. She watched in awe as they walked through the empty restaurant and to a table overlooking the city. It’d started to snow so she saw the twinkling lights of Manhattan and the snow-covered buildings and sidewalks. She loved New York City in winter, so this was especially beautiful to see.
The table had been set with beautiful gold china and a menu sat atop the plates. More than the table setting, décor and location, she was highly impressed when Jae pulled her seat for her. No man had ever done that. Not even Darren.
Once they were seated, Karen, the waitress, rolled an ice bucket with a bottle of champagne next to them. It was strange to know they were being served champagne but she didn’t know why.
Once their glasses had been filled, Jae picked up his and she did the same.
“What are we celebrating?” she asked.
He stared at her for a long moment before replying. “Finally finding you.”
How could she argue with those words? She might not know Jae like she’d known Darren, but she felt a heck of a lot more for Jae than she had in all her years with Darren. That scared her a little, but there wasn’t time for that. Her heart was telling her to live in the here and now. She’d lost Darren while taking things easy and waiting for the right time to get married. Maybe it was time to stop waiting and just enjoy whatever there was. Jae was the here and now.
They drank champagne and one after another plates were placed before them. No huge portions, but enough that by the fourth plate, she was wondering when it would all end.
“Why haven’t you dated in two years?”
It was the question she’d been dreading and the one she’d wanted to get over with. For that, she’d need a heck of a lot more than just champagne.
FIFTEEN
Jae noticed the spark dull in Avery’s eyes the moment he mentioned her not dating in two years. He almost wanted to take the question back, but curiosity wouldn’t let him. He needed to know that she was emotionally available to be with him.
“I was engaged,” she said.
He hadn’t expected that. Then again, Avery wasn’t a dragon. And even his brothers Tor and Clacher at one point almost married others that weren’t their mates. Still, to know his Avery had been engaged clawed a hole in his stomach.
“What happened?”
She took a sip of her drink and smiled as her plate was removed and a clean one placed in front of her. A tray of different desserts were brought out and placed next to them.
“He died. He was a soldier. He was on his fourth deployment but he didn’t come home from the last one.” The raw emotion in her voice and the scent of her pain made the moment even harder to bear. “We were taking things easy. That was his last deployment. He was going to switch jobs and we were going to get married.” She glanced up, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. “He was a really good friend.”
“I’m sorry.” He hated seeing her hurting.
She shook her head and took another drink. “I didn’t feel for Darren even half of what you’re making me feel.”
His chest squeezed and happiness spread through him. “You didn’t?”
“No. But I knew him all my life. He was a good friend so it hurt for him to die. He was a nice guy.”
He realized then that she wasn’t upset over losing a lover. She was upset over losing her friend. “So why did you choose not to date after?”
She shrugged and glanced at the cart, picked a chocolate mousse cake with vanilla ice cream and put it on her plate. “It was easy not to.”
He was fascinated by her way of thinking. “What do you mean easy?”
“Think about it. Dating is all about games. What men want. What women want. Nobody is ever truthful and if they are, it is rare. I didn’t want to play games, so I stayed out of the dating scene.” She snorted and took a bite of cake. A soft moan sounded from her, making his dick hard. “Believe me, it wasn’t hard to do.”
“I understand.”
“What about you? Why aren’t you married with ten kids right now?�
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He wasn’t sure how to explain it to her, but he tried. “I’ve spent my entire life looking for my mate.”
She frowned. “I thought only wolves had mates.”
“No. My kind does, too. My two brothers, Tor and Clacher, have already found their mates and have children with them.”
“How do you know you’ve met your mate?”
“We get matching marks.”
She choked on her ice cream. “Have you gotten a mark?”
“No. So if a woman gets a mark, what does that mean?”
He shrugged. “Probably not my mate, but we couldn’t be sure until a male gets his mark, too.”
She went quiet for a moment. “Does your brother Ker have a mark?”
He shook his head. “No. Right now we are both searching for our mates.”
“So what does this mean for us?” she asked, pushing the plate away, leaving most of her dessert uneaten.
He grabbed her hand across the table. “Fuck the mate mark, Avery. I want you. Only you. I know my feelings won’t change.”
“But how can you be sure?”
He wasn’t, but he knew in his heart this—what he was feeling for her—was more than lust. This need to be with her, to show her the amazing world she’d been missing and bring her as much happiness as possible had to be more than desire. His heart told him it was love. He might not have felt human love before, but if he fated mates felt the instant connection to each other, why couldn’t he feel instant love for Avery?
“Do you believe in love at first sight?”
Her gaze shot up from her plate to meet his. There was shock and hope in her eyes. “I don’t know. I’m starting to think so.”
After dinner, he called the limo to take her home. He sensed her struggling with something so he didn’t push her to speak to him. They rode in an amicable silence, her hand in his.
As they neared her home, her internal struggle became obvious, until she turned to face him in the seat next to him.
“Jae?”
He loved how she licked her lips. “Everything okay?”
“There’s something I want to say, so I’m just going to say it.” She probably didn’t realize she was squeezing his hand, not that he minded. He’d let her touch him all over if it meant having her near. “I want you. I’ve never wanted a man with this depth of emotion. It scares me a little, but,” she leaned closer and the scent of her desire woke his dragon. This was the first time his animal was interested in her. “I can’t leave this car tonight without knowing.”
