“We’ve been all over that.” He turned to pace, but bumped his head.
She giggled as he rubbed the bruise, and waited until he’d returned his attention to her fingers and newly bared patch of human skin.
“On a more recent note, I do not enjoy ridicule at the hands of soldiers. Your man grabbed me last week, as if I’d laid an invitation at his feet. Why did you tell?”
Ruddy cheeks burned redder, proving he agreed he’d overstepped. Life as a serving girl was hard enough without having to fight off patrons. He did come between her and the sailors. A point in his favor. One minute longer and she’d have shredded them into bits of bloody meat.
“I apologize. It’s the best I can do. I will not repeat it. Trust me?”
His face spoke volumes, and his fists rose as if to impeach whatever deity in which he believed. How could she resist him another minute?
Dru reveled in the realization that she was alone with the man who would make love to her, and share with her how humans mate. The thought made her knees tremble. She thanked the stars above that she had chosen to sit on the bed.
Right here, right now seemed perfect.
“I accept yer apology, young sir. Now…if ye undress yerself, we can enjoy each other that much quicker.”
As if a cannon ball burst beneath his feet, Shaw shoved his suspenders off his shoulders. His hands plucked open several shirt buttons and she caught the smallest glimpse of curly, dark hair.
Her gaze followed his fingers when they hovered at the buttons of his breeches. Dru’s mouth went dry as she stared at the enormous swelling beneath the coarse blue fabric.
She licked her lips, and Shaw rewarded her with a guttural moan, but he kept his distance.
Pity.
Dru stood and shimmied and her dress fell to the floor. Gripping the hem of her shift, she slid it teasingly up her thighs. His eyes darkened and his stance widened as she uncovered inch upon inch of feminine flesh.
“Beautiful,” he whispered.
She hesitated when the fabric skimmed the valley between her thighs. Dru sensed the dampness seeping beneath the springy hair between them. She stood before him, barely covered. She wiggled her eyebrows, but he wasn’t looking at her face. He didn’t notice her smirk.
His attention had fastened on her secret place. Even in her shift, wool leggings, and doe-skin work slippers, she felt naked. Waiting for Shaw to make the next move tortured her hungry, trembling body.
“Touch me,” Dru whispered, as the air with her scent. Could his human nose smell it? Was he blind to the way she licked her lips? Dru’s breasts grew heavy with want, as heavy as her leathery wings in an icy storm. Couldn’t he see how her nipples peeked through the sheer fabric?
When Shaw’s gaze finally snapped to her chest, his sun-kissed cheeks reddened further. She smiled broadly, and he immediately pushed his breeches down around his ankles. He pounced like a cat rudely awakened from a dream-filled sleep.
Flat on her back on her tiny bed, Dru whimpered with relief. The man was sane, after all.
“My God, you are so hot.” Shaw nuzzled her neck while his hands, filled with her shift, slid up her hips, and past her breasts. Cool air caressed her, and she whimpered.
“I do tend to run warmer than many. Is that not pleasing?” she said, teasingly. What would he say if smoke poured from her nose, or flames shot from her mouth?
“You are so incredibly soft,” Shaw whispered as his mouth trailed sweet kisses down her neck until he reached a hard, sensitive nipple. Quivering with anticipation, Dru moaned.
His tongue licked circles around the pebbled tip, and her body arched beneath him. A naked knee pressed against her inner thigh, widening the private place between her legs, then leaned into the bundle of nerves there, anxious and ready.
“Are you humming?” he asked.
Dru forced his head back down while she bit her lip to keep from singing with joy. Joy turned to anticipation. As a virgin in her human form, how would her body accept his prodding member?
When his hand strayed lower, cupping her sex, she stifled a scream. Unplanned lovemaking, in the middle of the day, had risks. Dru knew little of the human mating act, but she had heard women scream, and men roar their pleasure.
She certainly knew how to roar.
Having only caught a quick peek at his arousal, what she’d seen had shocked her. She was a virgin, after all, though she’d spied on humans while she’d flown high above lovers frolicking in the shadows along the river. Several times, during these voyeuristic travels, Dru had glimpsed male erections before they plunged inside their partners. To her eyes, Shaw’s size appeared extraordinarily massive.
“Ye will not fit, I fear.”
He chuckled. “Fear not, for I will make ye ready, lass.”
His words were meaningless to a dragon, but she trusted him. “Yum. Yer sounding like an excited Scotsman, again. You will not share what we do with yer fellow soldiers, will you?”
“Never.” He shook his head, kissed her mouth again, then trailed kisses over her breasts and stomach. Arching her body, she wished he would keep kissing her like this forever.
Shaw’s nearly naked body slipped down toward her toes. He fell partly off the end of her little bed, but never stopped kissing bare flesh. Dru sucked in a breath. Her heart suddenly tripped inside her chest as pleasure made her dizzy.
When his warm kisses stopped at the crux of her thighs, she stiffened. When his fingers explored the springy curls, Dru pushed up onto her elbows in surprise.
What in blazes is he doing?
Shaw slid all the way off the bed and onto his knees. The gentle thud, and his sly smile, made her nerves jump.
“What are ye doing down there?”
“Kissing you until you scream.” His strange answer gave her a moment of panic. If they were found out, she would lose everything.
“I dare not scream. Come back and cover my mouth with yers, ye sly devil.”
Shaw answered by pulling her until her legs dangled off the bed. Spreading her legs wide, he leaned forward, replaced his fingers with his mouth, and feathered kisses over her secret spot.
“Oh, my!” she cried, when his thumb joined in and circled the little bump at the opening. Squirming did nothing to interrupt his intimate kisses. Falling back against her little feather pillow, she slapped a hand over her mouth, and let herself give in to the sensation.
Soaring higher and higher, Dru’s resistance quickly faded. Shaw’s tongue delved deep inside, swirling and pulsing. A sharp intensity wound her sensitive nerve endings tighter and tighter. In a blaze of sparkling white light, she bit her palm, then flew as if she had conjured wings.
As she floated back to earth, she realized humans knew delicious tricks. Intimate games dragons would never dreamed of, employing during the act of procreation.
“Did you enjoy that, lass?” Shaw pulled himself to his feet, then slid his palms over her stomach. His bare chest, adorned with wispy, brown hair, glistened with sweat. His mouth and chin were wet with her juices. Her skin sizzled beneath his hands.
His engorged manhood sat between her naked thighs, pointed skyward. Her womanly center tingled and yearned for more. He looked down at her prostrate form, and she sensed the blush that spread across her near nakedness. Giddy and yearning for more of his sweet, intimate kisses, she gazed up at him.
“Take it off,” he said.
She pulled the shift up over her shoulders and head, then threw it against the wall. She lay back, bared and vulnerable, as he rubbed his shaft along her sensitized opening.
He rocked forward, then back, the rhythm both soothing and invigorating. She knew there was more to sex. Nature had designed their bodies to join. All beasts had the ability to mate. She was more than ready for the next step.
What in blazes is he waiting for?
Dru sensed him pull back, no longer sliding against her nether lips. The hard, heated length of him prodded her damp feminine entrance, then slowly slipped inside. An inch here. An
other inch.
“Aye,” she hissed, low and greedy. Shaw’s eyes raised and gazed into hers with animal lust and something more. Love? Could she fall in love with a human male? Her life up to now had been full of lonely nights and one brief, brutal joining. She wanted more. Dru deserved more, and she couldn’t wait until Shaw filled her to the hilt.
A loud knock shook the bedroom door nearly off its hinges.
“Dru Little! Are you in there?”
“Mistress Cumberland?”
“I hear you. Yes, it is your employer, wondering why you are in bed in the middle of the day.”
“I felt ill.” Dru scampered away from Shaw, jumped from bed, and groped for her clothes. Shaw drew up his breeches, snapped his suspenders in place, grabbed his jacket, and looked sick.
“Ye must leave,” she whispered, and shoved him toward the window.
Shaw peeked down toward the ground two stories below. His pallor grew as he finished buttoning his clothes. He shook his head.
“Are you coming out? I want to look at you. If you are contagious, I’ll call for the physician.”
“Just a minute, please.” Dru scooted to the window and pushed him up onto the sill. The small roof ridge led nowhere, which was perfect for a dragon bent on flying away.
“Shaw, listen. Remember the pallet of flour and potatoes? They will break yer fall. Hurry.”
He nodded, looked toward the door, then brushed a soft kiss upon her left cheek. He stepped onto the roof, knelt above the area of the piled food, and let go.
Dru opened the door without checking on Shaw’s escape. If she tarried longer, Mistress Cumberland might dismiss her from her employment.
“Well, you do look rather flushed,” her employer said, walking into the small bedroom. “Hmm.”
Having managed to dress in haste, Dru waited with both hands clasped behind her back. Her rapid heartbeat slowed. She wet her lips and tasted Shaw’s kiss. Her body trembled when she remembered his other kiss.
“Do you need the physician?”
“No mistress. A headache came over me and I took to my bed. I am sorry to make you worry.” Dru hid a smile that formed too quickly. If the woman knew exactly why she’d gone to bed, her heart would stop from the shock.
“I expect you to stay in your room, then. Maggie will bring you some soup. If you can work the dinner shift, I’d be much obliged.”
“Of course, Mistress.”
Whatever Mistress Cumberland thought of her as a person, she considered Dru a good worker. Hiding from her duties was out of character. Shaw and his kisses had tempted her to grow too bold. Would she ever see him again?
CHAPTER 7
Shaw rubbed his aching back. He’d fallen on a particularly hard bag of potatoes. Dru Little surprised him. He could not fathom how she had cursed him, and turned him into such a lecherous bastard. His shaft softened the minute the old woman’s voice reached his ears.
Dru’s escape route worked. Had she shoved other lovers through the same portal? How could he fall for those innocent blue eyes and saucy smile?
He’d nearly entered her like a rutting beast, and she had urged him on. She hadn’t acted innocent. He first thought he’d found something fresh and pure in her kisses. Dru Little had never been kissed between her legs, for sure. Her words and actions ended in a surprising climax.
If truly innocent, and he had succeeded in fully entering her, he would have caused her pain and bloodied her. “God strike me dead, I almost—”
“Almost what?”
Shaw pulled up short and turned. The sun beat down and scorched his head. Where was his hat? He sensed his cheeks redden when he realized he’d left it in Dru’s room.
“You are out of uniform, Lieutenant.”
“Beg pardon, sir, I must have left it behind.” Shaw saluted his commander, Major Anderson, who looked surprised, yet unruffled. With many things on the major’s mind, including the recent democratic assembly, Shaw hoped his superior quickly forgot about his lack of decorum.
“You must gather the men, Lieutenant, and return to Fort Moultrie.”
“Sir?”
“I fear we shall not be safe behind its low walls.”
“Have things worsened between the local slave-holders and President Lincoln?”
“You have not heard?” The major removed his hat and ran his hand over his forehead where perspiration glistened in the afternoon sun. Unaccustomed to December in the South, heat rose from the street in waves, undeterred by the light sea breeze.
“No, sir. I sense a change in the locals’ attitudes toward my soldiers, and I would be lying if I said it did not concern me,” Shaw said.
“Well, the vote has come in. The Union is dissolved.”
Shaw stared at his commanding officer, as the truth behind his statement sank in. “We are at war? Civil war?”
Major Anderson nodded. “I want every man back to the fort. Spread the word as quickly and as quietly as possible. There is a chance word has not yet spread to the locals, but I want no chance of an incident.”
The major replaced his hat and stared out into the channel. Shaw’s training for battles between forces bent on attacking his country made him ask, “What about supplies, sir? If we are forced to defend the fort—”
“That damn place is indefensible.” Growling his displeasure, Major Anderson turned to Shaw and laid his palm on Shaw’s shoulder. “Have the men cart whatever food they can carry, but be discreet.”
“Food?” Shaw rubbed his sore hip and remembered the pallet of potatoes and flour. “Aye, sir.”
“I return to the fort, but will send several larger boats back. Be ready to load up within the hour.”
Shaw saluted his commander, and retraced his steps to the tavern. He whispered orders to the half-dozen soldiers standing at the corner. With instructions to hurry into the alley and grab as many bags as they could handle, Shaw headed through the tavern door and into the kitchen.
“May I help you, soldier?” an older woman said, her arms white with flour up to her elbows. He recognized her as Dru’s co-worker, Maggie.
“I need to speak to Miss Little.”
The woman straightened from her chore, the heavy wood rolling pin still grasped in both hands. With the sturdy worktable between them, Shaw wasn’t worried for his safety, but the anger marring the woman’s face made him hesitate.
“She’s ill. Besides, ‘tis unseemly to be calling on the lass in the middle of the day. Her employer will not allow it.”
“What is going on?” A tall, grim-faced woman strode down the back stairs and sauntered over to Shaw. She planted herself in front of him, and scowled.
“I need to speak with Miss Little.” He dare not admit he’d left his hat in her bedroom, but he needed its return. He also expected none of the soldiers would return to town for some time. The war would start very soon, and he had to say his good-byes.
He tempered his remorse for not completing their intimate encounter, with the knowledge that he might never see her again. Rubbing his chest, he waited for the stern woman to say something more.
“I do not think—”
“What do you want, Lieutenant Stenhouse?”
Shaw turned his attention to the small back staircase. Dru stood on the bottom step, her hands behind her back, her face too pale. “Are you ill Miss Little?”
“I say, Lieutenant Stenhouse, such an intimate question is not to be tolerated,” the older woman squawked.
“Mistress Cumberland, let the man speak and then he will leave. Am I right?” Dru stared at him and slowly walked across the kitchen. When she sidled closer, the nasty woman turned and hurried out into the dining area.
The cook made a small tsking sound and returned to her dough. Focusing on Dru’s pale face, Shaw read the sly glint in her eye. A small smile curled her lips. She pushed the hidden hat into his hand, having carried it behind her from her bedroom. He knew relief filled his expression when she laughed.
“May we speak? In priva
te?”
Dru stared up at him, then turned and strode toward the kitchen door. He followed and nearly slammed into her back when she stopped short.
“What—?”
Her attention locked on Shaw’s fellow soldiers. One man loaded bags onto the shoulders of the others. Shaw counted the bags taken, and placed a handful of coins into Dru’s hand. “We beg your forgiveness, Miss Little, but we need supplies.”
“So formal?” she whispered.
The words floated over him, and the glance she threw his way made his body tighten. Memories of their near-copulation shown in her face, and her fragrance wafted over him. He coughed, then placed his hat on his head.
Straightening, he peered toward the docks in the distance. The boats would land soon, as Major Anderson promised.
“Dru,” he whispered, “this will compensate your employer, but we need these supplies. War will soon begin. I will not return anytime soon.” Would she recognize the sorrow in his words? He hoped she knew that leaving her was not his choice.
“I don’t believe it. War?”
“The union is dissolved and several southern states now consider the United States Army their enemy. My men are in danger. We must leave now.” Shaw bent down and levied a quick peck on her pale cheek, hoping she could feel the longing in his heart. To sweep her back into her bed and lose himself in her soft, silky center would be a perfect end to the day.
It was not to be.
“You return to the fort?”
“Aye. I have my orders, but I find myself at odds with my commander.”
“Oh?” Dru’s eyes locked on his mouth, as if remembering their passionate kisses.
“I want to stay and finish…” He could not finish his sentence. The last soldier waited by the pallet for him. Others, weighed down with sacks, were silently retreating toward the town docks.
Retreating.
The war between his fellow countrymen had yet to start, and already his side had begun their retreat behind the walls of Fort Moultrie.
Indefensible Fort Moultrie.
He could feel Dru’s eyes boring into his back as he hefted the offered bag of potatoes, grunted to the other soldier, and headed toward the boats. Remorse flooded him, constricting his throat and sending a sharp pain across his chest. Had he fallen in love with her? Would his short life come to an end before he had the opportunity to feel this way again?
Dragon Bites Page 14
