by Starla Night
He struggled not to groan. "Oh, you noticed."
She pondered this development.
"What do you think?"
"You're aroused because of me."
"That's true."
"Hmm." Her eyes shimmered, changing from light brown to gleaming amber as her inner dragon reacted, making her more radiant and strong and sexy. "I like it."
"Wait until you see me unwrapped."
She hesitated, her lips mere inches from his, and her gaze tilted. "Okay."
Wait. Okay?
Amber unzipped his trousers and slid her fingers across his hard ridge. The thinnest fabric of his briefs separated his cock from her soft skin. Blood pumped in his ears. He pulsed beneath her exploratory touch.
"It's different," she murmured.
"How?"
"Humans, romance. Taking things slow. Dragons don't go slow. Once they find what they want, they collect and hoard it. Darcy? Can I trust you?"
"Yes." He dipped his head, claiming her lips. His tongue pumped heat into her mouth. She moaned and tipped her head, surrendering to his touch. He would seduce her and erase any doubt—
"Darcy!" From the stairs, Nicole gasped as though she'd seen a ghost. "God, you didn't come back and I thought the turret monsters had eaten you."
He jumped back from Amber, heart in his throat, and zipped his trousers. "Turret monsters?"
"This place is so creepy," Jackie agreed, behind Nicole. "I never come up here. Amber, how did you get up here?"
"I flew."
"Why?"
"Because your mother is so nice." She hugged Darcy and then followed his siblings down the stairs to the landing, closing the door behind them. "Just like you, Nicole, suggesting human arm wrestling to make me feel more comfortable, your mom told me never to enter her front door again and then locked me out. That's just like a female matriarch! Minus the flames and lasers."
Darcy's sisters both looked worried.
"Are you sure it wasn't an accident?" Jackie asked. "A misunderstanding?"
"No, I don't think she accidentally said those words and slammed the front door in my face. And since she only restricted me from entering the front door, she left the rest of house entrances open for me to return, so that's why I flew up to the open window. I didn't want to break another lock. Wasn't that sweet of her, Darcy? I've never felt so welcomed."
Darcy hugged her shoulders. He wanted to press her to his chest, tell her that she was right, and let her live the fantasy.
Nicole scoffed. "That's messed up."
Darcy tried to quell her with his mind.
Nicole glared back. "Come on, Darcy. Jackie. I can't be the only one who thinks so."
Jackie stared lost in thought.
"Humans have to battle with kindness and selfless acts," Amber said and shook her head. "I'm finding this kindness very difficult. Maybe it was because I was raised with cold caregivers. My brothers were raised in the orphanage."
"Gah, this is awful." Jackie hung her head in her hands.
"Jackie?"
"Michael and I just fought about this. One reason he won't visit Mom and Dad is that he says—well, I thought he abandoned me here after our first meeting. He's always been an introvert. But he swears Mom locked him out. I believed he was crazy because who would do that? Even Mom..."
"Stress," Darcy suggested. "She makes a big effort for everyone and she snaps. Mom loves us."
Nicole rolled her eyes. "Why am I the only one who sees a problem? It's not just that she locked Michael out, Jackie, it's that she also lied. For years. And how's Amber supposed to feel?"
"Yes." Amber folded her hands over her chest with touched tears in her eyes. "She's fighting for you, Darcy. She cares about you so much that she's testing me like this. Declaring I will never marry you. She will block our marriage in every way."
He didn't feel better. In fact, a sick weight filled his belly. "She said she would block our marriage in every way?"
Amber nodded as though he'd won a prize.
Jackie swore. "I can't believe it."
"Believe it," Amber said, pleased.
"No, I mean — if what you're saying is true, it's just .... My husband didn't have his cell phone charged, and he couldn't fly up to an open window, so he went to his brother's home and called. And all this time, I didn't believe him."
"Why didn't you believe him?" Amber lit up with joy. "She's fighting for all of you. Driving off any suitor to prove their grit. Although to be fair, she shouldn't test males. They can't fight back as a female could."
Jackie closed her eyes and grimaced. "I should apologize to Michael."
"Yeah." Nicole swigged straight from the wine bottle. "You should."
"But then he'll use it against me. Convince me to join him at the party."
"That would be awful. Husbands and wives fraternizing at their closest friends' wedding party."
Jackie glared at Nicole. "Park it, Nicole. A few years of therapy doesn't turn you into a self-righteous know-it-all."
"Heaven forbid I should get acknowledgment for being the only one around here with common sense." Nicole stalked to the family room with her bottle of wine.
"I don't want to do this..." Jackie dialed and closed herself into her bedroom.
Amber watched Jackie go with confusion. "Why didn't she believe your mother did this to her husband? Did she not know how she was valued?"
"It's different for humans." Darcy pulled Amber close. "I'll go talk to her."
"And I'll go home." Amber clasped his hands. Her foil ring gleamed on her ring finger. "Thank you so much, Darcy, for introducing me to your wonderful family. Your mom is a delight. This could be the place where I belong."
His chest throbbed. He wanted that to be true, but his mother's behavior disturbed him. "I'm glad you're happy, but why aren't you more upset? Most people would worry if their future in-laws tried to drive them away."
"But, well, she didn't try very hard. Her action was symbolic, like Nicole's."
"Didn't try hard? What do you mean?"
"She locked me out but left the turret window open. Wasn't that nice?"
Nicole called from the family room, "She forgot that you're a dragon and can fly."
Amber's happy smile dropped. She looked crestfallen. "How could anyone forget?"
Nicole answered again. "It's easy when you dress like an accountant."
Amber turned to Darcy. "Is this true?"
"I don't know," Darcy said, although he had a sinking feeling. "I wasn't there."
Amber closed her eyes and covered her forehead. "I'm so embarrassed."
"Don't worry about it; it happens to all of us." Nicole thudded the couch. "Come on in. There's only a fifty-percent chance she'll notice you in the nanny cam."
"Nanny cam," Darcy repeated, snorting at Nicole's silliness. He focused on comforting Amber and guided her to the family room "Mom's been stressed by the business for years. Tara's DIY wedding is the last straw, and then we make a sudden announcement. She loves her family and she will love you, too, because you are also going to be part of our family."
Amber stopped at the doorway.
"Stay, watch a movie, and we'll deal with it tomorrow."
"No." Amber dropped her hand and gazed at Darcy hard. "I want to go home."
Cold fear leaked in. "I'll see you out."
"No. I don't want to be close to you."
That bad already. He set his jaw. "Okay. You want me to make this right? We can go talk to my mom together and remind her that locking guests out isn't allowed."
Her frown deepened. "It's allowed. This is her lair."
"We live here too."
"But she's the matriarch. No, I respect her declaring war. It shows how she values you."
"Then if that isn't the issue, what is?"
"Your mom forgot that I'm a dragon. Isn't it the case that you've forgotten too?"
"Never."
"You're always encouraging me to wear vivid colors. Poking my insecurit
ies. Teasing me to anger. You do that because you've forgotten how terrible I am."
"Amber, no—"
"I can't marry a man who forgets his wife is a monster." She pulled off his silly little engagement ring. "Here. I'm ending our engagement."
Chapter Fifteen
Darcy looked like she'd kicked him in the stomach. His face drained of color and he made no move to take back the ring. "You want to end the engagement?"
Her chest burned with the same awful realization. "You're not serious. You never were. Otherwise, you wouldn't be so flippant."
"I am serious," he snapped, his voice harsh as a whip crack. "Transform."
"I don't want to scare you."
"How can I prove myself? Show me what you are and I swear to you that I will love you. I already do. Take me seriously."
Nicole held shock on her face as if she didn't know this angry man as her brother.
Amber too didn't recognize Darcy.
"Your dragon will always be a problem, isn't it? So, transform. I can prove I'm serious."
She shook her head.
He cupped her hands in his, curling her fingers around his foil ring. "Tell me what to do. Tell me how to prove my love. Whatever you ask of me, I'll do it."
His urgent lament echoed in her heart. She heard the yearning in him she'd seen in her brothers, striving to launch their company on their own merits, and everyone trying to force her to take it away from them.
Dragons had rejected her brothers for years, from her grand-dragon denying them to now the Gentleman's Society. That's why she repressed herself.
"I want to know everything about you," he insisted. "Things you don't show anyone else. I want to see them. I'm not afraid."
If Darcy recoiled, she'd have no one. And she didn't want to be alone. She'd always trusted Darcy. Wanted him to like her. Wished his teasing had been real.
What if it could be real?
She had to give him a chance. "You want to see my lair?"
"If revealing your home is easier, we can start with your lair."
"Very well." She led him up to the turret.
Darcy looked uncomfortable as they climbed the stairs. And by the time they got out onto the open window. He was shaking and green.
"It's okay, Darcy. You don't have to do this."
"I got locked in this turret when I was a kid. It's my least favorite room in the house. Fresh air helps."
Amber yanked the stuck window so Darcy could get out. The hinges snapped off and the rotted casing broke free of the wall. She set it on the floor and pulled him out, floating, as he balanced on the eaves. "Breathe this fresh air."
He put his arms around her and closed his eyes.
His masculine scent enveloped her, with fresh notes of soap and tangy musk. Hot awareness zipped through her veins. He pressed her to his hard chest and rested his chin on her head, nestling her in a protective embrace that made her throb.
"This is what I wanted to do all night," he murmured, echoing her thoughts as she launched. "I could dance with you on the rooftops."
"I'd like that. Which rooftop do you want?"
He opened his eyes. Portland glowed a hundred feet below.
He grabbed her harder chuckling to himself. "Ah, dragons. You sweep me off my feet and before I know it, I'm dancing on air."
He fitted her to his waist and mimed the sensual sway he'd started only last night. She swayed with him, dancing over the city of lights. His cock rubbed hard and ready against her hip. An answering hunger twisted between her legs. Her nipples hardened to hot points and she craved his mouth on hers, his body covering hers, more than she'd wanted anything in her life.
The dragon mating flight was rough, dangerous, and passionate. But the human dance? It filled her with primitive, sensual heat.
"Hey." Darcy nuzzled her ear and tugged the lobe, releasing a shiver of pleasure. "Is your lair close by like Mal's? Or far away, like Pyro's in Las Vegas?"
"Farther."
"Oh, like New York?"
"My home is in Argentina."
"Mm. Too bad."
"Why?"
"I'm wishing we were already there." He ground his cock into her.
Hot shivers burned in her body.
"Okay." She tilted against the curve of the Earth and poured on the speed. "But don't worry Darcy, I'll get us there in five minutes."
"Do it," he breathed and teased kisses along her nape. "Yes, Amber."
Sizzles of need centered in her female sex. Amber let loose.
The air melted and molecules crackled as she dove between them, breaking all barriers.
She flew them to her solitude in the Argentinian rain forest in total darkness. They touched down on her lair's landing pad. Darcy clenched her tighter, then realized he was on solid ground and stepped back, looking around curiously.
She deactivated her security and led him inside.
Unlike the elaborate lairs of her brothers, Amber preferred the simplicity of an open studio nestled in deep mist. Rain pattered on the skylights and floor-to-ceiling windows. A river tussled beneath the clear glass floors, and in peace, she could hear the crashing of the distant ocean. Water quenched her fiery soul and soothed her mind.
Darcy wandered the bare smooth wood and pondered the skylights open to the fogged-in stars.
She had created a glasshouse, with nestled furnishings and a bed rising from the center floor; behind it, an elevated nook embedded with a wood soaking tub, and everywhere lots of creams and soothing textures.
He trailed his fingertips over the stone and fabric and rested his sock-clad feet against the raised bed baseboard. "It's different than I thought."
"How so?"
"You love vibrant colors. Neutral bores you. I thought at least in your home you'd be yourself."
He saw things in her she didn't even see in herself.
"You're half right. You'll see in the morning." Amber sat in the center of the bed. "Come here."
He sat on the end of the fluffy comforter cupping his knees. "Does this mean what I think it means?"
"What do you think it means?"
"When a woman invites her fiancé into her home, she might offer him coffee. But when she invites him into her bedroom, she offers more."
"More coffee?"
His smile surged. "No."
She stretched on the bed, arching her curves. "More sex?"
He moved his hand on her clothed knee. "May I take this invitation to unwrap the present before me?"
Her knee heated. "I'm a present?"
"I've been waiting a long, long time for this." He slid his hand up her thigh, lifting her skirt to show the garter. "I've wanted to unwrap you more than anything in my life."
She stopped his hand.
He waited.
"Dragons only bare themselves to their mates." She held his gaze. "We'll become engaged."
"I want that."
"We must have nothing between us. No clothing." She released his hand.
He started at her blouse and flicked the buttons free, pushed the cardigan from her shoulders, and stripped her to the waist. His gaze lingered on the creamy satin cupping her small breasts. A shadow passed his face.
"You're not wearing it."
She half-rose, shielding herself. "What? Oh. Your lingerie?"
He stroked one tender finger along her chest strap and under the satin seam. "It's fine. The innocent look is good on you too. I just thought since you wore the garter, that you tried out all of it."
"I shouldn't."
"Shouldn't?"
"Wear it. The lingerie."
"Amber." He moved behind her on the bed, dropped his lips to her shoulder, nuzzled the back of her neck, and teased her top vertebrae. "Why?"
She shivered. "Because."
Wet heat caressed her skin as he followed his kiss with his tongue. "Mm?"
"It doesn't..." Hot, sensual kisses trailed her neck to the shoulder and his gentle suction stole her thoughts. "...suit me."
> "Red suits you." He trailed kisses to her earlobe and enveloped the sensitive skin. "You love bright colors."
"But I...mmm...can't wear them."
His arm snaked around her waist and drew her back, easing under the rim of satin beneath her breasts and cupping her needy flesh. "You can wear them."
"But they will make me, ah, crazy."
He smiled against her neck. "You're not a bull. Flashing a red cape won't turn you into a rage."
She held on by this thinnest thread of control. "My brothers are sure it will."
"Then maybe you need to talk to your brothers."
"Talking has accomplished nothing. All that matters is action."
"I agree." He found her nipples, rolled the tender nubs between his clever fingers, and teased her.
Pleasant aches lanced her feminine center. She moaned and rolled her shoulders, thrusting her breasts into his full hands and resting her back against his chest. The bra slid down her arms. He tugged it out of the way and curved around her, slanting his lips over her mouth and claiming her with his kiss.
Sweet and spicy waves of sensuality throbbed in her slick feminine vee.
She wiggled, her skin sensitive against his charming hands. She was still wearing too many clothes.
He obeyed her silent commands, laying her on the soft bedspread and unfastening her skirt, shimmying it free. He leaned back and touched the garter again.
"Sorry it doesn't match," she said.
"Oh, it works. Feisty swirled with innocence." He slid his fingertips up her thigh to the edge of her white panties. "You'd inspire a new line. Bridal white by day and seductive red by wedding night."
She glowed hot under his hungry gaze.
The hard bulge at Darcy's trousers confirmed his words even though the teasing sparkle in his eyes continued to defy her.
She'd always missed something. Like, he'd shared a secret, and she'd forgotten. But as she opened to him, trusted him, the only secret was how deeply he understood her.
Amber lifted her hands.
He helped her to her feet beside the bed and peeled the panties off, then knelt before her on the polished hardwood and removed the garter with his teeth. He followed with kisses up her inner thigh promising to find her wherever she hid and to worship her as she was.
She gripped his hair to stop him. "It will not work."
