Erin twisted a gold ring on her hand with a black stone in it. “It means some of their powers are transferred to us, for one thing. For protection.”
“Powers?” Faye asked.
“Yeah,” Hallie answered. “Each of the dragons has different powers corresponding to their representative gemstone, and some of those are imbued in the ring. Mine, for instance, gives me rapid healing, since Luc is able to heal. I don’t have his freezing powers, though.”
“And mine gives me diamond skin,” Erin said. “Well, onyx skin, but it’s hard as diamond.”
Faye looked over at Red. Sure enough, he had a gold ring on his right hand that had a red ruby shining in it. “What are your powers?”
“I’d really rather talk about it in private,” he said, glaring at Zach, who was smirking.
“I bet you would,” Zach said. “He has sexy powers.”
“What?” she asked, nearly spitting out her soup.
“He’s seductive. Or didn’t you notice?” Zach asked.
“He’s beautiful, yes,” Faye said. “But I wasn’t immediately ready to date him. So I guess not so powerful after all.”
“I still won you over,” Red grumbled. “Besides, I’m glad it wasn’t just my powers making you like me. But yes, I have an effect on women. Kind of a dubious power, but I suppose it gives me influence. Lately, I haven’t been grateful for it. But also, as you saw, I can manipulate fire, heat, and smoke. Those are my offensive abilities.”
“I wonder what your ring would do,” she said thoughtfully.
He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. “You want to try it on and see?”
“Hey now,” Erin said, grinning. “Just know once it’s on, it’s permanent. You’re mated.”
“Oh,” Faye said. “Good to know.” She glared at Red.
He shrugged. “I would have told you. Probably.”
She had to laugh at his gall. Ever since she’d met him, he’d been slowly squeezing himself into her life.
She heard a hiss from outside the room and then the screeching of claws skittering over marble and looked in the direction they’d come. Another familiar yowl, and she looked at Red curiously. “Oh my gosh, did you bring Pumpkin?”
Red looked indignant. “Of course. I wasn’t going to leave her alone. What if the bad guys came back?”
She laughed as she stood to go check on what was going on. A little black cat was limping alongside a hairless cat as they both cautiously approached Pumpkin, who was, as usual, ensconced under a table.
“Maybe I should go warn them,” she said.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Zach said, holding up scratched arms. “That cat is nasty.”
“She likes me,” Faye said. She left the room and walked over to Pumpkin, who was hissing and swiping at the others with her claws. “Move back guys,” she said to the other kitties. “I got this.” She reached out, and Pumpkin purred and rubbed her hand with her face. Then she allowed Faye to pull her out and into her arms, where she relaxed.
Faye sort of understood Pumpkin. What it was like to be afraid all the time and want to hide under things, swiping at people.
But she also knew someone being willing to overlook that and reach out without fear made all the difference.
She could be to Pumpkin what Red had been to her.
She carried Pumpkin back to the dining room, and it went quiet as she walked in.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Zach said.
“Language,” Erin scolded.
“Darned.” Zach corrected himself. “Look at the demon cat.”
“She’s not a demon,” Faye chided. “She’s just scared.”
Luc smiled. “I can see why you like her,” he said to Red. “She’s good at taming wild animals.”
“Shut up,” Red snapped. But his eyes were on her, shining with admiration. Warmth. Heat. And something else.
If she didn’t know any better, she’d say that look in his eyes was love.
“Well, I think I’ve got some explaining to do,” Red said, standing and walking over to join her.
“Try not to explain too loud,” Zach said, earning a punch on the arm from his mate. “Even if we did put you in the back wing.”
“Can’t promise,” Red said. “Better keep your doors closed.”
Faye flushed as he pulled her from the room. She was almost nervous to be alone with him again. When there had been other people to focus on, to get to know, it had been easier.
He led her to a large staircase covered in burgundy floral carpet, rich and baroque, and began pulling her up it.
“Come on,” he said. “I’ve got a lot to tell you.”
10
“So I guess tell me everything,” she said, waiting.
Despite what she’d been through, with fainting and being brought here, she still looked utterly beautiful. Her curls were wind-tossed and flying every which way, making him want to reach out and touch them. There were slight stress lines at her eyes, and her clothes were rumpled.
But she knew he was a dragon, and as long as she knew that, everything else could fall into place.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. I really was just trying to see if you could even want me as a man, before I brought all the scales into the picture.”
“Do you have scales?” she asked. “Why don’t you have them now?”
“I’m a shifter,” he said. “I have two forms. This one and my dragon form.”
“So can you show me your dragon form?”
He touched his necklace, not knowing what to tell her. He’d only just told her about the dragon thing. If he told her about the necklace and it only coming off with mating, would she end up hating him?
She’d been used a lot. What if she misunderstood and thought he was using her?
“I can’t,” he said. “Not until I prove myself to the oracle. That’s the person who brought us back into this world.”
“From where?” she asked.
“The Middle Ages.”
She rolled her eyes. “That would explain how surprised you looked by a can opener.”
He nodded. “She gives us a crash course before sending us out in the world, but yeah, a lot of things are still new to me.”
“That’s kind of adorable,” she said.
His nose wrinkled. “I’m a dragon. I hardly want to be called adorable.”
“Even if it means I adore you?” she teased.
“Oh, well, that would be okay,” he said, moving closer to her as they sat on the bed.
“This is a nice bed. A nice place really.” She looked around the ornate, baroque furnishings.
“I believe it was restored when they bought it. Is this the type of place you’d want to live in?” he asked. “When I get my treasure back I mean.”
Her eyes widened. “Your what?”
“Treasure. Dragons really do hoard it, and when I get my powers back, I’ll get my treasure back, too. Be able to buy you whatever you want. You’ll never have to waitress again.”
“Be still my beating heart,” she joked. “But wait. Seriously?”
He nodded. “I’d prefer you didn’t work there anyway.”
“Hold on,” she said. “We only just started getting involved. Isn’t that all moving a bit fast?”
“The couples downstairs all moved faster. When a dragon finds his mate, he just knows.”
“So you’ve been thinking that the whole time we were friends?”
Even though he knew it would probably get him in trouble, he nodded yes. He wanted to tell the truth where he could.
“Wow,” she said, sinking back on the bed, looking overwhelmed as she combed one hand through her hair, smoothing the curls. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t you think it’d be good?” he asked. “I’m sure it’s not ever what you expected. It’s not the life script. But do you think a lifetime of sex and loving with me would be worth it?” He grinned. “You could watch as much reality TV as you wanted.”
/> She smiled at him, but there was hesitation in her light-blue eyes. She stood and walked to the window, looking out at the grounds. Then she closed the curtains. “This is all amazing. You’re amazing. I’m realizing that more every day. But it’s still too fast for me.”
He looked at the ring on his hand contemplatively. He’d known he would need to be patient. Just because he got to blurt out everything about himself didn’t mean she wouldn’t need time to adjust.
He’d just gotten too hopeful, too fast. But he was a patient man. He could wait. “All right. I can wait as long as you want.”
She sat on a chair next to the window and crossed one leg over the other. “What does being a mate truly mean? Is it like being married?”
“Stronger than that,” he said. “It’s a forever bond that can’t be broken. It means I will never look at another woman. Never think of one. Hell, even if you never agree to be mine, I don’t think I can look at another woman. I’ll always know it’s you.”
“Oh, geez,” she said, fanning her face. “You know how to come on strong.”
He sighed. “This is why I didn’t want to say anything before. Given that you didn’t even want to date a guy again, I didn’t think you’d react well to someone saying, ‘Hey, I think we were meant to be together for eternity, and I’ll use all my ancient dragon powers to protect you.’”
“No,” she said, giggling and drawing her knees up against her. “I think I probably would have thought you were off your rocker.”
“My what?”
“Out of your mind,” she said.
“What does that have to do with rockers?”
“Just a phrase,” she said.
“Right,” he said. He felt such longing as he looked at her. Hated she was even across the room. Wanted to be holding her, feeling her, even right now.
But if he’d learned anything about her, it was that he needed to let her come to him. He leaned back on the bed and let out a relaxed breath. “Any other questions?”
“You have sexy powers. How many women?” she asked, biting her full lower lip.
“You do not want me to answer that,” he said. “I promise.”
She frowned and turned away slightly. “Oh.”
He leaned forward. “That was lifetimes ago. Since I woke up, no one. I was supposed to change my ways, and I have. But I can tell you for sure there has never been anyone like you.”
She nodded, still unconvinced.
“You think I’m a lot of firsts for you, but you’re a lot of firsts for me.” He ticked them off on his fingers. “My first real friend who was also a woman. The first woman to give me crap when I deserved it. The first woman I’d crawl across a desert just to deliver lemonade.” He paused, looking into her blue eyes. “The first woman I have ever loved.”
She blinked at him, her long lashes curly like her hair. Then she stood and walked over, standing between his legs where they were propped at the end of the bed. “In love with me?”
“Of course,” he said. “Why do you think I want you for my mate?”
“I didn’t know if it was just this set thing and you have to like the woman.”
“No,” he said. “There is still choice involved. Even if it’s an inner kind of choosing, like the animal part of us understands before the human part just how perfect a certain person is for us.” He put his hands on her waist, moving down to her rounded hips. “In my case, I knew with both parts of me, almost right away.”
“How are you in love with me?” she asked. “I’ve been a lot of trouble for you.”
“No,” he said. “I’ve been a lot of trouble for you. Ever since I moved in.”
“I guess that’s true,” she said, putting a hand in his hair and making him shudder.
“But if you want to know why I’m in love with you, I can give you many reasons,” he said, tilting back his head to look at her. “You’re lovely. You’re honest. You say what you mean, no matter the consequences. You’re brave, letting me in when you’ve been hurt. You keep giving me the benefit of the doubt, even when I can tell you want to run.”
She was quiet and attentive, and he could tell he was affecting her, even though she was trying to hide it.
He took one of her hands and held it against this chest. “You make me feel alive. You make me want to be more than the debauched rogue I was. You help me understand this world and, more importantly, want to fight for it. You make me care about something outside myself.” He was silent a moment, waiting for the right words. “You’re just plain special.”
She walked closer, wrapping both arms around him and looking into his eyes. “Maybe you really do have sexy powers. Because despite everything that has happened today, I’m really in the mood.”
“I don’t know that it’s my powers,” he said. “I mean, the other dragons joke about it, but I’m pretty sure it’s just the initial attraction women feel based on my looks. No more than that. I hope so anyway. I think that’s what really initially intrigued me about you. You weren’t just falling over me instantly. So when you did come to me, I knew you did it because you got to know me. Not just because, like every other woman, you wanted to get a taste.”
“Well, I did want a taste,” she said. “That just didn’t override my inhibitions. And I’m glad, because I wanted to know you for you. And you’re so much more than the douchebag you first appeared to be.”
“Less of a douchebag now, anyway,” he said, grinning, as he brought his lips close to hers. “So you said you were in the mood.”
“Are you?” she asked, her lips tickling his.
He laughed and squeezed her waist with his hands. “Do you even have to ask? I’m always in the mood with you.” He flicked his tongue out to graze her lip and felt her shudder. “So what do you want from me?”
Everything.
Everything was what she wanted when it came to Red.
“Just do your thing, sex dragon,” she said, half joking, half honest.
The fact that he was a dragon was still settling in, even if it made sense. But all that mattered was Red was still just Red to her, and none of the mystery and magic surrounding their meeting changed that.
Red chuckled at that, a sexy, low-sounding rumble as he deftly switched their positions, laying her back on the bed, legs dangling off the side as he came over her, emitting an intangible, exciting aura of dominance.
He pulled off his shirt first, greeting her with another view of that perfect body, just in time, as he knelt down and kissed her. His lips were rough against hers, claiming and powerful. She opened her mouth to let him in. Inside, his tongue flicked against hers, stroking with wonderful motion as his muscled legs straddled her on the bed, surrounding her everywhere.
This was a new Red from the one she’d experienced last night. More unmitigated, more alpha, more unrelenting as he moved from her lips to her ear, licking along the outer lobe and then biting down softly on the tip. She felt her body arch back, but all she could feel was rock-hard muscle and intense pleasure wherever his lips touched her.
And then Red started to move lower, his kisses trailing feverishly over her collarbone. But when he reached the edge of her shirt, he just pulled it and her bra down with it, her breasts spilling out and meeting the cool air of the room.
She could tell from the way his intense green eyes roved over her body that he was every bit as turned on as she was, and as he came down and sucked hard on one wanting nipple, she could feel his gaze on her still, even as she closed her eyes against the wave of intense sensation coursing through her.
Nothing he did was slow. He moved from one breast to the other voraciously with his tongue while he squeezed both with his huge hands, massaging and then covering them with his fingers. The more he did, the more she could feel intense need pooling in her, could feel herself getting wetter by the second.
As if in response to her own body’s desires, she felt one of Red’s hands come beneath the waist of her pants, ignoring zippers or buttons or un
derwear and stroking directly over her clit. The incredible feel of it shot through her body, ripping a moan from her lips as she struggled beneath him, his body rock solid and unyielding, the proximity of his hand beneath her pants erotic.
For some reason, it all felt so much more wild, more reckless, more lustful that he was doing this to her with all her clothes on still. As if there wasn’t even time to take anything off; her pleasure was so urgent.
And as he went directly into a fervid pace, his finger rubbing her center, he continued to lick and lave over her breasts, the heat and wetness of his tongue a stark contrast to the cool air as it lapped at her skin every second he wasn’t touching her.
And despite her best efforts at holding back the high tide of pleasure moving through her like lightning, it was as if he knew exactly how and where to touch to surpass all her barriers. Like an unstoppable tidal wave, a force of nature in itself.
He sucked on her nipple, hard, his finger stroking over her clit at the same time, and Faye felt the rising wave crash over her, her entire body falling, falling endlessly into a chasm of wondrous release. As she gripped Red’s thighs tightly, he just watched her possessively, grinning slightly with gratification.
She didn’t know how long the free-fall lasted, just that it was intense and pleasurable and left her wanting more. More and more from her man. Her dragon.
And Red didn’t let up. Before she had fully even finished, he had her pants and underwear off, her legs over his shoulders as he kneeled at the edge of the bed for her. Without hesitation, his tongue was on her clit, the slick heat of it even warmer than she remembered. She could feel every centimeter of it, every tiny motion he made as he trailed over her, then up again, then in tiny circles that widened and then got smaller and then ended with the tip flicking upward.
It was maddening in the best way. She gripped into the plush sheets, her body tightening quickly with each passing second, unable to do anything as he did everything for her.
She came hard, then again as he kept licking her even while she was in the throes of her second, pulling as much pleasure as she could possibly stand out of her at one time. He was relentless and unstoppable in his giving, knowing and understanding her body even better than she did.
Ruby Dragon (Awakened Dragons Book 3) Page 8
