by Milly Taiden
After her shower, she decided to go commando under her sweats and prayed nobody would notice the extra jiggle of her butt. She kept telling herself she’d go home and change, but that didn’t stop her from blushing the moment someone knocked on the door.
She rushed over to open it as she put her glasses on. It was Tor. Oh god. He wore a white T-shirt that made his massive arms look like logs. His skin was suntanned and those beautiful tattoos appeared brighter. He was so fucking tall.
“How big are you?”
He glanced at her, his brows slowly rising. It took her a second to realize how that question came across. Fire flamed her face. “I mean,” she gulped. “How tall are you?”
He grinned, a wicked glint lighting in his gaze. “Big enough.”
Oh boy. That was not the answer she’d been expecting. Now she wondered just how big he truly was. Not a good idea to think about that. Not when she knew he was a shifter and could scent if she got aroused. Lord have mercy, that’s the last thing she needed. Especially when she was panty-less. Now she felt all kinds of uncomfortable.
“Is there somewhere I could get some coffee?” she asked, changing the subject quickly.
He gave her a look that said he knew what she was doing and it wasn’t working. Too damn bad.
“I’ll show you the kitchen. By now, we’ve all had coffee. Clacher’s gone.”
She followed him out of the room with her bag in hand. She’d managed to shove her clothes into it. Barely. She hoped her panties didn’t pop out at any second from how ready to burst the bag looked.
They went down a long hallway and everything she saw only verified what she already knew. “This is a castle!”
He chuckled, the sound so deep and rusty, it made her nipples pebble. “No. It’s just a big house.”
“Really? So you’ve seen many stone walls inside a house before, huh?”
“It’s brick, not stone,” he said. “And I guess it could be considered a small castle if you take the whole design into consideration. My parents fell in love with Scottish castles.”
“I’ve always wanted to travel the world. After being in boarding school in Switzerland for a long time, I found myself wanting to come back to the states, only to get a job right away and not get that chance to see other parts of Europe.”
The kitchen was massive with state-of-the-art appliances. Five people could be cooking and not get in each other’s way. “This kitchen is amazing.”
“Glad you think so,” said someone from the other side of the room.
“Ker,” Tor growled.
Ker grinned and came closer. “I’ve been dying to meet you.”
She blinked and stared into his gorgeous blue eyes. “Hi. I’m Morgan.”
The guy was obviously younger than Tor and had a fun aura about him. She felt immediately at ease near him.
“Hi, Morgan. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person. You’re much more beautiful than your photo.”
She raised her brows. “Photo?”
“Would you like some coffee?” Tor interrupted. “The photo from your file when I visited your mother’s office.”
“Oh, um, yes, please.”
“Are you busy today?” Ker asked. “I’d be happy to show you around the house. I work from home, computer stuff, all very boring.”
She had a feeling he was lying to her about his job. Big time. Still, she really liked Ker. He reminded her of Lexi. She took the mug Tor held out for her so she could make a cup of coffee.
“Are you hungry, Morgan?” Ker asked, coming to stand beside her. Tor growled again. “I can make you breakfast. Pancakes?”
Damn. She loved pancakes. But she wanted to go home and get her own clothes on. As nice as Tor was, she was dragging his sweats and she was starting to feel awkward with saggy pant bottoms. “Thanks, but no. Coffee’s enough.”
“Let’s sit at the table; we can chat a while.”
Once she had her coffee, she followed Ker, trying hard to keep from smiling at the frown Tor gave the other man.
“So what do you do for a living, Morgan?” Ker asked, lifting his own cup to his lips. The blue eyes brightened and changed into a sapphire color. For a second, she didn’t believe his eyes changed color but then she remembered he was a dragon. For all she knew, he could change his eyes to any color he wanted.
“I’m a child therapist. I counsel children who have been through abuse.”
Tor gave her a surprised look. “Even though you feel their pain?”
“That’s why I do it. There’s nothing better than knowing you stopped a child’s sadness. I work with children because their pain is deeper, stronger, and can really tear me up.”
He was thoughtful after that. Ker continued his chatting about all things and everyone drank coffee. She’d never felt so welcome, aside from her friends.
“We should go,” Tor said after they had their coffee. “I’ve got something I want to show you.”
She scrunched her nose. “Can we go by my place first? I want to change and grab a few things since I’ll be here for a few days.”
At her house, she found a note from Lexi telling her she’d call later, but she knew she was fine. Good thing because Lexi would have been flipping if she hadn’t spoken to Tor. Morgan knew she’d go nuts wondering if Lexi was fine had she not spent the night at home.
They were in his SUV when they were intercepted by a big black van. It stopped in front of them in the road. No other cars were around, so it added to her discomfort.
“What the―”
“Relax,” he said. “I know these guys. I called them to take my SUV and your stuff up to the house for us.”
They got out of the SUV. She didn’t know what to think. Weren’t they going back to his castle together?
A big beefy guy got out of the driver’s side of the van followed by another guy, his head full of tattoos, from the passenger side. Tattoo guy went around and got in the driver’s side.
The big guy came over to them and smiled. She saw nothing in him that worried her, but the other guy had some serious darkness in his life.
“Hey, Tor. I’ll take it from here.” He turned to her and offered a hand. “Hi, I’m Rusty. I’ll take care of your stuff.”
She nodded and took his hand. Immediately, the image of his sick wife knocked her to her knees.
“Are you okay?” Rusty asked, his voice high with worry.
She glanced up and met his gaze. God. She needed to help him. His wife was suffering so much. “Where is she?”
Tor helped her to her feet and curled a protective arm around her shoulders. The warmth from his body helped soothe the cold seeping to her bones.
“I’m sorry?”
She shook her head and squeezed his hand. “Your wife. She’s very sick. Where is she?”
Rusty glanced at Tor. “You told her?”
Tor shook his head. “It’s too complicated to explain. Just know that whatever she knows, she saw the moment she shook your hand.”
“I can help her.”
Rusty’s eyes lit with hope. “You can cure her?”
She let go of his hand and allowed Tor’s body heat to calm her nerves. “No, I can’t do that. But I can help her handle her pain. I can help her when it’s time.”
“Thanks, lady, but we’re good.” Rusty’s voice was hoarse with emotion.
She rummaged through her bag and pulled out a business card. “Call me if you change your mind. My cell phone is on there. I’ll come. Just tell me when.”
Rusty didn’t say anything, but she saw how torn he was to ask her more. Instead he took her card, shoved it in his pocket and walked around them to get in the SUV. The sound of tires grinding filled the air as both vehicles took off in a rush.
She turned to face Tor and watched him take his shirt off. “What, um, what are you doing?”
Oh lord. All the muscles. The tattoos. The freaking body on him. She could stare at him all day.
“I’m taking you somewher
e. It’s faster if we fly.” His pants came next. She gasped and he raised his head to meet her gaze. A wicked glint shone in his eyes. The corner of his mouth lifted in a cruelly sexy way that made her want to lick his lips.
“Here,” he said, handing her his clothes. She glanced away from his naked form and shoved them in her cross-body bag. There was no way she’d look down. Nope. What he looked like naked down there was of no interest of hers. Liar!
She gulped and couldn’t help her vision straying to caress down his body, down to that V from his hips to his cock that made her throat dry. And wow. He was definitely big.
“Ready?”
She blinked and jumped back as if looking at his penis had somehow burned her. “Ah, yeah.”
She was too humiliated to look at his face. She knew she’d see that humor in his eyes again. Instead, she focused on his neck and chest. Suddenly his whole body transformed. Muscles turned to giant scales and her eyes widened as the gray and white dragon stood before her. He lowered and motioned with his head.
“Climb on you?”
He did it again so she took it to mean that was what he wanted.
She glanced down at her clothing, happy she was wearing something comfortable but realized as her glasses slid down her nose, they needed to go in her pocket for safekeeping until they arrived wherever they were going.
She finally got on his back, after a couple failed attempts—her legs were short—and held on tightly, her arms wrapped around the dragon’s neck. They took off smoothly. She pinched her eyes closed at first. She hadn’t told him she got motion sickness. Would it make a difference on a dragon’s back?
They flew high in the air, over trees, and higher still. She saw the river. The forest and farms in the outer areas of town. They flew for what felt like hours. She was mesmerized by the view. And the fact she wasn’t throwing up. Of course, she had a nice breeze hitting her on the face, so she gave it full credit for keeping her sickness at bay.
They finally landed near a cabin by a river. She slid off and fell on her ass when she couldn’t get her balance. He morphed into his human body and her gaze once again strayed to his cock. Holy crap. He was hard.
“The rush of adrenaline makes it hard to control,” he chuckled.
She told herself to stop staring but she couldn’t, her eyes were glued to his shaft. Her body heated as she stared at his body. He was beautiful. Every muscle, every limb, a work of art. Then her gaze traveled to his face and she was once again held entranced by him. He marched toward her, his eyes glowing.
“What are you doing?”
Another grin from his delectable face. “I need my clothes.”
She blinked and rushed to her bag to give him his outfit. She stood and handed him the clothes then walked off to the cabin entrance. The cabin was a lot bigger than she’d noticed from the air. With her glasses back on, she stared at the cabin in awe.
“What is this place?”
He pushed the front door open and ushered her in. “Liz? Are you here?”
An older woman popped out from nowhere and rushed over to them. “Oh, Tor! So lovely to see you again. And who is this beauty?”
Morgan had a hard time keeping back the snort. The woman was adorable with her compliments.
“I want you to meet Morgan. She’s a friend. Morgan, this is Liz. She’s the caretaker here.”
Morgan didn’t know why, but it hurt her heart a little when he called her his friend. Not like he could call her his girlfriend, but for some reason, she had a second of wishing he’d introduce her as something else. What the hell was wrong with her? She barely knew this guy. So what if her hormones were doing the mambo for him. That meant nothing.
“Nice to meet you, Morgan,” Liz said with a bright smile. “Come to the kitchen. I prepared a nice picnic lunch for you two.”
“Oh, you didn’t have to go through the trouble,” Morgan replied.
Liz waved her concern away. “It’s fine. When Tor said he was bringing someone, I wanted to make sure my boy and his girl were well taken care of.”
Okay then.
Tor laughed and curled an arm around Liz’s shoulders. “Thanks. I’m starving.”
“What about you, Morgan,” Liz asked. “Are you hungry?”
They went into a lovely kitchen a lot bigger than Morgan anticipated with modern appliances in a gorgeous patent red color. “If we’re being honest, yes. I’m famished.”
“Lovely.” Liz stopped at a very country decorated kitchen table with a pitcher filled with daisies and pointed at a massive basket. “You can handle this, Tor.”
Morgan’s eyes readied to pop out of her head. That thing was huge. He picked it up like it weighed next to nothing. “Yeah. It’s great.”
“I set up a blanket and drinks by the river. Your favorite spot,” she told him. Then she turned to Morgan and winked. “Enjoy your lunch.”
Morgan wasn’t sure why the wink, but now more than ever, her nerves screamed for her to go with the flow and if he kissed her to let it happen. Now all she had to make sure was that she didn’t fling herself at him if he didn’t move fast enough.
Chapter Eleven
Tor loved Morgan’s scent. Though his dragon wasn’t screaming out for him to mate her, they both enjoyed her company. He wanted her. She was beautiful, kind, and the emotion he saw in her eyes whenever she spoke did more to him than any other woman had in his past. Even Sylvana.
When they reached the biggest tree by the river, his spot, he saw the giant blanket and twin ice buckets. One chilling a bottle of champagne, the other filled with water bottles. Trust Liz to make sure to bring out the vintage. She probably thought Tor had a bigger interest in Morgan than he’d stated. She’d be right. Tor loved Morgan’s eyes, her smile, her scent. Hell, he wanted to sit there and stare at her face all day watching the different expressions as she spoke.
He wondered if this was how human men became smitten. He’d often wondered about that. This was the first time he’d truly felt his heart beat for a female. But this was more than lust. He liked being near Morgan. He wanted to protect her. He loved just seeing her smile.
They sat by the river and he proceeded to pull out the plastic tub of pasta salad, cold chicken, rolls, and peeled and cut fruit. There was also a container full of brownies. He hoped Morgan liked chocolate. He loved the stuff.
“Oh my goodness, look at all this food,” she gasped. “Do you need my help?”
“No. You sit there. I’ll pass you stuff and you can serve yourself.”
He gave her the plate and proceeded to open the champagne. “Would you like a glass or would you rather have water?”
She scrunched her nose and it made her so damn cute. He wanted to lean forward and kiss her. She’d worn a different pair of glasses after they’d gone to her house. These were black-rimmed but had some sparkle at the edges. The sexy schoolteacher look was back full force.
“I’ll take a glass of the bubbly, because with this view, how could I say no?” She grinned. “But after that I’ll stick to water.”
He handed her the champagne flute and watched her lick her lips when their fingers grazed. He heard her heartbeat increase and the scent of her arousal curled around his nose like a delicate perfume he couldn’t get enough of.
“So what is this place?” she asked, taking a sip and placing her glass on the small metal base he’d put down so she could slide the flute where it wouldn’t tip over.
“This was my parents’ home. Well, one of their homes. The castle was a favorite when they were younger, but as my father got sick, this is where they came to…to be alone.”
She glanced around and gave him one of those soft looks that made his chest fill with the need to protect her. “What happened? I thought your kind could live forever.”
He grinned. “Almost. There are a few things that can kill us. Witchcraft is one of them.”
She gasped. “What?”
“Sayeh’s mate, the witch, got into the head of someone my
father saw a few times. Our medical professional is someone we trust implicitly. But this woman was covering for our doctor while he was traveling. Let’s say she did exactly as Sylvana asked. She poisoned my father for days with potions Sylvana had prepared with her magic and he became weaker and weaker.”
“I’m so…sorry,” she mumbled. “That’s horrible.”
“Eventually they came here to wait out his time. One mate does not survive without the other. So it was my mother’s last moments with him. We wanted to be with them but respected their wishes.”
She nodded. “I can’t imagine. Your parents must have loved each other a lot then?”
“They were together for almost two thousand years. I’ve heard that human couples rarely last more than half a century.” He frowned as he stared at her. “I don’t understand how any male could let go of the one woman who owns his heart. He should be treasuring her existence.”
The corners of her mouth kicked up. “Humans don’t have mates. We spend our lives looking for what might be the right person, but sometimes we get it wrong.”
He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips. “How could you be wrong? Do you not feel the intense pull for the person you want?”
She glanced at his mouth. Her scent drove him crazy. He wanted to kiss her. To get her naked and to eat her for lunch. Fuck!
“I, uh, yeah. But emotions are messy. Humans don’t have your certainty.”
He leaned forward, listening to her heartbeat increase in speed. The perfume of her arousal pulled him in like a moth to a flame. He went closer, closing the distance between them, her hand still in his grasp. He brought it to his chest, then he met her gaze.
“I’m going to kiss you, Morgan. I’ve never wanted a woman like I do you and I need to know what I’m about to do is okay with you.”
She nodded jerkily. “Yes. Very okay.”
He lifted a hand up to her face, taking her glasses carefully off her beautiful face and placed them to the side to keep from breaking them. Then he brought his face to hers, lips grazing over each other and then went deeper, further. She tasted of champagne and the brownie she’d been nibbling on instead of the food on display. God. She was delicious. Delightful. Perfect.
