Page 74 of Dragon Blood
Can you forgive me?
Drawn by the intense heat of his body, she leaned ever closer, until his back bumped the closed door.
“Yes, Kai, I am different now. I realize I can’t run away anymore. I can’t run from my duty. And I can’t run away from facing what lies within.”
She stared at him, willing him to understand her meaning. To understand what she couldn’t say.
I love you. I always have.
He’d already said it, so long ago, that night he’d asked her to commit.
Did he still?
There was no doubt that he desired her, no matter how aloof he tried to be. The memory of their recent encounter on the beach before the wedding blazed through her. His magical hands on her, the taste of his tongue entwined with hers.
There’d been no tenderness in their heated exchange. What his body wanted might not be what his heart wanted, now.
Maybe. Her thoughts flicked back to their last night in Black River, and their brief encounter in the hallway.
She hesitated, leaning back.
Cool air invaded the space between them.
She straightened her shoulders, finally turning to give him space. “Wine? We’ll have to discuss what happened and what’s coming next. I—”
His hand, firm and warm, spun her back to him. His fingers gently cradled her face as his dark eyes stared directly into hers. “Red, we will always have what lies within. Don’t ever doubt that. Ever.”
The ferocity of his growl melted her against him, heart pounding as desire pooled at her core.
His mouth descended to hers as he finally claimed her as she needed him to.
“Do you still want me, Kai?” she breathed against his mouth when they parted for air, linking her fingers into his.
“Always, Red. You know this.” He dragged their linked hands over his pounding heart. “And this.” He brought their hands lower down to his belt and lower still, grasping his hardened anatomy with their clasped hands. “Always.”
A flash of molten heat blazed through her.
She unfastened his belt, button and zipper, needing to feel him hot and hard in her hand.
Leaning her forehead against his chin, she worked him, caressing, pressing, squeezing as he claimed her lips again.
He released her mouth, pulling her shirt up over her head, exposing her naked breasts to the warm glow of the firelight.
He paused, eyes fixing on the thin sheen of scales covering her chest, then flicked up to her face.
She offered no explanation to the question in his eyes.
His hungry mouth descended to her gold-tipped nipples.
She moaned his name as he suckled, nipping and nibbling at their taut peaks.
She worked him harder until pre-cum moistened his tip.
Kai’s hand slipped into her pants, fingers moving with his special magic.
Releasing him, she shoved at his jeans, then her own, so that they stood naked.
He spun her so that her back was to his chest as his hands explored her lean body, periodically sliding into her core as he nuzzled her nape, nipping her throat until she crackled hotter than the hearth fire.
