Page 73 of Consort of the Dragon King

“I fear you have severely overestimated my qualities,” Kisano protested. “I am simply a shifter who has spent centuries living his isolated life in a library. There is nothing remarkable about me beyond that.”

“Simply?Nothingremarkable about you? You can’t possibly be serious!”

“I am a social outcast, blessed with a very understanding brother and sister who humor my idiosyncrasies,” Kisano continued in a quiet voice. “Your view of Reskin is clearly coloring your opinion of me.”

“No!” Sephen reached out to force Kisano to meet his gaze. “I thought thatbeforeI knew you were Reskin. I’ve been in awe of you since the moment we met.”

Kisano looked down in shame. “But I have done nothing?—”

Sephen got caught up in his rush of feelings. “You have haunted my thoughts every waking moment since I met you. I keep trying to talk myself out of what I feel for you because I know it’s not allowed since I’m a normal human, but?—”

It was Kisano’s turn to interject. “Nothing of the sort. A normal human would never even consider looking in my direction, let alone think any of those things that you said.”

“Then maybe I’m not normal because I never want to look away from you, Kisano.”

Chapter 33

Kisano

The sweet scent of the start of Sephen’s heat clouded Kisano’s senses. It made something deep inside him stir with a lust he had never experienced before. It drove him to be more daring than normal.

Kisano held his breath as he leaned forward to kiss Sephen. When he wasn’t rejected, Kisano’s heart soared. The kiss was sweet, unhurried, and full of tenderness as they tasted each other for the first time.

It was a perfect moment Kisano wanted to remember for the rest of his long life. His heart fluttered with the overwhelming rush of feelings for the human, who had already come to mean so much to him in such a short amount of time.

But Kisano’s mind eventually caught up with him. He pulled back with a scared look, expecting Sephen to grow angry with him. “I-I apologize, Sephen. I should not have taken such an egregious liberty with you.”

To Kisano’s great surprise, Sephen’s response was to kiss him again. This time, it was full of a passionate need, which filledKisano with a roaring fire that seemed to burn so much brighter around Sephen.

When they parted, a charming blush graced Sephen’s cheeks. “I’m sorry if I was bad. It was my first time kissing anyone.”

Something inside Kisano purred at being privileged enough to claim Sephen’s first kiss. It wanted all Sephen’s other firsts, too. The thought startled Kisano, so he refocused himself on Sephen. “That is true for me as well. It was so much better than what the books promised.”

Sephen’s grin lit up Kisano’s entire body. “I know exactly what you mean. But I think I need to try again because, you know, practice makes perfect.”

Kisano laughed into the next kiss. He dared to delve deeper into Sephen’s mouth, drowning in the taste of him. Sephen ran his tongue against Kisano’s small fangs, sparking a dark desire within the shifter. The scent of Sephen’s growing arousal urged Kisano to press the human against the bed, but he resisted out of respect.

It was why it came as such a shock to smell shame emanating from Sephen. Kisano drew back to look at Sephen with concern. “My apologies. I did not intend to make you feel uncomfortable.”

Sephen’s cheeks flushed an even deeper shade of red. “No, you have nothing to apologize for!” Sephen was quiet for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. “I remembered you were a shifter, which would mean you’d find my human scent objectionable, so…”

His need to alleviate Sephen’s worries made it easier to speak freely. “Nothing could be further from the truth. In truth, I have never smelled anything so wonderful in my life.”

“Really?” Sephen’s shy happiness stirred a different desire in Kisano’s heart.

To prove his point, Kisano earnestly kissed Sephen again. The human ended up straddled over Kisano’s lap. He moaned as he ran his fingers through Kisano’s long, cream-colored hair.

Kisano’s heart raced from the simple touch. He whispered Sephen’s name with need, sending a shudder of lust through the human. A startling image flashed through Kisano’s mind of himself naked and thrusting into Sephen. The burst of arousal it inspired overwhelmed Kisano. He rested his forehead against Sephen’s as he paused to collect himself. It was strange having to struggle to control himself, which had never been an issue before.

He had not expected Sephen to move his hair out of the way so he could suck on the tip of Kisano’s ear. When Sephen took it between his teeth to tug on it, Kisano moaned Sephen’s name. He had the human flat on his back on the bed, pinning him into place before he had even processed what he had done.

Kisano started to apologize, but Sephen pulled him down for another hungry kiss. It chased all coherent thoughts out of the shifter’s mind as he drowned in the smell of the human’s lust commingling with the start of his heat. His body reacted on instinct, thrusting his hardness against Sephen’s answering erection. He burned with a need for more, dying to know how Sephen tasted. He licked the mage’s neck, experiencing Sephen’s heat scent in a new way. It drew a surprisingly feral growl from him over how divine the flavor was.

Sephen wrapped his legs around Kisano’s waist as he stretched his arms back, arching his body. Something hit the floor as their bodies moved in a mimicry of a far more intimate moment.

Kisano had never been so lost in someone before. He had a powerful urge to strip Sephen out of his clothes, desperate to feel their naked skin against each other with nothing between them.

Before he could act on his instincts, a loud knock on the door caused them to freeze in their compromising position.

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