Page 38 of Dragon Unleashed
“A few times,” she says smugly.
“Hmm.” I sniff the spiked head. No blood. “Truly?” I ask.
She rolls her eyes and huffs out a breath. “Fine, I’ve … swung it ominously at a few goblins, all right? Blossom sent them back inside their book before I could do anything else.”
“I see.” I try not to laugh.
“I would have kicked their asses,” she defends.
“I’m sure you would have.”
“Don’t patronize me, dragon. Someone just peeped on me in the shower. If ever there was a time for me to have a weapon in my pajama drawer, it’s now.” Her scowl is endearing. As is this formidable weapon in the possession of someone who could never hurt a fly. But I have the sense not to say any of that out loud.
Instead, I return the weapon to its hiding place.
“Third drawer,” she says, guiding me to her sleeping attire at last.
I follow her instructions and open a drawer stocked to the brim with soft fabrics patterned with fuzzy animals. I sift through until my eyes land on a fabric printed with tiny baby dragons—which look nothing like the real thing, and yet...my heart swells.
“Here.” I hand them to her, and her lips quirk in the barest hint of a smile.
“You would choose these,” she says. But she takes the clothing I hand her, and I move for the door.
“Where are you going?” she asks, her voice pitching high with fear.
I turn back. “To give you some privacy.”
She bites her lip, and my dick twitches at the way she looks up at me from lowered lashes. “Will you... stay? I don’t want to be alone.”
My cock and my heart both scream so loudly that I have no choice but to say, “Of course.”
Instead of leaving, I turn around and face the wall. My dragon rages at that, but the gentlemanly behavior my mother has ingrained in me can do nothing else. I wait, arms crossed, while Paige dresses. My mind conjures images of her naked body, wet from the shower and trembling from fear.
I might have only been there to protect her, but now that the danger has passed, I can’t help appreciating the mental images of her beautiful body as she’d stood before me. The swell of her breasts and those taut, pink nipples. What they’d be like to touch, to taste—
“Okay. All done.”
Her voice snaps me out of my daydreaming, and I tuck my erection as best I can before facing her again. Her wet hair hangs over her shoulders, framing her face in a way that makes her seem both innocent and intimate. The clothing she wears is loose against her curvy frame, but I don’t need tighter lines to notice where her breasts push against her shirt. My erection aches for release. I avert my eyes before it can drive me to take her right here in this room.
Paige slips beneath the covers, reminding me what I’ve just agreed to, and I try not to think about her warm body curled against mine in that soft bed.
“I’ll sleep on the floor,” I say, my voice strangely hoarse in my ears.
“What?” Paige sits up again, frowning. “No way. The bed is more than big enough for both of us. Even if you are twice the size of anyone else I know.”
My dragon hums at her praise.
“I don’t mind,” I say.
“Aries.” The way she says my name shatters my resolve. “Please. I’m not... I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” she adds, “But having someone watch me in the shower is just...” She shudders, and my will to resist vanishes.
I pull my shirt off and let it drop to the floor.
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” I say, rounding the bed and stretching out next to her. My skin prickles where I can feel her gaze on me, but I don’t look up as I lie beside her and prop an arm behind my head.
I’m careful to keep enough space between us, and I don’t bother with the blankets. My dragon urges me to scoot closer, to curl around her, shielding her petite frame with mine, but Paige made it clear before that she doesn’t want this.
And Ican’twant this.
