Page 100 of The Dragon 1
“It’s not bad,” he said. “It’s just dangerous.”
The word sent a shiver down my spine.
I forced myself to sit taller, even though part of me wanted to slide under the table and vanish into the moss. “You said I was a tiger. They have fangs too.”
He blinked and then chuckled. God, he was beautiful when he was caught off guard. His dangerous facade cracked just enough to let something human slip through.
“You’reverygood,” he murmured.
I smiled. “So I’ve been told.”
He lifted his cup again. This time he didn’t drink. He just held it between us like a delicate truce.
“I’ll tell you this, Tora,” His voice went low. “You can ask about them. You can watch them. But my Fangs are not to speak to you unless I say so.”
“Kenji—”
“I’m not done,” his voice dropped into a darker tone. “I say that. . .not just because I’m growing possessive of you, but because my Fangs are weapons, not men. If they become attached to you, they become vulnerable. I don’t let my weapons rust.”
O-kay. . .
“I understand,” I said, even though I wasn’t sure I did completely. “But, I’ll still probably smile at them. I can’t help it. Kaoru’s hair is just. . .so pink. It’s adorable.”
That earned another chuckle from Kenji, this one slightly defeated.
I leaned my head to the side, “what’s so funny?”
He put the cup of sake down as if giving up on drinking it. “If you knew the things Kaoru would do to my enemies. . .adorablewould not come to your mind.”
“What would come?”
“Nightmares.”
I widened my eyes. “Oh.”
“You’re trouble, Tora,” he reached forward and took my hand. His thumb stroked lightly across the back of it.
Mmmm.
Then, his thumb began to trace slow, mesmerizing circles across the back of my hand—soft, controlled, and devastating.
It was a whisper of pressure.
A tease of warmth.
And just like that, every nerve in my body woke up.
I tried to keep still. To act unaffected… it was no use. That one touch sent a hum low through my belly, tightening my thighs beneath the table and sending my pulse into a chaotic rhythm.
I bit the inside of my cheek. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing how easily he could undo me.
But he already knew.
The way his gaze darkened. The way his fingers shifted—now gliding along the ridge of my knuckles, now dragging slightly along the sensitive skin between them.
He waswatchingandreadingme. Learning what made me shiver. What made my breath catch. What made my thighs squeeze tighter under the silk of my dress.
“You’re very quiet now,” he whispered. “What happened to the woman who scolded me like a queen and challenged me like a tiger?”
