Page 19 of Taming
The Sweet One
The men didn’t pry when I stayed a little longer and helped Aggie with her dishes while she napped. Maybe I’m just a good person, maybe the guilt of my lies is eating me alive. We may never know. I waste the day away dwelling on my mistakes and my thoughts as I wash the towering pile of plates. The house is empty and she’s still asleep. Or she’s ignoring me.
I sigh and carefully make my way around a stack of books that are so tall they’re acting as a support beam in the middle of the kitchen. When I close her door behind me, the warm sunlight is gone, replaced with a pale skyline of dusk.
The cool wind catches my dress as I look up at the three of them. Yards into the distance a thick line of tree’s attempts to hide the dirt road. There they stand, staring hard at the mage’s little cottage. The cool dirt comforts my steps as I walk over to them.
“Rime and I are going to camp out here in case our mage shows up early,” Kain tells me.
Well that’s pretty unlikely. I’m not much of a morning person. But whatever.
When I don’t speak, he continues.
“Take Arlow home. The more we search for the mage, the more danger we’re putting her in just by association with us. Women are crazy. She could lash out just to send a message.”
Guys, I’ll admit I’m a little unstable sometimes, but I’m not crazy …
Chaos nods, his inky hair shifting into his eyes just slightly. His dark hair and two-toned eyes have this jarring appearance of danger and cruelty, but his personality seems to be a stark contrast.
And before I even get a say in the matter, Kain shifts. One minute he’s a brooding and demanding man, the next he’s a beautiful, glistening dragon. The smell of smoke tinges the air; it actually crackles with the sound of hot embers. His clothes lay in tattered pieces in the dirt, and I shake my head at his carelessness.
“You guys just think I’m made of money.” I stalk forward, picking up a little piece of cloth and raising it to his nose as if to shame the creature.
Kain’s snout skims my wrist and he pushes the white remains of the shirt out of his face.
“I’m not buying you new clothes every day.” My hands settle on my hips and his emerald eyes gleam as he follows the gesture, studying the curve of my hip a bit too long.
He’s so much larger than he was just two days ago. He meets me at eye level now, but I don’t let his size intimidate me. Even if his fiery wingspan is larger than life.
“Are you asking us to strip for you every time we shift?” Rime’s question draws my attention to his rumbling tone, and, when my attention lands on him, all my snarky retorts drift away.
His fingers grip the hem of his shirt and he holds my gaze as he pulls it off. Etching lines carve his body in solid muscle that makes me swallow hard just from the sight of his perfection. The sharp angle of his jaw tips up in an arrogant way and he wastes no time unbuttoning his jeans.
If I were a classier woman, a woman of virtue and innocence, maybe—just maybe—I’d have the pure heart to look away.
But I’m not.
My heart pounds louder and louder with every small move he makes. He pushes his jeans down so slowly, I’m sure that I’m salivating with anticipation. My attention shifts to Chaos to find him watching his friend with curious attention as well. When the cut, veering lines of Rime’s hips are revealed, and then the thin line of hair trails down, so does my gaze. The base of his cock strains against his jeans, and my lips part just as his length and thickness is finally revealed. His erection gives away his emotions despite the always serious look in his eyes. I have to swallow hard and it takes me several seconds to finally tear my gaze away from him.
He seems to always be this quiet man filled with too much pent-up anger. Silence tries to cover his aggression, but it still lingers in the pull of his brow, the turn of his lips, the tension of his pale shoulders. But I don’t know why.
He stands before me fully naked and neatly folds his shirt and jeans. It’s a casual sort of thing. He isn’t trying to be sexy. He just is.
“I’ll just give my clothes to Dickless here.” He hands his friend his clothes and Chaos’ eyes narrow on him.
“Are we sure I don’t have horns?” Chaos looks to me for confirmation and a smile pulls at Rime’s lips. He looks … manic when he smiles. It’s an odd look, like he’s not used to happiness at all and he wears it in a cryptic sort of way. An oddly sexy sort of way.
The easy way he smiles makes me realize how close the two men are. Chaos makes him smile without even trying. It’s as if he takes away every ounce of anger within Rime and neither of them even notice it.
“You don’t have horns, my friend,” Rime tells him, clinging to that beautiful but slightly frightening smile. Their fingers brush as he gives him the clothes.
“Maybe they’ll show up later when my dragon’s at full size.Ormaybe I’m a grower not a shower.” Chaos has a matching manic smile now and the two of them are just smirking at each other like a bunch of idiots.
“I doubt it.” Rime bumps his bare shoulder into Chaos’ and it’s the last thing he says before his image swirls in colors of white and gray and blue.
Frost stings the night air, burning my lungs with each inhale I take.
Scales crawl up his arms, taking over his body at a rapid pace. In an instant, a beautiful and pure dragon stands before me.
