Page 23 of Been There Dragon That
“I’m asking for a chance to prove all those doubts in your head wrong.”
She squared her shoulders. “How could you possibly know what I’m thinking?”
His mouth curved into a smile that made every female hormone in her body sing. “The same way you study me. It’s in your breath. Your facial expressions. The way you listen to my tone of voice. Also, I can hear your heartbeat speed and slow and smell your arousal right now.”
Heat flooded through Rylee’s body. Her cheeks burned. But he was right. About her watching him, studying reactions, and about her arousal.
Except she still didn’t trust herself. The miscalculation about Jeff’s character was still an open wound.
She tried to take a step to the side, but Wrath crowded her closer to the window instead. His hand dropped from her chin, and he moved to box her in on either side of her body. She pressed her back against the cold glass, a stark contrast to the heat blazing through her body.
He didn’t give her any space.
In fact, he stepped even closer. With each breath, his chest came so very close to touching hers.
He bent his massive frame and put his mouth next to her ear. “Fate brought you to Mystery, Rylee. To me. I’ll do anything it takes to earn your trust and prove I’m worthy of your favor.”
The heat from his breath sent chills down her spine. The confidence in his tone made butterflies swarm in her stomach. And the desire burning at the core of his words spelled her surrender.
The man was talking about Fate like it was real. Like it was an entity with actual power. Which was ridiculous.
“Fate isn’t real. It’s just a thing people say to make themselves feel better about choices they’re making.” Even as she said the words, she didn’t believe them. She’d never wanted to be wrong so badly in her whole life, but relationships were not her strength. She always picked wrong.
Here she was standing in some stranger’s isolated empty cabin. She should be freaking out. Legitimately scared to death. And she was nervous, but mostly she was struggling to think logically with this man’s scent filling her lungs.
He nuzzled her ear with his lips and whispered, “I look forward to proving you wrong,shuarra.”
ChapterSeven
Wrath
She smelled like heaven. Sweet and sexy and he wanted to lick her from her pulsing and perfectly white neck down to her core where he could smell her arousal. The scent of her attraction to him was almost more than he and his dragon could handle.
His mate was strong. She questioned him. She pushed back against his claim. She wanted to be chased. She wanted him to earn her trust, and he fully accepted the challenge.
She ducked under one of his arms, and he didn’t move to stop her. Her heart was warring with her head. His woman had been mistreated, and he needed to be sure he gave her enough space to feel safe while still pursuing their mate bond.
Rylee was his. The magick of Reylea glowed bright from within, making her luminescent only to him.
He would’ve glowed for her if she had Reylean blood, but she was human. But she felt a pull. He’d seen it in her body language. The way she’d bitten her lip or taken quick breaths when he pressed closer. The way her scent and arousal had filled the air when he’d all but nipped at her ear.
He turned and watched Rylee walk through his empty living space and into the kitchen area.
“It’s so empty. Did you just move in?”
“I left it empty on purpose.”
Her gaze flicked to meet his, surprise etched in her expression. “Why?”
“So my mate could make it her own.”
Rylee’s mouth opened and then snapped shut. “I—you—can’t be serious.”
Wrath shrugged and strolled toward the kitchen counter. He leaned his hip against the edge and watched her look through the cabinets.
She was trying to hide her thoughts, distracting herself with the movement and exploration of the very empty kitchen. But he could see her mind churning through unasked questions. She licked her lips every few seconds. She kept stealing glances toward the front door.
He didn’t feel fear from her. Nervousness. Yes. Maybe she was watching her exits. It was smart … or she was worried about something. She’d thought he was someone else when he’d pulled her out of the stairway closet.
