Page 31 of Mikhail
Belishaw shrugged. “I’m not sure. He didn’t say. But if he mated a dragoness, I would have heard about it. Mating a Barinov would have been importantnews.”
Mikhail hoped his brother hadn’t mated a human. That would mean carrying on the Barinov line would be up to Rurik. Their youngest brother was a rough, wild man who would never settle down, and surely no dragoness would take him. Since only two dragon shifters could produce a drakeling, the Barinov bloodline would bedoomed.
Mikhail wondered what had happened to his older brother since he last saw him. Clearly, he had changed in the last two hundred years if he had mated, especially if he had chosen a human. Grigori had always been the responsible one, dependable and in charge, the one who never took risks. Mating a human was completely out of character forhim.
“You should go back to London,” Mikhail said. “You don’t want to miss out on time with your brown-eyedgemologist.”
His friend grinned. “I do miss her. She’s quite anxious for me to return.” He sobered. “She’s worried about Piper too and I must reassure her that all is well. I will go, but you must call me if you feel it taking over. I don’t…Ican’tlose another friend. I don’t want to attend another blasted funeral.” The gruffness in the Englishman’s usually refined voice was a bitstartling.
Mikhail nodded. “Verywell.”
With one last farewell, Belishaw collected his coat and keys and left. He had a long drive back toLondon.
Several minutes passed before Mikhail took a chance and moved beneath Piper. When she didn’t stir, he pulled himself to a sitting position and rolled her sideways until she was cradled in his lap. Then he rose with her in his arms and carried her to his bedroom upstairs. He needed to get out of his damp clothes and to make sure she was no longer wet. The last thing he needed now was for her to getpneumonia.
He set her down on his bed and unwrapped the thick blanket. He touched her pants and sweater. They were still damp. She only stirred once as he slid them off her. He tucked her back beneath the blankets and loaded the fireplace with fresh logs, then held up his palm, and soon the logs began to pop and crackle withflame.
He returned to Piper and placed a kiss upon her brow before he stripped out of his jeans and climbed inside the bathroom shower. The hot water warmed his skin, and he sighed. Centuries of stress bled out of him and onto the warm, heated tile. He didn’t think about the jewels hidden away, or the icy chill of the ocean, or even Elizabeth. He closed his eyes and pictured Piper and how she’d felt in his arms the moment he kissed her in the antechamber to the ballroom at Thorne Auction House. How she’d tasted, like brandy and fire, burning from the insideout.
He couldn’t forget the flashes of her memories that had been passed on to him, either. When he’d kissed Elizabeth, he’d never seen the unguarded parts of her heart, only her memories that showed her moments of fear and mistrust of those around her. He’d assumed it was simply because she was a young queen in a dangerous court full of betrayals. Now he knew it was because her heart had never been open to him atall.
It wasn’t so with Piper. She had opened her heart to him from the moment he’d first met her. And he had responded, opening himself to her. How could he not? The passionate, determined, but shy woman who had pushed herself harder than anyone he knew to become the woman she was. He felt proud that fate had seen fit to give him a second chance with a woman likeher.
His body hardened, and he couldn’t resist grasping his erection, stroking its length. By the gods, he needed a release. It had been too long sincehe’d—
A soft sound drew his attention to the shower door. Through the steamed glass he saw Piper standing there, wearing only bra and panties beneath the blanket wrapped around her like a cloak. She stared open-mouthed as he fisted hiscock.
Did she want to watch? Her cheeks pinkened, but she didn’t look away as he continued to pump his hand. His balls ached with the need to release, and watching her watch him was hotter thanhell.
“Like what you see?” He swung the shower door open with his free hand. Steam rolled out and wrapped around Piper’s frozen figure. She didn’t reply, but her grip on the blanket began to slip as he unleashed his seed. She gasped and the blanket fell to the floor. She wore only the bra and panties now, and he got hard all over again at the sight. He didn’t wait for her to think. He pulled her into the shower with him and shut the door. She jumped as the hot water splashed on theirbodies.
“Wait, my bra—” she said as he dragged her deeper into thespray.
“Let me help you.” He slipped his fingertips under her bra straps and unclasped it from behind, then lowered them off her shoulders. Her bra fell to the floor with a wet smack. She covered her breasts and backed up until she had the shower wall behindher.
Mikhail’s instincts took over. He cornered her against the wall, placing his hands on either side of her shoulders and leaning in to kiss her. Her startled lips parted, and she opened up for his exploring tongue. Gods, he could kiss this woman over and over and never want tostop.
“Touch me,” he urged her. Her hands crept hesitantly up hisarms.
“Not there…” He rolled his hips and hers, letting his shaft bob against her belly. “Here.”
When one of her hands curled around his cock, he groaned inpleasure.
“Like this?” she asked on a whisper. He managed a nod and began to rock his hips, using her hand to build toward a new release. She seemed to understand what he wanted and gripped him tighter. He cupped the back of her neck, holding her still so he could kiss her fiercely. The water rained down around them, but everything seemed to be onfire.
He hissed out as the climax hit him like a freight train. His seed splashed on her belly, and he panted as it began to wash away. An animalistic rush of joy unexpectedly came at marking her likethat.
Mine, the dragon growled inside his head, the wordunmistakable.
Yes. Ours, heagreed.
He opened his eyes and stared at Piper as she uncurled her fingers from his cock and lifted her head to meet hisgaze.
“Tell me you want me,” he said in a low growl. “Because Ineedto be insideyou.”
Piper bit her bottom lip, her eyes luminous like a full moon, a bright, thrilling silver-blue that made him think of polishedmoonstones.
“Okay…but I’m…” She faltered. “I’ma…”
