Page 15 of Rurik
“Your tattoo—it’s beautiful,” shewhispered.
He’d forgotten that she would see it, the large black dragon tattoo on his right shoulder blade. It was a fierce dragon, wings spread wide as it roared and spewed fire when it was in its resting pose. When his emotions were strong, however, it would move, and right now he was battling to stay calm. If she saw a movingtattoo…
Charlotte traced one of the wings, and his dragon buried deep inside him huffed in pleasure. “It’s so detailed.” It could actually feel her touch on its wings. In his human form, this was the dragon’s only outward manifestation. But it could feel everything hefelt.
“Your wounds are already healing,” she said with a gasp. “How is thatpossible?”
Rurik turned, curling his arms around her waist and her back, hoping to distract her. He was healing far too fast, and soon she would start asking questions he couldn’t answer. He hadn’t wanted to use his full powers on her before, but this was about keeping his family safe. Keeping his worldsafe.
He cupped her chin with one hand and made sure she was paying attention. “Charlotte, I think you’re a little confused about tonight…” He let his gaze draw her in and mesmerize her. It was one of the more useful dragon abilities, one that he could use in his humanform.
“What?” she asked, her eyes goingwide.
“We had a wonderful night together, but you’ve suffered a bit of a shock. My wounds aren’t as bad as you remember. Barely a scratch, see? The ballistic nylon stopped them. All you treated were some minor cuts and bruises. You are unharmed and safe now.” He waited until her eyes had a softer look, and he knew that he had buried the fear of the shooting deep in herhead.
“We had an amazing time.” She grinned bashfully, her eyes returning tonormal.
“I am going to spend the night,” headded.
“Rurik—I meant what I said. I don’t do this.” She waved a hand between their barebodies.
“I know, and that’s why I’m going to be good. I promise.” He flashed her a wolfish grin, making her laugh. The sound filled his chest with a cottony warmth he’d never feltbefore.
“I thought you said you were a bad guy?” she asked, raising abrow.
“I am, but tonight I’myourbad guy, which means I’ll be good to you.” He leaned down and kissed her. Not a kiss to seduce or control, simply one to tell her that he would stay with her and protect her through thenight.
I’ll keep you safe. I won’t fail like I did Nikita. He carved the vow in his heart. He would stay with Charlotte until he was sure she was safe, and then he would send her back to America where no one would come after her. The thought of never seeing her again made his chest tighten, but it had to bedone.
Charlotte kissed him back, her sweet lips soft as the petals of a rose. Whoever taught her to kiss had been a master. She was a wet dream brought to life, with full curves and a shy side that made him want to tie her down and explore every part of her until she held no more secrets left. Then he wanted to curl his body around hers and ask her to tell himeverythingaboutherself.
Fuck.What was wrong with him? He would’ve said it was nearly getting killed, but he’d felt this way long before the shooting. From the moment he’d watched her dance for him in the cage at the club, he’d been sucked in by her. She was a breath of life, a kiss of fire, and completelyirresistible.
They kissed until the water started to cool down. He broke the kiss with reluctance and shut the water off. They both reached for the towels at the same time, laughing as their handsmet.
“Here.” He handed her the first towel and wrapped it around her body, covering those sexy curves. He took the other towel and wound it over his hips before he stepped out of the shower. He glanced at the three bloody bullets still lying in the sink. He would deal with that mess in a few hours, after he got some rest. For now, he hid them before Charlotte could see them and remember what had really happenedoutside.
“I think I have a T-shirt and some pajama pants that might fit you. They’re big enough, I think. I mean, they’re not, but they’ll stretch.” Charlotte was bent over her suitcase that sat on the foldable rack, her towel-clad ass giving him a dozen wicked ideas of what he could do toher.
Behave,he toldhimself.
She handed him a black T-shirt with an old rock band logo onit.
“Kansas?”
“So what?” she challenged. “My brothers raised me on classicrock.”
“Brothers are funny things, aren’t they? Mine are both older, but I spent my childhood tussling with them to become stronger and faster.” He grinned at her. Then he dropped his towel, stripped out of his soaked boxers, slid the borrowed T-shirt over his head, and pulled the fresh boxers on. They were tight, but he would survive thenight.
“My brothers never tussled with me. It was so annoying. My parents died when I was little, and I was treated like a porcelain doll.” Charlotte ran her fingers through her wet hair as she talked, and he sat back on the bed, watching her. He’d slept with more than one queen, even an empress, but none of them compared to Charlotte. When he gazed at her, she almost seemed to glow, and her voice with that slightly husky feminine tone was like a choir of angels singing to him. Every time she smiled at him he got a goofy grin on his face. Fuck, she was sexy ashell.
She turned her back to him and slipped on her pajamas, a flannel set of pink-and-black polka-dotted pajama pants and a matching button-up nightshirt. When she faced him again, he caught a hint of her breasts in the low neck of the shirt, and his bodyresponded.
He was supposed to be a good man tonight, not a fierce, possessive, and dominating dragon. Her brothers were right—she was a delicate creature who needed to be handled with care. She reminded him of the hothouse flowers Catherine the Great used to grow in her secret greenhouse. He’d visited her there more than once to steal a kiss and had seen the rare and beautiful blooms thriving in a protected environment. Those flowers would not survive the harsh climate of Russia. But there was a fierceness to Charlotte that rivaled even that of Catherine, which made him wonder if she might not be as delicate as sheseemed.
“What?” Charlotte eased down onto the bed and pulled back the sheets to climbin.
“I was just thinking of someone,” he admitted. “You remind me ofher.”
