Page 14 of The Dragon's Perfect Omega
My breath caught in my throat. "What's the rest of me saying?" I already knew, of course, but I needed him to say the words, regardless.
He made a sound that was half amusement half disbelief. There was something incredibly sexy about it. Or maybe there wasn't and I only felt that way because it was him, and right now, I found everything about him incredibly sexy. He could have ordered room service and eaten with his fingers and I would have managed to find that sexy somehow. "The rest of you," he continued in a low voice, "the rest of you is of the complete opposite opinion.”
So he’d picked up on how hot I thought he was. I took a deep breath, not knowing what to say. Was there even a point in saying anything when he already knew what I feeling?
"Nothing has to happen,” Lowen continued when I stayed quiet. “I meant it when I said I was cool with just talking. Honestly, I don't feel comfortable approaching you as long as there's even a tiny part of you that doesn't want me to."
So that was what was keeping him away. He didn't want to touch me while I might not want him to. A smile stole on my lips. My dragon was one of the good guys.
Had I really just thought of him asmy dragon? Where was that coming from? It was definitely too early for that. Hell, we were never going to reach that stage. Ifanythingwas to happen between us, it would stop at a one night stand.
And I couldn't tell why that thought made me so sad.
None of this made sense.
"What if I gave you express permission to touch me?" I asked.
Lowen raised an eyebrow at me. "Are you saying you want me to ignore your reservations and touch you?"
"What if that's exactly what I'm saying?"
Lowen thought about this for longer than he'd thought about the challenge I issued earlier. Eventually, though, he shook his head. "No, not tonight."
My forehead creased. What was he talking about? What was wrong with tonight? We weren't going to see each other again after tonight. "Why not?"
"It's late, you're running on adrenaline and beer and you're not sure you want any of this," Lowen pointed out. He got up from the bed. "We don't have any more shows on this tour so I'll stay in town for a day longer. Swing by again tomorrow night when you've had some time to think about what you want."
"You're just gonna stick around? Don't you have your flight booked and everything?"
Lowen shrugged me off. "Don't worry about that. It's no big deal."
I wasn't sure whether or not to believe him, but then again, it wasn't really any of my business whether he wanted to stick around town or not.
"You'll be staying at the hotel? This one, I mean?" Not the smoothest way to ask the question, but at least I wasn't stuttering, which was amazing, considering the amount of nerves I felt at this point. Lowen was going to stay in town. I'd figured that whatever happened here tonight, it would be over after tonight. Now it was going to continue into the day after at least, and who knew how long after that?
"Yes, this one. This room, I imagine," Lowen said before I could ask further. A slow smile stretched his lips. "You're emoting again. I'm sorry I'm making you uncomfortable."
I sat up straight, wanting to appear more confident, but I ended up chewing my lower lip before I could stop myself. "It's okay," I said. "I mean, I can't promise that I'll come over tomorrow night."
"I know. I'm not asking you to promise anything. I'm giving you some time to think and a choice."
A choice... I sighed. I was going to have to think about this.
How was I even going to sleep tonight?
I got up from the bed, feeling that we were done here. One thing left to ask, though. "If I do want to come back tomorrow, and that's a big if, what time would you like me to show up?" It was never good to come unannounced. My parents had made sure I knew my manners.
"You can come by anytime you want," he assured me. "I'll be waiting."
That was vague. "I can't make you sit around your room all day," I said. "You should explore the city while you can."
Lowen shot me a look that I wasn't sure how to interpret, and then he grinned, a mischievous glint entering his eyes. "You think I should explore the city?"
"You should at least go see a few sights while you can," I said, unaware of the trap I was stepping into.
Meanwhile, Lowen's grin grew wider, and the next second, I found out why. "Are you offering me a tour?"
"A tour?" My mouth stood open. I'd walked right into that, hadn't I? "I'm sure you could hire a tour guide," I suggested, trying to backpedal.
