Page 21 of Dance for the Dragon
Devon’s blood pounded through her veins, making her lightheaded. Her entire body clenched with need. Sliding her free hand around his back and up to his other shoulder, she pulled, closing the distance between them until his lips touched hers. He moaned at the contact, and she tentatively tasted him, running the tip of her tongue along his lower lip. He tasted like wine and wind and barely restrained passion. She wanted to break through that restraint, wanted to feel him unleash the animalistic lust she felt simmering beneath the surface. She wanted to feel like a woman desired by a man above anything and everything else.
Sucking his lip into her mouth, she bit him.
He released a growl of need and pulled her head away until she could see his face. “Are you sure this is what you want?” he asked her. “You see what I am?”
Devon met his glowing eyes. “I see you, Kohl. I’ve never wanted a man more.”
He frowned at that. “I’m not a man, Devon.”
“It doesn’t change the fact that I’m aching for you to touch me.” She wasn’t lying. She did ache—her breasts felt swollen, her nipples overly sensitive. Heat pooled between her legs, and her loins felt heavy, raw lust rolling through her in waves. “Please,” she whispered. “I want this. I just want tonight.”
With a sound of surrender, he relaxed his grip on her hair and lowered his mouth back to hers. This time he kissed her with a need that matched her own.
Yet, he trembled with unleashed power in her arms. He was still holding back.
Linking both arms around his neck, she slid her tongue into his mouth, skimming his fangs to either side, and without thinking, she touched the tip of one with her tongue.
Kohl’s fingers dug into her back and his entire body jerked against her. There was a brief sting of pain when his fang cut her, and she moaned. With a low growl, he sucked her tongue into his mouth, lifted her off the ground, and held her tight against him. He ravaged her mouth with his, kissing her with a desperation Devon felt all the way down to her bones.
And then, suddenly, he dropped her back onto her feet and pulled away.
Devon took a step toward him, but he threw both hands up in front of him, palms out. However, that didn’t stop her as much as the predatory look in his eyes. Once more, she saw the skin ripple on his arms as he dropped them back down to his sides, his chest rising and falling with deep, ragged breaths.
“Stay there.” His voice sounded harsh and the words came out sounding thick, like he was having trouble pronouncing the sounds.
Devon stopped. “Kohl? What’s wrong? Did I do something?”
He shook his head, but kept his eyes on the ground.
Not knowing what else to do, Devon pulled her coat tighter against the sudden chill that ran through her.
After a few minutes, he scrubbed his face with his hands and raised his eyes to hers. The light was gone, but that didn’t make them burn any less. “I’m sorry,” he told her. “I lost control.”
“So, is this…” She stopped. Tears blurred her vision. She didn’t know why. She barely knew the guy. Devon cleared her throat. It was probably just a reaction from being so worked up only to come crashing down again. “So, is this something that can’t ever happen between us, then?”
Chapter 7
That was a great fucking question.
And one Kohl felt the need to answer honestly. “I don’t know.”
She twisted her fingers together in front of her. A nervous habit he’d picked up on earlier. “I feel kind of stupid asking this, but…have you done this before? With women?” Her mouth twisted like she’d just tasted something sour. “With human women?”
He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to disperse the buildup of heat. “Yes.”
She waited for him to say more, but he wasn’t about to share the dirty details of a few sweaty, clumsy fucks that meant absolutely nothing to him. Less than nothing.
With a measured look she said, “And I take it you didn’t have any problems getting up close and personal with them.”
“No.”
She startled, like his answer physically hurt her, blinking hard.
“But they weren’t you, Devon.”
Her eyes, which she’d hidden from him a moment ago, flashed up to his. “What does that even mean?”
Words rose within him. Words he couldn’t stop. He was about to say too much again, but he couldn’t suppress this outpouring of emotion any more than he could suppress what he was. “There’s something about you…I don’t know what it is. You haven’t left my mind since I saw you that night on the news, when all that shit was going down with your old company. I saw what happened to you after, the witch-hunt that ensued. And I wanted so much to reach out and help you. But who the fuck am I? You don’t even know me. Or, you didn’t. And when I saw you last night at the club—” He laughed a bit self-consciously. “I thought at first I was imagining you. But I wasn’t. You spoke to me. And then, I—” He paused. He’d almost forgotten she didn’t remember most of what had happened that night. He stared at the grass at his feet, wanting to avoid the wariness that had to be written all over her face after he’d just confessed to practically stalking her.
