Page 10 of Tempt the Dragon
Instead, Aiken grabbed a blanket from the closet in the bathroom and the pillows from the left side of the bed where he normally slept.He got comfortable on the couch and closed his eyes, swearing to himself and to the beast that he could get this job done with Mel, without sleeping with her. There was no other choice.
Aiken knew he was dreaming but he didn’t want to wake. He liked spending time here, in his past, during the years he’d been happiest. The time he’d been with Mel.
Kissing her shoulder, he waited forher to rouse. She hated waking up early but he was a morning person. It was the quietest time of day, when his mind was fresh and clear and he could look forward to all the new possibilities. On this morning, the only possibility he wanted to consider was sinking his length deep inside Mel. That was his home. In her arms, between her legs, his body connecting to hers, joining them on a level fardeeper than the physical.
She groaned, pushing back an arm to swat him away.
He grinned. She was so damn sexy when she was irritable.
Kissing her again, this time he let his tongue linger, moving in a small circles along her shoulder, easing his way in toward her neck. She went still then and he knew the beast within her was awakening. His beast reacted instantly, rising to the heatof its selected mate, ready to feed off the sexual energy her beast held specially for him. She pressed her head deeper into the pillow, elongated her neck, inviting him in. He followed her lead, dragging his tongue along the soft skin there, just at the spot where her neck met her shoulder and her pulse beat rapidly.
In an instant she moved, turning her body and flipping him over onto hisback. Her palms were flat on his chest as she rose over him, adjusting her legs so they straddled his waist. She slept naked, they both had, and her breasts were high and full, dark nipples going hard as if they were ready to greet him as well. Her hair came to her chin—well, those strands that weren’t sticking up wildly from sleep—and her eyes, they appeared haunted, as they did from time to timein the months they’d been together.
“How many times have I asked you not to wake me before eight?”
The answer was a number so high he couldn’t recall and so a shrug was all he offered. Her lips twisted in a smirk and she pushed her fingers down harder against his chest so that her short nails could dig in.
“It’s ridiculously early, Aiken. The sun’s not even all the way up yet. I cantell by that hazy orange and red glow sneaking through the curtains.”
“Mornings are the best time.”
“Mornings are a curse and you’re evil for always pulling me into this space with you.”
He’d wrapped his arms around her by then, letting his hands rest over the globes of her bare ass. “Sleeping wastes time that I could be with you.” And Aiken’s heart beat to be with this woman.
She closed her eyes and leaned forward until her forehead touched his. “I’m not going anywhere. We can stay together.”
The wordbutlingered between them and Aiken closed his eyes, not wanting to bring up the discussion that never ended with them both being happy. Instead, he simply moved his hips, positioning her so that she was ready to take him in. She eased her hips up slightly, pusheda hand between them and grasped his already hard dick and guided it to her entrance.
They both moaned as contact was made. He loved the way her muscles stretched to accommodate him, how warm and wet she always was on command. Her soft whisper of his name meant she was feeling the same pleasure, easing up her spine the moment they began to move together. It was a slow ride, a welcome to thenew day, a hello from a lover. He wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her down closer, plastering her body against his even as the lower half of their bodies still moved in passionate harmony.
“I love you, Mel.” Even though you refuse to accept what has to be.
“I love you, Aiken,” she whispered in his ear just before her tongue stroked along his lobe. “I love you more than you’llever know.”
But that love hadn’t been enough. He jolted awake, sitting up on the couch to stare into total darkness. Scrubbing a hand down his face he looked back to the closed door of his bedroom. On the other side of that door Mel was asleep. Eighty years ago they’d walked away from each other and now she wasn’t even eighty feet away from him. His chest clenched with that thought, his beastwrithing with the new possibilities.
Mel wasn’t surprised by the size of the room where the small group had gathered at ten the next morning. She’d been up since six, had showered and dressed without waking Aiken and left his room to take a tour of the place he called home. It was a self-guided tour, or at least that’s what she’d told herself while she went from one room to the next. Itwas not a way to gain insight on how Aiken had been living over the decades they’d been apart. As big as the place was, rooms with soaring ceilings, some with jutting rock walls, others—the kitchen and the terrace area connected to it—with marble floors, there was an unmistakable homey feel. It wasn’t just a museum filled with antiques, like the intriguing collection of swords that were mountedon the wall in what she thought was the den or a sort of family room. There were little things that showed people lived here and that relationships were built and catered to here. For instance, the picture of Theo and his mate that hung in the main foyer, which she hadn’t seen last night through her hazy night vision. It was a wedding portrait, where love and happiness glittered in Theo’s human eyes.to the right of that was an even larger portrait of someone she didn’t know, but suspected was of even more importance than Theo, most likely the former Drakon emperor. But another room, farther to the back of the dwelling had a more laid-back and lived-in feel. Perhaps it was the pool table in the center of the space, or three rows of reclining theater chairs which faced a giant movie screen,that spoke of the laughter and good times which were probably had here. She hadn’t been sure, but what she knew was that Aiken was at home in this mountain retreat. He would’ve liked this space best because of its welcoming feel.
Aiken enjoyed the family life much more than Mel ever had, though that was no fault of hers.
“You’re the Collector.” She didn’t startle at the voice but insteadturned slowly to see a very muscled guy with long locs and skin the color of her favorite chocolate bar staring at her from the doorway.
“I’m Mel.” She’d never been shy, especially around guys, which was surprising since her early years on the Human Realm had been spent in a house with boys she’d wanted to kill.
When she leaned back against the pool table and folded her arms over her chest,he came farther into the room. Taller than Aiken by a couple inches, he had a bodybuilder look to him, with the way his toned arms and legs moved as if he were showing off every bit of his strength with the simple act of walking. His hair swung past his waist and was held back from his face by some sort of band she couldn’t see at the moment.Imposingwould be the best way to describe him in hishuman form. She didn’t consider what his dragon would look like.
“You know you can release your eyes here, but you don’t.” Apparently, he was also a know-it-all.
“My eyes are just fine.” His changed with her words until they were a deep wine color, redder than the reddish-brown they’d been just seconds ago. The move was meant to challenge her, or rather the beast that lurked somewheredeep inside her, but she was far beyond that little trick.
“Aiken has a soft spot for all women. He’ll overlook things if he believes it’ll carry him to your bed. I don’t overlook anything or anyone.”
“And I don’t take threats lightly.” Because he was definitely threatening her. Fuck up in any way and he’d deal with her harshly. That was the gist of what he’d just said to her. “Besides,I didn’t ask to be here.”
“There’s a job to be done.”
“Your job is different than mine,” she snapped. While she was used to holding the beast at bay, biting her tongue for some buffed alpha jerk wasn’t her thing. “I’m going to continue my hunt with or without your little band of mercenaries.”
