The shifter gave a single bark-like laugh. Oh shit, her eyes may or may not have been roaming freely across his body. When she looked back up, he was smiling. Well sort of smiling. Hello, hottie! Why did he have to look even better smiling? Why, oh why? “My name is Blaze.”
Even his name was freaking hot. For a second there, Roxy felt like fanning herself.
“To answer your question, yes, I wish to have sex with you but not right now. We have a long journey ahead of us. It will take us most of the night to get back to the fire kingdom.”
“Oh!” She felt dumb. So very, very stupid. “Of course. I didn’t mean right now. I mean, I don’t even know you and well, I don’t just have sex with guys I’ve just met. It’s been so long since I had any… sex that is.” Why the hell did she say that?
“Why not?” Blaze asked. “You are a highly attractive female.”
“Sure, I could get sex. Any time I wanted. That’s all the guys on the dating websites want, but I’m a relationship kind of a person. That’s why it’s probably better that we get to know each other first, if that’s okay with you. Just to be sure that we like each other and get along and… you know…”
The big shifter frowned. “If you haven’t had sex in a very long time, it would be better to ease some of the tension you’re feeling. It will make the getting to know each other part easier, but if you wish to wait, I’m okay with that also. Let’s not over-complicate things.”
What did that even mean? No over-complicating things. Then again, complications within a relationship were bad. It seemed that he’d left the ball in her court. She could live with that.
Roxy finally nodded. “We’d better get going then.”
They walked in the direction that the other big shifter and Lily had taken. It didn’t take them long to catch up. Oh God! The big guy had Lily pushed up against a tree. They were seriously making out. The shifter was dry humping her and it sounded like Lily was well on her way to… well, to having a party in her pants… That, and he had his hands up her top, as in both hands; he was squeezing her boobs in tandem. These two hadn’t wasted any time.
“Stop mauling that female,” Blaze growled.
“My name is Lily,” she said, as the shifter came up for air. She was panting heavily as well.
“I’m Blaze,” he introduced himself to Lily. Then he glanced down at Roxy. He was huge. Roxy was average height for a human, which meant that she barely made it halfway up his chest. “That’s Thunder.” Blaze pointed at the Casanova shifter. “He’s king of the air kingdom.”
“Oh my God!” Lily shrieked. “I knew you were royalty but you’re the king of the whole kingdom.”
“You better believe it, sweetness,” Thunder winked at her. She shrieked again as he lifted her into his arms. “Lily and I had a discussion.”
“I could see that,” Blaze gave a half smile.
Thunder grinned. “She’s tired and hungry. They gave the humans shitty tasting protein bars for the hunt instead of any real food.” The shifter king pulled a face. “We’re going to walk until nightfall and then set up camp, closer to the river. My female wants some roast meat. You’re welcome to join the party.”
“I don’t know,” Blaze said. “I’d like to get back.”
Thunder was right, although the protein bars hit the spot, they weren’t very appealing. The thought of sinking her teeth into freshly barbecued meat, dripping with fat, made Roxy’s stomach growl.
The air king laughed. “It looks like your female likes the idea.” Oh shit! Had he heard that from way over there? Of course he had. The guy was a shifter.
Blaze turned to her. “Do you want to camp out with them?” He didn’t look happy about it.
The thing was, the thought of being alone with him so soon nerve-wracked her a little bit. On the other hand, sleeping out in the wild wasn’t all that appealing either. At least they wouldn’t be alone. Roxy had already thrown herself at him once before and with all this talk of sex and him wearing those leave nothing to the imagination pants—not to mention her very long, extended dry spell—had left her feeling rather horny. No! Alone time with Mr. Brooding & Delicious-piece-of-ass-shifter was not a good idea right now.
“I’d like to camp, if that’s okay with you? I’m hungry and tired. I’ll never be able to walk all night.”
Blaze frowned, those beautiful green eyes of his bore into hers. “I would never expect you to walk. I’d carry you.”
She snorted out a laugh. “What? The entire way? Don’t be crazy.”
Blaze remained perfectly serious. “I’m not a human. I’m a dragon shifter and a fire breather at that. I can carry you to the other side of the continent with one hand tied behind my back and still not break a sweat.”
“You don’t have much of an ego, do you?” The words just came out.
“This has nothing to do with ego.” Deadpan.
“Oh! Okay.” Maybe he could carry her. “If you say so.”
“I do.” It came out growly. “I’m carrying you.”
“Bossy as well I see. Do you plan on telling me what to do all the time?” Roxy was being a little hard on the big shifter but this relationship was not going to work if she just let him walk all over her and make all the decisions. It would be like being with her ex all over again and that hadn’t ended well at all.
“I’m not bossy.” Blaze looked put out.
“You pretty much are,” Thunder chimed in.
“Who asked you?”
Thunder held Lily in one arm—okay so maybe shifters were really strong, not that Lily was big or anything—he raised his free arm as a sign of apology. “Forget I said anything.”
Blaze sighed loudly. “Please, let me carry you. I assure you that I can handle it. We need to make ground before nightfall. Unless you feel you can keep up.”
“Now, that wasn’t so hard was it?” Roxy knew that she was busting his chops but at the same time they hardly knew each other. She didn’t want him to think that he could order her around and that she’d be fine with it.
Blaze rolled his eyes. So far, this was going along swimmingly. As in not so much. She had thrown herself at him. She wasn’t so sure she bought his whole I find you highly attractive thing, or his whole I panicked story. Relationships were all about chemistry, at least they were in the beginning. Had he really planned on picking someone he didn’t have those kinds of feelings for? Why would he do a crazy thing like that?
She’d have to wait and see.
Lily slumped back against the tree trunk; she gave a loud moan and patted her belly. “That was the best steak I’ve ever had in my whole entire life.”
Roxy made a sound of agreement and rubbed her own distended belly. “I couldn’t eat another bite even if I wanted to.” They had all eaten like there was no tomorrow.
The whole set-up was rustic. They had grilled chunks of meat on long pieces of stick and then proceeded to eat their dinner right off the makeshift skewers. It was the best thing she had tasted in the longest time.
“I’ll hunt for you anytime, sweets,” Thunder pulled Lily against him. Roxy was still jealous at how well the two of them were getting along. They seemed completely relaxed in one another’s company, like they’d been dating for a long time.
Lily made a disgusted noise. “Hunted? As in you butchered an innocent animal?” She crinkled her nose in clear disgust.
Thunder frowned. “Yes. How did you think we got the meat?”
“It’s not like we have a store or a butcher shop around here,” Blaze added.
“Eeeeew!” Lily pulled a face. “What did I just eat anyway? I thought it was beef.”
Thunder laughed. “Beef? No damned way. That was cane rat. I bet you never knew that rodent tasted so good?”
Lily slapped a hand over her mouth and made a choking, gagging noise. Her eyes turned watery and she looked like she was going to barf any second.
“I’m only joking, sweets,” Thunder laughed. “You should see your face right now.”<
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“That’s not funny,” Lily mock punched his arm. Her face looked more pale than usual.
“Those were a couple of deer steaks.” Roxy could hear that Blaze was smiling but, when she glanced in his direction, the smile turned to a frown. He turned serious the moment she laid eyes on him. He even scooted a little bit away from her. What the hell? She had to stop herself from giving her pits another whiff. She may have been walking half the day in the blazing sun but her antiperspirant had done its job. At least, she hoped it had. A person couldn’t always smell BO on themselves.
“So, what did you think? Did you enjoy the meal?” He looked unsure of himself.
“It was really good.” Her hand was still pressed against her belly. “I love deer steaks.”
“Good.” He paused. “I take it you don’t mind that we tracked down a deer and killed it for your supper?” It felt like he was testing her, but at the same time, it also felt like he cared about her opinion. Maybe she didn’t smell after all.
Roxy shook her head. “No. My father used to hunt sometimes back in the day. We had our fair share of deer steaks, not to mention rabbits, grouse and whatever else he could rustle up.”
“So he doesn’t hunt anymore?” Blaze asked, there was genuine interest reflected in his eyes.
“My dad died while I was still in high school. Heart attack.”
“I’m sorry. That’s shitty,” Blaze frowned.
“Yeah, it was. I still miss him. He wasn’t there when I graduated, he won’t be there when I walk down the aisle…” What was she saying? It seemed like her mouth wouldn’t shut it. “Or when I have babies, but hey…” Roxy shrugged. “I’ve come to terms with it.”
They sat in silence for about half a minute.
“What’s your air kingdom like?” Lily changed the subject, Roxy was grateful. Talking about her dad made her feel a bit sad and nostalgic. Especially when so many things were up in the air about her life right now. She was sitting in the middle of nowhere with a couple of shifters for crud’s sake.
“My kingdom is amazing.” The flames illuminated Thunder’s face. The guy looked like he was beaming. “We live on the highest peak and have the best views.”
“What about your lair? Is it as big and beautiful as the fire castle?” Lily’s eyes were wide and bright. She seemed genuinely excited. Then she turned to face Roxy. “Lair is another name for castle, in case you didn’t know.”
Roxy nodded.
“Not as big, no. Nearly though,” he winked at Lily. “As rulers of the four kingdoms, fire has the biggest lair.” Thunder shrugged, there was a smirk on his face. “My pad is way better though. Blaze might live in a bigger castle but I’m bigger where it counts.”
Lily covered her mouth with one hand and giggled. Roxy had to suppress a gasp.
Blaze chuckled and shook his head. “You wish, fucktard.”
Thunder laughed. “I don’t have to wish, I know. What is a fucktard anyway? You’ve spent way too much time with humans, you sometimes even sound like one of them.”
That shut Blaze right down. His jaw tightened and his eyes hardened up. It went from fun and lighthearted to watch out a hurricane is coming and in under three seconds.
By the look on Thunder’s face, he could tell that he’d said the wrong thing because he put up both hands. “Forget I said anything. I didn’t mean anything by that.”
Blaze didn’t say anything, he kept his intense gaze on Thunder. Roxy got the distinct impression that if they weren’t there, he’d be beating the air king right about now.
“Come on, sweets,” Thunder tightened his arm around Lily. “Let’s give these two some space.”
“Um… I’m cold. Maybe it would be better if we stayed by the fire.”
Thunder’s gaze turned molten. Roxy felt like she was intruding, so she looked away. Blaze was looking at her but he still looked angry so she quickly faced the other way. Was he still angry with Thunder or was it something she had done? It seemed that Blaze was a complicated guy.
“I’ll keep you warm, honeybuns… Don’t you worry about that.” The big oaf was trying to whisper into Lily’s ear but his voice was so deep and so loud that everyone could hear.
Lily sighed. “If you think it’ll work.”
“Oh, it’ll work all right.”
Blaze snorted but didn’t say anything. Oh shit! Were these two about to disappear in order to have sex? Probably. No, definitely, judging from the massive erection in Thunder’s pants. She’d purposefully chosen the camping option so that she wouldn’t have to be alone with Blaze too soon. This was awkward. She realized that her focus was still on Thunder’s erection even though she wasn’t really looking at it.
Roxy quickly looked away, her eyes moving automatically to Blaze’s crotch. There was nothing happening there.
Blaze cleared his throat.
Oh damn! Busted! She pretended to look past him into the darkness beyond. Maybe he hadn’t noticed the staring.
When she finally looked him in the eyes, his mouth did this twitch thing like he was trying to suppress a smile. She was so busted. This was so embarrassing.
“So,” she blurted, her voice a little high-pitched. “You’re royalty; you have a golden tattoo.”
“It’s not a tattoo, it’s a marking.” He rubbed his hand over the golden swirls on his amazing chest. His lick-worthy chest.
Her eyes tracked the movement for a few seconds before she quickly looked away. Shit! He must think that she was some desperate hussy. She couldn’t stop ogling him. “How many princes are there in the fire kingdom?” She needed to try and make some conversation. There was this weird vibe between the two of them. It certainly wasn’t relaxed and carefree like Thunder and Lily. Far from it.
Blaze almost smiled. “I have two brothers and a sister.”
“You’re lucky, I’m an only child. There were complications when I was born. It’s a condition called placenta previa. I almost died, my mom almost died as well. She was bleeding out so they had to remove her uterus.”
His eyes widened and he looked distinctly uncomfortable.
“Let me guess, too much information? Sorry, I have this bad habit of over-sharing and talking too much when I’m nervous.”
“There is no need for you to be nervous. Not with me.” His eyes looked dark in the firelight. They were so intense, especially when focused solely on her.
She nodded. “Okay. I’ll try and relax. This is just, so different.”
Blaze licked his lower lip. Even such a simple thing was ridiculously sexy on him. “We’ll either be compatible or we won’t.” His voice was deep and husky, like he was thinking about having sex with her right then. “Either we’ll get along or we won’t. It’s really quite simple, Roxy.”
Holy shit, hearing him say her name was just about the sexiest thing she ever heard in her whole entire life. Maybe he was right, maybe having an over-the-top attraction for another person wasn’t such a great idea.
She needed to change the subject and right now. “One of your brothers is Coal right? Julie mentioned that she’s mated to him.”
Blaze nodded. “Yup, and then there’s Inferno and my sister Ruby.”
Roxy tucked her hands between her thighs to try and get them warm. The fire had died down. Blaze must have noticed because he leaned forward and threw a couple of logs onto the dying flames. A few sparks flew and there was a cracking noise as the new wood began to kindle. “Inferno,” Roxy murmured, almost to herself. “I’ll have to try and remember that. You’ll need to point him out to me so that I don’t embarrass myself.”
“Ummmm… okay… sure.” Blaze frowned deeply.
“Does the king wear a crown or something? Will I need to curtsy to him?”
Blaze chuckled.
“What’s so funny? I don’t want to look like an idiot or anything in front of the king.”
Blaze all-out laughed, a ton of the tension he’d been carrying seemed to dissipate, he even leaned back onto his elbows.
“You did just fine.” He finally murmured, in that deep baritone he was so good at.
“What?” Roxy frowned, not sure what he was talking about.
“Introducing yourself to the king, that is. You did just fine.”
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” She felt her frown deepen.
“I wouldn’t have minded a curtsy but jumping into my arms and sticking your tongue in my mouth was good too,” Blaze winked at her.
Oh shit! It finally dawned on her what he was saying. Blaze was the king. Blaze was the freakin’ king. The guy in charge. The head honcho. The freaking king of all the dragons.
Roxy felt her mouth drop open. “Oh… oh…. Um… right… I didn’t know.” She shook her head so hard that her ponytail bounced around. “I’m okay with you being the king.” Her voice had that high pitch to it. Definitely a tad panicky. “Um… not that it matters to me either way. It doesn’t. I mean it’s great and everything but it’s…”
Blaze gave another chuckle. “Relax. It’s not a big deal.”
“Well it kind of is. Am I supposed to curtsy to you or treat you differently or… I mean, this isn’t going to work for me if that’s the case. I’m looking for a partnership, equal ground, is that going to be a problem?”
Dragon King (The Bride Hunt Book 3) Page 7