Harlow quickly bundled up against the cold outside, then went to the door, took a deep breath, and opened it. The blast of cold that greeted her was far more intense than even the frigid cold of her hotel room. Angry snow swirled around her, forcing its way into her room and into her eyes as she struggled to pull her hotel room’s door shut behind her. She felt a momentary rush of fear as she realized just how dark and snowy it was outside. Even if she held her hand up a few inches from her face, it was difficult to see. She frowned and took a deep breath to steady her nerves. She had her magic ring on. If she needed to shoot out a blast of fire to melt the snow in front of her, she could. She’d either have to take her glove off to do it, or ruin her glove, but at least she knew she had the option.
Harlow placed her hand against the exterior wall of the hotel room, and started slowly walking in the direction of Myles’ hotel room door. The door was the very next one, and not far at all. She should reach it soon, and then, hopefully, Myles would be able to hear her knocking.
Harlow struggled along determinedly until she felt the knob of the next door with her thickly gloved hand. It wouldn’t do much good to knock with her hand right now. The thickness of her gloves would completely muffle the sound. Instead, she kicked with her heavy boots, keeping a steady rhythm as she pounded against the thick door. Kick, kick, kick. She waited a few moments, but the only response was the swirling of the snow outside around her. So she tried again. Kick, kick, kick.
Again, she waited, and again, there was no answer. Shivering and muttering, she struggled to pull her glove off her right hand, where she wore her magic ring firmly on her finger.
“Magicae amplificare,” she yelled out, then started kicking again. The amplifying spell made the noise of her kicking several times louder. Only a few moments later, the hotel room door swung open and Myles dragged her in. He was wearing pajamas, but looked wide awake and alert. His eyes darted back and forth, looking behind her and trying to see what threat might be lurking in the dark, swirling snow. But, seeing nothing, he slammed the door shut behind her and deadbolted it.
“Harlow? What in the world are you doing?” he asked.
She shivered in response and tried to shake some warmth into her ungloved hand, which had turned stiff and blue with alarming speed once exposed to the elements.
“Amplificare terminantur. Magicae therma,” she said, first ending the amplifying spell and then starting a heat spell. Instantly warmth emanated from her ring, quickly thawing out her frozen hand. Once that had been taken care of, she looked around the darkness of the room, and realized that, although it was warm compared to the temperature outdoors, it did not feel much warmer than her room had felt. Then she saw Myles flipping the light switch for the main light in his room, with no response from the lamps.
“What the…” he said.
Harlow was pulling off her heavy woolen face mask so she could speak more clearly. “The power’s out,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if it was just my room or yours as well. It must be the whole hotel.”
“Probably the whole town,” Myles said, his frown looking exaggerated in the long shadows created by Harlow’s flashlight. “Blizzard must have caused an outage.”
“How did you not feel the cold in here?” Harlow asked, looking doubtfully at Myles’ pajamas. They didn’t seem to be any thicker than the ones she’d been wearing. “I couldn’t sleep because of the chill.”
Myles shrugged. “It’s my dragon genes,” he said. “They keep me pretty warm, and my internal temperature automatically begins to rise if the air around me is too cold.”
“You mean you have an internal heater?” Harlow asked, her jaw dropping slightly. That sort of thing would come in pretty useful for him on their mission. She was quickly seeing that winter in Northern Montana was no joke.
“I guess you could call it a heater,” Myles said. “If you think about it, it makes sense. I can breathe fire, after all. That requires my body to be able to produce quite a bit of heat.”
Harlow nodded slowly, then a fresh shudder of shivers ran across her body.
“You’re freezing,” Myles observed, stating the obvious. Harlow would have rolled her eyes at him if she hadn’t been shivering so violently.
“I couldn’t sleep in my room,” she said. “It was too cold. I thought I’d come over here and see if you by chance still had power, but it seems you don’t.”
She didn’t mention that she had also thought that perhaps they could huddle together to keep warm. Now that she was standing directly in front of Myles, who was decidedly not shivering and looked unbearably handsome in his flannel pajama pants and long-sleeved gray t-shirt, Harlow found herself feeling quite shy. She couldn’t bring herself to actually make the suggestion. Luckily, she didn’t have to.
“You should sleep in the same bed as me,” Myles was saying firmly, already taking her hand and leading her further away from the hotel door. “Don’t worry, I’m not trying to make a move on you or anything. But if you huddle next to me, the warmth of my dragon genes will keep you plenty warm. It’s too dangerous for you to try to sleep without heat tonight. The temperature outside is well below freezing, and I doubt it’s much warmer in here. Take off your outdoor gear and come warm up with me.”
Harlow nodded, shivering too violently now to even reply. His tone had been quite businesslike, and he didn’t seem embarrassed at all to be making the suggestion that they snuggle together. Perhaps he doesn’t think of me as strongly as I think of him, Harlow thought. She tried to push down the disappointment that filled her, but she could not ignore it completely. If a man cared for a woman at all, even a little but, wouldn’t he be at least somewhat excited at the chance to sleep next to her? Harlow thought so, and she began to question then whether she had seen really seen anything in his eyes yesterday when he looked at her, or if she had just imagined it.
Myles helped her out of her thick winter clothes, and then pushed her gently toward the bed. After double-checking to make sure that the door was locked, he climbed into bed beside her slipping easily under the thick comforter. He slid his arms around her, and pressed his body up against hers. Instantly, Harlow was covered in his warmth. Her shivering slowed, and then ceased, until she actually began to feel comfortable again.
Myles body was strong, and having his muscled arms around her made her feel safer than she ever had before. He was spooning her, so she couldn’t see his face to try to read his expression. She wasn’t sure that she would have dared look into his eyes right now, anyway. Was he feeling anything for her besides friendly concern, and, if not, did she really want to know? She wasn’t sure how her heart would react to the knowledge that he didn’t have deeper feelings for her.
Then again, she wasn’t sure how her heart would react to the knowledge that he did.
Harlow closed her eyes tightly, telling herself that she couldn’t worry about it right now. All she could do at the moment was enjoy this time with his arms around her. If this night was the only one she had to fall asleep in his arms, then she wanted to enjoy it to the fullest. There were, she thought, not many things you could do with a friend that were more intimate than sleeping together, actually sleeping. It showed that you trusted the person, and they trusted you, and Harlow realized with a bit of surprise that she did fully trust Myles. She wasn’t sure that she could have said that twenty-four hours ago, but a lot could change in a day, it seemed.
Despite Harlow’s worries that her anxious thoughts wouldn’t let her sleep, that was the last thought she had had before drifting off into dreamland.
Chapter Eleven
Harlow opened her eyes to find them staring straight at Myles’ sleeping face. One of his arms was loosely draped over her hips, and his chest rose and fell slowly with the rhythm of sleep. She blinked in surprise, but the disoriented feeling only lasted for a few moments. It all came back to her quickly—the power outage, her brief walk through the blizzard to Myles’ room, and then his insistence that he could keep her warm
through the night thanks to his dragon.
His dragon, Harlow thought, a little thrill of excitement rushing through her body. She was sleeping next to a dragon. How many wizards could say they had done that? Not many, to be sure. She knew that a few of the other Redwood Dragons had paired up with wizards from Falcon Cross, but that still left very few wizards who could claim to have been this close to a dragon. The realization made Harlow feel special, and she couldn’t help but smile. Myles chose that exact moment to wake up, opening his eyes to find Harlow smiling at him. She blushed, but a smile instantly crossed his face as well.
“Good morning, sunshine,” he said, his voice rough and gravelly from several hours of non-use. “Sleep okay? Warm enough?”
Harlow nodded. “You’re pretty great at keeping a bed warm,” she said, trying to keep her voice light and teasing. His smile deepened, and, to her surprise, he snuggled closer to her and squeezed his arms tighter around her.
She felt a thrill of pleasure rush through her. It was an excited, giddy feeling that was becoming more and more familiar the more time that she spent with him. Her heart rate increased as he nuzzled his nose against her ear. She couldn’t see his face anymore, but his body was pressed so tightly against hers that she was pretty sure his expression must be one of desire. She found herself holding her breath, wondering what he would do next. Until now, they had done a good job of keeping up the pretense that their reasons for being in the same bed were purely practical. But he was moving quickly beyond the boundaries of practical, and he was making no apologies for it. He draped one of his legs over her legs, and pushed his hips against her hips, and that’s when she felt it.
He was large, and hard as a rock. He pressed his stiffness against her, causing her heart to beat impossibly faster than it already was. She trembled in his arms, trying her best to calm her nerves but hopelessly failing at the task. How could she be calm in a moment like this, when the most handsome man she had ever seen, the dragon whose bed she had shared last night, was making it clear exactly what effect she had on him?
They lay like this for several minutes. Harlow was completely still except for her breathing, which came in faster and faster breaths as her mind began to truly comprehend the fact that Myles desired her. She knew that she had longed for this in some way since the very first time she’d laid eyes on him. Even when she’d hated him, she’d been unable to completely get the nagging thought out of her mind that his body joined to hers would feel like heaven. Now, she had gone completely over the edge. Their friendship had been growing exponentially since their standoff last night before dinner, and that friendship was quickly deepening into something greater. Harlow closed her eyes and allowed herself to relish the way Myles felt with his hips pressed against her. She could feel herself growing ready for him as the juices of desire began filling the space between her legs. She wanted him, but how far would he take things this morning? And if he did make a move to take things all the way, was it really a good idea? Wouldn’t a new romance distract them from the task at hand?
Harlow didn’t have much time to consider this question, although she could have considered it all day and still come up with the same answer. After the small taste of him she’d had, she would never be satisfied until she had tasted all of him. Luckily, he seemed to agree.
He pulled back from nuzzling against her ear, and brought his face right in front of hers.
“Harlow,” he said softly. It was the only word he said, but somehow it held so much meaning. Harlow smiled at the sound of her name on his lips, and then, before she knew it, his lips were on her lips.
He kissed her softly at first, and she closed her eyes as she took in the mixed sensation of his smooth lips and prickly chin. She didn’t mind the roughness, though. It made him feel like a man’s man, and the stubble looked damn sexy on him, too.
After a few moments, he slipped his tongue past her lips, and the urgency in his kiss increased. He massaged her tongue with his, drinking in her taste as he ran his tongue across not only her tongue but her teeth and the roof of her mouth as well. He held her firmly against his body as he kissed her, his hips pressing against her as his hands gripped her by the small of her back. Harlow could feel the heat in her body rising, and the wetness between her legs growing. Her rational mind screamed at her to stop, telling her that they needed to talk about this first, and that she shouldn’t sleep with someone before discussing with him their feelings for each other. But Harlow pushed away the thoughts. She didn’t care right now about logic or reason. It didn’t matter what her head tried to tell her. Her heart knew. She was falling for Myles, hard and fast.
He sucked her tongue deep into his mouth, then nibbled on it gently, sending fresh tremors of excitement through her body. His motions stemmed from an intensity of feelings within him, she could tell, and yet he moved with an easy familiarity. They were together in this moment, united by a common quest but forgetting all about the duties of that quest for now. In this room, there were only the two of them. They were everything to each other.
Myles slid his hands around from behind Harlow and found the hem of her flannel pajama shirt. He slid his fingers up between the fabric so that they were touching Harlow’s skin. He was warm, but she still could not keep from shivering at his touch. He drew tiny circles around her belly button, causing her to gasp and wriggle in delight. Then he moved upward toward her breasts, which were bare beneath her shirt since she never slept with a bra, and had been too preoccupied with other worries to think about putting one on last night before coming over to Myles’ room.
Now, she was thankful for that oversight. She moaned slowly as he covered her breasts with his hands, one in each palm. His hands pressed against the fabric of her shirt as he began to massage slowly, and Harlow once again squirmed with pleasure under his touch. Heat seemed to shoot from his hands into her breasts, and then radiate through her entire body. She trembled as he moved his hands so that now it was just his fingers over her nipples. He grabbed one hard nub between each of his thumbs and forefingers, first massaging gently, and then, gradually beginning to twist with movements that were increasingly strong.
Harlow had lost all sense of time and space. Everything around her had disappeared except Myles. She shuddered with impatient relief as he finally slid his hands out from under her pajama shirt and began to actually unbutton it. He worked quickly, and she gladly wriggled out of the sleeves to help him remove the shirt completely. He pushed the blankets back just a bit, so that they only covered her lower half. Her chest and stomach were bare against the cold air of the room, but he did not leave her cold for long. With a swift movement, he flipped her onto her back and then lay over her, so that his body warmed her. He put his hands on her shoulders, warming them as he slid his head into position right above her breasts. He used his teeth to pleasure her nipples now, massaging them with his tongue before nibbling and then biting down hard. She arched her back, pressing against him and moaning again. Her body was growing warmer with each passing second, as the fire of his touch consumed her.
After several minutes of this, Myles slowly rolled off of her. Harlow opened her eyes to look at him, wondering what he was going to do next. He only smiled at her in answer, and then slipped out of the bed to stand beside it. He pulled off his shirt with one smooth movement, exposing his broad chest and chiseled abs. Harlow took in his appearance with appreciation. His chest had just the right amount of hair, not too much and not too little. He looked perfectly masculine and strong and she let out a long, satisfied sigh. He wasn’t done yet, though.
He pushed off his pants, and boxers, stepping out of them and then standing to his full height so that Harlow could see his long, thick manhood in all its glory. He was rock hard, and enormous. Even though she had felt him beneath the sheets, she had still not been prepared for how large he would look once he was fully on display. She let out a happy gasp and bit her lower lip with anticipation. He smiled, pleased at her response, and stood there for anoth
er few moments to allow her to admire him. His legs were strong and thick with muscles, and Harlow loved the way they accented the stiff erection between them. If Harlow had ever wondered what the body of a god might look like, Myles would have been a fairly good example. He was magnificent.
When he was satisfied that she’d had enough time to look, Myles climbed back onto the bed. He dove under the covers then, finding the waistband of her pants and underwear and pulling them off together. The movement left a long, wet trail down her legs. She was soaking with anticipation now. Her whole body was filled with a tingling sensation of electricity as she waited for Myles to resurface from underneath the blankets. He slid so that his body was over hers, and then crawled back up so they were chest to chest and face to face. Harlow could feel his stiff shaft as it grazed up her leg, stopping just below the entrance between her legs, which was now throbbing with anticipation.
Determination and the Dragon (Redwood Dragons Book 4) Page 10