by Julie Wetzel
Lacing his fingers across his stomach, the man leaned back in the chair. He stuck his bare feet out in front of him and crossed his ankles. “Nope,” he said as if he was proud of that fact. “In fact, if it wasn’t for the insistence of this kind lady, I’d be running around naked, too.” To emphasize his point, he reached out and pulled the size sticker off the leg of his jeans.
Terra bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing out loud.
The old woman looked scandalized at them. “Well, I never!” She got up and stormed out of the shop.
A loud laugh slipped out of Terra as the door swung shut. It had been a real pleasure to see him put the woman in her place. “I can’t believe you just did that!” she said as soon as she could get her breath back.
“I’m sure I missed something, but I didn’t like how she was talking to you.” The dragon man toyed with the sticker from his pants as he spoke.
Terra smiled at him. He was defending her honor. How sweet! She slipped over on the bench until her shoulder bumped into his. “It’s okay. She’s old and grumpy.”
He chuckled and leaned against her. “True, but just because someone’s lived a long life doesn’t mean they should be telling others how to live.”
Curiosity burned at Terra’s mind. So many of the dragons that had gone missing were ancient; could her dragon man be just as old as they were?
“How old are you?” The question came out before she could stop it.
The movement of the sticker stopped as he thought about the question. Slowly, he crumpled the plastic up before turning to look at her. “I don’t remember.” He let out a soft sigh as his eyes drifted back to his curled fingers. Closing his eyes, he drew in several even breaths as he thought. “I have to be as old as she is,” he finally said as he looked up at Terra, “if not older.”
Sitting up away from him, Terra considered him for a moment. The woman had to have been sixty or seventy years old, but her dragon man didn’t look a day over thirty. His eyes held a hint of fear as if he expected her to be appalled by his answer. She shifted back to lean against him again. “As long as you don’t get grouchy.” It really doesn’t matter how old he is.
The man chuckled as he slipped his arm around her shoulder and held her closer to him. “I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything. It may go against my character.”
That gave Terra a moment’s pause. They still had to find out who he was. There was no telling what would happen when they had that information. He would probably go back to his old life and forget about her. That struck a sad note in Terra’s heart, but she pushed it away. She would worry about that later. For now, they just had to get their pizza and find a place to rest. Tomorrow, they would worry about finding the past and what that meant for the future.
6
“What do you mean, you’re out of rooms?” Terra asked again. This was the fourth hotel they’d tried, and no one had anything available.
The look the clerk gave her was apologetic. “There’s a comic book convention in town, and everything is booked solid through Monday.”
The dragon man placed his hand in the small of Terra’s back, calming her down. “Could you check one more time, please?”
The clerk let out an audible sigh and turned his attention to the computer.
Terra glanced up at her dragon man. Why did his touch have such a soothing effect? She pondered this as he waited patiently for the clerk to check his records.
A curious noise came out of the clerk as he tapped away on his console. “Well,” he said, “it looks like you’re in luck. Someone just canceled an online reservation. It looks like we do have one opening.”
“Fantastic!” The dragon man smiled at the clerk. “We’ll take it.”
Terra laughed softly to herself. Her dragon hadn’t even bothered to get any of the important information about where they would stay. Pulling out her wallet, she handed her driver’s license to the clerk so he could get them registered. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too much. She had a decent amount put back, but her mystery man was really hitting her pocketbook hard today.
As if he could sense her reluctance to part with her hard-earned money, the dragon man ran his hand down her back again. He leaned in and whispered softly in her ear. “I’ll make sure you get it back.”
Terra just snorted out a soft laugh and shook her head, amused. Somehow, she knew that once they had answers, he would do his best to keep his word. She leaned into his side, a silent show of gratitude.
After a few minutes and some paperwork, the clerk handed her a key card. “You’re on the fourth floor.” He pointed to the elevators at the other end of the lobby.
Thanking him, Terra led the way back to the car to park it and get their things. She was so ready to curl up in a nice, warm bed and crash for the night.
***
“You have got to be kidding me,” Terra growled as she stood in the entryway and stared into the room.
It was a nice room. There was even a small fridge where they could stow the few slices of pizza they hadn’t eaten. But it was the single, small bed that had Terra stopping in her tracks. One bed? One! And a full-sized bed at the most! There was no way they could both sleep in that bed together. Okay, so she had seen her dragon man naked on more than one occasion, but that was a long shot from curling up next to him in the same bed. Especially a small bed!
A chuckle sounded from behind her as the dragon man looked over her shoulder to see what had made her stop. “Don’t worry about it.” He leaned in and kissed the top of her head before moving around her and into the room. “You take the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.”
Terra stood rooted to the floor. What! Did he just kiss me? The thought ran around her brain, shorting it out. Finally, the rest of what he’d said filtered in. That moved her feet.
“You can’t sleep on the floor!” She went over and dumped her shopping bags on the bed next to where he was rummaging through his stuff.
“It’s not a big deal.” The man shrugged. “It’s not the first time I’ve ever slept on the floor. Probably won’t be the last.”
Pulling the leather bag off her shoulder, she dropped it on the bed and turned towards him. “No.” She pushed on his side so he would turn and look at her. “You’ve had a hard day and need a good night’s sleep. Besides, this floor is probably disgusting. You take the bed. I’ll sleep in the chair.”
The dragon man stared at her for a long moment. His gorgeous eyes locked with hers. “I can’t let you sleep in the chair. You’ve had a hard day, too. You take the bed.” His hand came up to her hip as he spoke. The movement drew them closer together.
“I won’t sleep, knowing you’re on the floor,” Terra said, staring up into his face. Desire pulled at her body as the tip of his tongue slipped across his lower lip, dampening it.
“Fine,” he breathed the word softly.
Terra’s pulse skipped as he raised his hand to the side of her face, drawing her closer to him. Her eyes dropped to his mouth—so close, so kissable. God, he would be wonderful to kiss. She nearly leaned in to taste him, when he spoke again.
“We’ll share the bed.”
A zing of excitement raced through Terra’s insides, making her gasp. It might be dangerous to her sanity, but yes, she would share the bed with this man.
“Yes.” The agreement slipped from her lips in a breathy whisper.
Her hands settled on his hips, pulling him even closer. Terra wasn’t a loose girl by any meaning of the word, but there was just something about this man that made her want to give in without a fight. Even if it was only for one night. She had a feeling this would be the best night of her life. Pressing into his front, she tilted her head back, clearly offering herself up for his kiss.
A shiver raced through him as he pulled her harder against him. The evidence of his arousal was pressed between them, and she could feel his desire racing through him like electricity tingling across his skin. He paused just millimeters away from her lips. His
body temperature shot up as he held her, almost panting. Warm puffs of air caressed her face as he breathed.
Closing her eyes, Terra tilted her head and moved to take his mouth. She met with… nothing. Opening her eyes, she found that he was gone. She could still feel the heat from his body, but he wasn’t there anymore.
The soft click of the bathroom door drew her attention. She stood there, staring at the closed door. Had he really just escaped to the bathroom? After she had left herself so open for him? Embarrassment raced across her skin. How could she be so stupid? How could she have read the signs so wrong! Of course he’d run. He was way out of her league.
***
Alex leaned against the bathroom door, trying to catch his breath. Shit! He’d almost kissed her. And he wouldn’t have stopped at just a kiss. He would have had her, in every way he could. And she would have let him. Then, his goose would really have been cooked. His dragon was already on the verge of claiming her. Had he given in to both of their desires, it would have been impossible to stop a bond from forming. He could feel scales rubbing against the inside of his skin, driving him to go out and claim what was his. No! He couldn’t… wouldn’t do that to her.
Had he known who he was, his situation in life, he could have let things go on. But, as it was, he couldn’t drag her into his life not knowing what he had to offer her. They were already on the run from some strange men that had broken into her house and shot at her. And they were most definitely after him, not her.
No. The best thing for him to do at this moment was to beat down that instinct driving him to claim her. Just the fact that he had left her hanging, so obviously ready to take that next step, would drive some bit of a wedge between them. But that was okay. Tomorrow, after they had both calmed down, he would explain the situation to her. Even if that meant he had to admit that he liked her.
Drawing in a deep breath, he closed his eyes and listened to the sounds from the other room. The rustling of plastic and banging of the fridge led him to believe she was well and truly pissed at him. Even the water rushing in the sink as she brushed her teeth sounded bitter. It was her right to be angry at him. He was kind of angry at himself for leaving her like that.
Pulling off his clothes, Alex folded them neatly on the back of the toilet and twisted on the water in the shower as cold as he could stand. Right now, he just needed to get a grip on his hormones, and a cold shower would go a long way to chilling him out. He nearly squeaked when he climbed into the frigid spray.
Grabbing up the hotel soap, he lathered up a washcloth. Maybe a little pain added in would help. He scrubbed himself as hard as he could, but it didn’t really do much for his mental state. Well, at least he was clean again. Cutting off the water, he climbed out and dried himself off.
What the hell am I going to do now? The cold shower hadn’t done much to relieve his arousal. And now he was supposed to go out and face Terra. He thought about her out there in that bed—soft and warm, just waiting for him to come out. Heat raced through his body, making him need another cold shower. Yeah, there was no way he was going to make it through this night.
Alex glanced at his clothing. He could put it back on, but that wasn’t much of a barrier. And if his dragon had anything to say about it, the clothes wouldn’t stay on very long. A smile slipped across his face as an answer came to him. He would let his dragon win this one.
Hanging the towel up, Alex cracked the door open and let go of his control. Scales rushed over his skin as he shifted into his lesser form. Yes, his dragon would push him to get closer to Terra, but in this form, there was no way they would be tempted to finish what they had started.
Rearing up, he caught the switch with his claw and clicked off the light before nosing out of the bathroom. The room beyond was dark. He hadn’t really thought about how long he had been in the bathroom, but obviously, Terra had already gone to bed. Alex slipped out and looked over the room. Sure enough, he could see her all tucked in on the far side of the mattress. Carefully, he slipped past the end of the bed and headed for the armchair. Surely, Terra wouldn’t want him in the bed after he had abandoned her like that. It would be tight, but he could curl up on the chair for the night.
“Don’t you even dare.”
The growled words stopped him from climbing into the seat. Alex turned to look at the form in the bed. He could feel the waves of anger coming off her. He swallowed hard. Maybe he should have just given in to their desires earlier.
“Unless you want me to kick it, get your ass up here. Now.”
Lowering his head, he slinked back across the room and around to the open side of the bed.
Terra sat up and flipped the covers back for him.
Feeling guilty, he climbed up and lay down. “I’m sorry,” he gurgled.
Terra flipped the covers back over him.
He turned his head so he could watch her out of one eye. “Please don’t be mad at me.”
She let out a loud sigh and lay back down, facing away from him. “Just go to sleep.” Her voice held a sharp note of hurt in it.
Alex swallowed hard and closed his eyes. It took several minutes of arguing with himself to come to the decision to stay in this form for the night. Tomorrow, he would shift back and apologize to her. Somehow, he would find a way to make this up to her.
7
Consciousness pulled at Terra’s mind as she floated on the edge of an uncomfortable sleep. It was much too hot under the covers. She tried to flip the material back but found she couldn’t move. There was something heavy on her. Awareness slammed into her as her brain snapped awake. It wasn’t just something heavy on her; something very warm was tangled around her. There was only one thing it could possibly be. Her fingers shifted under the covers to touch the hot object behind her. She hoped to meet with hard scales, but what she felt was a lot softer.
At some time during the night, her dragon had shifted back into a man and wrapped himself around her. And it wasn’t just an arm draped over her. Oh no. He had both his arms wrapped around her middle, and his leg was slipped between hers. Now that she was awake, she could feel his breath tickle across her skin from where he had buried his face in her hair at the back of her neck. And somehow, he had managed to work her shirt up to an almost indecent level. His fingers lay splayed across the bare skin over her ribs. Just a slight shift upwards would have him palming her breast. The thought of his fingers on her brought those rosy tips to hard points, and she shut that thought down as fast as she could.
Terra drew in a deep breath, trying to calm the fluttering of her heart. Talk about mixed signals. Last night, he had made it very clear he wasn’t interested in her. As if leaving her hanging weren’t enough, he had shifted in the bathroom so he wouldn’t have to explain himself. Then, he had even tried to sneak off to the chair instead of taking his side of the bed. Now what was she supposed to do?
Turning her head, she tried to peek over her shoulder at the sleeping man, but he was pressed into her so hard that she couldn’t turn far enough. And speaking of hard, there was definitely something solid pressing into her back. She should have just let him sleep in the chair. Closing her eyes, she relaxed back into his grip. It really wasn’t that bad being caught by him. Honestly, it was quite nice waking up being held. She wiggled a little, trying to get more comfortable.
A growl sounded from behind her, and her dragon man buried his face deeper into her hair, if that were even possible. He also tightened his grip around her as he took a deep breath.
Terra froze, waiting to see what he would do.
He let the air out in a long sigh and went back to the deep, even breaths of sleep.
Letting out the air caught in her own lungs, Terra decided it was time to get up. After what had happened last night, it was probably best for both of them if she wasn’t in his arms when he woke up. Especially with the evidence of his arousal pressed so firmly into her back. He was probably dreaming of some leggy blonde with big boobs. Having him wake up to find it was just
her would be rather disappointing, and she didn’t know if she could handle that type of rejection again.
She pushed against his arms, hoping to move them, but they held her fast. Like solid steel bands.
He let out another growl that froze her.
Geez, it was like someone was taking away his favorite toy. Sighing, Terra glanced over her shoulder again. It looked like she wasn’t going to be able to get free without waking him up.
“Hey, Cookie,” she whispered, using the nickname she had given his dragon when they’d fled her home.
He growled again.
She patted his arm, trying to wake him up. “Wake up, Cookie.”
“I’m not Cookie,” he growled, but his hold never loosened.
Irked, Terra tried to shoot him a glare, but she still couldn’t turn far enough. “Then what the hell am I supposed to call you? I can’t go around calling you ‘hey you’ all the time.” She squirmed in his hold, to no avail.
“Anything but Cookie,” he grumbled. Letting out a long sigh, he relinquished his grip.
Terra took the opportunity and climbed out of bed and away from him before he could clamp back down on her. She yanked her shirt back down into place before turning to face him. “You have issues, buddy,” she growled as she stormed over and grabbed up her bag of clothing. Right now, she wanted to put as much distance between them as possible. A nice shower should help clean him from her mind. As if she could forget the exquisite feel of him against her skin. Damn it, if he hadn’t made his position clear last night, she would have spent the morning rocking his world.
***
The sound of the bathroom door closing between them broke Alex’s heart. Yes, he did have issues, and she didn’t know the half of it. He should have just come to bed as a human last night. At least then he could have kept on his clothing… or at least part of them. But no, he had come to bed in his lesser form, thinking that would save them from more awkwardness. How stupid could he be! Of course, his instincts would have shifted him into the form that was best for the situation, and his instincts were pushing him to claim Terra. Therefore, human was the form he had taken while asleep. There had to be a special level of hell where people liked to torture themselves with denied pleasures, because that’s where he found himself this morning. God, she had felt good in his arms.