“I can’t stand you either,” she said, panting as she looked up into his purple gaze.
His eyes fell to her lips, which were probably still swollen from his kiss. “I’d rather set my head on fire.”
“Me too,” she said fiercely.
Then he kissed her, pressing her up against the wall of the pool, and she kissed him back, wondering how she could be so hungry for a person and so angry with them at the same time.
Chapter 4
Chadwick had lost it. He’d finally lost it, and all the stress over the fae, angst over losing his partner, and fear over the future were flooding out of him now as he kissed the woman in front of him more fiercely
Finally, he could stop thinking and just feel. In his body, the tension was building. Heat just under his skin from her soft curves pressed up against him, her kicks against the water even as her lips opened hungrily, inviting him deeper.
She wanted him. The little troublemaker wanted him, and despite her being a human and irritating and nothing Chadwick was looking for, he wanted her back.
He slowly released her hands and pulled back from her, studying her face.
She was beautiful, blond hair darker when soaked, green eyes luminescent and reflecting some of the blue of the water.
Her lips were kiss-swollen, and that curve-hugging bikini made his whole body go tight.
He was a dragon who took pride in his self-control, but she was making him lose it.
All he wanted was to kiss her more, everywhere, until they both forgot the world and all their stress and lost themselves in the pleasure of the moment.
She was watching him and treading water, an adequate swimmer despite the scare she’d given him by almost drowning.
“In the shallow end,” he finally said, making his decision. His voice sounded hoarse, and his body still felt tight as a wire.
She nodded, and he was surprised when she dove cleanly under the water, surfacing in the shallow end a few seconds later. “Swimmer,” she called out.
There was a twinkle in her eye as she sat on the steps by the entrance, and water glittered on her gorgeous shoulders, now revealed with her top half out of the water.
He dove under smoothly and came up a few feet away.
When he stood, he still towered over her, and he caught her long, lingering glance as her eyes looked over him, noting every perfect muscle his body possessed.
It was easy to attract attention from human women. It was practically what he was designed for. Yet he’d never cared before that moment.
Mating had always seemed a business-like arrangement. Someone who was suitable, dragon heart wise, and who got along with the triad.
He’d never looked for something like the burning that started in him whenever he looked at Isabella. If he’d known it was possible, he still might not have looked for it.
Feelings like this—rushing, uncontrollable, heated—were dangerous.
They led to decisions where someone could get killed.
But right now, with no visions coming to mind, Chadwick decided this one feeling could be totally harmless.
As long as they both agreed.
“It won’t be mating,” Chadwick said, putting a hand on the stair railing as he looked over her. “It’s only physical.”
Lies, it all felt like lies.
She flushed, putting a hand on his bicep. “Perfect. I’m only doing this as a distraction.”
“Why?” He couldn’t help asking as he pulled her into his arms and lifted her legs to wrap around his waist. He liked being able to support her so she could relax. “What do you need a distraction from?”
She sighed, wrapping her hands around his neck as she cocked her head, a haunted look in those emerald eyes. “I don’t want to talk about it.” Her eyes dipped to his lips, and she ran her tongue over her bottom one. “I just want to forget.”
Protectiveness surged through Chadwick, combined with his need for her, and his mouth covered hers instantly.
When she moaned, relaxing against him and grinding her hips against his waist, he grinned.
If she wanted to forget, he’d make her forget everything but pleasure, at least for a little while.
He thrust in his tongue, loving the way the little hellion dug her nails into his back, plunging her tongue forward to meet and entwine with his.
He pulled back to kiss her neck, then down to her shoulder, holding her in the water so she could arch back in sheer bliss, her eyes closing when his mouth kissed down between her breasts.
“Please,” she begged, one hand leaving his back to pull his head down toward her nipple.
He let out a growl of satisfaction as he covered the hard nub, and he took a moment to enjoy her gasps as he flicked his tongue over the peak, teasing her over her bikini.
“Don’t stop.” She gasped, her legs tightening around him even as her hand jerked at his hair, the other digging into his back.
It was savage, feral, and God, he loved it.
“Dammit,” he said, surprised by his own arousal, which was making him heady as he kissed her other breast, teasing it to a tortured point like the other while Isabella arched in his arms. “So beautiful.”
He hadn’t known it could be like this.
He lifted her in the water, making her legs let go of his waist so he could hold her as he pleased.
She weighed nothing to him, and it was easy to hold her up by the waist, ignoring her struggles as he kissed down to her belly button, licking the rim of it before kissing down to a sensitive part of her hip, which made her jerk.
Oh, he’d be back for that.
“Oh my God, oh my God,” she gasped out as he moved to the wall and sat her down on it with only her feet dangling in the water.
He moved between her legs. With her sitting like that and him standing in the water, they were almost eye level.
He smirked, realizing he was still taller. Then he ran his eyes over her body, since it was so much easier to see now. The soft belly, the wide, perfect hips. Breasts that were tantalizing, still hidden behind her bikini top, the nipples poking forward for attention.
Under that bikini bottom, she’d surely be wet and warm and…
And Chad couldn’t wait any longer to taste her.
Moving forward, putting a hand on each of her thighs to keep her from closing her legs on him, he moved in.
Her emerald eyes went liquid with want, and she trembled slightly but nodded when he looked up for approval.
That was all he needed.
He let out a growl as he pulled the bikini off, the strings on the sides giving away easily. She was bare to him, and her scent, her look, was irresistible.
He had no right to be doing this, but she didn’t seem to care about that.
In fact, as his tongue flicked over her slit and then his lips kissed down on her clit, he felt her hands in his hair as if she were going to hold him there.
As if she couldn’t risk him stopping before she was done.
Well, that wasn’t likely.
It was Chad’s job to take care of humans, and right now, this human needed him. He supposed it was a fairly flimsy excuse, but it was all a hungry dragon needed.
She moaned softly as he sucked on her clit, swirling his tongue around her to test where she liked him. Pressing down or flicking or circling. Turned out she liked all of it, and her wetness tasted and smelled so sweet as he continued to make love to her with his mouth.
She moaned. She jerked. She screamed, but still, Chadwick was relentless. His hands stroked over her thighs, up to her waist, played with her belly button, then came back to hold her as his tongue centered down on her clit.
He pushed. Held. Sucked. And she came.
She screamed his name, arching back but keeping her hands in his hair for balance. Waves moved through her, and she clenched her thighs around Chadwick, apologizing breathlessly when she noticed.
But he was beyond caring about his own comfort. She could suffocate him, for all
he cared, as long as she kept coming.
“More,” she said breathlessly, twisting her fingers in his hair.
He dove in, taking his time, exploring her folds with his lips, the dragon in him hungry to know all of her.
Take her, a low voice growled.
Chad ignored it.
When she was soaked and writhing and absolutely making a mess of his hair again, Chad circled her clit while slowly looking up at her.
She was lost, her green eyes dazed, her mouth slightly open and panting, and her skin was flushed.
He didn’t think he’d ever seen a more beautiful sight in his life.
He kissed down on her center, his hands holding her thighs so she couldn’t squirm to avoid the sensation, and she came again, arching back, almost vibrating with the strength of it.
This time, Chad pulled her into the water with him, holding her in his arms as she wrapped her legs around his waist and rode out her release. She made ripples in the water as she arched back with each wave of pleasure, and Chadwick watched the ripples until they hit the wall and disappeared.
Everything seemed surreal to him until he focused on the water, the pool, everything around them.
Dammit.
She relaxed, her soft hands resting on his shoulders as her orgasm finally abated. She gave him a sleepy, satisfied smile, but then heat lit her eyes and she lowered one hand to grip him through his clothing.
God, until that moment, Chad had forgotten he’d jumped fully clothed into a pool.
He was supposed to be in meetings. He was supposed to be…
His thoughts trailed off as he looked back to her, wondering at the flush on her cheeks and the hungry way she still watched him.
He couldn’t regret anything. Not when it had been so amazing.
Her hand stroked down his hard length, making it impossible to deny he wanted this. Wanted her.
“Damn, are all dragons so… you know…?” She trailed off, flushing.
“I don’t know,” Chad said, a little sharper than he intended. “I don’t go around looking at other dragons that way.”
“Dang, you’re amazing,” she said, making little sparks shoot through him as she stroked up again.
Chad put her away from him, letting her stand on her own in the shallow water.
She looked better now. Less stressed from nearly drowning. Less stressed in general. And the sadness was gone from her eyes.
Now it was replaced with frustration.
“Why are you stopping us?” She made a move to come toward him, but he stepped back, trying to calm his own heartbeat. “Let me please you too.”
“You did,” he said simply, taking one more long, languorous look at her.
Damn, she’d make any man the luckiest in the world if she mated him.
He sighed, telling himself to snap out of it.
She wasn’t some perfect nymph. She was always causing problems. Careless. Flirtatious with everyone…
But as she watched him with those emerald eyes, he couldn’t deny that when she’d been in his arms, things had been different.
Things had been good in a way he didn’t really want to think about since she was off-limits to him.
“Wait, Chadwick,” she said, following him as he walked to the stairs and climbed out, shaking water off his now-ruined shirt.
What had gotten into him?
Clearly, the adrenaline had made him lose focus.
“We shouldn’t have done that,” he said, putting a hand to his forehead to wipe hair and water away. God, his lips still tasted like her, made the dragon in him rise up and roar for more.
Chadwick couldn’t allow it. He doubled his pace, hoping he wouldn’t slip on the pool deck in his need to escape.
“Why not?” Isabella had retrieved her bikini bottom and tied it up and was now jogging across the pool deck to catch up with him.
Chadwick whipped around to face her, not wanting her to slip either. “We just can’t.”
Her wet hair was starting to wave around her face, and she still looked breathtakingly beautiful. “We both enjoyed it. That’s the best I’ve felt in a long time.”
Her words warmed him more than they should. He’d gotten carried away. He had no right to her like that.
She walked forward, and he felt frozen, watching her approach.
Right now, he didn’t feel like the leader of his region or the most reliable purple dragon or the keeper of visions.
He just felt wanted. He had no idea what to do with that thought.
“Look,” she said when she was close enough to rest a hand on his chest and feel his racing heartbeat. “We can’t seem to get along this well any other way. Why not enjoy ourselves while we can?”
He shook his head. “Because actions have consequences, and I’m going to be mating with a dragon heart.”
“I don’t care about that—”
He took her face in his hands gently, though his tone was firm. “Don’t you get it? I don’t want to hurt you, Isabella.”
“You won’t,” she said softly as he slowly released her face. “I promise.”
“You can’t promise that,” Chadwick said in a low voice, shaking his head as he turned and walked away from her. He needed to be alone. Clear his head. Figure out how to get himself refocused.
When he was almost out of the pool room, he looked back to see her wrapping herself in her robe and toweling off her hair as she sat on one of the deck chairs.
She scowled at him. “I’m not giving up on you, Chadwick. What’s the harm if I’m going to forget everything anyway?”
He froze at that for a moment, tempted by the idea of giving in to her. Fulfilling her sexual wishes, watching her come until she passed out, then sending her back to her world to forget about him.
There was just one problem with that, though. A problem that made Chadwick lock up his heart and leave the pool room without answering her.
She might forget, but he never would.
Chapter 5
“So what does this human have to teach us?” Boreas, who was at the mansion for his first time, was even more difficult than Isabella had imagined based on what Flint had told them.
All of the fae were good-looking to the point of it being almost painful to look at their gorgeous faces. Boreas was no exception with his striking, ash-blond hair and tall, muscular body.
His ice-blue eyes were frosty as he appraised her like she was something far below him. “I do not see what a mere human could teach a fae like me.”
“Shut up,” Flint said, shaking a lock of auburn hair off his forehead. He was wearing a flannel button-up in green and brown that flattered his autumnal coloring. Olive skin. Auburn hair. Eyes that burned amber brown. “Bella’s helping us. Show some respect.”
“I’m here to stop chaos princes. I care not for the rest.” Boreas folded his arms, making the blue sweater he was wearing mold to taut pectorals.
“Not even how to make a move on human females?” Isabella asked, slanting a look at him.
Boreas tried to look bored, but she noticed him sit up slightly.
“Excellent,” Tynan said from where he was stretched out on a nearby couch. He wore gray sweats low on his hips and a long-sleeved black tee that matched his short ebony hair. The sleeves were rolled up, exposing muscular forearms.
Ivar was wearing his preferred gray tracksuit that made him look like an athlete ready to train. “Human bonding rituals are so confusing.”
“Dating,” Isabella said. “We call it dating, not bonding, remember?”
Tynan sat up, pulling out the notes he carried, along with his guidebook. “Right. Dating. I was just reading about this the other night. We abduct a human woman, transport her to some location where strangers prepare food that we hope isn’t poisoned, and then—”
Isabella put her hand to her face, fighting back a grin. She’d almost forgotten how hard they were to teach sometimes, but she was grateful for the distraction.
Especially s
ince Chadwick had entered the room a few moments ago, and after pouring a glass of scotch, he’d stood in the far corner of the office, scowling as he watched her.
Every time she felt his eyes, her body went hot, betraying her again and again as she tried not to think about everything he’d done in the pool.
Perhaps if she did a better job focusing on training the fae, he’d be a little bit less stressed and a bit less of a pill.
She sighed as she looked over at Tynan. “The food won’t be poisoned. That’s against the law.”
“A lot of things are against the law in your world,” Boreas said. “Like rape and murder. And yet people here still commit those acts.”
Isabella frowned. “Well, restaurants don’t poison food, and if they did…” She shook her head. “Anyway, we’re not talking about where to go. We’re talking about physicality.”
That instantly gave her every man’s attention. Even Chadwick, though he looked slightly taken aback.
“How do fairies usually make moves?” Chadwick asked.
Flint shrugged. “That’s just it. We usually don’t have to.”
“How does it work, then?”
“We are fae princes,” Boreas said. “Females come to us. Beg to further the bond with us.”
“Why?” Chadwick asked.
Boreas gave him a smirk. “Not for you to know, dragon.”
Chadwick shrugged, refusing to rise to the bait. “Fine, then.”
“Well,” Tynan said, sitting up impatiently. “I’ve been studying this, and I think I get the general idea. Though, it’s definitely different from fae norms.” He stood and walked over to sit by Isabella, throwing an arm around her on the back of the couch. “Is this right? Do I look like a human?”
He was stiff and his arm floated above her like the parody of a picture of two people cuddling, but Isabella still felt herself freeze.
Gently, she extricated herself from him, moving out from under his arm. “You get the general idea, but maybe you should practice on someone else so I can watch your form.” She panicked slightly as she cast her eyes to the only other being in the room who wasn’t a fae. “Chad, want to help me on this?”
Dragon in Love Page 3