[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
her up and carry her to the bed. Then he laid her on top of the covers and came down on
her, and he covered her body with his. In a move that was as natural as breathing, she
wrapped her long, fabulous legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. She held
him with her whole body, and he was home.
Home. It was a concept to which he had never given much thought. Self-contained
and solitary by nature, his home had always been within himself, but not any longer.
I love you, she whispered against his mouth.
He lifted his head to look at her. She smiled at him, golden-skinned in the firelight,
her eyes as rich as sapphires. He laid his fingertips along the exquisite, delicate curve of
her cheekbone.
The dragon came to a realization and was amazed. In the unending years of his
acquisitive existence, despite all his hoarding of the treasures of kingdoms and emperors,
he had never been rich before this. She had come into his life to steal from him, and in
the process she had given him everything she had.
I love you, he said.
TWELVE
As he spoke the words her gaze flared, and her lips trembled. For one split second he
stared at her, utterly mystified. She had never seemed to mind before that he hadn t said
the words.
She couldn t be upset that he had said them now, could she? Fucking hell, he was no
good at this romance shit.
In the next moment he realized that mirth filled her eyes, not sadness.
He growled, What.
She told him, her voice trembling with laughter, You just sounded so surprised when
you said it.
He took a slow, deep breath and let it out gently. I am, he said.
He kissed her again, savoring the light play of her lips before deepening it to explore
the lavish intimacy of her mouth. She groaned and rotated her hips so that his cock
pressed against her pelvis. They rocked together, fully clothed, both remembering how it
was to be together and promising each other more. His hunger spiked higher, and he
palmed one of her breasts.
She pulled back slightly to mutter something, her warm breath against his cheek. He
had no idea what she said but it sounded urgent and sexy. Then she kissed him hard, and
her eager, feminine aggression caused everything within him to glow hotter than the
forest fire and brighter than a newly minted coin.
Take it off, he whispered.
She knew what he meant and removed the dampening spell that cloaked her body s
natural luminescence.
She was simply dazzling. She was his beacon to what others called decency, not
because she told him how to act but because she made him want to try.
They shouldn t be doing this. They didn t have time. But he slipped one hand under
her sweater anyway to tease at her nipple, rolling the soft, delicate jutting flesh between
his thumb and forefinger. Her eyes glazed with passion, she thrust up with her hips and
he hissed as the friction drove him out of his mind crazy. . . .
A sharp rap sounded at the door, and he snarled as he lifted his head.
Pia grabbed him by the ears. It startled him enough to make him pause.
Their eyes met.
She said, Count to ten.
Hm, he had heard of that technique before. One, two, three . . .
She called out, Yes, what is it?
Eva s voice sounded through the door panel. The High Lord requests that Dragos
attend him downstairs. I guess those Elves that were spelled aren t doing so well.
He expelled a breath between his teeth. It sounded like steam hissing in a kettle. I
got to ten, he told her. It didn t help. Stay here and follow your own advice. Eat
something and rest. He raised his voice. I m coming.
He rolled away from her, careful to avoid putting any real weight on her abdomen,
then stood and strode out of the bedroom.
Eva stood just on the other side of the door. She gestured to the unit s magic user,
who waited across the room by the hall entrance. Miguel knows where to go. He ll show
you where they are being held.
Fine, he bit out. Let s go.
Just before he turned away, he saw Eva glance into the open doorway of the
bedroom, and her eyes grew very wide. Realization flashed. Fuck. He spun back, even
though he knew he was already too late.
Eva asked in a hushed voice, Uh, princess? Are you aware that you re illuminated?
" " "
It was an idiotic mistake.
Pia had lifted her head off the pillows to watch Dragos stride away, her body
thrumming with frustrated hunger again. She felt like they hadn t made love in months,
not days. He should always dress in black, because he sure did give Satan a run for his
money on being wicked hot. He moved so fast and light on his feet, it would be disturbing
to see in such a large, muscular man if it wasn t so damned sexy.
He was already preoccupied with what lay ahead of him, and she was distracted with
lust and just plain stupid. She realized it as soon as Eva looked in the bedroom and her
black gaze went wide. Even though Pia threw the dampening spell back on that very
instant, it was too little too late.
Remember that slow-moving train wreck? The one you were just bitching about the
other day? And who was driving that train again, dumb ass?
You, that s who.
She launched off the bed and moved faster than she ever remembered moving in her
life. As she leaped toward Eva, she called out sharply, I ll take care of it, Dragos.
She reached the doorway, registering every shift in Eva s expression, the simple
astonishment shifting to shock at her urgent speed. In the next instant, Pia had her hand
fisted in the front of Eva s shirt. Eva grabbed her wrist reflexively, glanced at Dragos and
froze.
Pia looked at Dragos too, at his calm, expressionless face and the death in his gold
eyes. I am mated to the biggest psycho of them all, she thought. She said strongly, I
said I ll take care of this.
His attention shifted from Eva to her. There was no way to tell what he was thinking.
She shifted her body so that she came between Dragos and Eva, and she pointed toward
the hallway door and Miguel, who also stood frozen. Go.
Dragos tilted his head at her in wordless acknowledgment, turned and left, taking
Miguel with him.
She took a deep breath and only then realized that she was shaking. So much to do,
so much to do. Build a relationship, stop Armageddon, save a Wyr here and there. It
really did never rain but it poured.
James, Andrea and Johnny had been in the other rooms, but they weren t any longer.
Something that had been said, or perhaps some instinct for danger had roused them.
They stood tensely in the doorways of the other bedrooms, Andrea and Johnny in one,
James in the other. Quickly she calculated the angles of the doorways in relation to each
other. None of them could have seen into her bedroom, and Miguel had been standing by
the hall door, so he hadn t seen anything either.
Pia told the others, Go back to bed. Now.
Slowly, they backed into their separate rooms, even though she could tell all their
fight-or-flight instincts had kicked into high gear.
Only when they shut their doors did she turn her attention to Eva, who hadn t moved
or spoken. It was the first time she had ever seen Captain Psycho truly subdued.
Pia loosened her hold on Eva s shirt and pointed silently into her own bedroom. As the
other woman stepped inside, she followed and closed the door behind her.
She asked quietly, You haven t by any chance been talking telepathically with any of
the others in the last few minutes, have you?
No, Eva said, very low. She turned around, her sober black gaze fixing on Pia s face.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]