Rowan looked down at her where she lay before him, his to claim, the woman who was put on this earth for him, and couldn’t help but feel that he was stepping into her late husband’s shoes. “Sophea… this is going to sound awkward, but I don’t know how else to say it. Are you comfortable with this? With me?”
“Of course I’m comfortable with you,” she said, rubbing her leg against him. “You’re beefy, but not so beefy that you are unreasonable.”
He nipped her calf. “I mean with us. Me being a dragon. More specifically, I now hold the position your late husband held.”
She looked thoughtful at that, but smiled after a minute’s thought. “You know, I think Jian knew what was coming—although how he could is beyond me, but then again, he was a ghost talking to me at a séance, so who am I to quibble about impossible things. He seemed to be telling me that someone else was coming into my life, and to embrace it. Embrace you. So if you’re feeling like you’re suddenly a Jian substitute, don’t. I don’t think of you that way at all. Jian was himself, and you are an entirely different man. Both good, just different.”
“You are wise beyond your years,” he said, feeling a tightness in his chest relax. He’d never had a relationship with a widow before, and wasn’t sure how to proceed without feeling like he was stomping over her memories.
“Hardly that. But I have had some time to reflect since we were in Munich.” She fluttered her lashes at him. “This feels right.”
“We have an obvious connection,” he said, sliding his hand up her bare leg. She shivered in response, and he took the moment to reach behind her to unhook the leather bodice. “I am now a wyvern. You are a wyvern’s mate. We were meant to be together.”
It was amazing just how true that was, and how quickly his mind had adapted to his changed circumstance, and yet already he was having difficulty remembering the time before the event.
“Now you’re being overly dramatic,” she chided, but smiled as she did so. “Why don’t we just enjoy the moment, and worry about what sort of a relationship we will want after we’ve dealt with the whole situation with Mrs. P and the ring?”
He peeled the bodice off her, instantly possessing himself of her breasts, the weight and heat of them in his hands making his blood sing. Desire blazed into being within him, roaring to life with an intensity that threatened to overwhelm. It wasn’t until the pressure built up within him that he noticed the floor around them was on fire.
“Is that you or me?” he asked, pausing a moment in the torment of her delightful breasts.
Sophea, who had pulled off his shirt and was nibbling a path along his neck and shoulder, paused to look down, her eyes narrowing. “Yours, I think. Wait.” Her forehead wrinkled as she focused, and eventually managed to set her feet afire. “Yes, that’s yours. Mine feels a bit different.”
“Ah. We should probably stop it, since I doubt if the carpet is fireproof.”
“Smart thinking.” They both tamped down their respective fires until nothing was left. “Now then,” he said, returning his attention to her silken delights. “Where was I?”
“About to give me a chance to play with your nubs,” she said, pushing back on his shoulders until he released her.
“No,” he said, turning his attention to her skirt. How did it attach? And more important, how did he take it off her?
“Excuse me? Did you just tell me no? I assume your mind is muddled by the trauma of being zapped into dragonness, and that what you really meant to say was ‘Yes, Sophea, I will gladly let you reciprocate the wonderful feelings you’ve been experiencing, for I, too, am looking forward to having my nipples molested.’ That is what you meant to say, right?”
“No,” he repeated, and having discovered the hooks and eyes that closed the skirt, undid them until the skirt was loose. He stood up, pulling her up with him, causing the skirt to slide down her hips to the floor with a leathery whoosh. “Another time you may work your lusts upon my nipple nubs, but right now, I must do this.”
“That’s just selfish, hogging all the nipple-based pleasure-giving fun—” Sophea started to protest, but he stopped her by kissing her soundly.
“Let me do this,” he said softly, giving in to temptation and nibbling on her adorable earlobe. “I can’t explain why I have to, but I feel like I must or I’ll explode.”
Her entire stance softened, her head turning so that her lips brushed his as she melted against him. “I’m sorry. I forgot that you were just bopped on the head with dragon emotions. We are such kick-ass people, of course you feel things stronger than you did before. And I would very much like you to make love to me.”