“Don’t you dare,” she warned. “You’ll mess everything up, and I don’t have time to pull this off again.”
Laughing, he stripped off his clothes. “Oh, I dare. I’ll just eat you later.”
Nude, he walked into the bathroom, and she had to pause to admire his powerful, lithe body. His sleek, heavy muscles rippled under dark bronze skin. In his human form or as a dragon, he was the most magnificent male she had ever laid eyes on.
She raised her voice. “I thought you should know. You make me so stinking happy. Especially when you walk around nude.”
His laughter sounded. “You make me pretty stinking happy too, lover.”
The sound of the shower started, and only then was she able to turn back to what she was doing.
She triple-checked her makeup for any flaws. By the time she had shimmied into the floor length, strapless gown and slipped on her high heeled Pradas, Dragos’s electric travel shaver was buzzing in the bathroom. Quickly she pulled out the hot curlers and ran her fingers through her hair. Large shining curls tumbled around her bare shoulders.
The buzz of his razor stopped. She looked over her shoulder and found him frozen in the doorway. Except for a towel slung around his hips, he was still nude, and he stared at her with such naked hunger, it scorched her skin.
“I think I’ve changed my mind. I’ll leave my hair down tonight.” Tilting her head, she gave him a small smile. “Our half an hour is almost up. Shouldn’t you be hurrying?”
His sharp intake of breath was audible across the room. She laughed. Stepping back, he slammed the bathroom door.
When he stepped out again, five minutes later, he was fully dressed. Fastening the last of her diamond stud earrings into her ear, she turned away from the vanity mirror and lost the ability to breathe.
She could almost get used to the daily reality of how he impacted her—almost—until she saw him like this, his massive, powerful body clothed in a severe, elegant black tux. The formal clothes did nothing to make him appear domesticated. If anything, they highlighted his handsome, brutal features, jet-black hair and piercing gold eyes, while the pristine white shirt brought out the richness of his dark bronze skin.
His soft growl reached her from across the room. “Don’t look at me like that, or we really won’t get out the door this evening.”
She jerked away and scooped up her beaded black clutch. Like a gawky yearling with too much leg, she didn’t feel quite in control of all her limbs. “Right,” she muttered. “Out the door.”
Quiet masculine laughter ghosted through her head. He strode for the door and held it open for her. Somehow she managed to walk out of the bedroom.
They made it downstairs with three minutes to spare of the half hour Dragos had given her. Bayne and Eva were waiting for them in the front hall. Bayne wore a tux too, his evening clothes heightening his rugged good looks, while Eva wore a silk gray Chanel suit.
“I still think you should have worn the red dress,” Pia told her. “You look stunning in red.”
The other woman shook her head with a grin. “Not while I’m on duty. The heels that go with that red dress are killer to run in.”
“All set?” Bayne asked Dragos.
Dragos nodded, and the four of them stepped outside where two black SUVs and a limousine were waiting. Security rode in the SUVs in front and behind, while Bayne and Eva climbed with Dragos and Pia into the back of the limo.
At first their conversation remained lighthearted. Dragos took her hand, lacing long, dark fingers through hers while Bayne and Eva engaged in good-natured banter.
As Pia listened to them with a smile, she absentmindedly scratched at her right thigh. She hadn’t taken the time to smooth lotion on after her shower, and her skin felt dry and itchy.