“So beautiful,” he said.
She looked embarrassed, turning to the side, but he caught her chin and turned it toward him, loving the way her eyes shone when she acknowledged her feelings. “I’m not used to being looked at,” she said.
“Get used to it,” he said. “Because you’re so gorgeous that I’m never going to want to stop looking.”
“Can I look, too?”
He laughed and pulled his shirt over his head. “All you want. Benefit of dating a dragon. I don’t even have to work out to keep this.” He ran a hand over his hard rows of abs, watching her eyes widen and her curvy body give a little wriggle. “You like it?”
She nodded. “I really like it. You make me want to break all my promises to myself. Just totally lose all control and give it over.”
That was the most amazing thing to hear, given how hard he knew it was for her to let go of control. “You can trust me. I’ll always take care of you.”
She looked hesitant, biting her lip. He reached forward and gently pulled off her ponytail tie, putting it around his wrist. Then he fanned her blond hair out around her head, marveling at the dark-gold and wheat shades. “Your hair is beautiful. You should wear it down more often.”
“It gets in the way,” she said, wrinkling her nose.
He laughed, leaning down to kiss her neck, then her earlobe, then her lips. “Doesn’t look in the way to me.”
“No, I mean at work,” she said breathily. “You know what I mean.”
He did. And it was a good thing she wouldn’t have to work anymore soon. She could stay at home with him in bed all day if she wanted and not work on any greasy cars.
But she probably wouldn’t agree to that yet. He still had to win her over. But that was part of the fun of having a mate. The chase.
He trailed a hand over her soft, curvy belly to the button of her jeans. “I love your shape,” he said. “So perfect.”
“Fat,” she said.
“Perfect,” he said, flicking open the button. “So soft, so feminine, so protectable.”
She frowned. “That’s a good thing?”
“Of course,” he said, lowering his head to dip his tongue in her belly button. “It makes me feel like I deserve you, knowing I can protect you, knowing you would depend on me.”
“But if I were stronger, if I were your equal—”
“I don’t care about being equals,” he said. “I just care about being your mate. About allowing you to be however you want to be while I can keep you safe.”
“So weird,” she said. “I thought men would see it as work, and—”
“Protecting our woman work?” He scoffed at the thought. “Pleasure. It’s what makes you get up in the morning, as a man.”
“Hard to imagine,” she said.
“That’s because you haven’t been protected in a long time,” he said. “And never like this.” He undid her zipper, slowly revealing silky pink panties that matched the blush on her face.
“Hurry and get it over with,” she said, looking away. “So embarrassing.”
“Never,” he said. “I can’t rush with something this beautiful.” He trailed a finger lightly over her panties, loving the softness there.
“So mushy.”
“Mushy?” he asked.
“Romantic,” she said.
“I don’t see why romance has to be ‘mushy,’” he said. “Romance is hard, strong, hot. Unbeatable.”
She covered her eyes with her hands. “Oh my gosh, so embarrassing.”
He reached forward again, grabbing her chin lightly and forcing her to look at him. A grin spread over his face. “Do you really hate it?”
She shook her head slowly, her face very flushed.
“I thought so,” he said. Then he hooked his hands into her belt loops and pulled her jeans down in one smooth motion. When she lay before him in that lacy contraption and her panties, he let out a sigh of exquisite satisfaction.
Too much beauty for a dragon like him. He’d just have to work to deserve it.
Starting now.
He hooked a finger into the side of her panties and pulled them down and off of her, tossing them onto the ground by the jeans. Then he looked down at the breast-containment system curiously.
With a little giggle, she reached behind and somehow undid it, and as it fell away, beautiful dusky nipples were revealed to his eyes. His heart felt like it rushed into his throat and got caught.
For a moment, he just stared as she tossed the bra away and he took in the totality of the woman in front of him.
Little dimples on her knees, wide, curvy hips, perfect little mound dusted with blond hair, rounded shoulders, arms with muscle under the curves, showing the strength that came from her work.
Little stress lines around her eyes, showing she’d suffered at some point. He hoped she wouldn’t have to suffer anymore.
When he’d first met her, she’d just been a cute woman who needed his help and then his mate. Now she was a whole, complex person that he could spend forever getting to know and still only feel he was reaching the surface of what he wanted to understand.
He wanted to be inside her. Inside her body, inside her mind, bonded with her spirit.
His dragon roared with the need to mate her, and he clenched his jaw, forcing himself to stay calm.
“Is something wrong?” she asked, slowly covering her chest with her hands, looking bashful.
With a little growl, he grabbed her hands and pinned them above her, flattening her against the bed as he took her lips in a hard, claiming kiss. Letting her know the dragon in him meant business. He pulled back so their lips were barely touching. “Never. Nothing could ever be wrong as long as you’re right here with me. You’re just so beautiful that you make it hard to breathe.”
Her lips parted slightly in shock, and he hated that she should find such a plain truth about herself shocking. He kissed her again, one of his hands keeping hers pinned above her head, the other trailing down to play with her breast, gently flicking the nipple.
Damn, she had cute nipples.
His other hand trailed down to her slit, feeling how wet she was, how naked. He played there, coming up to her clit and making her shudder as he stroked slowly over the nub. She squirmed.
“That feels so good.”
He grinned. “Good. I love it.” He played a little longer, feeling her body tighten, her hands push against him reflexively. But he could tell from the wetness at his hands, the quickening of her breathing, the glazed arousal as her eyes met his—his woman liked being restrained, liked giving up control when it was the right moment.
His dragon was pleased.
He’d protect her, take care of everything if she let him. She moved impatiently against his fingers, which were still making lazy motions over her most sensitive area.
He wasn’t in any hurry, but apparently she was. “What do you want, love?”
She pressed her lips together and closed her eyes, thrusting against his fingers. She opened her eyes. “You. In me.”