“Mr. Whiskers, no!” screeches Jewel, trying to shoo him off my back, where he’s taken up residence.
The cat just clings tighter to me, his claws digging in as I stand and turn around, scrabbling to dislodge him without hurting either one of us. He hisses and yowls at every attempt, swatting at my hands whenever they get close.
“Come on, buddy. Let’s make friends,” I coax, trying not to panic, but he’s having none of it.
“Here,” Jewel says, rushing over with a tube of seafood-flavored substance that she holds somewhere behind my back. “I’ll bribe him, and you peel him off.”
With Mr. Whiskers engrossed in licking his treat, I’m finally able to detach his paws from my fleece one by one. I hold him, cradled in my arms, while he greedily finishes the entire tube. By the end, he’s purring and kneading my forearm, as happy as the clam that flavored his goo.
“I’m glad he changed his mind about my character. I was worried there for a minute that he’d put me on the naughty list,” I crack, relieved that I won him over even if I have some battle scars.
“It’s my fault,” Jewel says apologetically. “I should have fed him before we got distracted. Is your back okay?”
“Just a scratch or two. I think my tail got the worst of it.” I pet Mr. Whiskers, feeling smug when his rumbling purr grows louder.
She circles around me, examining my tail and peeking under the hem of my shirt, her cool fingers brushing along the scales of my lower back. “Ooh. He really got you. He’s such a little tyrant sometimes. Can I put some ointment on you at least?”
She cocks her head to the side, one hand on her hip, waiting for my answer, looking like she’s posing in a fashion magazine…except there’s no fashion.
I look her up and down, drinking in every inch of her like she’s the finest vintage of inferno mead. “You’ll never catch me refusing an appointment with the naked nurse.”
Chapter 11
Jewel
“Oh!” In all the chaos, I’d totally forgotten that I’m not wearing anything. I scan the floor for my discarded clothes. “I can put something on if it’ll make you more comfortable.”
He chuckles and adjusts his cock in his pants so it’s not pressing into the seam. “I’m comfortable, Nurse No-Pants. Just hurry up so we can get back to what we were doing, which I’m pretty sure was making you come all over the couch.”
I blush head to toe at his suggestive teasing. Reaching for Mr. Whiskers, I say, “Let me feed him his real food on the way so he doesn’t bug us again.”
In the kitchen, I quietly scold the cat while I fill up his dish with kibble. “You didn’t have to attack him, Don Bigotes. You could have meowed politely. Or, you know,waited, since I left you with a full bowl of food this morning.”
Mr. Whiskers pointedly ignores me, his ears flattening back as he chows down, so I head for the bathroom medicine cabinet, where I find a tube of antibiotic cream and gauze bandages for Myrran’s poor tail and back. The cat really got him. They’re not deep, just little beads of blood, but they still need some attention. Thank goodness he was still wearing clothes, or it could have been a lot worse.
I grab my fuzzy lavender robe from its hook on the bathroom door on the way out, wrapping the belt securely around me. He said he was comfortable with my nudity, but I remember his flinch when I asked him to take his shirt off earlier. I’m not sure what was going on with that, but it’s probably better if we’re not being sexual when I ask him to take it off again.
When I return to the living room, he’s still standing awkwardly in the middle of the rug where I left him. “I didn’t want to get blood on the sofa,” he explains, sensing my question.
“That’s very thoughtful of you. Do you want to take off your shirt and lie on your belly? That way…” I trail off when he flinches again at the word belly. “Oh, baby, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” He shakes his head, rubbing one horn. “No, that’s not true. I have a little hangup about my stomach, I guess. It’s…soft.”
I stare at him, confused. “And that’s…bad?”
“It’s not cut like the guys you probably date.” He shrugs, avoiding eye contact.
“I’m dating you,” I point out. His physique is one of the first things that attracted me to him, his broad torso and thick thighs. His juicy butt. And I had plenty of opportunity to feel him on the rink today, to press up against him when he kept me from falling. To grab his love handles and hold on for dear life as he towed me around the ice. To admire his sexy ass and powerful legs as he skated around me in circles. I would have complimented him more, but I thought that was second-date material.
“It’s not like most other dragons, either. Our species is naturally low body fat. Most of my kind practically hatch with a six-pack.”
“I’m not datingthem, am I?” To my surprise, I’m a little angry that he has any reason to doubt my attraction to him. “Let me be really clear. Your body is exactly what I like to feel and look at. When you’re ready to show me, I’m going to be all over that shit.All over it,” I repeat, grinning when he breaks into a shy smile. “Got it?”
He nods slowly. “Got it.”
“I’m Nurse No-Pants right now, though, so take off your shirt and lie down.” I turn my back to him so he has a little privacy.
“Okay,” he says a beat later, letting me know he’s ready for me to look.
