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“Holly—I mean, Mrs. White! Come on,” Shelby called.
They broke apart slowly, their lips clinging together, and she smiled at him again before turning to find Shelby. The circumstances that brought her here were the very worst, but there was nowhere else she’d rather be.
IAN ROCKED SLOWLY ON THE FRONT PORCH, breathing deeply of the cold night air. Dinner had been one of the best he could remember having in a long time, maybe ever. The food was simple but delicious, and he’d had everyone important to him surrounding him. He couldn’t ask for more than that.
After her bath, Shelby asked Holly to read her a story. Cammie and Alex were off roaming the property somewhere, and Shelby had the room to herself for the moment, so Holly agreed. Shelby was eating this up, basking in Holly’s presence. She never had a mother who would even treat her decently, much less do things like play Barbies or read to her, and she’d been in heaven tonight.
Holly hadn’t been far behind. Ian could tell how much she was enjoying doing things with Shelby, and it made his heart feel impossibly big in his chest to know the two most important girls in his life enjoyed each other.
Turning his head as the front door creaked open, he smiled as he watched Holly walk outside. She looked around, noticing him as he stood up from his rocker. Watching as she walked over to him, his breath caught as his chest tightened painfully. She was always beautiful, but she looked fucking gorgeous in the moonlight. Her creamy skin glowed, and the light from the moon gave her blonde hair a silvery sheen.
When she halted in front of him, he couldn’t have stopped himself from taking her in his arms and kissing her than he could stop the sun from rising in the morning. The hold she had over him was intense, pure, and absolutely nothing he ever wanted to fight. As he pulled back, his tiger purred in his chest, and he quickly cleared his throat, hoping to mask the sound.
“Did you get Shelby all settled in?”
“Yeah,” she replied with a soft smile. “She fell asleep before I was even five pages in, but I kept reading until I’d finished the book. I was enjoying it too much.”
“I love that you two get along so well. It means everything to me.”
“She’s easy to love,” Holly said, smiling sweetly before it faded. “I’m not sure this is ethical though. It might not go over well with the school board, the fact that I’m with a student’s father.”
“I’m sure it will be okay. The school is a small one. You’re the only third grade teacher, so it’s not like there’s much they can do about it, anyway.”
“Yeah, you have a point there. She asked if she had to keep calling me Mrs. White. I told her to call me that in school, and Holly outside of school hours. I hope that’s okay.”
“More than okay. I just love the idea that we’ll be seeing you outside of school hours.”
“Just try to get rid of me now,” she teased, a grin on her face. Looking around, it faded and her brow furrowed as she glanced back at him. “You know, Cammie and Alex still aren’t back from their walk yet. Is it safe for them to be out alone with a crazy person running around, wanting to kill people?”
“Trust me, they can take care of themselves,” he assured her, wishing he could tell her the truth. Cammie and Alex were dragon shifters, and there were very few who could hope to beat one. Cammie was pregnant and couldn’t shift, true, but Alex would never let anything happen to his mate. Generally a mild mannered man, he would turn fierce in a heartbeat and burn the world to ashes for Cammie.
Her frown eased, but the worry didn’t completely leave her eyes. “If you say so. I still worry about them being out there by themselves, especially with Cammie expecting.”
“I promise you, they’ll be okay.”
Chewing on her lower lip, she looked off toward the woods again. Suppressing a groan, he fought the urge to take over for her and nibble her lip himself, and then froze as he realized he could do just that. And really, what better way to distract her from her worry?
Putting his hand gently on her cheek, he turned her face back toward him, immediately lowering his head and pressing his lips to hers. Sensations exploded the second his mouth touched hers, streaking through his body like bolts of lightning, and packing just as much power.
Moaning, she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him, kissing him back. His skin felt like it was stretched too tight over his body, and the desire he felt for this woman nearly brought him to his knees.
Keeping the kiss gentle, drawing out the anticipation, he finally caressed her lips with his tongue, urging her to open. As soon as she did, he swept inside, unable to hold in his groan at tasting her fully for the first time. And it was more than he’d imagined it could be. She tasted delicious, but it was more than that.
She tasted like every hope, every dream, every wish he’d ever had come true. She tasted like everything he’d been missing in his life, and hadn’t even known he was
missing.
Rubbing his tongue against hers, he set about exploring her mouth. He was trying with everything in him to keep it gentle, like she deserved. They’d kissed before, but not like this, and he wanted it to mean everything to her, like it did to him.
But she wasn’t having any of that. She writhed in his arms, her body sliding against his, pressing her breasts into his chest. Deepening the kiss, she took over, becoming the aggressor, demanding he give her everything he had and not hold back.
So he didn’t. Intensifying the kiss even more, he set about devouring her, the blood in his veins turning to molten lava. Pushing his rock hard erection into her stomach, he smiled when she gasped into his mouth. Tightening one of the arms wrapped around her waist, he slowly slid his hand up, wishing their clothes would disappear, and he could feel her skin to skin.
Reaching her breast, he slid his thumb along the underside before moving his hand up to cup her fullness, squeezing gently. Breaking the kiss, she tipped her head back, lashes fluttering against her skin, mouth parted and lips glistening.
He felt like he was burning up inside, his desire for her overwhelming his ability to think. But he still found himself pausing, arrested by the vision of Holly, lost in her desire. Gorgeous. Absolutely fucking gorgeous.
Opening her eyes, she gazed into his, her lids heavy and half lidded. She seemed to be trying to gather her courage, and finally, taking a deep breath, she said, “What are you waiting for? Take me to your bedroom.”
