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His expression went stoic, unreadable, and she thought he would refuse, but after a moment, he nodded.
She took the final step that closed the distance between them, but it was difficult to get an unencumbered look through the material. “Your shirt is ruined, right?”
Again, he nodded, watching her warily.
She reached up to tear the fabric wider. His muscles tensed, but he kept still. The sight of his smooth tan flesh fascinated her. There was only a slight discoloration where his wound had been.
“Amazing.” She ran the pads of her fingers along the area. As she did, his muscles danced and something like a jolt of electricity charged through her. She gasped and began to pull away. “Sorry.”
His hand flew up to grip hers, planting it back over his warm flesh. “It’s okay.”
Startled, she blinked up at him in surprise, meeting his liquid molten gaze. She was struck by his handsome features, his strong jaw, full lips, and piercing blue eyes. His aura warmed to a rich, smooth wine-red that seemed to seep over her like a delectable caress that made her shiver, and somehow sheknewhe was wildly attracted to her.
Her gaze dipped to the hard line of his mouth, and she reluctantly noted she was intensely attracted to him as well. Though she’d never admit it.
Yet, she had to wonder what it would be like to kiss this beautiful oddity of nature? To explore him at her leisure? To have his body toiling over hers?
As though he could sense her thoughts, his nostrils flared, and the normal ice blue of his irises flickered to a glowing green.
Lust doused, she backed away, reminded they hailed from different worlds, from different species. Common sense told her dragons dined on meat.And I’m meat.
Once again, a sense of danger slithered up her spine.
Suddenly, the lights in the hall flickered. Orik glanced around, and then his eyes hardened and narrowed on her.
5
Why does it feel as though my heart is about to beat out of my chest?
Orik had never been so befuddled by a woman in his life. This female’s touch was a sizzling flame along his chest. Like the kiss of fire, burrowing deep into his soul. Warm and inviting and…incredible. He hadn’t wanted the contact to end. And before he realized what he was doing, he’d planted her palm back on his chest like a brute.
Her sparkling eyes widened at his action, and he was struck by their deep swirling colors. Vibrant golds and mystic greens flounced through tawny flecks.
Stunning.
He found it difficult to drag his gaze away. She seemed entranced by him as well, her breath taking on a shallow rhythm as the sound of her heartbeat sped. Was she sensing this strange connection as well?
When she peered down at his lips and licked her own, a powerful need to kiss her all but overwhelmed him.Might those cherry-red lips taste as sweet as they looked?
But then she seemed to regain her senses. She blinked and softly gasped, backing away, a little fear ghosting over her features. He released his grip on her, quickly concealing his disappointment. What had spooked her?
A silly question, he reminded himself. She was new to this world and had just witnessed her first transformation.
The lights in the hall flickered eerily, on and off and on again, raking him with a sense of foreboding. It reminded him of the other strange occurrences back in the room, and on that Kayadon ship. He’d been almost too stunned by her unrivaled beauty to notice, but just before she’d shot him, the overhead lighting had flickered and blazed just as they did now. It might be a coincidence. The ship had been ravaged, even before he’d shredded it. Stood to reason the wires might have been knocked loose. As for the castle, this was the season for electrical surges brought on by changes in the atmosphere.
Though it was strange that the lights seemed to flicker in tune with Jessie’s heightened emotions. Even stranger, for a moment, a mere blink, it had almost appeared as if the very air around her had shivered. But when he looked again, nothing was amiss. Earlier, he thought his queen had noticed something odd as well.
As if his thoughts had summoned her, Juniper frantically raced around the corner toward them. “Oh, Jessie! There you are. Are you all right? I didn’t mean to…” she tripped to a stop.
Both he and Jessie took a guilty step away from each other, as though they’d been caught in a torrid moment. But why should it feel that way? Nothing had happened. They hadn’t even been touching…in that moment.
Still, Queen Juniper gazed between them with a twinge of suspicion. But then she cleared her throat and continued. “I didn’t mean to frighten you, Jessie.”
Jessie turned and gave the queen a weak smile. “Well, you did warn me not to freak out, but I wassooonot prepared for the real thing. My heart’s still racing. You really did turn into a dragon. I can hardly believe it!”
Juniper tenderly nodded. “I know, right? Evenafteryou’ve seen it. Look, why don’t you return to your room and get some rest? We can talk more later. Orik, why don’t you walk her back and show her how to use the intercom.” He thought he caught a sly expression flash across Juniper’s face, but then it was gone.
The walk back to Jessie’s room was grueling. It took effort not to gaze down at her, seeking that hint of fire in her eyes.
