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His attraction was an unexpected nuisance for more than one reason. The most immediate, though less important, was that his slacks felt as though they’d shrunk three sizes since he’d met her. He surreptitiously adjusted himself so as not to make his affliction obvious.
Was Jessie aware of how she affected him? Wassheaffected by him?
He thought maybe she was. But there was something strange about her. Something that said he should keep his distance. Because she was human? Mortal? Or something else?
Juniper had been fully mortal when she’d met Tristan, and Orik had been delighted by their burgeoning romance. He’d seen early on that Juniper was good for Tristan.
The more important reason he should squash this sudden attraction to Jessie was because he hadn’t the time for female distractions. He was still investigating the recent attack on his king and queen. Though the main perpetrators had been eliminated, he didn’t believe they were the only culprits in the coup. He had a sense that danger still loomed within the castle walls. On top of that, they were lighter on guards than he was comfortable with. Many had been dispatched to accompany Tristan as he paid a visit to his brother Gavin on a mission to persuade him to leave his island and return home.
Protecting both Edel—Tristan’s mother and the previous queen of Windguard, and Orik’s surrogate mother—and the new queen, Juniper, was his top priority. The royal family had been dealt a hefty blow with the recent loss of King Mar, a man Orik had looked up to as a leader, role model, and beloved father figure. They did not need more tragedy.
Ido not need more tragedy.
Jessie still seemed tense as they returned to her room. Was she still frightened? Before, her eyes had been on the edge of helplessness. Now there was a fierceness in her gaze, her chin raised, shoulders back. If fear still curled within her, she hid it well. When he asked, she claimed to befine, but from his limited experience with females, the word fine usually meant anything but.
Orik was unaccustomed to comforting females in distress. He’d been flabbergasted when, upon her first dragon sighting, Jessie had thrown herself into his arms as though she knew he could protect her—not that he’d have needed to against his queen. Experiencing that kind of trust from a female had felt…remarkable.
He wasn’t known to be a particularly lustful man, but his body had responded to that first touch. And it was more than just lust that had assailed him. He’d practically seized up from the power of something he couldn’t even describe.
Her touch had quickened his pulse and made his heart thunder within his chest in a way it never had before.
It was unnerving. Intriguing.
After showing her the intercom system, he headed out into the hall, but he found himself reluctant to leave her. If shewasstill frightened, he supposed he could spare a few minutes to sit with her until she calmed fully. That wouldn’t be too much trouble.
When he opened his mouth to offer, she met him in the threshold. “Thanks so much for walking me back. I’m sure I’ll be fine now.”
There was that word again.
She cleared her throat and briefly turned contrite. “Sorry about shooting you before. No hard feelings? Okay. Bye-eee.” Then she blithely closed the door.
Orik stared for a long moment, stunned anew. Had she just dismissed him?
* * *
Jessie leaned against the door, willing her pounding heart to slow its thunderous pace.
The tension between her and Orik in that hallway, just before June had interrupted, had been electric. She’d never experienced such an instant attraction to anyone in her life. And with an intensity that even her old crushes hadn’t inspired.
Did these dragons have some kind of unnatural allure that appealed to humans?
Undoubtedly, Orik had contemplated kissing her, though she didn’t understand how she was so sure. And in that moment, she had wanted him to. Her whole body had yearned to feel his lips on hers. To press her body close to his and see if his muscles were as solid as they looked. To feel her own body mold against them.
She shook her head.
I’m attracted to an alien?Practically lusting for him. Would they even fit…anatomically speaking?
The level of adrenaline still coursing through her system was reminiscent of the first time she’d gone BASE jumping in Yosemite National Park. Freefalling alongside El Capitan’s nearly vertical, solid granite cliff face, pine-scented wind whipping her hair and cheeks, the earth rushing up to meet her. Exhilarating. Thrilling. Intoxicating.
Touching Orik had felt like looking over that dizzying precipice, preparing to jump. Only without a parachute…and still the temptation remained.
As a distraction, she retrieved her sheathed Ka-Bar from the hem of her pants, where she’d hidden it from sight, and stroked her thumb along the soft leather. She’d been surprised Goliath hadn’t noticed her easing it from his belt as she swept the pads of her fingers over his healed flesh. Perhaps he’d been a little more lost to the moment than even she’d realized.
The way he’d looked at her had her stomach flipping over on itself. His eyes had shimmered with a dazzling light, clear blue at first, then like burning emeralds filled with hunger. Like he’d wanted to devour her right then and there. She shivered at the remembrance.
Yes. Goliath was attracted to her.
That would likely change when he discovered her theft.
