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“Okay,” Caro told him, and within the time it took to blink, he was a man again.
“What are you doing?” Jasper asked, cocking his head to the side.
She loved his golden eyes, the way they seemed to follow her hands with curiosity. But he was not demanding, and he was not rude or condescending. He seemed to be truly interested and didn’t that beat all!
“I am making a small-scaled sculpture of you, and with your permission, of course, I’d like to do another, larger one.”
Carolina narrowed her eyes as she used her fingernail to scrape away some of the clay to indicate the claw atop his wing as opposed to the talons on the bottom.
“That is awesome,” he said, and moved closer to her.
Only then she realized he was still naked. Heat rushed to her face and moisture pooled between her thighs. Her physical reaction to him shocked her. In all of her life, she’d never been so ready and willing to bed a complete stranger.
They’d only spent a day together and yet, she felt as if it were so much more. If only she were younger and a little less gun shy. But she’d already been burned once, and Caro learned from her mistakes.
Trusting a man like Jasper, someone so obviously vivacious and virile, was dangerous for someone like her. After all the glitz and glamour of being a somewhat famous artist wore off, she was still herself.
Just a chubby woman quickly nearing middle-age.
Ugh. How unflattering.
But honest. And Caro was nothing if not that. The totally truth was that she could all too easily lose her heart to the man.
Her protector, she thought. If she was a very good girl, and asked Santa Claus, would the jolly old elf gift wrap a Wyvern for her?
No, probably not.
It was hopeless. Besides, what would a man like him want with her? Unlike with her failed marriage, Carolina wasn’t sure her heart would recover if she gave it to Jasper.
Her body might thank her for falling into bed with him, but the rest of her? she would never survive. The only question now was, could she have an affair with the sexy as sin Shifter?
“There,” she said, avoiding his stare. “I wish I had an oven, though.”
“An oven?”
“A kiln really. I make several smaller pieces to study, and to experiment on, before I begin work on the final, often larger, sculpture. This one is pretty good to start, but it will break before I get it to my studio. Hey, what are you doing?”
Jasper took the sculpture carefully from her hand and turned away from her, granting her a generous view of his spectacular ass. He smirked, as if reading her mind, before focusing on the tiny delicate Wyvern in his hands.
While she watched, Jasper opened his mouth and exhaled. What started out as breath quickly escalated into something she’d never seen in her life.
Flames. White hot and precise, he breathed fire onto the little Wyvern she’d made, hardening the clay into something durable that she could carry home with her. Tears pricked her eyes as he held the little beastie in his gentle grasp until it was cool enough for her to handle. She licked her lips, biting the lower one, and smiled her thanks as he presented it to her.
“Will that do?” he asked.
“Oh, yes,” she said.
Decision made, Carolina took the little figure from him, tucking it safely into the bag she’d already packed back up for their trip back to the cabin. Then she leapt into his arms and crashed her mouth to his.
“Jasper,” she moaned his name, and her body hummed with satisfaction as he caught her easily, grabbing her ass with both hands and proceeded to kiss the hell out of her right there on a snow-topped mountain on Christmas Eve.
If Caro did this right, they’d both have a holly jolly Christmas Eve. The trick was going to be whether she could walk away when the time came. It was a risk she was willing to take.
ChapterFourteen
Thank every dang deity all the way to the Fates themselves! She’s kissing me. Really kissing me.
Jasper caught Carolina easily, but he sure as fuck was not anticipating the wave of desire crashing over him as her mouth pressed against his in a steamy kiss that had even his Wyvern’s knees clacking together like symbols in a marching band.
