Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 346(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 346(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
He grinned and caught the kiss mid-air…then pressed it against his lips.
Flutters erupted inside me. We’d both showered. Separately. (Obviously.) Taron wore the armorless garb of a dragon warrior. Black leathers that molded to his legs, a white tunic laced at the collarbone, and a mantle of scaled fabric draped over one shoulder. His damp hair curled slightly at the ends, and the light caught the glint of an old scar along his cheekbone. Oh yeah, he was annoyingly gorgeous. Seeing him in the traditional clothing of my people made something warm bloom in my chest.
End the flirting. End it now. “Aren’t you going to pull out my chair?” I asked, batting my lashes at him, decidedly not ending the flirting.
“No,” he replied, a teasing smirk ghosting his lips. “It wouldn’t be fair to you. You’d fall for my gentlemanly charm and be unable to help yourself.”
“So, being ungentlemanly is actually being gentlemanly.” I tsked, doing my best not to enjoy our banter. “Seems you’ve created a quandary for yourself, professor.”
“Good point. Allow me to remedy this.” He strode around the table and performed the gentlemanly act of seating his companion.
“Sucker,” I muttered, sinking onto the cushion as unhurried as a flame burning over silk.
He chuckled, a rasp of sound as he pushed the chair forward, leaning closer. His chest brushed my shoulder. The heat of his nearness…his delicious scent… With my heart doing a ridiculous little flutter, I squared my shoulders just enough to let the deep V of my gown do its job.
He went still and quiet, then made a strangled sound in the back of his throat. Pupils blown wide, he returned to his spot and eased into his chair. “Baby, I’m giving this round to you,” he said, yanking a napkin into his lap with more force than necessary. “That last move was killer.”
“Thank you.” I preened, both the endearment and compliment intoxicating. “But look who’s talking. I’m still buzzing from the brush of your body against mine.”
He chuckled again, the sound of this one lower, washing over me in heating waves that would have melted my knees if I’d still been standing.
Two servants appeared, their tunics trimmed in rose-gold thread. With practiced grace, they filled our plates from the platters on the table, delicate bone china with dragons in an endless chase around the rim, before rushing off and vanishing through a hidden door.
“Remind me,” Taron said as he collected his silverware. “What is tonight’s goal again?”
I let my smile develop a wanton edge. “Survive.”
“And the rest of the week?”
“Resist all temptation, no matter how delicious.” My gaze dropped to his lips, and I licked my own. “Say goodbye forever.”
“Seven days. No touching. No kissing. No pretending this wasn’t a terrible idea…and you decided to wear that dress?” He grumbled deep from his chest. “I call foul.”
Tracing a fingertip along my dragon-fired golden necklace, I purred, “You expect the queen of dragons to behave? That’s adorable. Besides, you in leather is more lethal to a woman’s good sense than a blade. Seriously, Taron. You should come with protective eyewear.”
Were we flirting hard still? We were flirting hard still, weren’t we? I couldn’t think anymore.
The air between us crackled with tension as we dined in near silence, eating, sipping, stealing glances like thieves. Every fork scrape, every gentle brush of his fingers against his wineglass, felt deliberate. As dangerous as my dress.
Only after we reached the decadent finale—a sinfully rich chocolate mousse drizzled with dark cherry glaze—did conversation dare return to the table.
“So let’s say your hatred doesn’t resume once the bond breaks,” I said, licking chocolate from my fork with zero shame. “What’ll you do when you get home, if not imagine all the ways to murder me?”
Taron sipped his wine. “Oh, we’re joking about that now?”
I shrugged, all innocence. “What can I say? I’m complicated.”
“You’re captivating,” he stated smoothly, mirroring my shrug as if he hadn’t just sucker-punched me with a word.
I blinked and recovered. Barely. “Sure,” I drawled. “Let’s go with that. I’m captivating. Now answer my question. Please.”
As casually as a man commenting on the after-dinner mints, he said, “I’ll teach again. Maybe date. Check in on my 401k. You know, normal human things.”
I ignored the cry of “Mine!” in my head, but I couldn’t disregard the ember of jealousy burning low in my belly. Date. Be “normal.” Something impossible for a dragon queen.
“Anyone special in mind?” I asked, wanting the best for him, but also feeling slightly murderous. I hated that he would someday find happiness with someone who wasn’t me, yet I longed for him to have a life filled with joy, anyway. A paradox I’d have to figure out another day, when I collected my wits.
Leaning back in his chair, he observed me intensely for a long while, smoldering in a way that razed and rebuilt entire villages in my head. “Tell me about Leopold,” he said at last.