Hidden Dragons (10 page)

The tingle should have warned him to stop. Cass was inside the room—her room. She sat on a gauze-draped four-poster, slowly brushing her shiny hair. Dry now, it waved to her shoulders. In the millisecond before she noticed him, he saw she was gazing blankly at the wall across from her.

“Oh,” she said, turning to look at him.

She should have been irritated by the intrusion. He’d have been in her place. He guessed her temper was slow to rise.

She put down her hairbrush. “The guest rooms are in the other wing.”

“I was snooping,” he admitted.

Her mouth slanted, a wry and very human expression. “You’re as honest as a faerie. Do you know where everything is now?”

“More or less.” Since she wasn’t angry, he stepped inside and looked around. The decor was . . . romantic, lots of swoopy fabric and delicate furniture.

“Gran kept my rooms pretty much the same since high school.”

Cass sounded embarrassed. Amusement tugged at Rick’s lips. “You liked tulle.”

“Way more than was good for me.”

They smiled at each other. Something deep inside Rick went
ahh
. He ignored it determinedly. The window behind Cass was open. A breeze far warmer than normal for October belled her sheer curtains.

“I splurged on a climate spell,” she explained. “For a gathering at the pool. The charge hasn’t run out yet.”

His imagination threatened to detour to her skinny-dipping again. “I’ll just go back to the guest wing,” he said.

He certainly meant to. His parents raised their eldest to be respectful of females. No acting like a wolf unless he was invited to. The problem was when he tried to leave, the electrum manacle stuck him to the carpet.

“Crap,” he huffed.

Cass laughed softly behind his back.

“I don’t understand this,” he said. “The stupid thing let me wander all over your house.”

“But you weren’t just wandering. You were mapping the territory—checking its defenses for weak spots, I’ll bet.”

“Sure.” Rick turned back to her, his leg muscles instantly relaxing. “That’s what cops do. Are you saying this thing will let me move around if it believes what I’m doing is useful for protecting you?”

“If
you
believe it,” she said. “Even magical bracelets aren’t capable of thinking.”

He frowned at the gleaming thing.

“You can sleep on my bed,” she offered. “I’ll sit and read a while.”

“I’m not taking your bed.”

“There’s a trundle. My friends and I used to have sleepovers.”

“If you try to braid my hair, I’m leaving.”

Cass smiled like a cat in cream. “That’s assuming your Wonder Woman gewgaw will let you escape me.”

Her eyes twinkled with mischief, her enjoyment of his predicament obvious. He realized he liked that look on her.

~

Cass watched Rick toss and turn for ten minutes before she gave up pretending to read her book. He’d taken off his jacket and shoes. Seeing his big male body make a mess of her covers was incredibly distracting. “Is the bed uncomfortable?” she asked.

Rick flopped onto his back and sighed. “It’s a nice bed.”

“I didn’t, um, accidentally dust you again?”

He turned his head toward her on the pillow. Even from across the room, his green eyes seemed hot. “It wouldn’t matter.” He lifted the chain that hung around his corded neck. “My Saint Michael medal is charmed to resist glamours. It’s police department issue, and I’m pretty sure it’s working.”

“Oh,” she said a second before his meaning sank in. She hadn’t spelled him. He wanted her by himself.

That giant erection he’d been sporting was all him.

“Yes,
oh
,” he said, rolling onto his side again. She didn’t have the nerve to check him out between the legs. “I just plain want you, Cass. I wanted you the first time I laid eyes on you in high school.”

The sudden heat that crashed through her left her speechless. She noticed how faithfully his long sleeved T-shirt hugged his chest and arms, how taut his muscles were and how big. He’d pushed his sleeves to his elbows. His face was flushed and glowy. He looked warm enough to want to peel the garment off . . .

“Um,” she said, “me too?”

Her admission flipped a switch inside him. He smiled, slow and sinful and confident. On another man, that expression might have annoyed her. On him, it totally wet her panties.

He wasn’t assuming anything about his chances that wasn’t true.

He wet his lips and her nipples pebbled. “Since we’re both in agreement, want to do something about it?”

“We shouldn’t.” The reaction was automatic, based on nerves and not logic.

“Shouldn’t we?” he countered throatily.

“I’m . . . not very experienced.”

The look in his eyes softened but didn’t grow less steamy. “You don’t have to be. Please come here and kiss me.”

She wanted that. She was just so used to not touching, to not abusing the unfair advantage she’d been born with. As if he knew what would tempt her, Rick sat up and pulled off his shirt. His chest was even yummier than she’d thought. Golden brown, broad and tapering, layered with muscle and dark hair. His movements as he performed the partial strip tease were graceful, hinting at the animal power that slept inside him. And maybe his beast wasn’t sleeping. As he undid the top button of his jeans, the first unmistakable embers of wolf fire lit up his eyes.

Then he lay down again. His six-pack drew attention even when he was lounging.

“See?” he said teasingly. “It’s perfectly safe for you to come over.”

Safe
wasn’t the word Cass would have chosen.

CASS hadn’t lied about being inexperienced. She’d had a lover for six months when she lived Outside. Because the relationship ended badly, she hadn’t tried to take another.

Rick’s smile grew even gentler when he saw her hesitate.

The gleam in his hot green eyes was a different matter.

“I’m a captive audience,” he pointed out, displaying his wrist cuff as evidence. “I couldn’t get away from you if I tried.”

His eyebrows went up and down so comically she smiled. Still she stayed where she was. “I’m not afraid, I’m just . . . rusty.”

Rick stroked the covers with long tanned fingers, petting them like he would a cat. “It’s like riding a bike, Cass. Only the first few minutes are wobbly.”

“Oh hell.” Surrendering, she crossed the rug to him. Her knees were already wobbly. What could it hurt if the rest of her followed suit?

He rolled onto his back as she reached the bed. His arms rested more or less harmlessly at his sides. Cass bit her lip and put one knee on the mattress, too aware of his glittering gaze as she swung her second knee over him. She looked down at him, and her heart nearly stopped. He had a hump like a faerie barrow at his groin. Her breathing got embarrassingly faster. His sped up too, his gorgeous bare chest rising and falling in plain view.

She couldn’t recall wanting to lick a man’s ribs before.

Once she was settled, he put his hands gently on her thighs. His thumbs rubbed her muscles through her sweat wear. The small caress provided more than comfort. Her nipples went so tight and hot the air felt icy.

“There,” he said, his voice smoky. “That’s not so bad, is it?”

It wasn’t bad at all. In truth, it was wonderful. She shook her head to let him know she agreed. Then, to prove she wasn’t a coward, she drew the fingers of both her hands down the hard center of his chest. His heart thumped beneath her touch despite his calm demeanor. His saint medal had fallen into the hollow of his strong throat, where it winked in time to his hastened pulse. Cass pushed her thumbs into the
V
created by the open metal button at the waist of his jeans. There, she stroked hair and skin, sweeping over a distended artery that pumped blood to his erection. His hips squirmed at her caress.

Knowing she’d excited him made cream run out of her body.

“Is this as far as you plan to open these?” she asked, flicking the gaping button to clarify.

Rick’s nostrils flared, his keen sense of smell allowing him to scent her arousal. “My . . . friend needed . . . breathing room,” he said, seeming to have trouble getting air himself.

“Your friend,” she repeated, amused.

She’d rested her bottom on his thighs. Unable to remain motionless, his hips lifted high enough to lift her. “Sometimes he’s a pain in the ass, but he feels like my friend now.”

Maybe he was her friend too. She laid her hands on his bulging zipper. His eyes closed, pleasure crossing his face as she pushed her hold up the ridge. His response was unselfconscious. His skin flushed with enjoyment, one lip rolling between his teeth. She pushed up him lingeringly twice—plus once more just for herself. Mostly for herself, she slid her palms up his honed torso and around his shoulders. His skin was fevered, his strong shifter energy tingling under her fingers and up her arms. Faeries got touch-hunger, but this was more than that. For her, touching Rick was as big an aphrodisiac as her faerie sparkles would be to him. She thought about that tingling moving inside her pussy and couldn’t contain a gasp.

Rick opened his eyes again. “Take this off.” His hands shifted to the hem of her dark blue top.

She didn’t have anything under it. She’d dressed too quickly after getting the call from Security. She dragged the zipper down anyway. Satisfied to let her take care of this, Rick returned his hands to her thighs. Perhaps without realizing, his fingers kneaded her. His gaze was glued to the parting garment, all guy when it came to some things, apparently.

The zipper opened all away. Cass wriggled her arms free one at a time.

“Whew,” Rick said, focused on her swaying breasts. “That is a pretty sight.”

His hands ran up her sides to them, whispering over the outer curves, first with his thumbs and then the backs of his fingers. She was half faerie. She knew her rack was nice. Not too big, not too small, with . . . well, saucy little nipples that appeared rouged against her snowy skin. What she hadn’t known was that such a gentle touch could make her feel this way. Her nerves were sparking, her nipples aching for him to suck them.

“Cass,” he said, just her name, low and hoarse. His gaze held hers, excited fires glowing in his green irises.

She moved his palms over her nipples and held them there.

She guessed he didn’t expect that. He drew a quick breath and let it out shakily.

“Come here,” he said, like it was life and death. “Come down here and kiss me.”

She put her hands on the bed and let her weight sink to him. His fingers tightened where they cupped her breasts. Her heart was racing, her eyes open. His were too until their lips molded together.

His mouth was smooth, cushiony for a man. His head shifted angles, and suddenly her lips were opening.

His tongue slid inside as smooth as satin.

After all this time, he was kissing her. Her pulse started racing between her legs. Oh my, he tasted good. She had to kiss him back or go crazy.

He made a little noise, as if his pleasure was too much to contain. His arms came around her, her breasts now flat against his hard chest. The hump of his cock dug into her mound. Cass’s thighs tightened by themselves, hugging her hips to him. Another noise broke from him, sending lovely shivers tripping down her spine.

He rolled her under him, then backed up and looked at her.

“You don’t have to stop,” she said rather breathlessly.

He smiled with the kindness she’d been remembering all these years. “Why don’t we establish that I’m not going to unless you ask?”

That sounded both exciting and alarming.

“Okay,” she agreed. “No stopping unless I ask.”

He shifted his arm between them so he could slide his hand down the front of her entirely too warm sweatpants. She didn’t have anything under them either. His smile grew broader as he discovered this. He was almost laughing, like he thought he’d won the jackpot. Cass couldn’t mind his good humor, especially when three long fingers slid between her pussy lips.

“Mm,” he hummed, probably because she was very wet.

His middle finger went into her.

She arched, unable to stop herself. The incursion felt so
good
, much better than she’d expected from her admittedly limited experience. A noise sounded in her throat, louder than the one he’d made.

“Good,” he whispered and took her mouth again.

She really kissed him back this time, and this seemed to free him to show her what he could do. Wow, he was a good kisser—like twelve on a scale of ten. She couldn’t get enough of him, not his mouth, not his body, not anything. She clutched his shoulder blades and rubbed herself against him, thrilling to the way he grunted and worked his hand deeper.

“Cass,” he gasped.

His body writhed, especially at the hips. She drove her hands into his thick hair, pulling his mouth greedily closer. She loved how he grew hungrier, how his lips and teeth pushed at her harder. She didn’t care that maybe this was racing ahead too fast. After all her years of playing it cautious, she wanted to let go with him.

She got her arm between them too. Going straight for what she wanted, she wrapped her hold around his erection and gave it a good firm squeeze.

He moaned in praise as she kneaded his pulsing length. His hand took a moment to regain its rhythm. When it did, it was even more purposeful than before. The pad of his thumb covered her clitoris, depressing the swollen button as he rubbed up and down. Cass’s excitement jumped a couple rungs at once. The combined strokes got to her: his thumb going up and down, his finger delving in and out. Her passage tightened. She was going to come if he didn’t stop, but that seemed okay. If he hadn’t wanted her to climax, he wouldn’t have been groaning so longingly.

“Shit,” he hissed without warning, pulling his hand from her.

The withdrawal was careful, but it still shocked. He sat up, panting raggedly.

She touched his thigh, still clad in faded jeans. “What is it?” She swallowed. “Did I do something wrong?”

When he looked at her, his eyes were flames. “You did everything right, sweetheart. I got a little too excited.”