Her Dragon's Fire (6 page)

Decision made, he headed to the kitchen to make coffee and see if there was anything to make for breakfast. Lance, Royce, Aaron, and Devon stopped in almost every day to grab a shower, a nap, and something to eat. He had no clue what was left in the refrigerator, if anything. The shower in the master bedroom turned on. Grace was awake and about to be in that shower, naked and wet, just a few feet from him. As he was checking the contents of the fridge, he found himself leaning his head against the freezer door, trying to catch his breath. With his eyes closed, all he could imagine was water caressing her generous curves. His hand was turning the knob on the bedroom door before he realized he had moved. What would she do if he joined her? Let him in to satiate the need he knew was making them both insane or hit him over the head with a shampoo bottle? Probably choice number two.

Aidan turned to head back to the kitchen when he heard a moan coming from the direction of his mate. With his enhanced hearing, he stood and listened as her breathing became more labored, her gasps more frequent, and then she moaned just as he caught the unmistakable scent of honey and vanilla floating on a spring breeze, warmed by the sun. Her arousal nearly brought him to his knees. Just a few feet from where he was standing, dick pressing against the zipper of his jeans so hard he was sure the design would be pressed into his skin, Grace, his beautiful mate, was pleasuring herself. He grabbed the doorknob again, determined to quench the fire raging through their bodies, when his phone rang from the other room.
Dammit!
He was going to kill whoever was on the other end of that call. He spun around with the scent of his mate’s arousal still in the air, to answer a phone he really wanted to throw in the nearest river.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dressed in her charcoal grey pin-striped suit and red silk blouse, her hair piled up on her head with a little fringe framing her face, Grace headed out to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee and a piece of toast before heading out to the office. She stopped short in the doorway, all of the air from her lungs vanishing and her mouth watering like a dog that had just seen a bone in the butcher’s window. There, standing in front of the stove, frying bacon from the smell of it, was the man that drove her libido to heights she didn’t know existed and made it impossible for her to go on without relieving at least a little of the pressure that had been building from the first scent of smoky woods covered in fresh fallen snow. The fire she had reduced to a smolder by pleasuring herself in the shower came roaring back to life with just one look. This man was pure sex in a pair of faded jeans and he was bare from the waist up.
Good God
his muscles had muscles.

Nothing her very active imagination had conjured up compared to the reality of being in the same room with a half naked Aidan. He was a work of art, standing in front of her with the most magnificent tattoo across his back that wrapped around both sides of his waist. Her panties were instantly wet, her nipples hard peaks pushing against the silk of her bra, and the little hairs all over her body stood on end. Her breathing came harder and faster. This man needed a warning label. He was definitely hazardous to her sanity. She had to get away from him before she did something stupid, like fall at his feet and beg him to take her right there.
Grace Kensington did not beg and she did not get turned on by men she knew nothing about,
she said to herself for the umpteenth time that morning. She had a career and a best friend that was going to need her when the new baby came; she did not have time for this craziness. She had a running mantra in her head, but no matter how many times she repeated it, she could not stop her pulse from beating double time while her mind knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the bottom half looked as good as the top.

She decided against spending another minute in the little apartment with the incredibly lethal man, when he looked over his shoulder and hit her with a smile that could have sold toothpaste, braces, and damn near anything else, to any woman in the world. “Hope you’re hungry, I made enough for an army,” he snorted at his own joke. “It’s the most important meal of the day, ya know?” And if watching the play of the muscles in his back was not enough to blow her mind, he winked at her like they shared a secret no one else would ever know.
Oh shit!
She was in serious trouble with this one, but for the life of her could not worry about it in that moment.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Aidan felt her eyes on him like a caress. He and his dragon loved
every
single minute of being thoroughly inspected by their mate. He could feel the tattoo that signified the beast within, rising on his skin. He knew by the flutters he felt kissing his skin, the marking he had received all those years ago was taking shape, the colors becoming more apparent. He knew the change was gradual. People that witnessed it often thought they just had not ‘seen’ the intricate design at first glance, but his mate would be able to see the beautiful marking in all its glory from beginning to end, for she was as much a part of him as the dragon within and intricately more important. He kept his back to Grace, letting her take it all in. It was the first step towards her recognizing him for what he was and more importantly, what she was to him.

His dragon was breathtaking, and the tattoo on his back an almost perfect replica of the beast he was honored with which to share his existence. The marking portrayed his beast in flight, accentuating his long lean lines, outstanding musculature, and the incredible expanse of his wings. Those amazing wings, unfurled in flight, spread from the nape of Aidan’s neck and flowed into its massive silver scaled body, embellished with thick rows of black scales running the entire length of both sides. A wing came from the other side and wrapped around the man’s waist, as if molding itself to him. His majestic head lay over Aidan’s left shoulder blade with a determined look on his aristocratic face. His long, spiked tail disappeared into the waistband of his jeans where unseen to Grace, it continued to wrap around with the large spade at the end lying in that highly sensitive area next to Aidan’s groin.

When he had heard her open the door and head down the hall, he had realized he was sans t-shirt, but didn’t want the bacon to burn or the eggs to get too hard; at least that was the excuse he gave himself. In all honesty, he wanted Grace to see him. He wanted her to see his dragon and prayed it would drive her arousal higher. Their mutual attraction was a living presence. He had taken care of his never ending needs last night and knew she had pleasured herself in the shower just a short while ago. He now wanted to ensure she thought of him while they were apart. He knew he was not the most handsome man in the world, but had been told by more than one maiden that he was a ‘hunk’, whatever the hell that meant. He wanted Grace to think of
no one but him
; the heavens knew he would think of no one but her, ever again. Flashing a little skin to entice his mate was not a hardship for Aidan or his dragon. Now, if he could just get her to reciprocate, but he knew that was not happening this morning. She was put together from head to toe, dressed to impress and put away the bad guys. Her hair piled on top of her head brought attention to the long luscious column of her neck. His mouth watered and his lips tingled at the thought of tasting that delectable stretch of porcelain skin. His thoughts drifted to the image of his lips at her neck while his fingers pulled the pins holding her stylish coif, causing her beautiful, black waterfall of tresses to cascade down her back. He forced himself to behave, he needed to feed his mate, get her out the door for work, and follow up on the lead one of the other clans had just called into him.

“I usually only have coffee in the morning,” Grace practically whispered, her voice sounding breathy. He bit the inside of his cheeks to keep from smiling at the sound.

“Well, we can’t let all this food go to waste. You have to be hungry; you hardly ate anything last night. Grab a plate, it’s ready,” Aidan turned back and smiled, very proud of himself. He knew from the way she was breathing and the flush on her cheeks that she was affected by what she saw, just as he was by looking at her.
Well, hell, score one for the dragon man,
he chuckled to himself
.

“Alright, I’ll have just a little,” she agreed. “And is that coffee I smell?”

“Yep, it sure is. Grab a cup, it’s ready too.”

After their plates were made, they sat across from each other at the little table in front of the kitchen window. Grace drank her coffee, looked over the rim, and caught him looking back at her. He pointed at her plate with his fork, “You better eat while it’s hot. Bacon and eggs suck if they get cold and they’re rubbery if you reheat them. You’re gonna need your strength to put the bad guys behind bars today.”

“Did Kyndel tell you I’m an attorney?” she asked, with a snarkiness he wondered if she noticed was there. No matter, he loved her fire. It was sexy as hell.

“Yes, she did. She is very proud of you,” he smiled. “She talks about you all the time. Well, when I am able to get back to the cl…home.” He barely stopped himself from saying the wrong thing and opening up a can of worms he was not yet ready to explain.

She waved her hand in dismissal as she chewed, “She just likes to make it seem like I know what I’m doing.”

The stare she leveled at him had probably intimidated more than one person sitting on the wrong side of the law, and he figured it was meant to intimidate him as well, but it would take a hell of a lot more than that to make him turn away from his mate. He admired her strength and intelligence, along with many other of her attributes. “What else did she tell you about me?”

If he was not mistaken, she was fishing for something, not that he had any clue what that was. He answered quickly to ease the tension he saw growing in her, “She said you two had been friends since the day you both started college.” He watched her relax a fraction. “And that she trusted you with her life,” he watched more of the tension leave her body. “Other than that, she just told us stories of the trouble you two caused,” he chuckled as he watched the remaining nerves leave her body.

“Yea, well I’m sure she made it sound worse than it really was,” Grace smirked, and he got the distinct impression she was remembering all the times they had caused some kind of trouble and had usually gotten away without being caught.

“Did you really throw a red towel in the washing machine with all the Sigma Chi’s underwear, forcing them to wear pink underwear for an entire semester?”

She laughed out loud. It was the most amazing sound he had ever heard, and the way she looked when all the tension and suspicion left her face was a vision that inspired masterpieces.

“Yes, we did,” she sighed. “And they never had a clue who did it.”

Aidan couldn’t take his eyes off his mate as she took another bite of her breakfast and lifted her mug toward her lips. He saw her notice him staring. “Do you always watch people eat?” she asked.

“No, but you aren’t like anyone I’ve ever met.”

She furrowed her brow, “What exactly am I like?” He was sure that was the voice she used to question clients and witnesses. Her tone left no room for argument.

“You are beautiful, Grace, just beautiful.”

She just stared at him dumbfounded, and it warmed his heart. He was sure the very formidable Grace Kensington had never been stunned speechless before. He bit the inside of his cheeks to keep from smiling for the hundredth time since meeting her, taking the opportunity of her stunned silence to pick up their dishes and turn towards the sink. “Can I get you some more coffee, to go?”

Grace shook her head and decided to let his comment go, “No and thank you very much for breakfast. I need to get to the office. Witnesses don’t interview themselves. Sorry I busted in on you last night.” She headed to the door to retrieve her shoes, still sitting where she had left them the night before.

“No problem, at all. Kyndel’s casa, es su casa,” he chuckled at his own wittiness.

Grace giggled and it sounded like the little bells on the jewelry Emma, from his clan, crafted. “Thanks. I appreciate it. Sometimes I work too late to make it all the way out to my house, but I will try to pay closer attention to the time and hopefully not have to impose on you again.”

She opened the front door and called over her shoulder as she exited, “Have a good day and thanks again for dinner last night, too.”

And with that she was gone, and Aidan was left smiling ear to ear in her wake. “Oh, you will be staying here again my beautiful mate, and sleeping is not all we’ll be doing,” he said to the closed door.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Andrew watched Aidan’s mate close the front door and walk to the red Volvo. She got in the car, took a deep breath, buckled her seatbelt, and backed out of the driveway. Andrew waited to the count of twenty before he pulled the rented navy blue sedan onto the street. He had already placed a call to a
guy
he knew with the pretty lady’s tag number. He needed her name and address, but this morning he was going to find out where she worked and anything else he could dig up. He had a meeting at noon with a group of rogue wizards that were more than happy to help him with his plans for revenge. Aidan would pay for what he had endured, and now, so would his mate.

CHAPTER THREE