Dusk’s breath caught; his sapphire eyes blazed as he stumbled to that sudden pull, falling forwards. His arms closed around Layla, his strong hands searing her waist as he gripped her hard, as if he was going to scoop her up and carry her to the bed or simply slam her to the wall and fuck her.
But even as he seized her, Layla felt a hard pulse of pure willpower hit her. Dusk’s power hammered her, thrusting her roughly back upon the closet doors and out of his hands. Though it had been meant to push her away, the rough energy scorched her with desire; both his and hers. Layla felt a spike in her adrenaline at the sexual forcefulness, and a responding spike in her Dragon’s eagerness.
A hot prelude for everything that simmered between them, as yet unexplored.
“Shit.” Dusk cursed softly, his breath heaving as his wide eyes devoured her. Layla trembled as his gaze raked her, drinking in every curve of her body. His power had pushed her just out of reach, and she watched Dusk fight himself to make contact with her again. Reaching out, his fingertips nearly touched her cheek, but then he set his jaw and forced his hand past – taking his suit down from the door behind her instead. Waves of midnight light flowed through his scaled ridges and dark hair as he breathed hard, but more controlled now. Giving her a complex glance full of heat, he turned towards her bathroom.
Layla felt him go like a shudder of earthquakes, and realized she hadn’t been breathing until Dusk shut the bathroom door solidly behind himself. But as Layla turned to the closet, she could still feel their twined energy. Thrumming like a cord, it roared with a power not to be denied, sending shudders of heat deep into her body. As if Layla’s Dragon had already chosen the new mate it wanted; the vibration it liked most from everything it had tasted so far except Adrian.
The vibration of her boss – and the adopted brother of the man she was bound to.
CHAPTER 4 – PASSIONS
Dressed in her crimson gown with her new jewelry, accompanied by strappy silk high-heels, Layla exited the walk-in closet and moved to the bathroom door. The sexual tension between her and Dusk had cleared from a roar to a simmer, and she was almost relieved to find it was still low the closer she approached the bathroom. Not expecting that he would take a longer time dressing than she had, Layla knocked on the gilded bathroom door.
“Dusk? I need to do my makeup and hair.”
Through the door, she heard Dusk shift. “Sure. Come in.”
Layla opened the door to find he wasn’t even dressed yet, his suit hanging from a wrought-iron bathroom shelf. He sat crosslegged on a blue silk ottoman near the clawfoot tub, his wrists relaxed over his knees as he took deep, slow breaths. Shirtless and barefoot, he wore only the trousers from his new ensemble, and took a deep inhalation as Layla opened the door, glancing up with vibrant blue eyes as she entered.
“Oh! Sorry.” Layla mumbled, feeling like she had interrupted something private.
“Come in. I was just meditating. You can do your makeup and hair while I dress.”
With a lithe movement, Dusk rose from the ottoman and Layla was confronted by the sight of him shirtless. Slender with cut shoulders and strong legs, he was ripped like an Olympic soccer-player. The skin of his torso was a dusky tan, the midnight oilslick color on his outer arms, shoulders, and sides. As he turned to retrieve his shirt, Layla watched how the scaled ridges at his temples continued down the back of his neck, then spread over his shoulder-blades and down his muscular back in a sexy v-shape. From the backs of his hands, those ridges continued up his outer arms, connecting behind his shoulders. As he pulled on his shirt, Layla saw the ridges curled in over his hipbones to his low abdomen – diving beneath his slacks toward his groin, which bulged appealingly in his slim-cut trousers.
Dusk glanced up, meeting her gaze as he finished pulling on his shirt with unabashed grace. Heat simmered there and Layla felt passion flare between them again, though she also felt impeccable control surrounding Dusk now. He’d erected an invisible wall of crystal between them like he’d placed between her and Adam earlier – a solid, cool presence in the air. It had a clarity to it, like the shine of his sapphire eyes. His barrier helped calm her arousal, and Layla found she was grateful for it as he buttoned up his shirt.
Though she couldn’t help but watch that silky-smooth, rippling abdomen disappear.
“You’re ogling me again,” Dusk rumbled gently, though it was a mild teasing from behind his crystal barrier.
“Can I help it if you’re built like a Greek god?” Layla sassed as she attempted to raise her eyes to his face. That angled jawline, those piercing blue eyes; those high cheekbones accentuated by his dark, straight brows and the beautiful ruggedness of his scaled ridges. He slowed his buttoning, letting her watch. Heat simmered in his eyes, though his wall of power remained firmly in place. Even so, a wash of iridescence rippled through his ridges, making the artful waves of his black hair shine. Layla’s lips fell open and she hitched a breath, willing her mind to function.
“Egyptian god.” Dusk chuckled, watching her admire him.
“What?” Layla blinked at him, stupid for a moment.
“I’m built like an Egyptian god, not Greek.” He winked at her. “Leaner. And taller. And a bit more tan. Egyptian Crystal Dragon. You know.”
Layla blinked, her face blossoming into a smile. It was true. He did look far more Egyptian than Greek. “Touché. So tell me about this party you planned tonight, sexy Anubis.”
“Sexy Anubis?” He grinned wider as he finished his buttons, playfulness glinting in his sapphire eyes. “I like that one.”
“Good.” Mastering her ardor at last, Layla moved into the bathroom and Dusk stepped aside, allowing her passage to her gilded mirror and makeup table. Layla sat upon her cobalt silk ottoman and set to, picking through her sable curls with a comb and misting them with setting-spray. “So tell me about the party.”
“Adrian planned it, actually, not me.” Dusk gave her a smile, then turned and began tucking his shirt into his slacks. “The party serves two purposes. The first is to introduce you to some important Dragon clan Firsts and Seconds.”
“Adrian’s allies?”
“Mostly.” Dusk nodded, finished with his shirt and beginning with his tie. “As an unknown newcomer among the clans, you’ll be the spice of the night. Expect to be approached, courted, teased – Dragons are frank. Some of them make my teasing look like a nun at prayers. Keep a level head, but by all means use your wit; Dragons love banter. Except the ones who are easily offended, and those you’ll notice right off.”
“Got it.” After working two months in Concierge Services, Layla had a good sense of the Twilight Realm Lineages who loved banter and those who didn’t. “What else?”
“Watch the room; expect some drama. Just because the clans here tonight are generally friendly doesn’t mean all the individual members are. Dragons are constantly vying for position, and sometimes it can get public.” Dusk watched her in the mirror as he did his tie in an impeccable Double Windsor, his fingers deft as he wound the knot.
“And the second reason for this party?” Layla prompted, twisting her curls up at the side of her neck and setting them with her mother Mimi’s diamond hair-pins.
