His eyes flash with inner fire. “I was born the son of a dragon warrior and chosen to serve as the Aries member of the Zodiac Brotherhood. I’m a defender of my race. The cooking, well that comes naturally, although I did attend the Culinary Institute.”
“Seems like a strange choice for a warrior. Shouldn’t you do something tough like be a soldier or deal in weapons or something?”
He snorts. “Being an executive chef in a top restaurant in Manhattan is harder than it looks, and typically, dragon warriors don’t need weapons. We have claws and teeth.”
I ignore the claws and teeth remark. He can stroke his ego on his own time. “Zodiac Brotherhood. I’m picturing you all logging in every morning to read your horoscopebefore going about your dragon day.” I fake an exaggerated gasp. “That’s what it was, wasn’t it?Horoscope Dailysaid Aries should steal a bride last Saturday, and you took it to heart.”
He drops his fork. “We’re called zodiac dragons because we were sent by the creator from the stars to advance humanity. The brotherhood consists of one dragon for each sun sign because that’s when we’re at our strongest. The sun is in Aries now, so I lead the brotherhood. As for your other question…”
He rises from his chair and walks toward me. Stalks me really. He approaches with the predatory grace of a panther, never breaking eye contact.
“What are you doing?” The utensil in my hand clatters to the table.
His hands land on the arms of my chair, and he lifts and turns me until I’m facing him. He’s hovering over me, caging me in. This close, his size is intimidating and I gulp, my eyes widening.
“This question of why I took you seems to be coming up again and again, Fiona. I think we should set it to rest right here. Right now.”
I tip my head. “It wasn’t the horoscope?” I know I’m pushing him. Needling him. It’s stupid. He’s the size of a truck and in my face. But I can’t stop myself. Maybe there is something to his fire-on-fire theory. “Oh right, you stole me to get my fiancé’s father to talk to you because you can’t use a phone like a normal person. Looks like that didn’t work out so well.”
His face is close enough to feel the heat of his skin. His cheeks are flushed with it and itradiates, warming my entire body. As big as he is though, I’m not afraid until his eyes change. His pupils shift from round like a human’s to slitted like a cat’s, the blue bleeding to green and growing wider, deeper in color, until they glow from within. My heart stutters as I realize I’m looking directly at the dragon inside the man. There’s no other explanation.
When he speaks again, his tone is ashes and cinders. “You want to know the truth, Fiona? I didn’t plan on taking you that day. I went to your wedding to take a peek inside Stefan’s head to investigate what he knew about Lucy Vale. But when I saw you, when I heard you call to me, begging for an escape, I took you. I wanted you and I took you. I answered your call.”
Ice forms in my veins. “My call? What call? I never called to you.”
“I believe your exact words were ‘If you’re out there and I’m not supposed to do this, if I’m not meant to be with Roman, stop this wedding from happening. Send an earthquake or a storm.’”
Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. Those were my thoughts. Those were my words. “Are you… Can dragons read minds?”
“Normally, no. Not like that. But you were projecting. You were in distress. I could hear you because you wanted me to hear you.”
Goosebumps march up my arms. It feels like my entire body is lit up from within, on the edge of something strange and wonderful and equally terrifying.
“I could hear you, Fiona, because we have a bond. I am yourmate. And you aremine.”
His words do something to me. I feel them enter me and branch like lightning in a summer sky. I can’t take my eyes off his lips. My breath is ragged in my lungs, and my heart skips, stuttering at the pure overwhelm that’s happening in my nervous system. If our two fire signs bring out the fire in each other and make us want to fight or fuck, without a doubt neither of us is interested in fighting right now. A heavy weight in my core turns over, a growing tension between us that needs to be relieved.
Some small part of me knows I should fight this. I should stop and think about what I’m doing, the repercussions. But with his scent in my nose and his heat on my skin and his claiming words in my ears, I can’t think of anything but him. I can’t think of anything but the undeniable fact that there is a fire between us that must be fed.
I grab the sides of his head, dig my nails into his hair, and pull his face to mine.
Chapter Fifteen
CONNOR
Fiona’s mouth is heaven, and I pillage it like mine is an army straight from hell. I give her lips, teeth, and tongue in a bruising, savage kiss that holds all the pent-up, carnal need I’ve been holding back the past five days. This kiss is shooting stars, spinning galaxies, exploding suns. It’s everything. The alpha and the omega. The beginning and the end.
I have her out of the chair and pressed against the wall before I can question it. And maybe that’s for the best. Questioning might mean discipline, control. All I want is her. Now. When my dragon took control and told Fiona she was my mate, I thought for sure I’d gone too far. It’s too much, too fast. But now? I’m happy to give my inner dragon full rein just as long as Fiona keeps kissing me, keeps touching me.
“Mmmm.” Her deep, throaty moan spurs me on, andI dive deeper into her mouth, exploring her taste, the way our tongues battle for dominance.
I grind against her, my dick throbbing to be inside her, to claim her properly. But her pleasure comes first, always. No self-respecting dragon would have it any other way. I work my hand under her shirt and flatten my palm against her abs, then stroke up to fondle her breast, teasing her nipple through the black cotton bra I chose for her. The thought that she’s wearing the clothes I picked out for her, that she’s physically wrapped in my affection, is a fucking turn-on.
She repositions herself to straddle my leg, riding it, rubbing herself against my thigh. It’s so hot I think we might both go up in flames. It’s been a long time for me. A long fucking time.
“Please,” she whispers into my mouth.
“I’ve got you.” I slide my hand down, under the elastic waistband of her pants until the tips of my fingers brush over her clit. My dragon’s rumbling purr sparks in excitement at the feeling of her sex. She gasps when she hears it, and I ravage her mouth again, my fingers gently teasing her slit.
