“If,” I snorted in amusement, he was more than aware that I’d developed an addiction to his deep roman soaking tub the first time I’d sunk into it. “Lead the way, Master.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sylas
It wasn’t until after I’d stripped my bathrobe off my beautiful husband and helped him into the tub -not that heneededhelp but I just couldn’t seem to rein in my urge to take care of him -that my own words came back to haunt me.
I don’t want to have any secrets from you.
Of course, what Iwanteddidn’t necessarily matter. I mean, yes, Paul knew I was a shifter. He’d even more or less guessed the right family line when he’d asked if I was a dragon. Though, as ancient and rare as dragon shifters are, the monster inside me is older and rarer still.
Stepping over to the gilt-edged mirror hanging above the antique sideboard in the living room, I studied myself. In that form -my human form- there wasn’t really anything to say I wasn’t just another man. That is, unless you looked too carefully at my eyes or watched them long enough to catch the occasional blink of my third eyelid.
Or for those who were unlucky enough to be on the receiving end of a stare that could turn a man to stone. On those rare occasions, there was always a flash of horrified recognition in the victim’s eyes as his limbs froze and he began to petrify from the outside in. Of course, Paul would never need to worry aboutthat, but it didn’t mean that he’d be able to see past it, either. It was one thing to hope that a young, beautiful Omega just entering the prime of his life would choose an Alpha so much older than himself, it was entirely another to think that he would voluntarily tie himself to a monster, a killer.
Shaking my head, I turned away from the mirror when the doorbell rang again. The clock showed the delivery was right on time and Paul’s voice from the bathroom made me chuckle.
“Oh myGod,Sylas! How much stuff did you order?”
“Who, me?” I called back, laughing again when Paul groaned loudly.
Trading the beautiful platter of chocolate-dipped strawberries for a couple of folded bills, I placed it in the center of the dining room table, careful not to disturb the arrangement as I removed the plastic cling wrap.
Plucking one of the large berries from the edge of the plate, I snuck into the bathroom where Paul was submerged to his neck in the frothy bubbles, his head tilted back and eyes closed. I was just about to tickle his lips with the candied fruit when they moved.
“I know you’re there, Alpha.”
His eyes were still closed and the scent of bubble bath in the room should have been covering my scent, so his words gave me pause.
“How? Did I create a breeze when I was walking?”
Those soft lips smiled. “No. I can just feel you.” His hand crept up out of the suds to pat his chest, directly over his heart. “Right here. I can always feel you inside when you’re near me.”
Oh, hell. If the way my own heart suddenly began racing was any indication, this man was going to be the death of me.
“You do, huh?” I knelt by the tub. “Open your mouth,” I ordered, smiling when he did so without hesitation. Bringing the berry to his lips, I tapped his chin with my pinky. “Take a bite.”
“Oh, God,” Paul moaned as his teeth broke through the chocolate shell to sink into the flesh of the fruit. “That is so good!”
To my surprise, Paul didn’t move to take the treat from me. Instead, he remained relaxed and allowed me to feed him, bite by bite. When he’d swallowed the last bite, I allowed myself to lean in and sample his lips, savoring the flavors lingering there. “That is delicious.”
Paul finally opened his eyes and the unexpected emotion in them nearly knocked me off my feet. “Kiss me again,” he demanded. “Like you mean it.”
That I could do.
Heedless of the bubbles clinging to the front of my shirt, I claimed his lips, moving my own against them in a dance older than time as I allowed my tongue to creep in and tease his, wrapping around his as I licked and sucked on his mouth, sending shivers through his body. When I finally released him, Paul’s face was flushed from more than the warm bath and the pink tip of his dick was bobbing with the bubbles.
“Your tongue is amazing,” he said with a sigh. “I swear, it’s like it has a life of its own.”
Oops.
Because my forked reptilian tongue told me more about the world around me than my eyes and ears combined, I rarely bothered to shift all the way to human, choosing instead to stop on the last edge which left my tongue in its non-human state and my claws, fangs, and other weapons always on the ready. It was a line that I’d spent decades learning to straddle, but I’d clearly been single long enough to forget that if my tongue was in someone else’s mouth, they might notice.
Before I could respond, Paul spoke again, still smiling warmly at me.
“It makes kissing you awesome,” he said with a cheeky grin, unaware of the concern he’d sparked in my gut. “But when you put it other places, it’s freaking magical.”
I nearly choked on a sudden laugh at Paul’s not-so-subtle hint that he wanted me to eat his ass. Not that I was opposed -oh, Hell, no! -but we just weren’t done with the day yet.
