CHAPTER SIX
RAOUL
I’d faced armies without flinching. I’d negotiated treaties with hostile clans while maintaining perfect composure. I’d buried my parents and assumed the throne at twenty-three without shedding a single public tear.
But Adele Thornwick explaining thermodynamics while naked in my bathing pool had nearly undone me.
My cock had hardened the moment she’d started gesturing enthusiastically about convection cycles, water droplets sliding down her pale skin, her eyes bright with passion.
What kind of male got aroused listening to weather theory?
Apparently, this one.
I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my waist, leaving the bathing chamber before I did something phenomenally stupid like get back into the pool and kiss that brilliant, oblivious woman.
My low growl rang out.
“Raoul?” Adele’s voice followed me. “Are you all right?”
“Fine,” I called back, my voice strained. “I’ll collect our breakfast. Please join me when you’re finished.”
The only thing I needed to attend to was the situation beneath my towel.
In the sitting area, I opened the door wide enough to speak through the gap. “Leave it there. I’ll collect it shortly.”
Geoff’s eyebrows rose, but he bowed and set the tray on the hall table before departing.
I closed the door and pressed my forehead against the cool wood, willing my body back under control.
“Behave,” I snarled at my traitorous anatomy. “She was talking about atmospheric pressure, for fire’s sake.”
But she’d also been gloriously naked, her curves pale and perfect in the steamy water, her wet hair clinging to her shoulders, and when she’d gotten excited about longitudinal data collection, her whole face had transformed with joy?—
No. Not helping.
I focused on the cold door against my skin, on my breathing, on anything except the image of Adele rising from the bath, water streaming down her body, her skin flushed from the heat…
“I think I used too much of your hair soap,” Adele said from directly behind me.
I spun around and immediately regretted it.
She stood not far away, wearing my tunic again, damp tendrils of hair curling down her back, the fabric clinging to her wet skin in ways that should be illegal. The neckline had dipped off one shoulder, exposing her collarbone and the graceful curve of her neck. Her legs were bare, and I could see the shadow of her nipples through the wet cloth.
She smelled like my soap. Like she belonged to me.
My cock, which had been showing promising signs of cooperation, immediately betrayed me again.
“My hair feels great, but…I don’t know. Maybe duller? Not a great word but it fits,” she said, seemingly oblivious to it poking the front of the drying clothing. “Mine will be here today, so no worries. I didn’t realize dragon shifters might need different proportions for hair care, but now that I think about it, your metabolic requirements probably affect everything from?—”
I didn’t hear the rest.
I was already moving, crossing the room in three strides, yanking the window open, and diving through it headfirst.
I shifted mid-air. Bones expanded, muscles transformed, and wings burst from my shoulders. Within seconds, I flew in my dragon form, spiraling down through the valley in a controlled dive that was the exact opposite of how I felt inside.
The morning air rushed past my scales as I plummeted toward the valley floor, pulling up at the last possible moment to shoot skyward. I needed altitude. Distance. Space to think about anything except my wife’s mind and body.
I’d noticed everything when she’d climbed into the bath. I’d tried not to look, but my eyes had betrayed me as thoroughly as my cock.
