His dragon chuffed.Mine.
No.He would hand her over to Michael when they returned to Earth. That was always the plan.
As her soft breaths evened out, a quiet snore slipped free. Race nudged her closer to him with the curve of his tail. She sighed and melted into him, seeking warmth. The stillness of the cave wrapped around them.
Race shut his eyes but didn’t sleep, his mind a caged thing of nightmares, waiting to consume him. Instead, he inhaled her fresh summery scent, letting it seep through him…
His chest tightened, the walls closing in on him tighter and tighter. Chains rattled, his screams echoed as bones shattered?—
His eyes snapped open, instantly taking in the weak gray light of dawn creeping into the cave.
Fuck! He’d fallen asleep. Something he tried never to do.
Breathing hard, he banged his head against the ground and became aware he wasn’t alone. A body pressed against his, and that calming, fresh scent he was starting to crave seeped into him.
Ash.
And with instinct taking over, he’d shifted back into his human form. Naked. Ash was tucked against his body, her breath skimming his skin, her arm thrown over his stomach.
That she was still there meant he hadn’t screamed.
Dammit. He should leave, but he didn’t dare breathe. Didn’t move. Couldn’t.
Ash sighed and shifted, her hand settling low on his belly, perilously close to his cock, sending a searing jolt of lust through him.
He ground his jaw until it hurt.
Her thick lashes fluttered, and her sleepy gaze met his. He knew the moment awareness hit. Her eyes widened.
“Oof!” she yelped, scrambling away.
He would have laughed if he weren’t strung so fucking tight. Instead, he looked away because if she saw his face, she might realize just how close he was to doing something monumentally stupid.
Millennia of nothing. And thenwham!This delicate human who would never survive him appeared and clubbed him over the head by simply existing.
With a slow exhale, he rose, very much aware of her gaze lowering to his erection. He put on the pants he tossed aside, then summoned the boots and socks he’d discarded somewhere in this world and put them on.
Want her,his dragon rumbled.
No.
“C’mon. You can freshen up at the springs.” He aimed for the twisting passage leading to the underground pools, one handpressing down on his damn erection, willing it to deflate. The sound of her boots on gravel followed a second later, and some of the tightness within him eased.
She stumbled, debris skittering underfoot.
Shit. He spun and grabbed her wrist before she fell. “I forget humans can’t see in the dark.”
A soft snort. “Glad you realized that before I kissed rubble.”
A chuckle he didn’t expect broke free at her dry response. Sleep, it seemed, had scrubbed away the trace of fear he’d scented last night.
Race led her deeper into the tunnel.
At the cavern with the underground stream, he summoned a flame, lighting the old, peat-wrapped torch affixed to the wall. A dim golden glow flickered across the stone, casting long shadows. He didn’t need illumination, not with his heightened senses. But Ash wasn’t built for caves and darkness.
“I’ll be back soon.” He strode off, deeper into the cave system, his draconic senses already picking up bits of ancient treasures buried in these mountains. Better to focus on that than the lingering sensation of her body, the curve of her hips, her lush breasts pressed against him in sleep.
As Race pushed deeper into the darkness, the tunnel narrowed, and his jaw locked, feeling as if the walls were closing in on him, the suffocating weight clawing at him.
