And that… other hardness. Impossible to ignore, even if she’d wanted to.
She shifted slightly, deliberately pressing back against him. His breathing changed immediately—a sharp intake of breath followed by a low rumble that she felt more than heard. The arm around her waist tightened, pulling her more firmly against his chest.
His lips brushed the sensitive skin behind her ear. “Jaz.”
The way he said her name did things to her. His voice was deeper this morning, filled with a hunger that made her want to hear it say other, more explicit things.
One peek,she told herself as she turned over in his arms.Just to confirm what I’m dealing with.
“Good sleep?” he asked, the vibration of his voice traveling through her like an electric current.
Was he seriously making small talk right now?
“I… Yes.” Her voice came out embarrassingly breathless. “Did you sleep?”
“I watched.”
“All night?”
“Yes.”
She should pull away. She should put some distance between them and pretend this wasn’t happening, pretend she hadn’t been contemplating sneaking a look at his… whatever it was that male dragons had.
Instead, she heard herself ask: “Is that… normal? For you?”
His head tilted slightly. “Normal?”
“The, um.” She couldn’t believe she was doing this. “The…”
Just say it, coward.
“You’re aroused.”
The words came out in the clinical tone she used when discussing mineral compositions or equipment specifications and his eyes flickered with amusement.
“Yes,” he said simply. “This is normal.”
“Right. Okay.” She tried to sound casual and failed miserably. “Any particular reason, or is this just a… morning thing?”
“Because it is you.”
Her heart stuttered, then began racing at a pace that couldn’t possibly be healthy.
“When I am close to you, when I hold you…” He shifted slightly, and she felt that hardness press more firmly against her. “This is the response. It is normal.”
She waited for the panic to hit—the suffocating, desperate need to flee that had driven her from every relationship she’d ever attempted. It didn’t come. Instead, there was only that spreading warmth, pooling low in her belly, making her acutely aware of everywhere their bodies touched.
This is insane,she thought.I barely know him. He barely knows himself.
“How…” She had to stop and clear her throat. “How does this work? For your kind?”
The question escaped before she could stop it. His eyes darkened, the vertical pupils expanding, and his arm tightened around her waist.
“I do not remember all,” he admitted. “Memories are… broken. But I know there is a mating flight.”
“I don’t have wings,” she pointed out, fighting back an unexpected feeling of disappointment, but he only shrugged.
“Is not necessary. How does it work? For you?”
