Light My Fire (6 page)

Huffing a peevish breath, she pushed to her feet and walked to the door. She sprung the lock and narrowed her eyes at Aiden. Despite the fact she was covered head to toe in unsexy flannel, he visually devoured her like she was a tasty T-bone. She coughed pointedly. “Something I can help you with?”

Rather than answer, he leaned closer, his nostrils twitching. “You smell…delicious.”

His husky words made her tingle in all sorts of inappropriate places.
Hopefully my nipples aren’t poking out in a happy hello
. To be on the safe side, she crossed her arms over her chest. “Is that a warning? I don’t need to worry about you basting me in barbecue sauce, do I?”

Aiden’s mouth crooked in a slow, wicked smile. “Normally I’d say no, but I’ve got this interesting visual going on…”

Oh great, now she did too. She dropped one arm and tightened her fist on the doorknob. “What did you say you wanted?”

“I didn’t, but since you asked.” He shuffled his feet on the front stoop. “Jace is threatening to kick me out of the tent with how bad I smell. And frankly, he’s not in much better shape. Do you think there’s any way we could use your shower?”

From what she could tell, he didn’t stink at all. If anything, he smelled masculine and yummy, like he’d been rolling around in leaves and damp moss. Buck naked. Yeah, talk about interesting visuals. One that didn’t need to be inside her head. She rubbed her collarbone. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

His gorgeous blue eyes turned beseeching. “I promise we’ll be fast.”

Well, if there was one thing he was, it was fast. And really did it make much difference if she allowed them in the house? They’d had plenty of opportunity to attack her before now.

And would you mind if they did?
She bit the inside of her cheek.
Shut up, Dana.
Angling the door open wider, she flipped her mocking inner voice the bird. “Come in, but I’m timing you.”

“Can you wait to start the clock until I get back? I need to grab fresh clothes from my duffle.”

She exhaled heavily. “Fine.”

His grin was bright enough to power most of southeastern Michigan. “Thanks. I’ll be right back.”

Waving her hand in dismissal, she returned to the couch. As promised, Aiden returned less than a minute later. He carried a pair of navy blue sweatpants and a small leather bag that she assumed contained his grooming supplies. She started to get up but he held out his hand.

“Stay. Just point me in the general direction and I’ll find the bathroom on my own.”

“Follow the hallway and it’s the first door on the right.”

Aiden nodded and strode toward the hall. She sank into the cushions and crooked an arm over her eyes. “I’ve walked into the freakin’ Twilight Zone.”

The muffled sound of Jace crabbing about something outside leaked through the window. Rather than get up to investigate, she remained sprawled on the couch. Frankly, she was too exhausted to budge. Plus the cushion beneath her head felt extra cushy tonight. So very…nice…and…smooshy.

“Uh, Dana?”

With a jerk, she snapped out of her light doze. Her arm tumbled to her lap and she glanced toward the deep, seductively masculine voice. The air squeezed from her lungs in an embarrassing wheeze.
Holy
—

Aiden stood less than two feet away, clutching a hand towel over his groin. The skimpy scrap of white terrycloth did a piss-poor job of covering his gloriously naked body. Sculpted muscles contoured a smooth, bronzed chest. His abs—damn, forget about six, they were more like an eight pack—looked to be chiseled from marble.

“Any chance you have a bigger towel?”

Somehow she pried her chin from where it’d dropped to her chest. “Um…yes. Hold on.”
Please, please hold on
. She most definitely didn’t need him losing his grip on that teensy hand towel.

“Thanks, I appreciate it.”

She leapt from the couch and almost tripped on her own feet racing down the hallway to the linen closet. Grabbing a bath towel from the center shelf, she whirled around and smacked into Aiden with an “
Oof
.” His hands slid around her upper arms, steadying her. It took five seconds for the ramifications of that to fully register. She gulped.
Don’t look down. Don’t look down. Don’t—

Of course her eyes refused to obey. Her breath stuttered in her throat.
Sweet mother of cocks
. Seriously, words couldn’t adequately convey the impressive—no,
mind-blowing
—erection bobbing between Aiden’s muscular thighs. The puppy easily topped the eight-inch marker, and it wasn’t lacking in thickness either. Unconsciously, she licked her lips.

Aiden groaned. “Dana…” One hand abandoned her shoulder and he brushed his knuckles along her jaw.

She glanced up and caught the fierce desire flickering across his rugged features. Now would be a really good time to duck beneath his arm and run the hell out of there. So why did her bare feet remain rooted to the carpet? His fingers splayed across her cheek, holding her anchored against the wall as his head descended. Even before his lips brushed hers she knew his kiss would be devastating. Loaded with the kind of full-on ravishment that could detonate a person’s brain.

He didn’t disappoint.

His tongue slicked inside her mouth and made itself at home, its hot, sensual glide coaxing a responding moan from her. He re-angled his approach, his tongue thrusting deeper. Aiden’s possessiveness thrilled
and
terrified her. It unlocked a dark, hidden chamber of her soul that ached to be branded…claimed.

No, damn it
. Jerking her head to the side, she broke the kiss, her ragged breaths puffing fast and hard. “You don’t play fair.”

His lips skimmed along her cheek. “What do you mean?”

“Puh-lease. Like I don’t know what you’re up to. But I’ve got news for you. I’m resistant to your dragon mojo.”

Aiden’s teeth scraped her chin and she squeaked. Yeah, she was doing a bang-up job impersonating a tough-as-nails chick. He licked a slow path to her collarbone and her knees liquefied. Before she could stop herself, she clutched Aiden’s waist.

Big mistake.

His skin was smooth and velvety and oh so touchable. Her nails raked softly over his abdomen, drawing a rippling response from the taut band of muscle.

Aiden’s gaze—smoldering and intense—lifted and locked on her face. “Yes, touch me.”

Despite knowing that would be an epically stupid idea, she tiptoed her fingers upward. Well, at least she was taking the safer route. She encountered the firm expanse of his pectorals and quickly amended her assessment. There wasn’t a centimeter of his body that should be considered safe. Unable to resist, she stroked her thumb over one stiffened male nipple, earning his responding hiss.

“My turn.” His big hands molded over her breasts, rucking her flannel top. The rasp of the soft fabric was almost too exquisite to bear. Apparently Aiden felt the same way because he suddenly tugged at the buttons, wrestling them free. The shirt gaped open and he pushed the sides away, his hungry focus zeroing in on her bared breasts. He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “You’re so damn beautiful.”

The way he looked at her, she believed his declaration. Those pesky extra ten pounds she’d battled most of her life seemed invisible to him, inconsequential. Under his enraptured stare she felt gorgeous—a sex goddess. Utterly irresistible. He cupped her breasts, his lips brushing reverently over the swells overflowing his palms. Mimicking the move she’d made seconds ago, he teased her puckered nipples with the calloused pads of his thumbs. She attempted to smother her moan and ended up sounding like a goat with a bad case of laryngitis.

Using only the tip of his tongue, he traced the outline of her areola. Her breathing grew fainter and more labored the closer he drew to her nipple. By the time his tongue finally curled around the turgid peak, she almost passed out from lack of oxygen. He nibbled, licked and sucked her one nipple before switching his lavish attention to its mate. She’d never considered her breasts overly sensitive. If anything, she usually tended to zone out and become a little bored anytime a past lover played with them. But Aiden was hitting all the right notes. When he lowered his head she actually sighed in disappointment.

Disappointment turned to panic as his mouth coasted down her belly and he reached for the snaps of her pajama bottoms. She shoved at his massive shoulders.

He groaned, the sound equal parts sexy and tortured. “Dana, I have to taste you.” The agony lacing his words made it seem she was signing his death sentence if she refused.

“I am
not
having sex with you.”

“You don’t have to.” Looking up, he revealed brilliant eyes glazed with need. He traced her hipbones through the flannel, making her shiver and squirm. “Please…let me give you pleasure. Only pleasure.”

A shudder ran through her. His fingers returned to the first snap and hovered there, waiting. When she didn’t pull away, he popped the metal button from its resting place. Not displaying the same hesitance for the remaining two snaps, he peeled her pajama bottoms down and combed his trembling fingers through the triangle of blonde curls covering her mound. He slicked a thumb over her clit and she gasped.

“You’re beautiful here too.” He swirled over her labia, heading toward her slit. Unconsciously, she widened her stance, granting him better access. He took full advantage and dipped inside her pussy. She bit her lip to keep from crying out.

“Don’t, sweetheart.” He added another finger along with the first. “I want to hear every groan and sigh. I want your scream ringing in my ears when you come.”

“Hate to disappoint you, but I’m not much of a screamer.”

His mouth curved into a seductive grin. “
Yet
.”

“Promises, promises.”

Chuckling, he leaned forward and lapped lazily at her clit. The sensations were exquisite and she wiggled against him, panting. His tongue flicked at the aching bundle of nerves a couple more times before he sucked her clit firmly between his teeth. She bowed away from the wall and clamped onto his head, her fingers twisting frantically. He grunted. For a second, she worried that she might have hurt him by nearly tearing his hair from its roots, but then he pumped his fingers and she stopped stressing about accidentally maiming him. Or looking like a shameless, sex-starved nymphomaniac. She rode his hand and mouth, broken gasps spilling from her. His eyes—hot, wild and predatory—devoured her. Curling his fingers, he tapped her G spot. The pleasure was almost unbearable. She tried to escape it, escape him, but he secured her against the wall with his free hand and continued his sweet torture, the rhythm of his fingers keeping time with his tongue.

An uncontrollable tremor shook her. With blinding intensity, the orgasm crashed into her, ripping a keening cry from her. Losing control of all basic mobility, she started to fall. Aiden’s arms banded her tight. He lifted, sweeping her up. She clung to him, too boneless and drained to do anything but slump against his chest. His heart pounded beneath her cheek. Good, she’d hate to think she was the only one affected by what just occurred.

“Where is your bedroom?”

“Next door on the right.” She gave a sleepy frown. “Forgot my pajama bottoms.”

“I’ll come back for them.”

He walked the short distance down the hall and elbowed her bedroom door open. Dwindling sunlight streamed through the casement windows, painting the ivory matelassé coverlet with a golden glow. She tried to see the room from Aiden’s perspective. Would he think it too girly? Too frou-frou with its all-white color scheme and lacework pillows?

Why do I care what he thinks
? Apparently this was what an explosive orgasm did to her—made her insecure and sappy. Not good. Time to put things back on a level playing field. “Told you I wasn’t the screaming type.”

His mouth curling in an arrogant smile, Aiden pulled down the covers and lowered her gently to the bed. “It sounded suspiciously like one to me.”

“You need to have your ears checked.”

He tucked the coverlet around her before giving her a lingering kiss. She could taste herself on his lips. Rather than gross her out it rekindled a spark of arousal. Thank God she was too tired and boneless to do anything about it.

Straightening his arms, he remained leaning over her, his grin too knowing for her liking. “Didn’t I warn you about the dangers of challenging a dragon?”

She rolled her eyes. “What are you going to do? Kill me with orgasms?”

A wicked and sexy laugh rumbling from his chest, he shoved from the bed and pivoted. The tightest, hottest buns to ever grace a man’s—or dragon’s—backside flexed as Aiden strode toward the doorway. Once he disappeared into the hall, she pulled the pillow over her head with a groan. “Good Lord, I must have a death wish.”

Chapter Eight

It was hard as hell trying to sleep all night with an erection, no pun intended. Add that to having to bunk with Jace, who snored like a freight train was parked in his esophagus, and Aiden considered himself lucky that he managed to log a couple hours of Z’s. Plowing his hands through his rumpled hair, he swung his legs over the side of the air mattress and stood—well, as best he could inside the low-ceilinged tent. He stepped outside. The crisp autumn breeze ruffled over his bare chest and his nipples instantly stood at attention, much as they had the night before when Dana toyed with them. His cock throbbed in fond remembrance. Unfortunately, it also reminded him that he needed to piss something fierce.

He slid a glance toward the house. The windows were still dark. Most likely Dana hadn’t gotten up yet. Rather than waking her and risking her wrath—not to mention the temptation of slipping in bed with her—he strode to the other side of the garage. Loosening the string on his sweatpants, he freed his dick. Not a moment too soon. Uttering a loud groan of relief, he emptied his bladder.

“What are you doing? Jacking off back here?”

Scowling, he tossed a look over his shoulder at Jace. “Jesus, is five seconds to myself too much to ask?”

“Seems to me you had way more than five seconds last night.” Cracking a huge yawn, Jace scratched his chest. “Which leads me to believe the last thing you need is a date with Rosie Palm, you lucky bastard.”

Aiden tucked his cock away without saying anything.

“Fine, you don’t want to kiss and tell.” The sound of Jace scrunching through the leaves preceded the distinct noise of him urinating.

“There’s nothing to tell.”

An incredulous snort fell from Jace. “You expect me to believe you didn’t have sex with her?”

“Yeah, because I didn’t.” Aiden turned to find his brother gaping at him.

“Why the fuck not?”

“Dana isn’t ready for that yet.”

Jace readjusted his sweats. “You mean to tell me you indulged in a half-hour shower and then bitched me out about my puny six-minute splash and dash?”

“She’s on a well. We don’t need to be taxing her water pump.” Aiden averted his gaze. “And I said we didn’t have sex. Doesn’t mean we weren’t doing other things.”

“I knew it, you sneaky son of a bitch.” Jace grabbed the large fir branch propped against the garage wall and snapped it in two.

For a second, Aiden expected Jace to toss him the other half of the stick and call him out in some kind of hokey backwoods duel. Jace tended to be a smartass that way. Instead, Jace broke the branch into an even smaller section. Keeping the part that forked into a spray of needles, he stretched his arm behind him and scruffed the pine bough over his skin.

Aiden grunted. “Leave it to you to invent the world’s first redneck backscratcher.”

Ignoring the sarcasm, Jace continued swishing away. “So what’d you do, eat her pussy while she sucked you off?”

“Jesus. You get a vicarious thrill hearing about others’ love lives, don’t you?”

The rustling from the needles stopped and Jace stared at him. “Who the hell mentioned anything about love?”

Fuck
. “It’s a figure of speech, for Christ’s sake.”

Jace didn’t exactly appear convinced. “Are you falling for her?”

“Of course not.” Aiden gave a pointed look toward the branch gripped in Jace’s hand. “You must be suffering some kind of weird allergic reaction to fir sap. It’d explain your sudden delusions.”

“Bro, falling in love with Dana would be a lousy mistake. She’s human. Not to mention our fucking sacrifice. If the council even suspects your heart is knotted up over her, they’ll strip you of your alpha ranking and banish you so fast you won’t know what hit you.”

He didn’t need Jace telling him what he already knew. His responsibilities to the Drakoni, to his mother, were top priority. Which meant Dana Cooper could never be anything more than his sacrifice.

Dana awoke from a sexy, decadent dream about her dragon lover worshipping her entire body with his tongue, to an eleven pound tabby with major tuna breath squatting on her sternum. She pinched her nose. “I see we’ve moved on to the bad-morning-breath phase of our battle.” Twisting her torso, she dislodged Ms. Whiskers and tossed back the covers. That’s when she realized she was half naked.

The events from the hall last night came rushing upon her faster than a runaway train. She’d allowed Aiden to pin her against the wall and feast on her like the Tuesday night special at Sven’s all-you-can-eat smorgasbord. Oh yeah—and she hadn’t exactly been an unwilling participant. A wash of heat spread over her skin.

“Ugh, it’s too early in the morning for wallowing in endless mortification.” She peeked at the clock on the bedside table and blinked at the numerals displayed. Eight fifty.

Crap, she’d forgotten to set the damn alarm. The Ren fair would be opening in a little over an hour—which wasn’t a big deal, except it took her forty minutes to drive to the blasted thing.

She leapt off the mattress, scaring the bejeebers out of poor Ms. Whiskers, and raced to the closet. After jerking on panties and a bra, she wiggled into the wench dress and did the fastest makeup job ever. Praying she didn’t look like a psychotic clown from the dark ages, she streaked into the kitchen and filled the cat bowl before grabbing a bagel. Anchoring the bagel between her teeth, she snatched her cell phone, keys, and the Ziploc bag containing her ID and stash of money. Satisfied she had all the essentials, she barreled out the door. Aiden and Jace stood in front of their tent, arguing about something. They stopped long enough to frown at her. Good thing she was running late, otherwise she might have wasted away the morning just ogling their naked chests.

Yanking open POC’s door, she climbed behind the wheel. From the corner of her eye, she spied Aiden jogging toward her. The sight of all those rippling muscles and acres of yummy golden flesh was positively drool worthy. Swallowing hard, she jammed the key into the ignition. The engine turned over with a cranky groan.

Aiden slammed to a halt, his hand curving around the frame of POC’s opened door. “Where are you going?”

Snagging the bagel from her teeth, she gestured to her dress. “Where do you think?”

“It’s Sunday.”

“Uh, thanks for the calendar update.” She tore her scrutiny from his firm lips, trying not to think about where they’d been the night before. “The Ren fair is only open on the weekends. So if you don’t mind, I need to get my ass moving before I lose out on potential sales.” How strange to think that yesterday she’d assumed her gloomy financial straits were the only thing she needed to worry about. If nothing else, discovering she was a dragon’s sacrifice really put things in perspective.

Aiden released the doorframe. “Jace and I will get dressed and meet you there.”

“You don’t—”

“Yes, we do.” His jaw set, he shut the door and stalked away. He didn’t get to see the obscene gestures she directed at his retreating back, which was sort of a let down.

Ripping a bite out of her bagel, she shifted into reverse and backed from the driveway.

She spent the majority of the next forty minutes trying to decide what she longed to do more—knock Aiden on his cute little buns or take that gorgeous cock of his in her mouth and bring him whimpering to his knees. Unfortunately, the second choice was getting a resounding thumbs up from her overtaxed hormones.

Flushed and uncomfortably aroused, she wheeled the Suburban into the Ren fair’s lot and parked in her customary spot in the vendor section. At least there were two bright spots on her day. She didn’t have to worry about carting a bunch of stuff across the fairgrounds, and Calvin didn’t seem to be stalking her in his customary fashion. Maybe he really had gotten the message yesterday.

Waving to the pickle hawker, she strolled to her booth. Haddie met her in the entrance, her brown eyes glittering with curiosity. “There you are. I was beginning to think you weren’t going to show.”

“I overslept.”

“Let me guess. Someone kept you up late last night?”

Dana wondered what the deal was with Haddie’s wicked cackle but then she remembered the taunting she’d given Haddie yesterday about the oracle. “Nope. I’m happy to report there were no visitations from Elvis’s ghost.” At least she didn’t think so. Truthfully, she’d been sawing logs shortly after her head hit the pillow. A herd of rhinos wearing rhinestone jumpsuits could have charged through her room and she would have been oblivious.

“What about those handsome twins?”

Haddie’s casual question nearly bowled Dana over. She gawked at the older woman. “How in the world do you know about them?”

“Sheesh, how many times do I have to say it? Dear, I’m
psychic
.” Haddie threw her arms skyward. “You’d think the outfit would be a dead giveaway.”

Dana did a quick sweep of Haddie’s assemble. Today she wore a bright pink crushed velvet cape. “Well, yeah. But I thought your ability was limited to tarot cards.” A thought suddenly occurred to her. “Wait, so does this mean you know what they are?”

“Yes, dear. They’re the lovers the oracle promised you.” Haddie’s expression turned naughty. “Still convinced you’re going to turn your back on those strapping young men?”

“Hell yeah. Because they’re not men. They’re freakin’ dragons.”

Haddie’s lips dipped into a frown only to be replaced a second later by a toothy smile. She snapped her fingers. “I knew there was something off about their auras.”

Why was she not surprised that Haddie didn’t find it the least bit odd there were living, breathing dragons walking the face of the earth?

“Dearie, don’t hold their genetics against them. We should all embrace each other’s differences. The world would be such a better place.”

“This isn’t a matter of them possessing a different set of chromosomes. Aiden and Jace are a whole other
species
.”

Haddie looked like she wanted to argue the subject into the ground. Fortunately, the insistent strains of
Bewitched
came from Dana’s dress, saving her from a potential migraine. Digging in her pocket, she pulled out her cell and peered at the display. Emmaline. Dana groaned. So much for no headache. She clicked the talk button. “Yes, I forgot to call. I’m sorry. No, I still have all my body parts. Of course I didn’t sleep with them. What kind of floozy do you take me for?”
Jeez, good thing she didn’t see me last night.
“Oh wow, a horde of customers just showed up. I’m going to have to call you later. Love you. Bye.” Feeling slightly guilty, she hung up. It was either that or the alternative—staying on the line and risk being busted by Emmaline. Her aunt was scary when it came to ferreting out things better left unrevealed.

“Hah, speak of the devils.”

Stuffing her phone in her pocket, Dana turned, following Haddie’s stare. Aiden and Jace were striding toward her booth. She gulped, overwhelmed all over again by how big and utterly delicious they were. The sweatpants had been replaced by jeans and a long-sleeved crewneck on Jace, and khakis and a camel-colored Henley on Aiden. They were both eyeing her with that predatory look she was beginning to think of as their personal hallmark. Must be a dragon thing.

She stacked her arms over her chest. “What’d you do, lay on the gas the entire way over here?”

Jace chuckled. “Sounds like my brother wasn’t the only one who woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Interesting coincidence, eh?”

Dana seared Jace with a death glare and his unrepentant grin widened. A gust of wind jostled the overhead leaves and Jace’s nose twitched. He jerked his head around.

“I smell pie. Must go investigate.” Swiveling, Jace loped in the direction of the bakery.

Haddie shook her head. “Amazing. That stand is clear across the fairgrounds.”

“Trust me, if there’s food within a ten-mile radius, my brother will sniff it out.”

“My grandson is like that,” Haddie said with a laugh. “A bottomless pit. The kid works real hard at eating me out of house and home.”

Listening to Haddie, Dana started to germinate a seed of a plan. If she played her cards right, she just might encourage Aiden and Jace to rethink the wisdom in making her their sacrifice.