Taming the Dragon (Loved by the Dragon, #3) (11 page)

“I met him a few years ago, but we’re just getting acquainted for real this time,” she assured him. “Do you remember my best friend Chloe?”

“How could I forget Chloe? What a wonderful girl.”

“Well, I met him through her husband. They’re best pals.”

“Ah, I see.”

“He owns the island and the resort,” Marcy added quickly.

Howard choked. She imagined him in the midst of a brandy sip. “He certainly sounds successful, Marcy. I am happy for you. Please, take as long as you need. I meant it when I told you to do what was best for you.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it, Howard.” Marcy took in a deep breath and slowly released it. “Lately, I’m feeling like I should start my own business as a financial consultant. It’s possible I won’t be coming back to the company
at all
, and I thought you deserved to know.”

“I feared you might say that. I’ll begin to conduct interviews for your position while hoping it won’t be necessary. Take care of yourself, Marcy. You’re more than my employee. You’re a friend.”

“Thanks, Howard.”
Ouch. I guess Katie isn’t working out after all. So much for her claims about being able to do my work standing on her head.

Clad in only a thin silk robe, Marcy crawled onto Teo’s lap and straddled him. When out of the office, he devoted his free time to a lazy lifestyle of books and socializing with the animals near his home. She also learned of his nocturnal lifestyle, meaning their days of activity weren’t natural. As they spent time together, her dragon grew lazier and more exhausted during the mornings.

“What would you like to do today, Marceline?” he asked.

“You don’t have to do this for me. If you’d rather sleep, I can wait until the afternoon when you’re more coherent.”

“I slept during the night,” Teo said.

“Poorly. I felt you moving a few times. You were so restless.” She wrapped a lock of his dark hair around her index finger then ran her fingers through the rest of his tidy mane.

Teo shrugged and waved off her concern. “It is nothing. An adjustment is all. Now, will you answer my question and tell me what you would like to do?”

“Well... there is one thing.”

“Anything,” he vowed. His hands slid over her hips, traced her ribs, then traveled down again to cup her ass in his palms. Her dragon pressed her against the hard tension beneath, jutting from his naked crotch.

As much as I love it that he never seems to wear clothes here, he really makes it impossible to hold a conversation.
Marcy raised her hips before he could slyly reintroduce his cock to her body. Sex would only distract her. “I want to see
you
. I want to see you in your natural body.”

Hesitation flit across his features, accented by his prolonged silence. “Why?” Teo asked after a few awkward seconds passed.

“If I can adapt to walking around your island naked, you can show me who you really are, Teo.”

“You are wearing a robe.”

“But with nothing beneath it,” Marcy pointed out. She gave him a cheeky smile. “Anyway, I want to see you. Fair is fair.”

The confusion faded, transitioning between caution and bewilderment to something foreign and different from what Marcy had become accustomed to as she learned to read him. Modesty. Her dragon was shy.

“Of course,” he murmured before he lifted her from his lap and stood. “You will want to come with me to the beach.”

What the hell got into him? Is he shy or something?
she wondered. Their path took them away from the bungalow and through the heavy growth, between trees, over mossy soil, and through the natural fauna that made up his exotic paradise. As they stepped barefoot onto the sand, Teo turned to face her with the same strange expression.

“You are sure of this?”

“Yes.

“Most humans become terrified at the sight of a dragon.”

“Teo. I was there when Chloe fought Brigid. Hell, I was there the day Brigid and Saul went toe to toe on his lawn. I’m sorry, but the dragon-seeing cherry was popped five years ago.”

A low chuckle escaped the nervous dragon. “It is not the same. When Saul and Brigid revealed their forms to you, you were not alone. You were safe with others present, yes? When Chloe faced Brigid, Watatsumi, Mahasti, Leiv, and even I stood beside you as guards. When a lone human faces a dragon, something happens. It overwhelms the fight or flight instinct.”

“I won’t run from you, and I don’t have a dragon-slaying sword at my disposal. If we’re going to try to make something of this... then I want to see all of you, Teo. I need to appreciate both sides of you, man and dragon.”

“As you wish.” Without further argument, Teo turned and strode away from her, revealing his muscular back. Marcy’s appreciative eyes drifted over her dragon lover to his perfect ass, his bottom rounded and tight with adequate muscle to give it shape.

When he turned to face her again, an abrupt change overtook him. Pitch black flowed over his brown skin as his body elongated and grew. He jumped up in size and, with a flash, two enormous wings snapped out at his sides. Dragon lore and historic art depicted creatures with scaled and leather appendages, but it was untrue. Saul and Teo each possessed a glorious set of feathered wings.

Two golden-brown, corkscrew shaped horns twisted back atop his head. His eyes remained the same, large, green, and surprisingly docile. Filled with the same warmth she saw when Teo opened up to her.

Big. He’s so big. He’s so big. But I’m not afraid. I can’t be afraid because he’s my Teo. He’s still the same man.

Marcy’s heart pounded, filling her head with the sound of rushing blood. The world around her spun out of control until she stumbled back a step. She fell into his outstretched claw. The pad of his monstrous appendage reminded her of a cat or dog, pliable but covered in coarse, leathery skin. Each of his four digits was splayed to point the sharp claws away from her.

“I have frightened you.” Teo’s voice rumbled from him in a deeper, booming timbre.

“No. You’re... you’re gorgeous,” she blurted out. “I didn’t expect you to be so large.”

“Many humans flee when they are face to face with a dragon.”

“Obviously I’m more than human,” she quipped, voice dry despite her attempt to infuse it with humor.

Marcy reached out with one hand, only to withdraw and lower it back to her side. “May I touch you?”

“I am yours. Would you ask to lie in your own bed, or to wear your own shoes? You may touch me to your heart’s content.”

Marcy glided her fingers through his shaggy, rust-colored mane. He smelled delightful, like fresh soil and earth, a hot day after a brilliant summer rain.

“You are truly unafraid?”

“Truly,” she murmured. Both hands rose to touch his inquisitive face. At such close quarters, he could have gobbled her up in a single bite. She refused to feel daunted by his massive teeth and kissed his velvety snout. “I won’t fear my own dragon.”

“Yours,” he rumbled in approval.

“God, your skin is so soft here.” She slid her palm over his face, unable to miss the way his green eyes drifted shut, or the motor hum emanating from his chest.
He purrs like his jaguars
.

Closer inspection revealed his feathered wings weren’t solid black as she’d initially assumed. His dark plumage had a sheen to it that reminded her of an oil slick on water. Subtle shades of green, blue, and red shimmered against the ebony.

Marcy moved around him to inspect his powerful body. His huge claws pressed into the damp sand, leaving massive indents in the ground. She trailed past him with her fingers drifting his sides. Teo’s muscled build reminded her of a reptile in some ways, but the heat radiating from his body identified him as something else. A ticklish something else, who flinched from her fingers.

“Are you ticklish?”

“I am not.”

Marcy repeated it and he wriggled away from her onto his side to escape. “You are!”

“No, stop!” Teo’s thump into the sand nearly threw her off balance. He shook the shoreline with his massive weight and made her stumble against him with both hands on his body.

Something childish overcame her. She had a dragon at her mercy, writhing like a petulant child. She traced her fingers over his ribs and tickled him again, reducing her stoic and masculine dragon to the likeness of a puppy in seconds. He never hurt her. Never threatened her. He took it with laughter that sent chills up her spine, a deep rumbling voice contrasting his usual haughty arrogance.

“No one has tickled me since I was a cub.”

“Well I have.” She stuck her tongue out at him. “I have a secret weapon for the next time you piss me off. I don’t need a dragon-slaying sword to put you in your place.”

“I will try to avoid pissing you off, Marceline. To the best of my ability, I will try.”

“Now become my Teo again. I think I want to kiss you, and I want to do it without the giant teeth.”

In the span of a heartbeat he went from beast to man. Wet sand clung to his naked side, prompting her to brush it away with one hand. He enfolded her in his strong arms and yanked her close. His mouth descended to her lips in a surprisingly tender kiss, parting them with the first stroke of his tongue.

“I wish to take you for a date,” Teo whispered at its end.

“A date?”

“I want all of my employees to see we are together. Come with me to the main island. Please.”

“Teo, I don’t care whether or not they see us. Just take me out to take me out.”

“But I do care. Am I not allowed to be proud of you? To wish for everyone to bask in the joy you have given me?”

Unable to argue his logic, Marcy surrendered with a sigh.

“I have been lonely for so long as a result of my own foolish choices. Come with me, Marceline. Please.”

The magic word made her smile. “Mm, you mean those choices of wanting a submissive black dragon?” she teased.

He chuckled softly and rubbed the back of his neck. “I see Chloe is unable to keep a secret. Yes, those choices,” he confirmed. “You are unlike any dragon. My earlier ideas were misinformed.”

“Can I ask why you thought you wanted one?”

“The females of my kind do not give up power willingly, Marceline. They crave control, and as males, we have no choice but to obey.”

“Seriously?”

“Dragonesses are fewer in number. To attain a mate and keep her by your side, you must do all you can to please her. Give in to her every whim. Brigid, for example, would never allow a man to find his pleasure first.”

“I like watching you come, but it’s impossible to do if I’m distracted first.” Marcy stared at him. “Your kind are so different from our society I guess, where men have all the power.”

“Indeed. While all are not like Brigid, the exceptional females are difficult to find and often taken. For a time, we indulged in temporary breeding contracts to procreate without bonding to replenish our numbers after the dark ages. Females wanted cubs without the bond.”

“Do you...?”

“Have a child?”

“Nevermind. None of my business.”
And I really don’t want to know unless it swoops in to eat me for stealing its daddy
.

“Marcy.” Teo kissed her. “Once, I tried. But without a soul bond between dragons, breeding is a difficult thing. I am childless.”

Marcy exhaled a relieved breath. “I mean, not like it matters if you do or anything. I love ancient dragon kids.”
Great. No jealous or judgmental stepchildren in my future.

Once clothed appropriately, Teo prepared the boat but placed Marcy in charge of its navigation halfway to their destination.

“Teo, wait. Stop! I don’t know what I’m doing here.”

“There is no better time to learn,” he assured her.

“Not all of us are dragon-fast learners,” she grumbled.

Despite Marcy’s concerns, she didn’t capsize the boat, drown them, or crash against invisible obstacles in the water. Their arrival to the resort was met with enthusiasm from the staff. His employees greeted the couple with respect and handled the mooring lines for him.

“What would you like to do?”

“Well, I’ve already seen all the attractions. Maybe dinner. Oh, and dancing.” Marcy seemed to consider the last bit and slanted a curious gaze at him. “
Can
you dance?”

As an answer, Teo tugged her in close by one hand and dipped Marcy back. “If dancing is your wish you will not be disappointed.”

Hand in hand, they walked along the beach looking like any other lovers out for a stroll. They shared a daiquiri served in a coconut shell and talked about Teo’s plans for the island. He dreamed of expanding his vision and creating several more eco-friendly resorts across the world.

“Picture, sir?” A chipper voice called over, belonging to a young woman in a Staff Polo shirt.

Marcy lifted a hand to shade her eyes and smiled at the approaching staff photographer. She, Chloe, and Astrid had pictures from all over the island thanks to the roving photo crew.

It’s a shame Teo dislikes having his picture taken.
The thought was a sad one in many ways. “Oh, no thank y—”

“Yes,” Teo interrupted. “I would like a picture with you, Marcy.”

Touched beyond measure, she leaned in close to his side, tilted her face for its best angle, and smiled for the camera. If this was going to be her only picture of Teo, she wanted it to be a good one.

“Here’s your ticket, Mr. Arcillanegro. It’ll be ready in an hour.”

“Gracias, Adelaide.”

“Do you know everyone by name?” Marcy asked when they were alone again.

“All those in my employ, yes.” Teo looked down at her. “Does this surprise you?”

“A little, considering you always called Kekoa ‘my servant’ or something of the like until I mentioned it.”

Eventually, as the sun began its descent toward the horizon, her dragon led her into one of the fancier restaurants on the island. They ate by candlelight and enjoyed glasses of red wine with their pasta dishes. Marcy passed on dessert and pulled Teo toward the dance floor instead.

As with everything he did, her lover moved with grace and finesse. He held Marcy close and guided her across the empty space. The smooth strains of Latin jazz encouraged slow, swaying steps. Teo dipped her back low over his arm and pressed a gentle kiss against her collarbone in a very public display of affection.