FOURTEEN
Ker carried in an opened wine bottle, bottle of red soda, and two glasses and set them on the coffee table in the cabin.
“You feeling better?” he asked Tiana.
She stretched out on the sofa. “Yeah, I think with all we did today at the school, the food, then flying back, my body is tired and didn’t appreciate the ups and downs of wind currents. My stomach has settled, so I’m good for a glass of the vino you got there.”
“Wonderful,” Ker said. “You’re going to love this with your sweet tooth.”
“What’s the red stuff?” she asked.
Ker twisted off the cap and fizz squirted from the top. “It’s Italian Passion Fruit soda. Combine that with Moscato d’Asti, and voila. Sweet drink that has no alcohol taste.”
Tiana sipped the concoction then swallowed half the glass. “This is awesome. I could drink the whole bottle.”
Ker laughed. “Just what I want for the night. A sweet lush.” He leaned over and took her wet lips between his. Strawberry and Tiana—the perfect mix. He moaned and pulled away. “It is awesome.” He leaned back in. “More, please.”
She pecked him on the lips then scooted closer to snuggle under his arm as they reclined together.
“So, Ker. Tell me something cool about yourself,” she asked.
“Huh, oh,” Ker groaned.
She sat forward and looked at him. “What?”
“I am not very exciting. I’m quite boring, actually,” he replied.
She laughed at him. “I got you beat in that category. I’m a schoolteacher.”
“I don’t think so,” Ker disagreed. “Schoolteachers are the hottest thing right now. Especially ones as sexy as you.” He slid his hand up her thigh. Her arousal filled the air. He swallowed hard, trying not to get hard. He didn’t want to seem like a horn-dog after just meeting her face-to-face.
He knew this gorgeous woman beside him needed to know him better before she’d give her heart and body to him. And he was willing to work for the prize.
“Let’s see,” he said. “Like my brothers, for a time I protected a king’s chamber of gold and jewels.”
“That is so cool,” she exclaimed. “Wait,” she sat up, “how old are you?”
He feigned being appalled. “Don’t you know, little girl? You never ask a dragon how old he is or how much he weighs. Both are usually big numbers.”
Tiana laughed and pushed him at him. “Stop. Men don’t care.”
“You’re right,” he said. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against him. “Guess what else,” he teased.
“What?”
“You know all those stories about vicious dragons who guarded chasms of treasure and killed everyone who tried to get to it?”
Her brow popped up. “Yeah, a lot of stories of dragons.”
“The very first story was about me.”
She gasped. “No way! You are making that up.”
He laughed. “No, I’m not. Tor and my brothers guarded in their human form so the world didn’t know dragons existed. I said screw that. Much less work in dragon style.”
“Dragon-style. Is that anything like doggie-style?” Tiana asked. He froze, a million things going through his head at once. None of it good if his adorable little mate wanted to stay out of his bed. Suddenly, she burst out laughing. “I’m sorry,” she got out between laughs, “you walked into that, my dear.”
He nodded. He had to admit that he did. “Yeah, yeah. You got me there.”
She cuddled into his side. “What else have you done in your incredible life?”
“Well,” he started, “I studied under Beethoven for several years.”
“Oh my god!” Tiana said, nearly spilling her wine, sitting up to face him. “The Beethoven?”
Ker scratched his head. “I only know of one. The one who could play piano.”
“Who could play piano?” Tiana spit out. “That’s like saying Whitney Houston could sing. Or Emeril can cook.”
“Okay, yeah,” Ker said, “but what I mean is that most composers up to him composed and played the harpsicord. Beethoven did his work on the up and coming instrument called the piano.”
“Did you hear him play?” Tiana asked.
“I saw one of his last performances. You know he started going deaf in his upper twenties,” Ker told her. “And his piece Fur Elise, he supposedly wrote for the only woman he ever loved. For the only woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“What’s so amazing is that his best work came after he couldn’t hear. He was quite the young man before his hearing faded. His father was a rather stringent man; not fun, and didn’t seem like he loved his son as much as the potential money his son could make. But that was my impression from the one time I met him.”
“What was Beethoven like after he was deaf?” Tiana asked.
“Well, he stopped socializing and left the women alone. He became a hermit and did his composing alone. When he was with others, he carried around a notebook with paper so his friends could write out their questions for him. I think he felt really awkward.”
“So when did you study under him?” Tiana queried.
“Back then, musicians made their money by giving lessons. Beethoven would only tutor those who were exceptionally advanced or exceptionally pretty.”
Tiana laughed. “Which one were you?”
“Hey,” he said, tickling her. “I was damn sexy two hundred years ago.”
Laughing, Tiana squirmed around him. “Not much has changed, big boy.”
He set her empty wine glass on the coffee table and set her on his lap. “You are by far more gorgeous than anyone I’ve ever met.”
“And such a smooth talker,” Tiana cooed. “I bet you got everything you wanted.”
Ker laughed. “As long as it wasn’t Mom or Dad, then yeah, I got what I wanted. They knew all my tricks. What about your parents and family? What are they like?”
His mate’s sweet arousal turned sour with shame and sadness. Something wasn’t right.