NINETEEN
Avery slowly perused the old leather books in the cabin’s formal library. Ker lit a fire in the fireplace with a puff of fuel from his dragon. That had to be handy as shit if stuck in the wilderness at night. Then he left her alone, looking at photos.
On a shelf with pictures, she picked up one with Jae, Ker, and others she didn’t know. The photo was one of those sepia toned, old timey fun photos where women dressed up in Victorian gowns and men put on the suits and hats worn in the 1800s. She and some friends had this kind of photo taken at an amusement park. They dressed as bar saloon waitresses with the corset tops and short skirts. It was fun.
Jae looked rather hot in the suit he wore in the picture. It fit him perfectly. She had to say that Ker was cute and had a great body like Jae did, but the desire, the raw emotions that drew her to Jae weren’t there for Ker. He couldn’t be her mate. But could Jae be Hannah’s? She saw him holding her while she cried a little bit ago. She didn’t know what it was about, but a tang of jealousy hit her hard. She wanted Jae.
And everyone knew Jae wanted her, but did he really anymore? Why was she questioning herself about this? Her heart said Jae and she had her mark and that was that. Jae was her mate. She would proceed with that as a fact. Even though Jae didn’t have his, he didn’t need it. She had hers. That was enough.
Like she had a fucking clue on anything about dragons.
The doors to the library opened. Jae stuck his head in. “There you are. I’ve been looking for you. You disappeared on me.” He came over and wrapped his arms around her and breathed her in. His chest vibrated a growl against hers. Was his dragon happy?
He pulled away and lifted her chin to meet his eyes. “I smell your worry. What’s wrong? If it’s about Hannah’s cancer event with the kids, don’t worry about it. I’ve got it covered.”
“Covered?” she asked. “How?”
He took her hand and led her to the sofa in front of the fire. “Don’t worry about it. Everything will go off without a hitch.” His devilish grin warmed her inside more than the fire did her outside.
Her body ached for another taste of him. From the moment they arrived, she’d been fantasizing about getting him naked. The fear she’d felt about moving so fast with him disappeared when she thought about love at first sight. She’d asked her mom about it that morning.
In an unusual lucid moment, she’d looked at Avery straight in the eyes and asked her, “Love at first sight?”
Avery nodded, watching her mother fill a tea cup and making sure she didn’t burn herself.
“Yes, you always said you and dad loved each other from the moment you met.”
Her mom gave her a rare wide smile, not the usual confused frown. “Oh, baby girl. Love at first sight exists. You know exactly what you’re feeling. Love is too special to be confused with anything else.”
It lasted all of a few minutes, but she had calmed all of Avery’s fears with those words. She knew what she felt for Jae. As strange as it was that it was from the moment they met, she loved him and now that she admitted it, she wanted more than just a kiss.
She gave in to the moment and pressed her lips to his. Not in that light touch from before, there was urgency now. She fumbled with his T-shirt, tugging at the bottom of it and pulling it up. He cupped her face and met her gaze with a fiery one of his own.
“Avery?”
She nodded. “More. I want more.”
More of what, she didn’t say. Everything. She wasn’t sure if that was enough for him to understand, but it seemed to be because he let her get his shirt off and he went back to kissing her like he couldn’t get enough of her. He tugged on her sweater, getting it over her head in no time.
His lips sucked on her breast over her lacy bra. The sensation sent her brain cells into overdrive.
Her pants and his came off in quick moves. She gave him all the credit because, at the moment, she could barely think straight with the way he was swirling his tongue over the valley of her breasts.
They switched positions. Now she was the one sitting on the sofa, naked and quite honestly unashamed. There just was no way she could feel anything other than beautiful with the way he looked at her. His eyes were bright again and god, he licked his lips. A lock of hair fell forward, softening his harsh features a little.
The palms of his hands were warm and strong as he got down on his knees and spread her legs apart, inhaling deep.
“You smell good,” he said softly.
“How? How do I smell?” She wanted to know.
Gliding his hands up her thighs, he brought his face close to her crotch, his gaze never wavering from her own. The hammering of her heart in her ears would make it near impossible to hear anything he had to say.
“Like spring and cupcakes. Fresh and delicious.”
Her belly quivered and need flooded each of her nerve endings. She’d never had a man say anything like that before. Now that Jae did it, she found she liked it.
“You…you smell good, too,” she said, trying to calm the ache growing for him.
He lifted the corner of his lips and planted a kiss on her inner thigh. A shiver raced down her back, making her grip the cushions on either side of her.
“Do you like that, love?”
She gulped. “Yes.”
He sat back on his heels. She didn’t expect for him to slip his arms under her legs and grab hold of her, pulling her ass forward and up, almost off the sofa. Her pussy was inches from his face. “What about this?”
He took a long lick from her entrance to her clit, sucking the tiny nerve bundle into his mouth.
A loud squeal sounded from her. “Holy fuck, Jae!”