Natalie blinked her eyes open in confusion when she felt strong hands shaking her.

“Hey. You fell asleep. I just wanted to let you know I’m gonna take off.”

Natalie blinked again, disoriented, and tried to figure out where she was and who was talking to her. Her vision finally came into focus on a familiar face, and she couldn’t help but smile. Kurt was sitting on the edge of the couch, and he looked so handsome in the dim lamplight of her living room.

Natalie rubbed her forehead. “Sorry. I guess I was tired.”

“Not surprising,” he said, his nose scrunching up adorably as he looked down at her. “It’s been a long day. Actually, I think it’s after midnight now, so technically it was a long day yesterday.”

Natalie groaned. She needed to get to bed and yet she was reluctant to let Kurt leave. Frantically, she tried to think of some excuse to make him stay, but everything she came up with was far too obvious. So she just groaned again. He must have mistaken her groaning for exhaustion, because he laughed and sat down beside her, rubbing her back. She was sprawled out across the entire couch, the throw blanket she’d been using in a tangled mess around her limbs. She could feel the warmth emanating from Kurt’s body on her stomach, which was about where his back was positioned at the moment.

“You’re freezing cold,” he said, his voice filling with concern. He straightened the blanket out and rubbed her back even harder.

“Yeah,” Natalie murmured, wishing he would keep rubbing her like that forever. It felt so good. “I guess I got a little more chilled than I thought today.”

“But that was hours ago. How are you still so cold?”

Natalie shrugged slightly, her shoulders rising under the blanket. “I’m not a dragon. I don’t have an internal heater to keep me warm.”

Kurt gave her a long hard look, as though struggling with a decision he needed to make. Then, he lifted the blanket and lay down next to her underneath it, pressing his body against hers as he pulled the blanket back over both of them.

“I can warm you up,” he said. His voice was low and earnest, and Natalie felt her heart pounding. It was impossible to ignore the sudden rush of desire that filled her when their bodies were this close. She closed her eyes, hoping that she could avoid giving away how she felt. She told herself that he was just doing this to be a good friend and warm her up. She shouldn’t get carried away and start thinking that it meant more than it did.

But when she felt his erection growing, pressing against her body through his clothes, she knew she wasn’t the only one filled with those feelings. She opened her eyes and found Kurt looking directly at her, an intensity in his gaze that she had never seen before. She trembled slightly, but did not pull away from him. Not that she could have pulled away very far. Her back was to the couch’s back, so there was nowhere for her to escape to. That was alright with her, though. She didn’t want to escape. She wanted to stay here in Kurt’s arms all night. His erection was full and stiff now, and she couldn’t help feeling a thrill at the thought of having it inside her. She told herself to stop letting her fantasies run away with her. Kurt had never acted on any kind of romantic tension between them before. Still, what if tonight was the night?

Kurt pulled her closer then, and rubbed his face against the hair that was falling around her face. She’d had her hair up in a ponytail earlier, but much of it had come loose over the course of the night, probably because she’d kept twirling it between her fingers. It was a nervous habit of hers, and she had a lot on her mind.

Kurt’s body did do a good job of warming her up. He’d only been snuggled in beside her for a minute or two, and she already felt better. But she wasn’t about to tell him that. She didn’t want to give him an excuse to leave the couch. She would have been content to lie here with him all night long. It felt so good to have such strong arms around her, and such a warm body heating her own. She had the brief thought that she could get used to this, but she pushed the thought away. Just because Kurt was attracted enough to become hard when he had his arms around her didn’t mean they had any kind of future together. He lived in a shifter-wizard town, after all, and he didn’t seem interested in moving. And Natalie certainly wasn’t interested in leaving Chicago to join a clan. Kurt may have given up on avoiding shifters and wizards, but Natalie wasn’t ready to submit herself to a High Council again.

If Kurt felt any of the anxiety about the future that she did, he didn’t show it. Instead, he let out a contented, sexy sigh as he moved his face in front of hers again, looking so deeply into her eyes that she felt like he was trying to see into her soul.

“Warming up?” he asked. The concern in his tone nearly undid her. He cared about her. Really cared.

She nodded and smiled. “Yes. Thank you. It’s amazing how much heat a dragon shifter can generate.”

He looked pleased, and then, to her surprise, he moved his face forward and gave her a gentle kiss. It was a soft, brief kiss, but it was a kiss. And the minute Kurt’s lips touched Natalie’s, she knew she was a lost cause. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and the heat in her body intensified.

“Surprised?” he asked, grinning a bit. She must have had a bit of a shocked expression on her face.

“I, well, it’s that…yes. Yes, I am a little surprised. We’ve been friends for so long and you’ve never made any sort of move on me before. Why now?”

His grin faded into a more determined expression, and he reached up to stroke her face with his finger as he spoke. “I should have been kissing you from the very first moment I met you, Nat. I didn’t before because I was so afraid of the future, and of how things could possibly work out between us.”

I’m still afraid of the future, Natalie thought. But she said nothing.

“But I’m not going to be afraid this time. I know there are a lot of details that would need to be worked out if we were to pursue any sort of future together. I’m hoping I could convince you to move with me to Torch Lake.”

“You can’t,” Natalie said flatly. She hated to break up the romantic moment with this heavy dose of reality, but if Kurt was making decisions about how far he wanted to take things between them, he should know the truth.

Kurt didn’t seem fazed by her terse statement, though. He only smiled, and lifted his shoulders in a slight shrug. “There must be something we can figure out. I don’t want to worry too much about details right now. I worried too much about details back in Falcon Cross, and I thought I’d lost you forever because of it. I thought I’d never have a chance to do this.”

He kissed her again, longer this time. He seemed to be testing the waters, and seeing how far she was willing to let him take things. In truth, she would have let him take things all the way to making love to her. But she felt like she could never say that out loud. How could she let him continue to kiss her and touch her, knowing that she would never move back to the shifter-wizard world with him?

Still, she found it impossible to pull away. Her body was responding so strongly to his, and she wanted this. Needed this. It had been so long since she’d felt truly loved and understood by anyone. Was there anything wrong with enjoying one night with Kurt, if one night was all it was? Perhaps they didn’t have a future, but they had tonight. They had this moment, right here. Many people went their whole lives without even that much.

And so, Natalie did not pull away when Kurt went to kiss her again. This time, he let his tongue slip into her mouth. She felt like her body was on fire now. It was hard to remember that just a few minutes earlier she’d felt like she would never be warm again. Kurt’s heat had flooded into her body, transmitted by some seemingly magical force. All she knew was that she’d never burned for anyone like this, and she loved the feeling. She wanted to savor the moment.

Kurt seemed to be savoring the moment, too. His kiss was deep, slow, and tender. His tongue danced with her tongue while his hands ran up and down her body. He was drinking her in, like he was quenching a thirst that he’d had for a very long time.

Natalie knew exactly how he felt.

She had craved this for years. She hadn’t even realized until this moment that Kurt was what had been missing in her life. It had been so hard to say goodbye to him back in Falcon Cross, and she was realizing now that she had never fully recovered from the sadness. He had been her best friend, but she had always wished for more than just friendship with him. Now, by a series of strange coincidences, he was back in her life and she was getting a second chance at more than just friendship. She pushed away the little voice in her head that said this could never last. She didn’t want to rationalize things or think about the future. She just wanted more of Kurt.

She moaned softly as he pressed his body closer to hers, then was slightly embarrassed that she’d done that. But Kurt didn’t seem to notice. He was too busy kissing her. Natalie squeezed her eyes open for just a second to look at his face in front of hers. In the dim lamplight, his skin seemed to glow. His eyes were closed as he concentrated on their kiss, and Natalie closed her own eyes once again. That was the moment she knew there was no turning back.

This was a crazy, reckless thing to do, but she was going to do it. She was going to let Kurt Watford make love to her, and she wasn’t going to care what the fallout would be.

As if he sensed the shift in her, his kiss became more urgent, and his hands on her body moved with greater firmness. Natalie could feel the hunger in his touch. He wanted her, and knowing that made the desire within her grow. She could feel a trembling in her thighs, and a tingling sensation running across every inch of her body. This man, whom she had loved as a dear friend, was quickly becoming much more than just a friend. She could feel the stiffness of his erection and the wetness of desire between her legs. This night was not ending with him going home and leaving her to an empty apartment, of that she was now sure. Her heart leapt at the thought, and she clung tightly to the fabric of his shirt as she kissed him all the harder.

He sensed the intensity in her movements, and responded in kind. He held her tighter, and kissed her more fiercely, until Natalie could feel both his and her heart pounding. The heat beneath the blanket was nearly unbearable now, and Kurt flung it off onto the living room floor. Then he reached for her shirt and began to tug it off. Natalie had always been a bit shy about these sorts of things, worried that a man wasn’t going to like what he saw when the clothing came off. She’d avoided relationships largely because of this. But now, with Kurt, there was no shyness. All she felt was a desperate need to have his skin against her skin.

Kurt felt that desperation, too. She could tell by the way he pulled so aggressively at the fabric between them, growling in frustration when an article of clothing didn’t come off as quickly as he’d like. Shirts, pants, and underwear were all thrown in a heap on the floor, until at last both of them lay naked on the couch with each other. Natalie’s chest rose and fell rapidly. Her breasts felt heavy and full, as though the force of her desire for Kurt had somehow made them grow. He reached for them with his hands first, cupping them with his palms and shaking his head in wonder.

“God, these are perfect. You’re perfect,” he said. And then he took her nipples in his mouth, sending a fresh wave of tingling desire through her body as his warm tongue and sharp teeth teased the hard nubs. Natalie squeezed her eyes shut and drank in the incredible sensations that filled her. She ran her hands up and down Kurt’s bare back as he chewed on her nipples, and she marveled at how strong he was. She let her hands slide down to his ass, squeezing hard and pulling his stiff erection closer to her. He trembled when she did this, and she smiled in satisfaction. It was nice to know she had this effect on him.

The only sounds in the condo were their heavy breathing and the occasional smack from Kurt’s lips as he continued to pleasure her breasts with his mouth. Natalie had never felt an ecstasy like this before. With Kurt’s naked body next to hers, his skin on her skin, his hands on her lower back, and his mouth on her nipples, she felt like she was in a state of constant overstimulation. But she loved it. The tingling pressure and searing heat grew, centering in her core and spreading to her extremities. She was so wet with desire that she was sure the couch beneath her must be soaked, but she didn’t care. All she cared about was that Kurt was driving her crazy, and she wanted more of that crazy.

He wanted more, too. After several minutes of kissing, kissing itself was no longer enough. He shifted his hips forward, and pressed the head of his dick against her dripping wet entrance. It was like he was knocking on the door, asking if he could come in. Natalie wanted nothing more than for him to come in, so she pressed her hips forward too, inviting him.

Come in, come in, come in, she thought, begging him with her thoughts. She could not speak aloud right now, though. The energy it would take to talk seemed insurmountable. Her whole being was focused on one thing: taking in all of the pleasure that Kurt was giving her. It was almost too much to handle, and she wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

He let out a low, satisfied growl, when she made it clear she wanted him inside of her. He positioned himself so that he was right in front of her dripping wet entrance, and then, with one big thrust, he was inside of her.

Natalie felt like she had just given in to something she had been trying to resist for years. This was a bit absurd, since she hadn’t seen Kurt or consciously thought about him much in the last few years. But perhaps he had always been there in her heart, just below the surface. She had been yearning for him without knowing what it was she yearned for.

Now, Natalie drank in the relief she hadn’t even known she needed. Her back was pressed against the soft couch, her front was pressed against Kurt’s strong, muscular body, and his rock hard erection was deep inside her. She’d seen him naked a few times before, since shifters were always naked when they shifted back to human form. And she had definitely noticed in those times that he had the body of a god. She’d shyly glanced at his dick before, hoping he wouldn’t notice that she was looking, so she’d already known he was huge. But knowing this in her head and feeling him deep inside of her were two entirely different things.

He filled her completely, hitting every sensitive nerve ending, and pushing against her inner walls to make room for himself. The sensation felt incredible. Natalie moaned and pressed her hips against him, and he responded by thrusting into her harder and deeper. Every movement he made inside of her felt like it was setting off a thousand wondrous fireworks. How was it possible for anyone to feel this good?

He continued to move, slow and steady. Even still, there was an urgency in his movements. A hunger. She realized then that he had wanted this a long time, too. He wasn’t just suddenly overcome with lust. He had been fighting off feelings of deep desire for years. He wasn’t just fucking her right now. He was truly making love to her. Natalie almost wanted to cry at the realization. Had she ever been truly loved before? She didn’t think so. And she definitely hadn’t been loved by a man as amazing as Kurt.

That was the moment she gave in to her release. High on the realization that the man inside of her cared deeply for her, she let go. The pure pleasure washed over her in waves, each stronger than the last. She moaned as a fire seemed to fill her core, even hotter than what she’d been feeling before. That fire spread all throughout her body, making even her toes feel like they were going up in flames. It was a delicious, pleasurable fire, though. The heat seemed to renew her, and make her feel like she had never been as close to another human being as she was to Kurt right now. Her inner muscles clenched around him with every wave of her release, claiming him as her own. The tingling pressure that had been building within her seemed to burst in an explosion of pure bliss.

Kurt let out another low growl, obviously pleased by the effect he was having on her. His thrusting became more urgent, and his hands on Natalie’s back squeezed her closer to him. She could tell he was close to joining her in this ecstasy, and a few moments later, he did. He thrust into her one more time and then stiffened and roared as his release took over his body. Natalie could feel him pulsing within her, and she trembled anew at the awe that filled her. She had done this to him. She, who had never felt like anything particularly special, had just brought immense pleasure to a dragon shifter. A dragon shifter whom she had just fallen head over heels in love for.

This thought scared her and excited her at the same time. She didn’t want to think about how complicated the future might be, so she closed her eyes tightly and only let herself think of now, and of how wonderful Kurt felt inside of her. They lay like that in silence for a long time, simply basking in each other’s presence. Finally, Kurt stood and lifted her off the couch, carrying her into her bedroom and tucking her in under the comforter. He slid in beside her, and they drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms. Natalie was glad for his warmth, and for the happiness that today had brought them both. She drifted off to sleep on a cloud of contentment.

But when the morning sun broke through the clouds and shone on Natalie’s face, waking her with the bright light of a new day, Natalie felt an uneasy feeling growing in her stomach. Everything had been too easy thus far. They’d found the Dark Warriors’ headquarters on the first day, and Kurt and she had discovered their long held passion for each other that same night. Natalie knew that there was a lot to work out still, though, and the thought filled her with a sense of foreboding as she slipped out of bed to take a shower and get ready for the day. She glanced back at Kurt’s sleeping form, and felt a pang of sadness.

She had a feeling that, despite her strong feelings for him, their lives were going to prove far too different to make this work. Only time would tell.