Matthew
Jessica’s jaw drops open, but no sounds come out.
I guess that’s what I get for scaring the poor girl. Why did I have to go and drop the whole “you’re my mate” thing on her? Why couldn’t I have been smooth like some of the other guys I know? Casa and Fee and Lyon would have been completely seductive in a situation like this. Hell, even Joyce would have held her own. Me, though? I have to go and freak the poor girl out. Typical me. Typical Matthew.
It’s moments like this I feel less like a dragon and more like a big ol’ bumbly bear.
I’m awkward.
I’m shy.
I’m clumsy.
I’m so many things that girls don’t like and right now, I feel like I should be anywhere but here. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe there’s no such thing as mates and maybe I really am just a screw-up. It’s possible that my emotions are completely messed up from finding out I have a daughter I didn’t know about. Maybe I misread this whole situation.
For a long minute, I don’t say anything, and neither does she. I brace myself, preparing for her to tell me I’m taking advantage of her. It’s pretty weird, after all. My former lover passes away and I return to meet my daughter, only to fall in love with the nanny? It sounds like something out of a bad romance novel. Still, I can’t help the way I feel. I can’t help the fact that Jessica is the most incredible woman I’ve ever laid eyes on, and something deep inside of my soul tells me that I would do anything for her.
She’s the one.
And then Jessica does something I’m not expecting.
“Matthew,” she whispers, and then she kisses me. She actually kisses me. Her lips are soft against mine. She kisses me slowly, with hesitation. She’s not really sure if she’s supposed to be doing this, either, but she’s giving it a chance. That in itself gives me the courage to try, too. I reach for her, pulling her closer, and run my hands through her hair.
“Jessica,” I murmur, and I deepen our kiss. Fireworks shoot off in my head as we touch each other. This shouldn’t feel as powerful or as wonderful as it does. I’ve never felt a kiss this strongly before. It’s going from the top of my head to the tips of my toes and everywhere in-between.
She moves her hands over my back and then to my chest. She runs her small, delicate fingertips over the front of my shirt, and then she slides her fingers beneath the fabric. I feel her touching my skin, and it feels like fire. Suddenly, my entire body feels hot and needy. I’ve never felt anything like this.
I’m glad I swung back to the boat to grab my clothes from Kelsey after I shifted into dragon form. If I had arrived here naked and was in this situation, I don’t know what I would do. Explode from desire, I imagine. As it is, the fabric between us feels like nothing, and I’m fighting back the urge to come right here in my pants like an untrained teenager.
Still, I hold carefully in place as Jessica explores my body with her fingers. I’m worried that any wrong move might frighten her. I’m nervous I might scare her away if I so much as shift to the right or left. Instead, I stay where I am, and I keep kissing her deeply as she roams.
“You’re very pretty,” she murmurs.
“I’ve never been told that before,” I admit, but the compliment warms me. It feels good and genuine to be told I’m a pretty man. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it’s because I’ve always felt I was a little too rugged to be considered handsome.
“Pssh,” she whispers, kissing my neck. “Those girls are idiots.”
“Not all girls are idiots.”
She pulls back and looks at me carefully. “Anyone who can’t see what you’re worth is stupid in my book, Matthew. Just look at you,” she traces my jaw with her fingertips, stroking the stubble that’s beginning to grow. It’s been a rough week, and shaving hasn’t been at the top of my priority list. “You’re perfect.”
“Why are you telling me this?” I ask. I want her to promise she really is my mate. I want her to tell me she feels it, too. I want her to confirm that I’m not going crazy, that she feels this, too.
“You know why.”
“Say it, Jessica.”
She takes a deep breath and she closes her eyes. For a minute, I think she’s going to shake her head and break the spell. For a minute, I wonder what I’ll do if she tells me I really am completely bonkers, but I don’t need to worry because she opens her eyes and smiles. That smile melts my whole heart, and she kisses me again.
“I feel it, too,” she says. “I always thought mates were a myth.”
“I thought so, too.”
“Did your parents tell you stories when you were little?”
“They did,” I tell her.
“You’re a dragon,” she says. It’s not a question.
“I grew up on here on the island. My parents still live here.” They’ve probably seen Brooke around the island before and didn’t even know she was their granddaughter. How is my mother going to react when she meets her for the first time? I foresee tears, laughter, and more cookies than Brooke has probably ever had in her life. Michelle’s parents passed away long ago, so as far as I know, Brooke has never known she has grandparents still alive. I’m so excited to get to meet my little girl, but I’m also so excited for her to meet my parents.
“Mine, too,” she says. “I’m a shifter, too.”
“You’ve never felt this before?”
“Never. Have you?”
I shake my head. “I always supposed the stories my mother told me were just fairy tales, to be honest. She claims my father is her one true mate, and he says the same, but it never made sense until now.”
“I was scared when Tyrone told me he wrote to you,” Jessica confesses. “I was angry. I was just at his office this morning.”
“You were afraid I was going to take Brooke away and never let her see you again.”
“Yes,” Jessica nods. “I didn’t know you. I mean, I still don’t. Maybe you want to bring her somewhere else to live. I don’t know.” She shrugs. “The only thing that’s really changed is that we have this incredible connection now and somehow, that makes me feel like I can trust you to make the right choice.”
“Jessica, I’m not leaving the island.”
Her eyes go wide. “But your job,” she says. “School.”
“I graduated from law school last month,” I tell her. “I have a job, but I’m going to leave. I’ll come here. Surely Dragon Isle has use for lawyers. Brooke has been through so much that I can’t stand the thought of making her leave her home.”
“You’d give up the life you’ve built for her?”
“She’s my daughter, Jessica. I will do anything for her. I haven’t even met her yet, but I love her. I’m not going to tear her from her home. She’s just lost her mother and she’s about to gain a father, but I can’t make her change schools. I can’t take her away from the only community she’s ever built. Even if I have to change career fields, that’s fine. I’ll do it. I’ll do anything for her.”
Jessica tears up then, and she wraps her arms around me.
“Matthew,” she says. “You are a good man: a good dragon.”
Then she kisses me again.