Page 9 of Ronen (Sweet Alps Legacy #1)

I was glad I hadn’t bothered grabbing a duck to put on his stupid Jeep this morning. Mr. Grouchy Pants did not deserve any of my ducks today.

“Excuse me! We have kids in here, Sheriff. Watch your language.”

Stomping back over to him, I leaned over the counter, breathing in his…fucking hell, why did he always smell like marshmallows toasted over an open fire? Sweet with a touch of fire .

My dragon sighed happily, and my cock twitched in my jeans. Both of them needed to go back to sleep and mind their business.

“It’s ten in the morning on a Tuesday,” I told him between gritted teeth. “There are no kids in here right now. There is pretty much no one, except a couple of people not paying us any attention.”

Though now we seemed to have their full attention, as they both stopped perusing the stacks and were staring at the scene we were putting on for them, whispering excitedly to each other.

“Watch your mouth regardless,” Ronen hissed between his own gritted teeth, as he leaned close to me. His green eyes were spitting fire, and he clearly was looking for a home for that bad temper of his.

My eyes landed on his lips, those lips of his. Just the perfect amount of fullness, the top one shaped into a bow. His lips were a perfect bow. How had I never noticed that before, and why did I find that so fascinating?

Pink, plump, bow shaped, and oh so kissable.

He hadn’t shaved this morning–actually it looked like he hadn’t shaved in a couple of mornings–his lips, chin, and cheeks covered by the perfect length of dark stubble.

What would that feel like, scraping against my skin? Goosebumps broke out across the skin of my arms just thinking about it.

Delicious! My dragon sighed dreamily, jerking me out of the lust haze I had fallen into staring at Ronen’s lips. Kiss him!

I will not kiss him.

I wanted to kiss him. So, so much.

Which was half the problem, because I had wanted to kiss Ronen since the first day I had met him .

Wanted to kiss him and do a hell of a lot more than just kissing.

Wanted to lean over the counter, erase that last little inch that separated us, and devour his lips beneath mine. Wanted to see if he tasted as good as he smelled. Would he taste like sugar and smoke? Like a toasted marshmallow in my mouth?

Would he be pliant in my arms, or would he fight me, just a tiny bit, before he gave himself over to me?

What would he sound like when he moaned? Breathless and high, or low and throaty?

Better yet, what would he sound like when he came?

Would he be quiet, dignified, or would he shout in my ears, and scream the house down.

Goddess, I hoped he screamed.

Ronen was breathing hard now, his chest rising and falling rapidly, but his eyes had lost some of the heat of anger, replaced by…just heat. His pupils were dark and wide, taking up nearly all the green in his eyes.

“You’re staring again,” he whispered, the sound low and breathy, a combination of how I thought he might sound in the throes of passion and something richer, darker. The noise made my cock twitch and push against the seam of my jeans insistently.

My tongue licked my suddenly dry lips, and I stared at him another few seconds, before pushing away from the counter.

Putting some desperately needed space between the charged air between us, both our pheromones filling the space. “We’ll deal with this tomorrow.”

Even I wasn’t sure if I was talking about the book I needed to pay for, or whatever the fuck had just happened between us .

Make no mistake, I one hundred percent had a crush on Ronen Sinclair.

Had from the first moment I had walked into the library, and he had flashed those gorgeous eyes of his at me, looking all buttoned up and prissy.

But this–whatever this was–was something new. Much more than a fun, flirty crush. This was pure lust and raw need. This was a fire burning with no end in sight.

This was a need that threatened to consume me.

And I was not up for dealing with it today.

Without another word, I walked across the lobby, turning the handle on the door with more force than necessary.

Practically running down the steps, I heard Ronen shout, “Don’t you dare!”

Oh, I dared all right! I was going to just go figure out my shit, after some sleep–

“Oof!”

The cry left my lips involuntarily, when what felt like two hands slammed into my shoulder blades with enough force to push me forward on the step. Next thing I knew, my feet slipped out from beneath me, and I was tumbling ass over tea kettle down the hard, concrete steps.

Did I say hard? Because those steps were super hard.

My right elbow banged painfully against a step on the way down, and when my ankle gave a sickening crunch, I might have screamed. Maybe. Surely that high pitched cry belonged to someone else and not me.

Finally, I came to a stop, sprawled upside down across the last two steps, my head nearly on the sidewalk. My hat was who knew where, and I stared blurrily up at the very blue, late January sky, not quite comprehending what had just happened .

Blinking to try to clear my vision, I raised my head up an inch, then thought better of it when pain flared from everywhere , and I let it flop back down.

“Ow,” I winced, the back of my head tender. My stomach was turning itself inside out, and I took a deep breath, trying not to puke up the pop tart I had scarfed down this morning, all over Ronen’s precious steps.

Fuck, everything hurt.

My ankle was throbbing in time to my heart, and I was pretty sure I had felt it snap. My elbow was hurting just as much, each fighting to see who could make me see stars the most.

Pounding feet suddenly sounded from every direction, and several slightly blurry heads leaned over me.

“Move out of the way, folks,” a voice laced with quiet authority ordered, and then Hank Anderson, one of my deputies, was leaning over me. “Don’t move, Mason. Ambo is on the way.”

Closing my eyes, I whispered, “Not sure I could move right now if I needed to.”

“Mason!”

That voice…was that Ronen?

Yelling my name, with panic lacing his voice.

Surely, I was hearing things. The fall must have scrambled my brains.

He was probably afraid I was going to sue the library for…

icy steps? Were they icy? I didn’t remember them being icy when I had gone up them.

Ronen was a stickler for keeping them clean, because even with the back entrance, a lot of people still used the front with all the steps. Like Mrs. Everett with her cane.

The steps had been clear.

No, I was sure I had felt hands push me from behind. Positive in fact .

“Move!” Ronen barked. “Let the man get some air.”

Narrowing my eyes at Ronen when he crouched next to me, his hands hovering like he wanted to touch me but wasn’t sure if, or where, he should, I accused, “Did you push me?”