Page 9

When the dragon uncurled his massive claw, she climbed down until she could plant her feet on the solid ground.

It amazed her how, in his grasp, she felt both strong and delicate.

Always being the one to care for everyone else and always a woman with more than her fair share of curves, it was rare for her to feel so expressly feminine in such a way.

Before she came, she had been on the collection team with so many men out in the junk and waste field between the Consumer Providence and the Dispatch District who did what she had done, tried to provide for their families.

None of them ever offered her a hand lifting old metal frames or machinery parts.

Hell, when she was sixteen and went to the employment center about one of the three openings for the job, the supervisor had looked at the groups of twelve women and two men.

He kept the men and called her out of the women—the rest he dismissed.

Too happy to have a job and to earn money on her accounts to help her parents keep a roof over their heads while they battled through the illness, Kai never questioned why he’d given the position to her.

But she knew. They saw a thick girl and thought, ‘big-boned,’ she could handle it.

However, she struggled every day she worked that job.

After each shift, she went home with cuts, bruises, quivering muscles, and the reality of her weakness.

Her intellect got her through it; she had to learn how to use stuff to counter the weight of things instead of using her might in the way the men did.

With Aodh, the dragon, everything was different. She was a woman in his heart and claws that he cherished and treated with tenderness.

A shimmering flash in the night happened, and all the dragon's mass was gone, soon Aodh touched her shoulder. “Stay right here. I’ll start a fire.”

“I won’t move.” She wasn’t crazy enough to try and stumble around blindly in the dark. She didn’t know where they were.

She heard Aodh moving around her, creating sounds like he was either gathering or dropping things. Then, there was the whoosh sound she’d grown accustomed to hearing before the sight of flame bursting from his mouth brightened the night.

Finally, she could see.

Aodh lit a pit fire of multiple heavy branches.

He stood beside it, dressed in his regular pants and vest attire.

The man was so damn gorgeous. She never tired of staring at the intense eyes, powerful aquiline nose, and strong, wide jawline.

His short jet-black hair made those features more prominent.

However, just like the beast, the man was a tower of power to behold.

Aodh’s big, thick muscles were always on display because of the vest the Drahk men seemed fond of wearing, which made her hands eager to touch and hold.

If the dragon made her feel delicate and cherished, then she was a passionate, desirable woman in the man's presence.

She loved every heated moment in his arms. The way he kissed her, touched her and drove into her deep and hard like he could fuse himself as a permanent part of her.

Even now, thinking about all the ways he mastered her body made her knees weak and her sex ache.

The quirk of Aodh’s sexy mouth let her know that he was aware of her observation of him and perhaps even had more than a glimpse of her admiring lusty thoughts.

She cleared her throat as something beyond him grabbed her attention. There sat a vast body of water, but unlike the intense movement of the ocean in the canyon, this one was calm, with small ripples.

“Is that Drago Lake?” She walked closer to him and the fire. He hadn’t only built a decent-sized fire but also set a thick log beside it for them to sit on.

Aodh glanced over his shoulder, then back at her, and frowned. “It is. Technically, it is what remains of what used to be the old state of Oklahoma’s Blue River. The shifting of land cut this section off. We renamed it in honor of our oldest living dragon. How do you know of it?”

“Chumana. She suggested I ask you to bring me here. But, with all of the other perplexing and wonderous things I saw, I forgot about it.” She shifted in the thick grass below her feet. “Maybe I can see it one day when it is light out.”

At the log, she began to drag the pack off her shoulders.

He quickly crossed to her and helped her remove the heavy pack. “Were you planning to feed an army?” He lifted the satchel up and down with one hand, checking the heft.

She laughed. “No. Just one dragon and a hungry babe.” She rubbed her stomach before she sat on the log. “But it’s heavy because of the pot inside. I never get to cook for you, and I wanted to make you a meal. Even if a simple one.”

The flames in his eyes flared canary as he claimed space next to her. “I’m excited to see and taste what you create.”

“Oh, don’t get your hopes up too high. I’ve never had as many items to work with as are available to me now. I want it to be hot and edible.” She removed two small pouches of nuts and dried fruit from the backpack. “We can snack on these until the stew is done.”

Aodh took the items, shook a handful, and popped the nuts into his mouth.

She glanced toward the water as she took the lid from the pot. “Will you walk with me to the lake to fill this?” She tapped the side of the empty pot.

“Would you like me just to go and fill it?”

“No. I’ve never seen water like the ocean or this lake. I want to get a closer look.” She rose.

“Then let’s go.” Aodh took the pot from her and slid his free hand against hers. Taking hold of her, he pulled her alongside him as they crossed the lush grass to the large body of water.

The water’s edge wasn’t far from where Aodh set up the fire. The flames' glow allowed her to see enough of it. The steady, calm flow of the water caused a soft lapping sound as it rolled back and forth on the muddy shore.

The ground beneath her feet was soft yet firm enough to stand on and not sink.

“What do you think?”

“It’s lovely.” She smiled. There was such a peace about standing by the lake. “I think I could spend long hours just sitting beside it and letting my mind drift.”

“Then I’ll bring you back here during the day so you can do just that.”

She shook her head. “You have too many responsibilities that need your attention for you to bring me all the way here. It would be a waste of time.”

He pulled her into his arms. “Nothing with you is a waste, little flame.” He leaned down and dragged his nose along her cheek to her ear. “If this is something you enjoy, we will do it as often as you like.”

Kai leaned into his chest. “Maybe every once in a while, it would be nice,” she admitted.

“I must teach you to accept that your needs and wants matter. And they are not an inconvenience.” He gave her a quick kiss.

She would have liked him to deepen it but had a stew to get on the heat. “I’ll try to remember that.” She turned toward the water. “Right now, I need to get cooking.”

Aodh stepped right to the water’s edge and stooped down. He dipped the pot into the water, scooped it up, and filled it. “How’s this?”

He held it up for her to peer inside.

“You can pour half of that out.”

Once the water was at the level she needed, they returned to the fire. Kai made quick work of getting all the dried meats, vegetables, and herbs into the water.

The big man beside her watched her work as he nibbled on the items in the smaller pouches.

When she placed the lid on it, she dusted off her hands and glanced at him. “Will you set this in the fire, but more towards the edge? I need it to cook fast but not boil over, and we lose our meal.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

She watched him as she ate her snack.

With ease, he picked up the pot, now laden with the water and the ingredients.

He moved close to the fire, and without mittens or concern for the flames, he set the pot right at the edge.

Aodh rearranged a few hot rocks he had ringed around the fire to keep it contained so the pot could balance perfectly in the heat.

It never ceased to amaze her how fire didn’t injure the dragon-shifters. They not only wielded and commanded it, but their bodies seemed to absorb it like hers reacted to moisturizer; it gained nutrients from the fire.

“Done.” He turned and smiled at her over his shoulder. “Anything else?”

“Nope.” She shook her head and finished off the dried fruit. “We just have to wait.” She frowned. “Sorry. It probably would have made more sense to make sandwiches instead of creating something that would take almost two hours.”

She felt like an idiot. Kai sighed.

Staying low, Aodh came over to her and placed his hands on her thighs. “Hey. It is perfectly fine. Nothing else on my agenda this night but spending time with you, mate.”

Reaching up, she cupped his face. “Thank you. You’re so kind to me.”

He slid his hands up to her hips. “It is not without ulterior motives, little flame.”

She caught the cobalt-blue flame dancing in his eyes. She caressed his jaw with her thumbs. “What are they?”

“Taking you for a swim.” He stood and tugged her to her feet.

“A what?”

“We have time, so we will spend some of it playing in the water.” He took hold of the belt at her waist and untied it.

“But...but. The stew.” When he reached up to drag her top off her shoulders, she covered his hands.

“You said it would take well over an hour. So, we have time.” In a flash, he had her shirt off and started on her pants.

“Aodh...” Kai glanced over her shoulder into the darkness beyond the firelight.

“No one else is here but us.” He dragged her pants over her hips and down her legs, placing kisses on her stomach and thighs. When her pants were at her ankles, he unlaced each of her boots and removed them.

“What about the scouts?” She placed a hand on his shoulder to keep her balance as she stepped out of the pants and glanced up to the sky.

He shrugged. “Maybe. But, they will not disturb us.”