Page 253 of The Dragon 2

Chapter forty-eight

Aching Surrender

Nyomi

His voice cracked. “Tora.”

My heart boomed in my ears.

He lifted his head and his eyes were wild. Sweat rolled down his temple.

And that look. . .

It was devotion.

It was obsession.

It was awe.

It was danger.

When he spoke, I realized that his voice had changed too and it wasn’t a drop in pitch. It was a drop in temperature.

The tone I’d come to crave—warm, sensual, teasing—cooled into something darker, lower, honed like a blade that had tastedtoo much blood and knew the cut before it made it. “I’m going to put you down now, Tora.”

The muscles in his arms tensed as he held me against the wall as even releasing me required restraint. His cock had gone soft, but his presence had grown sharper.

Bigger.

The Dragon had returned. “And Tora. . .I want you to put that cape back on as quickly as possible, but please stay in this room. Okay?”

“O-okay.” I nodded fast. “D-do you think we’re in danger?”

“No, Tora.” His eyes didn’t blink. “Right now I’m the most dangerous man in this fucking building.”

Fear filled my chest.

He didn’t release me right away. Instead, he kissed me, and it was fierce, slow, and almost final like a lover preparing to walk into war. His lips dangerously claimed mine, and I kissed him back like I didn’t care who he had to kill.

I unwrapped my legs from around him and my heels touched the floor.

He lowered me gently. The moment he stepped back, a different man looked at me. For a breathless second, the light shifted in the space. And I swear—behind him, cast on the wall—was the shadow of a dragon. Not a man. Not Kenji. A beast that was seething and monstrous. Wings. Horns. Smoke.

I blinked and it was gone, but I still felt it in my bones. The man in front of me was now the Dragon from the office many days ago, the beast I had seen when I first entered and met him.

He sneered. “I will be right back.”

“Okay, but. . .” My hands shook. “Maybe you should check to make sure you should go out or see if everything is okay. I know you are you but—”

“Everything will be fine.” He stormed across the room, muscles taut beneath golden skin.

“How do you know?”

“Because men would have already been in here by now, if it wasn’t.” He grabbed his pants and quickly put them on. “My people are efficient.”

“So. . .whatever the threat was. . .it’s gone?”

“Hopefully not completely.”