Love Burns (8 page)

Barnum was still in an odd mood when they got back to Calder’s house, but Olivia decided not to press him on it.

After they ate dinner, Barnum went upstairs to the guest room where he’d been sleeping, which was odd, because normally he’d hang around pestering Olivia and Calder with stupid questions until Calder invented an errand for him to run.

“Where do fire dragons get their flames?” he’d ask. Or, “Why is there no such thing as a ferret shifter?”

But not tonight. Tonight he was off mooning around about something he wasn’t yet ready to discuss.

Calder sat down next to Olivia on the couch and looked at his phone. “My mother just sent me a text wanting to know the exact date.”

“Exact date for what?” Olivia sat in the armchair facing him and raised an eyebrow in polite inquiry. She took a sip of the whiskey sour he’d just made her. There was something to be said for a man who knew what a woman’s favorite drink was and fixed it for her without asking.

Calder set the phone down and scowled. “Are you saying you don’t want to marry me?” he asked.

Olivia spluttered for a minute, then drained half her drink in one gulp. This was really happening. He wasn’t just having some fun with her while they pretended to be dating to fool or annoy Henrik “I… Well…you technically never asked!”

He nodded. “That’s a fair point. If I were to ask, would you want me to go down on…” his eyes gleamed wickedly “one knee?”

“You pervert, I know what you were going to say,” Olivia scoffed. “First of all, I would want the proposal to be a surprise, and secondly, I would want to have discussed life goals and made sure we were compatible.”

“Okay. In about a year, maybe two, I’d want to have dragonlings. I’ve always wanted a big family.”

She nodded. “Yes, I definitely want children. I want to work, but I might be willing to seek out a part-time position while the babies are young.”

“That works for me. Also, my wife has to have a fiery temper, a gorgeous full figure, and she must be phenomenal in bed. Do you know anyone like that?”

“Are we really talking about getting married? To each other?” Olivia said in wonder.

She hadn’t let herself believe it up until now. But the more she got to know Calder, and what a decent man he was, the more she could imagine a future with him. He was sexy, he was sweet when it counted and a jerk when he needed to be, he made her feel great about herself…

“Well, we do need to make sure we’re sexually compatible. I mean, I’m about ninety-eight percent sure, but…” Calder flashed a roguish grin at her.

“Ninety-eight percent!” she yelped indignantly.

He yanked her into his arms and kissed her passionately. Her lips parted and he played his tongue against hers in a long, sensuous slide before drawing back to nibble on her lower lip. He covered her breast with his palm and drew the pad of his thumb over her nipple, making her moan.

“Mmm…” he murmured against her lips. “Ninety-nine percent… But there’s no harm in double-checking…”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and let him press her back against the sofa, surrendering to his kiss and wriggling breathlessly beneath him until they were an ungainly tangle of arms and legs. He suckled at her earlobe, playing his fingers down to undo the top button of her shirt…

The doorbell rang.

He groaned. “Really?” Cursing under his breath, he got up to answer it. “I’ll get rid of them quickly,” he said.

The door was flung open and Alfreda Mortensen barreled in with her four children at her heels. She was holding a pan of lasagna covered in tinfoil.

“I came here to apologize,” Alfreda said, hurrying into the living room. “I am so sorry I was rude to you. I’d had a horrible day, and some woman told me I looked like a beggar, and I just…”

“Do I smell lasagna?” Barnum came down the stairs, looking considerably peppier.

“No apology needed,” Calder said quickly as Barnum took the lasagna from Alfreda. “This looks delicious! Maybe you can come back tomorrow and we’ll all have dinner together!”

“I’m hungry now,” Barnum protested, looking hopefully at the lasagna. “Let’s eat now.”

“You just ate,” Calder said, with a hint of a snarl in his voice. His eyes flashed red.

“Oh,” Alfreda said, catching a glimpse of their disheveled clothing and blushing. “Of course. We’ll come back tomorrow.”

“When?” Barnum asked.

Alfreda ignored him. “I just wanted you to know that I really appreciate you paying that electric bill, and I had no call to act like that.”

She gathered up the kids and headed towards the door. As she opened it, Teague stalked in, pushing his way past her and giving her a dirty look before he turned his gaze on Olivia with a smirk of gloating triumph.

Olivia’s heart sank. This couldn’t be good.

“Oh, hello, I don’t recall inviting you over here. Maybe because I didn’t,” Calder snapped at him.

“I have another offer for you,” Teague said triumphantly to Olivia. “A very good offer. He’s even richer than Ichabod. And not quite as old.”

“I’m getting married. We just went ring shopping. We’re about to set a date,” Olivia said as Calder blasted a cloud of smoke from his nostrils.

“Well here’s the thing. I’ve been reading some of the finer points of the dragon codicil. You are the daughter of a Dominus. You may only be married to another Dominus – and Calder isn’t one. He can’t be one. You know why? Because he doesn’t have a clan.”

“Oh, but this is our clan,” Olivia said, gesturing at Alfreda and her children.

Teague snorted. “The halflings? They’re not even dragons!”

“Legally, they are,” Calder said. “Alfreda is, and her daughter is.”

“They’re ice dragons. You’re a fire dragon.”

“So? My brother married an ice dragon. He’s never been happier.”

Teague sucked in an angry breath. “They don’t live here. So they can’t be part of your clan.”

“Actually, they do live here. They’re moving into the guest house out back,” Calder said coolly. “They’re just about to head home and pack up their stuff.”

A cloud of icy vapor poured from Teague’s nose and scales covered his body as he glared at Calder with murder in his eyes. “This. Isn’t. Over,” he spat, and turned and stomped off. He got into his car and screeched out of the driveway.

“But what will you do when he comes back to check on you?” Alfreda asked.

“Well, you’ll be living here, of course,” Calder said.

“Mom! We’re really moving in here? We really have our own clan? Our own Dominus?” Robbie was dancing with excitement. “I bet nobody would pick on us if we had our own Dominus.”

“Robbie, you know we can’t take their charity,” Alfreda said, with a longing look on her face.

“What charity?” Calder scoffed. “I was expecting you could give up a couple of your jobs and clean house for me instead. I’m not saying that my darling bride-to-be is a less than talented housekeeper, but…”

“What he’s actually saying is that I am the worst at housecleaning, and I’m not the least bit offended by that,” Olivia said quickly. It was the only way to get Alfreda to accept Calder’s offer. “He appreciates what’s important about me – that I’m good at my job.” As she said it, she realized that it was true. And it made her feel great about herself.

Alfreda looked at her suspiciously. “You really want us to move in here.”

“I do want to start my own clan, and you’re one of the hardest-working women I know,” Calder said. “I would be proud to have you as members of my clan. I know the guest cottage is small, but I can start building an addition to it right away.”

“Small?” Alfreda said. “It’s twice the size of what we got now. If you really mean it…well, we’ll go get our stuff. But I’m warning you – your house will be spotless!”

“I consider myself warned.”

“I’ll help you pack,” Barnum said, and he handed the lasagna to Olivia.

“You don’t have to do that,” Alfreda protested.

“I figured you could pay me back in lasagna,” Barnum said, and they all headed out.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Calder asked Olivia.

“That for a fire dragon – no, actually, for any dragon – you’re really a great guy?”

“Well, no, I was thinking we’ve probably got a good two hours before they get back here and we have to help them unpack. And I am now literally going to rip your clothes off.”

He was as good as his word. He left her blouse halfway up the stairs and her panties dangling from the banisters. When they reached the top of the stairs, he ran out of patience and hoisted her over his shoulder, butt in the air, and carried her into the bedroom. He dumped her naked in the middle of the bed, where she bounced. His grin was positively ravenous as he watched her breasts jiggling.

Then he stripped off his shirt, exposing a luscious view of his muscular chest and taut six-pack abs. She swallowed a moan as she let her gaze follow the tantalizing treasure-trail of hair that led beneath the waistband of his jeans, and linger on the thick bulge trapped beneath the faded denim.

He toed off his boots and stripped off his jeans and boxers, allowing his erection to bob free. It gave her a heady rush of pleasure to see that the head was already glistening with a drop of precum. He wanted her just as badly as she wanted him, and her pussy clenched hungrily at the thought.

He stalked towards her, all sensuous, predatory grace. His eyes never left her body. He crawled onto the end of the bed, lifting her foot so he could place a teasing kiss on the inside of her ankle, then trailed his fingers up her calf, following his fingers with his lips.

He rolled his eyes up to watch her reaction as he stroked the sensitive flesh behind her knee, then nibbled the insides of her thighs. She parted her legs, feeling utterly wanton as she exposed the glistening pink petals of her sex to his hungry gaze. She didn’t feel self-conscious. Not anymore. Not with Calder. She just wanted to feel his hands on her body and his hard cock thrusting deep inside her.

She purred responsively as he lapped at her clit, groaning against her flesh as he tasted her arousal and savored its slickness on his tongue. Her thighs trembled and she shuddered with reaction as she looked down at his dark head between her legs. She arched gently against his mouth, opening wider to him, and he French-kissed her pussy. His tongue darted into her channel and withdrew, mimicking the motion with which he’d drive his dick into her body. She groaned and tugged at his shoulders, urging him to lie between her thighs, to enter her, to push himself into her until they were both crazy with pleasure.

She wanted him so badly she would have begged, but Calder was as eager as she was.

He lay on top of her, a delicious, warm weight, and stroked her hair back from her face before kissing her deeply. She could taste the tang of her own arousal on his lips and tongue, and she wiggled impatiently beneath him, but it seemed Calder was determined to take his time.

He hooked her leg over his hip, opening her up to him, and she felt the blunt head of his cock probing her slit, parting her folds but not yet entering her. She stifled a moan of impatience and relaxed into the sensation, letting herself drink in every nuance of the moment. His skin was hot silk over hard muscle. He smelled of clean masculine sweat and a woodsmoky aroma she associated with fire dragons and another scent that reminded her of nobody but Calder. His heartbeat was fast but strong and steady against the excited fluttering of hers. His eyes were so dark they were almost black and the expression in them was heartbreakingly tender.

Olivia gently bit his shoulder, urging him on, and he slid inside her, pushing in until he was balls-deep and twitching in her hot, wet sheath. They both gasped and moaned, stilling for a moment to let the sensation build inside them before Calder began to move inside her.

He was slow and tender but thorough, pushing himself so deeply inside her that it left her breathless. With each flex of his hips he drove her sweetly, achingly higher, towards a climax that she knew would shatter her.

He kissed her, teasing her lips before sliding his tongue against hers, again and again, in an echo of the way his body moved inside her. She mewled and flicked her tongue against his, and he groaned into her mouth, his voice raw with need.

Olivia bent her knees to pull her legs up further, her knees against his ribcage, and Calder shuddered as he worked his way more deeply inside her still. Every time he withdrew she felt an aching emptiness, and each time he thrust inside her it was replaced with a curling, building pleasure that swelled inside her and suddenly burst. She cried out in mindless pleasure as she clutched and spasmed around his rigid cock, and felt his control stutter and his movements become jerky and uncontrolled as he came. His long, low groan of feral pleasure was enough to catch her up again and hurtle her into another blinding orgasm that left her panting and whimpering, incapable of speech as her body milked the last of his pleasure from him.

He rolled onto his back, chest heaving, staring up at the ceiling with glazed eyes as he fought for breath. She snuggled against his side and put her hand against his heart. It was beating wildly. For her.

“Ninety-nine percent?” she gasped.

“Don’t knock it,” he panted. “If it gets any better than that, it’ll kill me.”