Shades Of Dragon (A BBW Dragon-Shifter Paranormal Romance) (6 page)

      “Maybe not,” Ciara agreed, “but that doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to, does it? I see the pain that you still carry inside you, Tegan. I know you’re still haunted by your past, and it touches me. I… I feel it, just as I feel my own.”

      Tegan stared at her for a long moment. “You’re pretty amazing, you know,” he finally said. “Compassionate as well as beautiful.”

      A blush spread across Ciara’s cheeks then, and she looked away. “Hardly,” she said quietly, knowing that she looked like a wreck, especially now that she was basically clutching rags to her chest and little else. “I certainly don’t look my best right now.”

      “Maybe not, but the fact that you’re still so breathtaking despite being through such a horrible ordeal is impressive,” Tegan replied with a smile, and this time it was he who reached out and touched her cheek. “You’re a special woman, Ciara Richards. I saw that from the moment I laid eyes on you, even in the darkness of the cellar when I wasn’t able to see you clearly.”

      A warm glow spread from the center of Ciara’s chest through her entire body, and her heart began to beat faster as she realized just how close they were to each other. His lips were a breath away from hers, his body so close she could feel his warmth radiating out from his hard muscles, and into her. Chills ran up and down her body, a kind of delicious anticipation that she hadn’t felt from anyone in a long, long time.

      “I…” she started to say, but then she lost the words as his lips were on her, warm and soft and gently demanding. His arms came around her waist to pull her into his lap, and she went willingly, twining her arms around his neck so she could kiss him back. The shock of having a man’s lips touch her for the first time was quickly overridden by all the other sensations – of his rough stubble against her cheeks, of his hard chest pressing against her breasts, of his manhood rubbing against her thigh. Heat bloomed between her legs, an insistent ache that she needed filled, that she’d never experienced in her entire life, and a gasp escaped her lips as she recognized the feeling as sexual desire.

      She wanted him, the way she’d never wanted even the most red-blooded male in her village.

      Abruptly the kiss was broken, Tegan leaning back, his chest rising and falling as he breathed rapidly. “I’m sorry,” he said gruffly, depositing her back down onto the ground and then standing up. “I should not have done that.”

      “No, I – “ Ciara started to reassure him that he’d done nothing wrong, that they both wanted the same thing, that he should stop talking and kiss her again –

      But Tegan cut her off with a shake of his head. “I should go get dinner. Please, stay here and make yourself comfortable. I’ll be back soon.”

      Tears welled up in Ciara’s eyes as he disappeared into the brush again for the second time. Angry with herself, she swiped them away.
What on earth was she crying about?
He was her rescuer, not her lover; he wasn’t obligated to return these ridiculous feelings of hers. Likely he recognized it just as much as she did that any kind of relationship between them was highly inappropriate, and he simply had more willpower than she did. It would be best that he just walk away, as he was doing now, instead of giving in to their desires, especially when so much was at stake right now.

      But as she turned back to the water, and stared at her sad reflection, all she could think about was the way Tegan’s lips felt on hers, and wonder whether or not she would ever get the chance to feel them again.

By the Gods, I am such an idiot.

      Tegan cursed himself roundly as he tromped back through the brush, a dead wildcat slung over his shoulder. He hardly felt the weight of the huge beast on his back – his mind was still caught up in the fact that he’d kissed Ciara, that he’d nearly lost himself in her soft curves and even softer lips, and that he’d been mere seconds away from stripping off her clothes and having his way with her right there on the forest floor.

     
Just what the hell is wrong with me?

      He didn’t know what it was about her that beguiled him so – there were beautiful women in the dragon shifter clan, that was for sure.
Was it the way she smiled, her lips curving sweetly, beckoning him to kiss them?
The way she smelled, that vanilla-cardamom scent that begged him to bury his nose in her neck and inhale?
Was it her long, slender limbs and insanely sexy curves that tempted him to slide the fabric of her dress off of her voluptuous frame, and see if his imagination lived up to reality?

Perhaps it was her pain that called to him, the tragedy that, while not the same as his own, was still nevertheless haunting to him. Dragon shifter females were strong and independent and lacked the vulnerability in Ciara that seemed to call to him like a beacon. He wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her, and shield her from the horrors of the world… and if he had the opportunity to feel her curves pressed up against them and breathe in her sweet vanilla-cardamom scent, well even better.

      His steps slowed a little as he started to calm down, and relax. Truthfully, it really wasn’t such a big deal – he was just bringing her to the clan so she could talk to Grey, and soon enough she would be on her way back to living amongst her kind, and he would go back to living his life as a member of the Redwater Clan. In fact, so long as they didn’t spend too much time alone together he really didn’t think it would be all that difficult to say goodbye when the time came. He just needed to keep his distance and everything would be fine.

      His mind settled, he picked up the pace and strode into the clearing by the stream where he’d left Ciara, intent on getting dinner cooking so that they would both be well-fed and he could get on with the rest of the things that needed to be done tonight. But instead of finding Ciara sitting by the stream, he saw her standing in the lake, scooping up handfuls of water and letting it run down her body.

      Her very wet, curvy, and naked body.

      The wildcat carcass slid from his shoulder to land on the ground, somewhere near where his jaw had dropped.
Holy gods,
he thought, his eyes hungrily devouring her naked flesh. She was magnificent, all peaches and cream and gorgeous curves, her hips generously flared. Her ass was round and full, just begging to be cupped by his hands, and squeezed tightly, and her legs, oh her legs…they were beautifully long and slender. Her calves disappeared beneath the water, but he imagined they were just as lovely as the rest of her. A burning desire to see the front of her body took hold of him, to see what colors her nipples were, and if her breasts were as exquisitely shaped as they appeared beneath her dress, but he didn’t want to disturb the tranquil, yet erotic moment, and so he simply stood there, holding his breath, fixed on the beautiful woman in front of him.

      She crouched down in the water so that she could dunk her hair beneath the stream, and as she bent forward he got a full view of her womanhood, wet and pink and glistening. A groan escaped his lips, but thankfully she didn’t hear him, her head submerged under the water. She came up again in a moment, tossing her hair over her shoulder in a wave, water splashing everywhere. He couldn’t help but think she looked like a siren, impossibly beautiful, temptation incarnate. Before he could think twice, he took a step forward, drawn by her beauty.

      A twig snapped beneath his foot, and she spun around, no doubt disturbed by the sound. Her face turned scarlet as her wide green eyes caught sight of him, and she abruptly covered her chest, but not before he saw that her breasts were indeed as perky and perfectly round as he’d thought, with pink, dusky nipples, and that she had a thatch of red curls between her thighs, shielding her womanhood from his gaze. A lust-ridden growl rumbled from his lips, and he took another step forward, but she shied back, a whimper escaping from her lips, and he remembered where he was, and
who
he was standing in front of.

      He was a dragon shifter. And she was a human woman. The very human woman who he’d just convinced himself, he wasn’t going to touch again.
Dammit!

      “I’m sorry,” he muttered, casting his eyes to the ground and turning away. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

      “N-no,” she stammered, and he heard splashing from behind that told him she was wading for the bank. His hands clenched into fists as he tried to keep himself from turning around to catch another glimpse of her exquisite form. “It’s my fault. I should have moved downstream…or warned you.”

      “Just get dressed,” he ground out through gritted teeth. “We need to prepare dinner before it gets too dark.”

      She did as he bade, and then helped him skin and prep the animal for cooking, not once complaining about the work. To his surprise, he found that she’d done this sort of thing before – he’d wrongly assumed as the mayor’s daughter she would have been above such work, but she seemed to know exactly what to do, and he hardly had to give her any instruction at all. In no time, the animal was roasting on a spit above a fire that he’d fashioned out of rocks and sticks, and they took turns turning it, roasting it as best as they could. Of course, with the amount of time and the size of the animal they would normally have taken hours to cook it, but Tegan sped the process up with blasts of fire from his mouth, and by the time the sun was setting they were happily chomping on the beast’s haunches, the hot juices running down their chins and hands.

      “Mmm,” Ciara mumbled amount a mouthful of meat. “I’m surprised at how good this tastes without seasoning.”

      Tegan smiled at her, unable to help it – she looked stunning, with her wild, fiery hair cascading all around her, juices running down her chin and arms as she held the meat aloft to try not to get any stains on her tattered dress. She looked like a wild woman, fierce and beautiful, ready to take on anything in the forest that got in her way. He couldn’t help the swell of desire in his chest at just how damn gorgeous she was, and how very real. She wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty, and she wasn’t above doing whatever she had to do in order to make the journey easier. He found that he had incredible respect for her, and immense admiration.

     
You’ve got to stop thinking about her like this
, he told himself sternly.
It’s only going to get you into trouble.

      “Tell me about your family.”

      Ciara looked up from her haunch, blinking in confusion. “What?”

      “Tell me about your family. About your father, about the villagers. What are they like?” he asked, softening his tone a little. He knew that the question was likely to raise some tears, but he figured talking about her people would distract them from their feelings for one another.

      “Oh. Well, my father’s name is Arthur,” she said, smiling a little as she toyed with the hem of her ripped dress. “He’s a big, strong, blustering man with a tender heart of gold, who loves his people and does his best to care for them. My mother died in childbirth, so he raised me on his own. He’s a kind, loving soul and well, because of him I’ve never felt bereft of love. I’m lucky.” She chuckled a little.

      Tegan smiled at that. “It sounds like you have a wonderful father.”

      “I do.” Tears welled up at the corners of Ciara’s eyes, and she blinked them away. “I… I don’t know what I’ll do without him.” The profound grief in her voice and her eyes made Tegan’s heart ache for her.

      “I promise you that I’ll do everything I can to get your father back,” he repled quickly, wanting to comfort her. “Everything that’s within my power.”

      “Will you really?” she whispered. “You’ll go chase down the men who took my father, and bring him back to me?”

      “If I can, yes.” He nodded. “If I can do something to prevent you from losing him, I’ll do it.”

      “Thank you, Tegan…thank you so much.” She sniffled, then wiped at her nose, which had turned a little pink at the tip. For some reason Tegan found the slight blotchiness to be beautiful. “I know that you told me your mother abandoned you when you were a child, but what about the rest of your family? Did you not have a father?”

      Tegan sighed a little, turning his head so he could gaze into the dying embers of the fire. “I’m a bastard child,” he said quietly. “Born of an affair between two dragon shifters of separate clans. By the time my mother was pregnant with me, my father was already gone, so I never knew him. I’ve heard rumors throughout the years. They say that he is a member of the Blackfire Clan, and that it’s likely he doesn’t even know that I exist.”

“What? Wouldn’t your mother have told him about you?”

“Not if her clan instructed her not to. I really don’t know.”

“But if you think you know the clan your father belongs to, why haven’t you gone to see him? To let him know of your existence? To give him a chance to know you?”

Tegan sighed again, running his fingers through his hair. It was clear that he was twisted up inside when it came to matters involving his father, and for a moment, Ciara felt as though she may have pushed too far, and regretted asking. But he reached out and took her hand into his own, squeezing her fingers gently. “Grey was like a father to me. I felt it would dishonor him if I were to seek out my birth father. I was –
I am
– happy with the second chance that I was given.”

“I understand,” Ciara replied, her voice barely above a whisper. “And your mother?”

“She couldn’t keep me because of the laws of the clan, and so I haven’t seen her since I was just a boy.”

      Ciara’s eyes were wide, blazing with anger. “Your entire clan rejected you, just because you were born out of wedlock?” she asked, gaping at him. “That’s… that’s horrible.”

      “They probably wouldn’t have rejected me if my father had been a member of their clan, but since he was in a different clan…” Tegan stopped and swallowed against the sudden lump in his throat. “It isn’t so bad,” he added, a little hoarsely. “At least not anymore. You learn to move past these things.”

      “That doesn’t mean they don’t still hurt.” Abandoning the remains of her haunch – which, admittedly, weren’t much – Ciara crossed the space between them, and knelt before Tegan to take his face into her hands. “And it also doesn’t mean that I can’t feel compassion for you. You deserved so much more than you were given.”

      “That means more to me than you’ll ever know.” Tegan closed his eyes as her comforting words washed over him, soothing the ache in his heart. The feel of her soft, feminine hands against his cheeks was like heaven; it was the kindest, softest touch he’d ever known and it made him ache for things that he shouldn’t ask.

      And when he opened his eyes to look into hers, he saw so much compassion in them he had to blink back the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes.

      “We should pack the rest of this up and find shelter,” he told her gruffly, not quite ready to confront the intense feelings inside him, feelings that told him he might just be falling in love with her. Which was preposterous, really, because he’d known her for less than twenty-four hours. Putting aside the remains of his meat, he rose to go, and put out the fire. The carcass was nearly picked clean – he had a monstrous appetite, especially after all that shifting – but he’d left a few pieces to wrap up in leaves so that Ciara would have extra food.

      “Okay.” She looked around, obviously trying to imagine where they were going to bed down for the night. “Are we sleeping under the trees?”

      He shook his head. “No, it’s too dangerous for that. All kinds of interesting animals and beasts come out at night, and it’s best not to leave yourself unprepared and out in the open.”

      They packed up everything, and Tegan led Ciara north, deeper into the forest, and then up on a ridge that climbed steeply. Eventually they found what he was looking for – an opening to a cavern that was large enough for them to enter, but small enough that something huge like a Rhino-beast would not be able to reach them.

      “Oh, this is perfect,” Ciara exclaimed with relief, peering inside. “It’s large enough for both of us and our things.” She started to crawl inside, and then stopped when she noticed that Tegan wasn’t following behind her. “Aren’t you coming in?” she asked, her voice suddenly small.

      Tegan cursed himself for the prick of guilt he felt in his chest, and he looked away from her wide, beguiling eyes. “I’m going to leave you here to heal,” he told her. “I have to go report to Grey before Prophet gets to him first, which is likely considering that I’ve lost so many hours making sure you were safe and could heal.”

      A flush stole across Ciara’s cheeks. “I’m sorry that I’ve been such a burden,” she said.

      More guilt flooded Tegan’s chest. “No, no, don’t worry about that. That isn’t what I meant,” he said quickly, wanting to take her hand and reassure her, but he knew that if he touched her he would go down that raging path of lust and desire again, and he just couldn’t do it right now. “I just mean that time is of the essence, and I need to get to Grey as soon as possible.”