Chapter Twenty-Nine
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Just after two in the morning, Jac dropped her suitcase in the middle of her living room and went to her bedroom, plunking down on her bed without bothering to change her clothes, which smelled like smoke. The woman on the plane next to her had actually complained, but then she saw Jac’s eyes and shut her mouth.
Fire eyes. Jac still didn’t know anything about her half-dragon body, and frankly, it didn’t matter. All she cared about was the ache in her heart.
Even if she and Dash had barely known each other, her life would never be the same without him. Whatever had been between them was powerful. A force of nature. Magical… She hadn’t even realized it until it was too late, and he was dead.
Looking back, she saw everything so clearly now—why she’d really been drawn to work at the strip club, the jealousy she’d felt that night, knowing other women would see him fully naked, and the rage she’d experienced after Heebie decided to get rid of Dash. The rage I feel now.
All along, there’d been a connection, but everything had happened so fast. Their relationship hadn’t been given a chance to breathe or go anywhere. Now, all she had left were thoughts of what could’ve been and of Dash’s tormented soul floating around in the cosmos.
If only she could talk to him again. Just one more time to know he was okay. He needed to know she’d tried to help him and wouldn’t stop until she did.
Wait! Jac sat up, suddenly remembering what Damien’s little tan Chihuahua had said to him at the shop. She grabbed her purse and keys and rushed to her truck.
“Let’s hope this works.” Jac lit the last candle on the stage at the Pink Pit of Pleasure. In front of her, pinned to the pink glittery curtain, was a shirtless poster of Dash wearing jeans, a toolbelt, and boots.
It was funny how when they’d first met, she saw him as almost godlike. Then she saw a jerk-faced asshole. Now she saw the one that got away.
She pressed her hand over her heart, summoning her deepest feelings of desire, admiration, and longing. According to Damien’s Chihuahua, Jac could draw Dash’s soul by appealing to his vanity, so that was what she would do. Lots of compliments. Here we go.
“Eh-hem. Dash, if you can hear me, you have the most incredible ass I’ve ever seen. It’s like someone took two halves of a big coconut and then gave them a ridiculously smooth tan.” He really did have a magnificent butt.
She exhaled. “Your arms are so perfectly muscled that the first time I saw them, I wondered if they had implants. Then there are your abs.” She visualized each ripple and the smooth golden skin. “I’m actually pretty speechless when it comes to those. Maybe the best way to describe them is by saying what I’d do to them. If you were here right now, I’d slather them in baby oil, take off my panties, and make you lie down so I could just rub my clit against them like an erotic washboard.”
“Wow. That’s pretty graphic,” said a deep voice behind her.
“Dash?” She spun around. “Ohmygod. It worked!” She covered her mouth.
He looked better than she remembered with his stunning blue eyes and pouty sex-lips framed in a wash of light brown stubble. The way his broad shoulders stretched his black T-shirt, making the fabric caress his round pecs, was hypnotic.
“Well, don’t stop on my account. Tell me more. I’m hungry.” He flashed a charming smile, crossing his muscular arms over his chest.
How does he look so alive right now? So hot.
Unsure how much time she had, Jac decided to cut to the chase instead of ogling him more. That Sky woman had kept fading in and out that night at Damien’s hotel.
“Did it hurt when he ate you?” she asked. “Are you in pain? I tried to get a new body for you, but then my egg hatched and burned the place to the ground. But don’t lose hope; I’m not going to stop until I find a way to help you. Oh, and I killed Heebie. Shithead.”
“Jac, slow down.” Dash walked up to her and pressed a warm hand to her cheek.
Her heart rushed. “I can feel you.”
“And I can feel you.”
“How?” she asked.
“Well, for starters, that.” He glanced at a dark stain on the stage floor next to the candles.
“What is it?”
“A portal.”
It took a second for the meaning to click. “A demon portal? Here in the club?”
“Did I not mention that this place is built over one?”
No, he hadn’t, but that explained the weird vibes. “Is that why I keep smelling something burnt?”
“Up until now, it’s been closed for a year, but they do have a distinct odor regardless.”
What was he trying to say? “Is it open again?”
His charming grin turned into a full-blown smile. “I don’t know what happened, but right when Heebie killed me, the portal opened up, and I was sent back to my realm. I got to see my family again, Jac. My sister and parents, even my fifty cousins. Gods, I missed my mother’s homecooked praise. It’s delicious. Reminds me of childhood. Anyway, they wanted to throw a big admiration feast, but I had to get back here. To you.”
Was she dreaming? Was this really happening? “You’re here. You’re really here. With a body.” She ran her hands up and down his arms, soaking in the smooth, warm skin.
“The portal isn’t just a doorway. It gives us a new human form when we come through.”
“You’re back.” Her prayers had been answered. She couldn’t believe it. After all the tears and worrying and taxing her brain to find a solution, here he was. Like it was meant to be. Her heart soared.
He dipped his head and kissed her hard. Her entire body lit up with waves of heat. The connection between them washed through her, filling her body with a sense of rightness, desire, and more importantly, love. It had not been wishful thinking. What they had was real.
I so want to feed him right now and admire him with my naked body.
“Ouch! Hot!” He broke away. “I’m going to have to teach you how to control yourself, dragon.”
Her lips felt like they were on fire, and her arms were bright red. “What’s happening?”
“You’re getting aroused, and it’s turning into heat.”
Nothing like this had ever happened with Stanley. Then again, she’d never felt like this with him. “Do you know what to do? Because I can’t not have you.”
“Sweetheart, I lived with Heebie most of my existence. I know everything about dragons.” He lowered his head and kissed her again.
After a moment, he pulled away. “All right,” he said, “you’re going to cook me if I don’t train you. Let’s blow out these candles and go to your place.”
Yes, please! “How long will it take for me to get control?”
“A few months. Maybe a year.”
“What?” she snapped. “I’m not sure I can wait that long.”
He flashed a sly smile. “Well, you do have a penguin enclosure. It’s fairly cold in there, right?”
Yes, yes, she did. And it was cold as hell.