7. Lena
LENA
I t was a relief to have clothes on again, though they were less comfortable than I’d hoped. Salt had dried into the fabric of my favorite shirt, leaving it stiff and scratchy, and I didn’t know if it would be salvageable. But they covered me, and that was what mattered.
Dressed, I could spare some attention for the room.
It wasn’t much like the rest of the dragon’s lair.
For a start, it was merely big, unlike the cavernous space I’d woken up in.
Still bigger than my apartment, but the scale was almost human.
The walls were made of the ubiquitous black stone, but wooden furniture covered parts of them.
The table and chairs had a rustic, handmade look that I loved. Made with more love than skill, I thought as I sat down. Crude, yes, but comfortable enough. It beat the hell out of generic, factory-produced stuff.
A pair of cupboards stood against one wall, both imperfect in their own ways, making the room seem charming. Like a home, rather than a monster’s lair. By the time Varyx returned, I felt much more comfortable.
He’d found his clothes, though barely enough of them to be called that.
Instead of covering his cock with a silly cushion, he wore tan-colored beach shorts.
That was his entire outfit, and it didn’t hide much.
I stared at him, watching his powerful muscles move under dark skin as he walked toward me.
Silvery lines of starlight glowed beneath his skin, laying a map of strange constellations across him, and when he smiled, a pulse of heat from my core made me blush and turn away.
In this human form, the dragon was sexier than anyone had a right to be.
Washboard abs and powerful arms, biceps thicker than my thighs, and he moved with the grace and precision of a stalking tiger.
The temptation to throw myself at him was almost irresistible, and I cursed myself for insisting he find clothes.
Down, girl. When he was naked, you couldn’t even look at him.
Not strictly true, of course. I’d stared a fair bit, tongue-tied and flustered.
And now, I realized, I was doing it again.
Varyx’s beautiful mouth curved into a smirk as I blushed, and my answering glare was half-hearted. Was it arrogance when he was right?
“Now what?” I asked, the words harsher than I had intended. I refused to walk them back, though. The question was a fair one.
“Now we wait.” He sat down across from me, the chair creaking under his weight. “Once the storm passes, I will take you back to the resort. It may take a few days, though. This Voidstorm is much larger than I expected.”
Well, crap. Trapped in a dragon’s lair for a few days wasn’t on my schedule, and if I spent much more time with him, something was bound to happen. “How about you just show me the exit? I’ll know the way from there?”
“I will not.” Varyx’s voice was calm but absolute. “I have saved you from the ocean once already. I am not about to throw you back in.”
“I can take care of myself, asshole. Just let me out, I’ll be careful.”
“Not careful enough. No one could be. A Voidstorm isn’t just wind and lightning, human. It carries the energy of the Void. Give it a chance and it will consume you, unmake you.”
“That’s a hell of a detail to leave out of the brochure,” I said. “‘Small danger of death from terrible demon winds’ is something you warn guests about.”
Varyx snarled at that. “This is not normal. If it were, I would not allow guests onto my island. Something changed, something interfered with the wards binding the Void, and I will not allow you to get yourself killed.”
Did I do that? I asked myself, swallowing. The only way to find out would be to ask him, and nope . No way. No matter how safe I felt, I wouldn’t risk telling him I might have broken his island.
We sat in uncomfortable silence until Varyx stood abruptly. “That is nothing for you to concern yourself with. Once the storm has passed, I can investigate. For the moment I shall waste no time thinking about it.”
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, then smiled and opened his eyes again, looking much calmer. “Now, we both need to eat. It has been years since I cooked for another person.”
Watching Varyx cook was a revelation. He worked with an undeniable joy, quick and efficient as he chopped vegetables and fish for a stir-fry, mixing a sauce as he went. When I tried to help, he told me to sit down in a tone that brooked no argument.
“You are my guest,” he told me. “I will take care of dinner.”
I tried to protest, but he gave me a hard look.
Flustered, I sat down, and he turned back to the stone surface he’d cleaned and used as a cutting surface.
With skilled hands, he prepared everything in minutes, and I privately acknowledged he’d been right to send me packing. I’d only have gotten in his way.
It crossed my mind to ask how he planned on cooking the delicious pile of crunchy veg and fish. Nothing here looked like a cooker, but interrupting Varyx to ask seemed unwise.
A dragon doesn’t need a cooker, it turns out. He took another flat block of stone and breathed fire on it. I yelped and jumped up, sending my chair crashing to the floor.
He looked back at me, that arrogant smirk back on his lips. I glared at him, which seemed to amuse him all the more.
“I am a dragon. What did you think I used for fire?”
“Gas or electricity, like the rest of us,” I snapped back. “I don’t know which myths are true.”
“A fair point,” he said, grin widening. “So I’ve answered one mystery for you. My turn to learn something.”
Fuck. I couldn’t argue with his logic, though. “That’s fair, I guess. What do you want to know?”
He turned back to the glowing-hot stone, delivering handfuls of ingredients to his pan. A mouth-watering scent filled the air as he stirred them. “Why are you here, Lena?”
In his deep, gravelly voice, my name sounded glamorous, exotic, sexy. It sent a shiver through me, and I had to gather my composure before I replied.
“I’m here as a reporter for the Gossamer Veil, a new paranormal lifestyle magazine. Marisol wants to raise the profile of Isla Varyx among the monster population.”
“Interesting. But I meant, why are you here? My mountain is off-limits to all guests.” He stirred the food while he spoke, then lifted the pan from the still-glowing stone.
“Uh.” It was hard to concentrate with the delicious scent of the stir-fry filling the air. Apparently, my near-death experience had left me hungrier than I realized. “I suppose I was looking for you.”
He raised an eyebrow at me as he plated the meal and brought it to the table. I resisted the urge to stuff my face and continued.
“I mean, I’m here to write about the resort, and apparently the owner lives out here somewhere.”
“And wants to be left alone.”
I took my plate and sat back, fork in hand. I wasn’t about to let the meal get cold during our verbal sparring. It tasted as good as it smelled, and nothing like anything I’d eaten before. Once I’d eaten my first forkful, there was no way the conversation would continue until I’d cleaned my plate.
Varyx seemed to understand, diving into his own meal with equal passion. We ate in focused silence, and I don’t think I’d ever eaten a finer meal. I almost regretted finishing the last bite.
Looking up, I found Varyx watching me with a satisfied expression. One I had to admit he’d earned.
“It’d be worth the trek for your cooking alone.”
“Hah! Thank you, but we both know that’s not why you’re here.”
Were his eyes glowing brighter? They drew me in, and I couldn’t look away.
“Do I need a reason?” I tried to sound nonchalant, and didn’t think I pulled it off. “An interview with the island’s mysterious owner in his lair is enough, surely?”
“Hmm.” Varyx looked unconvinced. “And that’s all? No other reason for braving the mountains?”
The violet glow intensified, his falling-star eyes staring into my soul. Even from a distance, his eyes had captivated me. Up close, the effect was impossible to hide or deny.
“You know why,” I whispered, swallowing nervously. The dragon growled again, leaning across the table. Close enough for me to feel his body heat radiating from him.
“This is a terrible idea,” he said, voice rough as his control cracked. He was right, but I wouldn’t admit it. Not when we were so close.
“I…” my voice trailed off, and my cheeks burned. I reached across the table and brushed the hair out of his eyes.
Apparently, that’s all it took. His hand closed on mine, pulling me up and toward him as he flung the table aside. Neither of us paid attention to the shattering plates, the clatter of cutlery. All that mattered was us.
I leaped into his arms, pulling myself up to plant my lips on his. He gasped, grabbing hold of me and holding me to him as we kissed. The kiss was fire, heat sinking into my body and smoldering in my blood, from the tips of my toes to the crown of my head.
Varyx slid a hand into my hair and groaned into the kiss, squeezing me to him. The heat of his breath should have burned me up. Instead, it pushed me to greater heights. Wild and rough, his tongue pressed into my mouth, and I melted against his incredible body.
Nothing had prepared me for this moment, and I’d never been so aroused. Hungry for more, I pulled myself closer, locking my legs around his waist shamelessly.
Varyx’s last shred of self-control snapped, and my world reeled as he moved me. He slammed me back into the wall, one hand gripping my hair, and he pressed himself against me, setting my nerves on fire.
Whatever control I might have had burned away, shattered by Varyx, and I didn’t care. Like a storm, he was beyond control. All I could do—all I wanted to do—was surrender to his passion and let it consume me.
His hardness pressed against me through our clothes, the delicious friction making me ache for him.
And then he stopped, broke the kiss, and looked at me. His breathing came fast and heavy, his eyes glowed bright, and he struggled to hold back. I couldn’t hold in a whimper of disappointment and desire.
“We cannot,” he said, voice ragged, raw, and angry. I interrupted before he could get any further.
“We absolutely can! I want to, you want to, what else do you need?”
Never in my life had I craved anything more, and I refused to let him talk his way out of what we both needed. His eyes widened at my brazen words.
“I might hurt you,” he said, nearly making me laugh.
“You might,” I gasped. “I’m a big girl, and I take my own risks. Varyx, I trust you, and I know you won’t hurt me on purpose. I’ll take my chances with the rest.”
He looked at me, expression unreadable, hands gripping tight. I looked back, willing him to unleash his passion, to give in to our shared need.