Chapter Six #3
Several minutes passed and the next meet-cute finally came. The dragon spirit and his reincarnated mate locked eyes on a crowded street. Out-of-focus bodies passed between them and the sounds of the world faded to a ringing silence.
“Internal monologue,” Shane whispered.
“Oh, no.”
“Holy shit, she got uglier.”
Kimberly snorted and played her part. “Why is he staring at me like that? Do I have a bat in the cave?”
“She totally has a bat in the cave.”
“Should I check? Should I ask him for coffee?”
Then, the guy vanished.
Kimberly gasped, feigning shock. “Where did he go?”
Shane wiggled his fingers, tipped in seasoning from the flavored crust. “Magic.”
They shared a laugh and another piece of pizza, Kimberly snitching from his box.
Several scenes passed, showing both characters in their own lives, set on roundabout trajectories to cross paths eventually.
They settled into a comfortable silence as they watched, and Kimberly could really feel her connection with her wolf come back to life.
The joy and peace of being with Shane came back to her, as if her dad had never challenged Isaac, as if they had never been apart for ten years, as if they really had a chance.
The moment came when the girl was walking home late at night and got mugged.
She screamed, the dragon guy swooped in and beat up the bad guy with some ancient staff weapon, but she ran into a dark alley to escape the scene.
Once the bad guy was unconscious, the dragon chased after her, materializing through the shadows to block her path.
Kimberly saw her cue coming up and put on a shaky, breathless voice. “Who are you?”
Shane dropped his voice again, and she marveled at just how low his vocal cords could go. It made her want to giggle and blush like she was in school again.
“You know who I am.” The dragon backed her against the wall.
“No, I don’t. You’re scaring me.”
“Fear and excitement can be the same. Remember your childhood. The—”
The dragon’s mouth stopped moving, cutting off Shane.
“I do remember. It’s you. After all this time.”
“Yes, it’s me.” The dragon stalked closer, and the girl pressed herself into the brick wall. “And I know you remember me from before. Think back. To another life.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You know we belong together. You are my destiny and I am yours.”
“I know it. I remember. How is that possible?”
“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I found you. You’re here now. With me.”
Shane was talking even when the dragon guy wasn’t, and Kimberly missed her line. She felt his stare on her, the smoldering heat of his attention making her go red hot all over.
Kimberly turned and met Shane’s burning eyes, and she realized they weren’t playing parts anymore. Her blood quickened in her veins and breaths came out shallow, half-held, afraid that anything heavier would break the moment.
His hand came up to gingerly cup her cheek. The shock of his gentle touch jolted through her and straight to her core. The tenderness of the touch, and the feel of his skin on hers and all it implied, made the place between her legs tingle way too early.
And it had been so long since she had been in this situation with a man that she didn’t know what to do with her shaking hands.
But if she moved just an inch, she thought everything would come unraveled, that Shane would pull away, realize that being so intimate with her wasn’t a smart idea for an alpha, and she would never get this chance back.
For just a second, she wanted to be that selfish.
So the empty pizza plate stayed in her lap as his fingers slipped into her hair.
“I can’t go to sleep one more night without knowing if your kisses have changed in the last ten years.”
All at once, she went liquid and leaned in to let him capture her mouth with his.
It wasn’t planned. Wasn’t expected out of tonight.
Wasn’t expected at all, depending how things developed between them.
But still, it was everything she imagined it would be.
He was soft and tender as his lips moved and caressed hers.
When his tongue teased the seam of her mouth, he didn’t need to knock twice before she let him in.
He tasted like the four slices of loaded pizza, savory and full of flavor.
Their tongues brushed and played, not like teens trying to figure out how to kiss, but like two adults who knew how to make this perfect.
Kimberly let her plate drop to the floor, and one hand shot out to grip the front of his shirt like a lifeline as she drowned in the kiss.
With one smooth move, Shane eased her back onto the couch cushion, his powerful body suspended over hers as he wedged himself between her legs.
One arm encircled her waist, guiding her into a sharp arch so they pressed together.
They definitely didn’t get this advanced back in high school.
Heat coiled low in her belly at the feel of the fabric gliding along the skin of her thigh, as his kiss made her wet with longing she hadn’t felt in years.
It was all happening so fast, so deliciously fast that she didn’t have time to form a real thought of resistance to any of it.
If she judged correctly, this was all happening just as quickly and spontaneously for him as well.
Years of missing one another had built up to this moment and Kimberly had no way of knowing if it would stop.