Light His Fire: Paranormal BBW Dragon Shifter Mail-Order Bride Romance (11 page)

“Everything,” he said earnestly.

Ares didn’t know what he had expected but he certainly wasn’t prepared for what Pearl did next. With tears brimming in her eyes, she threw herself into his arms and he embraced her tightly, burying his face in her hair. It was dusty and grimy and she still smelled like absolute heaven. For a moment, he doubted if he could ever let her go.

They stood like that for a while, just inhaling each other’s scent. Pearl was shaking in his arms and he could feel tremors run through him as well, when the full realization of what could have happened dawned on him. He had not been far from losing his mate, and that was a terrifying thought.

“I need to explain some things to you,” Ares said with a quiet voice.

“You think so?” Pearl asked, keeping just the tiniest edge of sass to her voice.

Ares grinned. At least almost dying hadn’t injured Pearl’s sense of self too badly.

“I do,” he said.

With that, he plucked her off the ground and into his arms, carrying her into the cabin. No way was he going to let her get out of his sight again. Besides, he had a lot of explaining to do, and he wanted to make sure she heard all of it before he went off and did something stupid again.

Even if his dragon would have strongly objected to his action being called anything less than perfect.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Pearl

Pearl toweled off her hair, standing in the doorway that led out of her bathroom and into the small living room. Ares was sitting on the couch, looking both apprehensive and entirely too handsome for his own good. His eyes were glued to her, though she had to wonder what he was seeing. She was wearing a big, fluffy white robe that filled all her curves and, in her own opinion, made her look shapeless at best. And yet, he still eyed her like he was going to eat her up as soon as she’d let him.

“Feel better?” he asked, patting on the couch cushion next to him.

“Yes,” she admitted.

It had been Ares’s idea that she should take a shower before they delve into the specifics of the day. He’d needed to make a few calls to let Diesel and Warren know what had happened and that people should be careful around the collapsed mountain – Lying Dragon Peak as Pearl had so graciously told him.

The shower had given her time to think. There were cuts and bruises all over her body. She was surprised nothing was broken and that she could go on to fight and climb another day. All things considered, Pearl thought she’d gotten pretty lucky, compared to the very possible alternative of tumbling to her death. But in addition to her lucky escape, she’d also been thinking of the man – the dragon – who had made it possible.

He’d been there when she needed him and as much as her stubborn pride wanted to say that it didn’t matter, she knew that things weren’t so simple. Of course it mattered that he’d come for her. Of course it mattered that he cared. She sat down on the couch and Ares handed her a cup of chamomile tea. She sipped at it gratefully, leaning back on the cushions.

“So, I’ve been an ass,” Ares started.

“You have,” she confirmed, trying to hide the small grin that wanted to tug at her lips.

“Blunt as usual. I’ve been MIA lately and I’m sorry for it. Honestly, I didn’t think I deserved to be around you.”

That made her stop and look at him in surprise.
He
, Ares Goldplains, the heir to one of the greatest fortunes in the world and a legitimate rock star, thought he didn’t deserve to be around her? She had to keep herself from feeling around for the tiara that must have sprouted out of her head – he made it sound like she was some sort of princess!

“Why?”

She was beginning to hate that word, but it was really the only one that came to her. He looked troubled. His brilliant blue and gold eyes sought out hers and, like several times before, she felt herself slipping easily into their mysterious depths. Pearl could have stared into them forever.

“Because you need a man you could lean on, who would make you better and help you build yourself up when you can’t do it yourself. I’m not that man – yet. I know I could be, but saying that I am ready now would be lying to you and me both.”

“So what’s missing?”

Ares scratched the back of his head and he looked damn adorable.

“You know me as Ares Goldplains, the cocky musician who’s always got everything he’s ever wanted, right?”

Pearl nodded. Ares and his older brother Apollo had created rather similar personae for themselves in the public eye. Both were known for their extravagance, their partying and their capability of turning even the dullest of moments into an adventure worthy of weeks of tabloid chatter. Of course, Apollo had spent more time in the public eye and Ares had kept himself on the down-low since splitting from the Gold Dragons.

“Well, I don’t have everything I want. I am not the eldest of my brothers, which means that, at best, I’m a safety net in case both of my older brothers perish before having sons of their own. The family fortune will never be mine. I left the Gold Dragons because someone needed to guard our main hoard, and that’s mostly what I’ve been doing for the past few years. A part of it is mine, a ridiculously large part by any human standards, but for a dragon… It is not your hoard unless it is
your
hoard.”

Pearl listened in surprise. She could see the hints of pain etched on his features as he spoke of his position in the family. She’d never imagined that dragon family politics could be so similar to the ones in regular families – weren’t the middle sons always the ones in search of who they were?

“When I met you, I knew you were my mate. Or, at least, my dragon knew. I tend to be slow on the uptake sometimes. So I chased you and wanted you and when I had you, when we spent that night at the waterfall together… It was magic. It was everything I had ever been told love could be, and more. But when we talked, it became more and more clear to me that before I was at peace with my dragon and my future, I couldn’t be the kind of man you needed me to be. The kind of man you
deserved
me to be.

So, I figured it would be kinder to just disappear until I sort my shit out. Build my own hoard. Be my own man, my own dragon. I’ve been digging for gold, as ridiculous as that may sound. I know there’s some in these mountains, and I know I can find it. Then, when I’ve become the dragon I know I can be, I could stand beside you. I never imagined that I might hurt you even worse in the process.”

Ares rested his head on his palms, his long fingers coiling in his hair. Pearl put down the tea mug and placed her hand on his knee. She knew that feeling when you weren’t what you thought you could be. She knew the hesitation that came with it, the self-admonishment and even shame. And she knew she couldn’t let him go through it when she knew he didn’t have to – at least not alone.

“I don’t care, Ares. I don’t care that you’re not ready yet. I didn’t mean that you have to be perfect. I’m not. I barely know what I’m doing, and I’ve only now found the courage to really try and go for what I want. It’s scary as hell, and every day I fight with the urge to just pack up and go waitress at a shitty bar again. It’s easier that way, you know? But that’s not who I want to be. And it’s fine that it takes some time to get to that point where you’re sure of who you are, sure of who you want to and can be.

I’m happy to be with you on that road if you’re with me on mine. We can lean on each other. I just can’t deal with lying or posturing, being someone you’re not. Show me who you are inside and that’s all I’ll ever need.”

Ares looked up and her heart skipped a beat. There, in his eyes, she could see their future, clear as day. As different as they were, they couldn’t have been more similar. And they couldn’t have been more right for each other.

“I really
am
a pain in the ass,” he said, grinning.

She laughed, throwing her arms around his neck.

“That’s okay. I am too. Scout’s honor.”

She kissed him, and her world did that lovely thing where it bent and undulated around their kiss, focusing only on that moment and only on him, in it, with her. His arms wrapped around her safely and he pulled her into his lap, his cock already hardening. He was still dirty and sweaty from working in the mountains and damn if that didn’t make him taste better.

Her tongue slipped into his mouth and she moaned softly as he tugged on it with his teeth. Ares undid the front of her robe and slipped it down her shoulders, revealing her round, heavy breasts and soft stomach. He tugged at the fabric and removed the robe completely, discarding it on the floor. She gasped as he sucked her nipple into his mouth, growling as she wiggled on his lap.

With smooth, lightning fast movements, he settled her down on the couch, leaving her covered in nothing but the dragon stone around her neck. He pulled off his shirt and she tugged at his zipper and loosened his belt, her eager hands pushing his jeans down his hips. In a moment, he was on her, his naked skin against hers, sending jolts of heat coursing and skittering through her.

His hungry mouth sought out hers and they drank from one another. Ares parted her legs with his strong hands and she gasped, loving his calloused skin against the silkiness of her thighs. He was gentle with her and Pearl almost wanted to beg him not to be. Her hands caressed his hard body, inching down to his narrow hips and that maddening V that tucked down into his huge cock. Her fingertips brushed lightly over the head and she heard Ares’s breath catch in his throat, making her grin wickedly.

He didn’t let her toy with him for too long, though. Supporting himself with one hand on the armrest, he cupped the back of her neck with the other and leant in to kiss her. With a slow, almost agonizing movement, he filled her with his thick cock, stretching her around him. Immediately, she rose up against him, meeting him, pleading for more. It was excruciating sweetness, his cock fitting into her wet pussy so perfectly.

With an easy rhythm, they started moving against one another, two bodies coming together. Soft and hard, combining together just right. Pearl hid her face in the crook of his neck, tearing her lips from his. Muffled cries sounded as she shook, her orgasm quickly building and threatening to take her with it. Her nails raked at his sides and moved down to grab his ass, loving the way his muscles flinched as she let her hands cascade over him.

“You’re perfect,” Ares growled through gritted teeth, and the words spread through her, making her glow.

“I want you,” she whispered feverishly, little moans turning into bigger ones with each thrust that buried him deeper into her pussy.

She was on fire, every nerve on edge, anxiously awaiting the relief she knew only he could bring her. Ares grunted, his dusty skin now slick with sweat, and when he pulled out almost completely and then buried himself deep inside her again, she came. Her body convulsed under his and her moans turned into incoherent strings of words even she couldn’t decipher. Pearl dragged Ares along with her and, a moment later, he emptied his seed into her, pumping her full as she eagerly took it all.

Then, her lips found his again, breathless but still wanting, and kissed him quickly and violently. He flipped them over, letting Pearl land on top of him, cradled in his arms – she felt safe there.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to let you go,” he said, his words raspy.

Pearl chuckled, kissing him lightly on the tip of his nose.

“You’re going to have to.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why!? We have a store to open up!”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Pearl

“Sure thing, Sonya. We can look into getting something
sexy
in,” Pearl said with a conspiratory smile.

She was leaning on the counter, having a lovely chat with her favorite female werepanther! Diesel firmly held the male spot in that listing, but that wasn’t saying much seeing as there were only two werepanthers in Shifter Grove, currently.

“Well, you better! Until we get a decent boutique around here. You know how
long
of a drive it is to a store that stocks something other than working boots and plaid? Too damn long!” Sonya scoffed, grabbing her groceries and waving at Pearl.

With a satisfied sigh, Pearl pushed herself off the counter and stalked deeper into the store. It had been open for a few months now and everything was falling into place. Not only with the store, but with Pearl’s life as well.