Light His Fire: Paranormal BBW Dragon Shifter Mail-Order Bride Romance (7 page)

“It’s beautiful,” Pearl said.

She stood on the edge of the rocky lip, her hands wrapper around herself, looking down at the waterfall. The water from a mountain river flowed past them just a couple dozen feet away, before falling into the pool below. It wasn’t too long of a drop, just fifteen feet or so.

“Not as beautiful as you,” Ares said, stepping up behind her and putting his hands on her waist.

He felt her twitch and when she looked over her shoulder, he could see a smidgen of annoyance crinkling her pretty features. It melted away when she saw the way he was looking at her. It was hard to get angry at a genuine compliment that came from the heart. With another woman, it might have been just a line to use, but with her, he meant it.

His dragon meant it too. In fact, if his dragon had had its way, she’d have been naked and wailing out his name already. Ares pulled away from her when that most inviting thought hit him, the idea spreading through his body and becoming a bit, ahem, uncomfortable. He twirled her around and pointed her towards the blanket and the picnic basket.

“Dinner?”

“Don’t tell me you cooked.”

“Dragons above, no. That’s why we have people who do it professionally – so I wouldn’t have to. Though, I promise, I make a mean scrambled eggs for breakfast,” he said, winking at her.

He didn’t add that scrambled eggs were the only things he could make. Unless burnt toast counted, in which case he could prepare
at least
two dishes.

They sat down and he opened up the picnic basket. Ares had figured it’d be a lot weirder to try and have a proper date, but with Pearl, it all seemed to flow just right. Nothing stuck out to him as being off, and even though he could see she had her defenses up, she’d given him plenty of hope that he could break them down, if given enough time.

The first thing he did was pop open a bottle of champagne and pour her a glass. He handed the flute to her.

“Aren’t you going to get a glass?” she asked, smiling.

“Waste of a good glass,” he answered, tipping the bottle a bit. “To trusting others!” he said, raising the bottle.

“Why?”

“Because if you don’t trust me we can’t do this right and if I don’t trust you to not get annoyed at me, this will be one hell of an awkward night!” he said, clinking the bottle against her glass and taking a swig.

She laughed and it was balm to his soul. He watched a sip of champagne disappear behind her lips and, for a moment, he was jealous of the liquid, getting to know her mouth before he did. It felt unbelievable that he had known and chased her for months now and he was yet to even get a kiss. That had never happened to the dragon before.

And never will,
a self-confident voice in his head told him.

It couldn’t. She was the one. She had to be.

He didn’t mind the thought of this being his first, and last, first date.

“So, why me?” Pearl asked, kicking off her shoes.

She was wearing a sexy red dress that hugged her curves just right but wasn’t too dressy. And he appreciated that she had done her make-up and hair just for him. All that was missing was some of his gold on her and then his soul could rest easy. Until then, he would constantly feel like he had to protect her from the world around them, like another shifter might swoop in any minute and steal her from him. The thought alone unnerved him. A feeling he was not accustomed to at all.

“Why you?” he echoed, confusion drawing a line on his forehead.

“Yes. Why me? Why are you so adamant about taking me out? Why did you have to chase me down all the way to Idaho?”

He could feel Pearl’s insistent gaze on him as he took out the food – some sandwiches, fresh fruit and a cherry pie that Cerise had assured him was her favorite. When he looked up, she was still peering at him from over the rim of her glass.

“Easy. I saw you and I knew right away that there was something about you that I needed in my life. I couldn’t tell right away what it was exactly, but I knew I had to find out more. I didn’t get a chance to hunt you down the same night, and I regret that.”

“Why?”

She really seemed to like that word.

“Because I think we’ve wasted precious time that could have been spent getting to know one another better.”

His words were earnest and he assumed she could tell. There was no use in fronting with her in a situation like this – where it was just him and her and no one to overhear them. He’d already made her break down once, he didn’t want that to happen again. He’d never felt as damn vulnerable as he did when he saw her collapse in the store. Ares knew right then and there that he would do anything to never have her feel bad again.

He could spy a hint of a blush on her cheeks. It looked good on her, but then again, everything did.

“So tell me why I should trust you? Why should I go on another date with you?” she asked, leaning back and nibbling on a strawberry.

How he wished that her lips and teeth were on him instead! His chest constricted a little, looking at those inviting lips curl around the berry and become moist with its juices. Ares wondered what she tasted like and how heavenly she would look when he’d dip down between her legs for the first time and have a taste of her maddening wetness.

“You ask a lot of questions,” he said, smirking. “Good to know I’ve at least piqued your interest. I was beginning to think you were just doing this to appease me. I think you should trust me because I know I would never hurt you. Not willingly, not knowingly. Damn, I think I’d lose a limb instead of putting you in harm’s way. And I think you should go on more dates with me because you want to know what makes a man like me tick that way for a woman. I think you want to get it, to understand, and I respect that. But I think deep down inside, you feel it too. Whether or not you want to admit it is a whole other story, though.”

He took a big bite of one of the sandwiches, giving her a moment to digest his words. Ares had feared that he wouldn’t know what to tell her, how to answer her questions or make her feel at ease around him. But now, when they were talking, it all felt so easy. Just tell her the truth and that would be that. How hard was that?

His dragon knew what they felt for her better than the man ever could, but the words flowed through both of them. Dragons didn’t joke around about their mates, and when a dragon was sure of something, it was nearly impossible to convince them otherwise. Dragons above, Ares had tried reasoning with his dragon. All his rational, sensible protests that it just wasn’t the time to settle down yet and get a bride like everyone else around him had fallen on deaf ears. The dragon had decided.

Now, spending time with Pearl, Ares had to admit that his dragon had been completely right – he couldn’t get enough of her.

The sun was falling lower and lower and soon, it would disappear behind the treetops altogether. The rushing water filled the air with a happy babbling even when Ares and Pearl were silent. He couldn’t get enough of looking at her. She almost vibrated with energy. There was so much about her that he needed to learn, but what he already knew had him completely tied up.

She was a woman who wasn’t afraid of standing up for herself. Everything about her told him that she was the kind of woman who wouldn’t mind going on an adventure with him. He felt a note of hesitance about her and he wasn’t sure if it was because of him or something else, but it didn’t matter. She would see and she would understand that they were perfect for each other, at her own pace. All he could do was help her along.

“Those are fighting words,” she finally said, smirking.

He gave her a devilish look and hopped up on his feet. Ares kicked off his boots and was halfway through dragging off his shirt before she could say a word about it. He wasn’t too modest to assume it was because of his abs.

“What are you doing!?” she asked, laughing.

“I promised I’d get you out of those clothes and dammit, I’m gonna do it.”

He loved the way her eyes filled with surprise and how she laughed when he grabbed for her. As if he was picking up nothing at all, he hauled her into his arms and then over his shoulder.

Taking a page out of Devon’s book after all!
Ares thought to himself with a grin, running at full speed towards the ledge.

“Ares!” Pearl screamed, her nails digging into his back.

A second later, they were already down in the depths of the crystal blue pool and Pearl’s laughter made the entire world around them that much brighter.

“You’re insane!” she called, splashing water at him.

Apollo grinned and swam over to her, pulling her to him as soon as she was within arm’s reach. Her red dress was clinging to her curves like a second skin and he could see her chest rise and fall quickly.

“Only when you need me to be,” he said.

Then, he kissed her, and Ares Goldplains was pretty sure he was never going to let her out of that kiss again.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Pearl

That kiss knocked her whole universe upside down. Black turned to white, up turned to down and her reluctance to go out with this cocky bad boy dragon turned into a screaming desire to never leave his side.

Funny how little things like that can change one’s entire perspective.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and their bodies pushed together in the cool water. He was so impossibly
hard
. His entire body was chipped right out of rock and she couldn’t believe a man could be so massive and so strong. Pearl loved the way his long fingers trailed down the length of her back and how he cupped her ass with one palm, squeezing hard.

His tongue slipped into her mouth without meeting any resistance, and she moaned softly into the kiss that was becoming more and more heated with each passing second. She’d completely forgotten about keeping herself afloat. Pearl was clinging to Ares like he was her lifeboat and the only way she was going to survive was if he kept breathing life into her.

She tingled all over from the kiss, and when they drew apart, their lips reluctantly leaving each other’s, it was almost physically painful.

“You taste like heaven,” he growled, his deep voice resonating through her and making her stomach tighten in even harder coils.

Her head was telling her to get out and find her wits wherever she’d left them, but her body just screamed for more. And when you’re against someone as impossibly hot as Ares, your body is going to win. The objections in her head were quickly overridden by reminding herself that she’d promised herself one night of fun. And what could possibly be more fun than Ares, right there, right then?

“You’re not too bad yourself,” she said teasingly.

Ares groaned lightly as Pearl captured his lower lip between her teeth and then sucked on it slightly. His grip on her tightened and, through a haze, Pearl could feel him guiding their bodies through the water. She gasped as the waterfall cascaded over her for a moment as they swam through it. The waterfall hid a warmer and shallower private little alcove behind the thick curtain of water.

Without a further word, Ares’s hands tugged at her dress and pulled it over her head. She helped him tear the offending clothing off of her and the red garment landed in a pile on a rock, soon to be followed by her bra.

Her fingers curled into his dirty blonde hair, tugging and pulling at it as he ravenously kissed down her neck and chest. Pearl’s legs were locked around his waist, her thighs squeezing his tucked, tight waist. God, he felt good. He knew just how to tease her, every kiss and lick sending her spiraling deeper into that passion she’d been denying herself since she met him. That spark of desire that had been there all along and that she’d tried to ignore so defiantly.

There was no getting away from it.

Her hands reached down and pulled his belt loose just as he kissed down the valley between her breasts. Ares gripped her thigh and pulled her higher along his body, just enough to allow him to push his jeans lower.

“Oh my God,” Pearl gasped, feeling his hard cock spring free and push against her soft stomach.

He was
so
big. It was unnatural. It was mouthwatering. It was going to be so much
fun
.