The Dragon's Heart (Dragon Lore) (33 page)

“Yeah.” Because he’d been thinking about Adrian and Seren, too, he dragged a trembling hand over his face, before hooking his arm around her neck, hauling her over the center console so he could kiss her hard. “Same goes, princess. I love you. I am not brave enough to face this world without you anymore.”

Tears filled her eyes as she nodded, a strangled sound escaping her. “Pull over, Daniel.”

He did what she asked. The second they were off the road, she undid her seatbelt. She crawled onto his lap, kissing him. The mark over his heart flared bright as her emotions surged into him, the same love and desperation raging inside of himself. It wasn’t about sex this time–it was purely to feel the connection between them.

Her hands fisted in his shoulder-length hair when she finally pulled back, her eyes swimming with tears. “I love you. I love you so goddamn much.”

He ran his hands down her to her waist. This time, for the first time, he let her see everything he had for her–all of it. It left him raw inside, more vulnerable than he’d ever been in all of his long life, but imagining what Seren was going through, he knew he’d never be able to hold back from his Shelby. If something ever happened to him, he needed her to know just how much he’d loved her, how much he’d needed her.

But he didn’t want to start their forever on a terrified beginning. Instead, he flashed a grin as he leaned in and nipped lightly at her bottom lip. “Oh yeah?” he growled, his eyes darkening with need as his hands slipped around to grip her tight, perfect ass. “Why don’t you show me how much you love me?”

She snorted, her pale green eyes dancing. “I’m not that easy.”

His brow winged up as his hands slid over her butt, then up under his shirt she was still wearing, the pads of his thumbs skimming over the tips of her breasts. “You sure?” he murmured.

Her body gave one long, slow, delicious shiver before she leaned in, her eyes wicked and full of lust as she kissed him. Only when he would have taken them farther, she pulled back with a grin. Before he knew what was happening, she was back in her seat and buckled in.

“Positive,” she grinned. “Now, since we’re driving back to Los Angeles, we’ve got a ton of stuff to figure out.”

His jaw worked as he scowled at her, sure he heard her snicker as he adjusted himself before he put the truck back into gear. “Like?” he snapped.

Her smile went brighter, and as if to prove she wasn’t as unaffected as she seemed by the hot-as-hell kiss, she reached out to twine her fingers with his free hand as he pulled back onto the road. “Like, where we’re going to live. How we feel about kids. Household chores, that type of thing.”

He didn’t say anything for a long moment as he thought about it, and then, as if it finally sunk in, everything about him relaxed. He shot her an easy grin. The fog he’d been functioning under his entire existence was suddenly gone and he could see things clearly.

It was real. They were doing this. A slow grin curved his mouth as he tightened his hand around hers and just murmured quietly, not caring how much of a damn sap he sounded like.

“Alright, princess, let’s do this. That castle you wanted, anywhere in the world, I’d love children, and we divide chores fifty-fifty.” His grin went wide as he started down the road to their life together. “What’s next?”

Eden Ashe

Convinced dragons have gotten a bad rap throughout time, and more than a little addicted to fairy tales and romance novels, Eden Ashe has decided to re-write history. In her version, the dragons are ancient warriors with tarnished armor, who not only deserve the girl in the end, they’ll fight forever for her.

Lyrical Press books are published by

Kensington Publishing Corp. 119 West 40th Street New York, NY 10018

Copyright © 2013 Eden Ashe

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

Lyrical Press and the L logo are trademarks of Kensington Publishing Corp.

First Electronic Edition: January 2014

ISBN-13: 9781616505073