Koshi (9 page)

“Show me where you keep the oil.” She scratched the sensitive ridge along his eye. What would she say when she found out it was considered foreplay?

“Climb aboard, I’ll carry you there.” He dipped his shoulder. When she backed away, he set his tail behind her. “Come on, don’t you want to ride me?”

The blush on her cheeks deepened and made him want her even more. She wouldn’t escape today. Nothing would keep him from having her in his bed. He ran the tip of his tail along her calf, climbing between her legs to her thigh before she swatted it away.

“Behave or I’ll change my mind.” Her voice shook. Pushing the loose strands of hair that had slipped from her ponytail behind her ears, she approached him. “You’re not going to fly?”

“Never. Not without a harness. Don’t you trust me?”

She raised any eyebrow at him.

It speared his heart. “I’m wounded. I haven’t harmed you. If anything, I’ve gone out of my way to help you.”

She snorted and clambered onto his shoulder, muttering things under her breath like
trickster
and
twisting the truth
. He might have done a little of both, but it had been all in fun. Never harm.

He waited until she settled between his shoulders, legs hanging around his neck. He’d truly be a liar if he said he didn’t enjoy the press of her sweet body against his scales, but he kept silent. He did want her to tend that patch after all. Walking on all fours, he carried her through his maze of tunnels to a hot spring deep enough for his dragon form to soak. With a small flaming breath, he lit the torches on the wall.

“Handy trick.” She clung to him, running her hands back and forth. He could spend the rest of the day under such attention.

Tendrils of steam floated from the water; the scent of minerals tinged the air.

“Nice.” She drew out the word in appreciation. “Koishi, help me climb down.”

Ignoring her, he scooped up a stiff brush with the tip of his tail and stepped into the pool. The water was warm, but wouldn’t burn her.

She rose to her feet while still on his shoulder as he swam farther from shore. With a twist of his back, she tumbled off. Sputtering, she surfaced from the depth. “My clothes are all wet!” She splashed the back of his head.

“You’ll have to take them off and let them dry.” He circled her and fluttered his eyelashes. “It’s not like they’ll be ruined. Oh! I hadn’t considered you might have wanted to undress first.”

With sure strokes, she swam for shallower waters.

He snaked his tail under her and stopped her progress by blocking her way. The brush dangled from the tip. “The area needs to be scrubbed of loose scales before you can apply the oil.” With a couple small kicks, he floated next to her. “It’s less painful if the area is soaked.”

She tossed him a glare that any warrior would have been proud to own, and then grabbed the brush. It didn’t take her much effort to climb from the water. On her hands and knees, she found the spot and applied the blessed brush.

Purring deep in his throat, he pointed his chin to the ceiling. “Oh yeah.” The tough bristle bit into his itchy flesh. He’d been ignoring the spot far too long.

She put her back into the scrubbing. “There’s a lot flaking off.”

His vision tunneled. “To the left. To the left.” A shiver ran over his spine and sent a spasm into his back leg. The harder she brushed, the faster his leg twitched. “Dear God, woman, you’re merciless,” he cried out.

Her soft chuckle echoed in the spacious cave, carrying a tint of evil. She sat on his spine and stopped cleaning the spot.

He spun his head around to check it out, almost giving himself whiplash. “I can still see loose scales.” He rose out of the water a bit so she could have a clearer view of his back.

“I know.”

Narrowing his gaze, he twisted his neck to face her. “What are you up to?”

She ran the tip of her finger over the sensitive area, sending his body into spasms. “How were you injured? I can’t imagine something harming you.”

He watched as she moved her hands gently over the old scar. “A cave troll broke through the gate.” A groan escaped his throat as she ran her fingernails over the spot. “They’re quite resistant to lava and magic. It was the size of a small house. We fought for three days.”

“In these tunnels?”

“Yes. Yes! Do you plan on torturing me all afternoon?” The glide of her nails over the tender new scales growing beneath the dry skin would have him at her mercy.

“Will I have the saji before I leave here today?” She ran the brush over the edges of his scar where nothing itched.

He stretched his back, reaching forward with his neck, trying to find some relief. “You’ll see it. I promise.” His bellow shook the cave. But he’d only comply after he fucked her into oblivion and showed her exactly who she teased.

She scoured until old scales floated past his submerged head. He had decided it was best she didn’t hear anymore of his pleasure noise. However, he couldn’t control that damn back leg.

Breaching the surface, he glanced her way.

“Don’t look at me like that. The spot is scrubbed clean.” She waved the brush at him before doing a cannonball off his back. The splash sent a small tsunami over his nose. She had used his weakness to coerce a deal from him. Part of him was proud, and the rest wanted to drown her.

He stomped out of the pool and lay on his side as he observed her leisurely swim to the shore. When she exited the water, all thoughts of murder vanished since the blood main-lined straight from his head to his cock.

Her wet t-shirt clung to her curves and the cool cave air perked her nipples to hard, suckable nubs. The transparent lace of her bra hinted at how perfect those breasts would appear above him, bouncing as she rode his hard–

“Where do you keep the oil?” She swiped her hair from her face.

He hid his arousal by lying on it, pain throbbing through his cock at the mistreatment, and he dragged his gaze back to her face. “Over on those shelves.” She held him captive. Him! He shook his head and wished the hot springs were filled with ice. Instead, he focused on memories of his mother. A couple of those should freeze his heart, let alone his balls.

Small bare feet climbed his spine until Sandra settled with the oil bottle in hand. She poured it directly on the spot and massaged the area with firm, hard strokes.

He buried his face under his claws to stop a moan of ecstasy, and resorted to desperate measures, a vision he had tried to burn from his mind for centuries, walking in on his parents as his father mounted… A shiver wracked his body.

“Are you cold?”

“I am now.” Right down to his soul.

She slid off his back and set the empty bottle on the floor. Rubbing her arms, she approached him. “It is kind of cold after being in the pool.”

He kept his gaze pointed over her head. “Let’s find you something dry to wear.” The last thing he wanted to do was terrify her with a dragon boner.

She appeared so small and shivery by his feet.

Tossing a glance over his shoulder, he checked out his hide. “You did a very nice job.” He couldn’t resist nudging her closer. To share his body heat. “Thank you.”

She pressed against his scales and made a happy noise in her throat. Oh yeah, baby.

“Climb aboard. We’ll go faster this way.” And she wouldn’t spot his hard-on from his back. No point in fighting it. She wasn’t leaving his nest today, tonight, or tomorrow. Her anxiety of his dragon form seemed better. He carried her to his living quarters and into his bedroom. “Why don’t you undress?” He shifted to his human form. “Let me help you.”

Chapter 9

A fluttery, empty sensation took over Sandra’s stomach at Koishi’s offer of undressing her.

He was, of course, naked. Why didn’t this shock her more?

She fought with her gaze. It kept wandering south along his well-defined chest, to his abs… She jerked her chin up once more and cleared her throat. The edge of the bed hit her mid-calf as she retreated, causing her to sit hard on the mattress.

Koishi followed until their knees touched. She couldn’t avoid his erection from this vantage point and he was formed like a dragon should be. Thick and hard, made to give a girl a hot flash and beg
come on baby, show me what you can do
.

Heat radiated around her face as a blush ignited over her cheeks.

He tugged the edges of her t-shirt from her jeans. “You’ll catch a cold in this.” The concern in his voice sounded so genuine she had to laugh. “You don’t think so?” With one swift motion, he slipped it over her head. It landed on the floor next to the bed, discarded with no thoughts to allowing it to dry.

The cool air pricked her skin and sent a shiver through her limbs.

Trailing his fingertips over her goose-bumped flesh, he traced her collarbone. “How will I warm you?” He gave her a gentle push, laying her across the mattress, and followed.

“Koishi.” She whispered his name before all the air vanished from her lungs. Pressed into the bed, her body went from ice cold to boiling in seconds.

He leaned over her, a mere fraction of an inch from touching, his gaze locked on hers. “Ishi,” he whispered back. “I should be Ishi to you. This form is just a pebble of what I am.”

She took a shaky breath as the intensity of his dark gaze bored into hers. What he said was true. This male was so much more than the one she’d first met on the dock, and the more time she spent with him, the faster she fell. Good thing he knew how to fly.

His fingertips traveled to the necklace around her neck. “What does this mean to you that you hesitate to part with it?” He fingered the heart-shaped pendant.

Fisting the blanket under her, she resisted the urge to pull it from his grasp. “It’s the symbol of my parents’ love.”

“They loved each other very much?” A tender smile pulled at his lips.

“Yes, as well as my sister and me.”

He kept running his fingers over the necklace, his gaze intent on it. “Family can be…complicated. My parents tolerated each other’s existence.”

She nodded, unable to speak around the knot in her chest. Reaching around the back of her neck, she unclasped the necklace.

Ishi leaned away as she set it around his throat and locked it closed. He bent his head to stare at it. “It is a heavy burden. There’s a lot of love in this metal.” He closed his eyes as if basking in the sun.

“You can sense that?”

“Sure, I’m a stone dragon after all. Metals are from the earth and have a special bond with my kind. This necklace has a link to you, too.” He leaned and set a gentle kiss on her lips. “It’s like having you by my heart.”

Any hint of her resistance to this charming dragon melted. “You’re very good at this.”

He purred a rough rumble in his chest and caressed her breast with a firm hand, giving it a squeeze. “I’ve barely begun.” Bending, he sucked her budding nipple through her white lace bra.

She arched at the sudden electric sensation as it traveled from his mouth straight to her core. How long had it been since she’d been with a man? Way too long. She gasped as he bit and rolled the nub between his teeth. Never with a dragon. Oh God, please let this be screaming-until-she-lost-her-voice good. Hooking a leg around his hip, she pulled him against her.

The action jerked her nipple from his clenched teeth, giving her an extra sharp zing to her pussy. He landed on top, hunger blazing in his glare.

“Don’t hold back.”

“I wasn’t planning to.” He took her mouth, his lips crushing hers as he forced his way inside. Hot and moist, his tongue along hers, he coaxed her to explore. Kisses were meant for affection, but this one set her on fire from the tip of her curled toes to her flaming ears. Ishi cradled her head within his hands as he nipped at her lips, then flicked his tongue back inside, claiming her once more.

With a groan, she followed his gifted mouth as he retreated from her and she caught a glimpse of her body. “Why am I not naked yet?” She reached for the front clasp of her bra.

He chuckled and scooped her in his arms. “You’re trouble, Sandra.”

To her horror, she squealed a little at his manhandling. “Me?”

Setting her against the headboard and those mysterious handholds carved into it, he straddled her legs. “Seducing me with your little games.”

She ran her hands along his strong thighs, digging her fingers into his flesh to reassure herself this wasn’t a dream. “I’m not the one who played games, Mr. Trickster.”

He rolled his hips, inviting her hands to wrap around his hard cock.

She squeezed as she stroked him.

“Oh yeah, that was me. You’re the one who wants to make deals with dragons.” He grinned and thrust his hips in time with her touch, his breaths becoming more rapid. “Open your mouth.”

“Wha…?”

He rose to his knees and presented his cock to her lips. “I won’t hurt you. Trust me?”

She swallowed reflexively and tried to calm the flutter in her chest. She’d given BJs before, but not in this position. It left her vulnerable to his control and Ishi liked to lie.