“Wow,” she said softly.
Sebastian kissed her lower belly, still tingling with sensation. “Did that work for you?”
Her brief nod halted mid-stride. Squinting, she said, “Your eyes are back.”
He smiled. “They never left.”
“You know what I mean,” she replied, her lips fighting the urge to lift at the corners. “They’re no longer dragon eyes. They’re plain again.”
Blinking as if the realization had actually struck home, his brow furrowed. A soft snort of disbelief blew out of his lips a moment later. “You’re right. My vision is a lot more acute when I shift and it’s not like that anymore. When I’m a dragon, I can see everything.”
A shiver trickled over her skin. A dragon. Her man—no, wait. That wasn’t right. She couldn’t think of him in those terms. It bordered on permanence. God knew nothing about her life had ever been or would ever be permanent. Even her existence.
A nip at her thigh snagged her attention. “Ouch!”
“What were you thinking just then?”
Alice shifted her gaze away from him, moving to the entranceway, where Drew could be entering at any moment. “Why hasn’t he returned?”
She felt Sebastian’s displeasure at her avoidance of his question. Relief calmed her when his reply followed her train of thought. “Because he is my man and very loyal. He also knows what we’re doing in here.”
“How...how? Oh dear God...”
Sebastian’s mouth quirked as if he fought to hide a smile. “You’re not the quietest lover, princess. I think just about everyone in the tri-state area knows what we’re doing.”
“If you’d quit doing that thing...with your tongue.” Damn, a hot flash just about sizzled her just thinking back on it.
“You mean this?”
Alice squealed. Her hand flew to his head before he could put that talented mouth on her sensitive body. “Wait! Wait!” It came out as another squeal, quickly followed by giggling.
He took pity on her and with one arm curled beneath her legs, situated her over the couch’s length. Kind of disappointing, really. She’d enjoyed gazing down on him as he kneeled at her feet.
But when he shucked off his jeans, proud erection jutting forth, she forgot all about that.
Sebastian didn’t disappoint by leaving her alone. He crawled over her, forcing the narrow strip of couch to hold them both, not stopping until his pelvis rested in the cradle of her thighs. With every inhale, her breasts touched his chest before retreating again, each fan of her breath caressing the skin of his face as they lay together.
“I would stay with you like this,” Sebastian said. All trace of humor had fled, his words now weighed down with a seriousness that made her heart clench.
It would be so, so easy to misunderstand his meaning. To think he wanted more sex, that he hadn’t yet found his release. But the way he studied her face, the gentleness behind his regard, betrayed the lie she wanted to clutch. As much as he’d come to mean to her, it still frightened her that they were both speeding along this course. What would happen if something went wrong for either of them? Would they survive the devastation?
Sebastian traced along her skin with a hand, watching the rise of goose bumps left in its wake. He followed a pale blue vein on her arm before sliding to the swell of her breast. Ignoring the swollen peak of her nipple, he moved his touch higher until Alice tilted her head again, melting into the sensation. The pulse in her neck beat rapidly and she felt the weight of his stare there.
Grasping her chin until she followed its tug, until they locked gazes again, he said, “You give to me so willingly, Alice. I don’t understand you and your ability to be here with me, but I want m—”
“Shh.” She lifted a finger to his lips, pressing gently until they stopped moving.
She couldn’t bear to hear what he had to say. If he asked for a future together, if he even hinted that he wanted to spend more time with her, it would break her heart to pretend she hadn’t heard. She was getting sicker, despite every hope otherwise. She remembered what Jasmine, her new friend, had said about the seizure she’d had. There’d been a few more like it since then. None under his watchful gaze, thank God. She feared for subtle signs that they were getting worse. Like how on occasion her head swam for a few minutes afterward. It couldn’t be a good sign.