In a Dragon’s Dream by Riley Storm Page 0,22

itself.

Rakell offered her a smile as their eyes met. Laura glanced down hurriedly, heart thundering against her chest wall, trying not to lose her composure entirely.

After a few seconds, she glanced back up.

He was still staring at her.

Laura’s pulse skyrocketed, overwhelmed by his piercing eyes, the jade so vibrant, even here inside her office, where the overhead lights seemed to dull everything else. Not him though. Nothing could hold those down.

The machine beeped loudly to signal it was done.

Laura jumped, emitting a high-pitched squeak of fear, completely caught by surprise at the noise.

Rakell was suddenly there. Right there, in front of her. He moved so fast, she’d not even had time to register he was moving.

“Is something wrong?” he asked, the rumble coming from deep within his chest, practically at her eye level. He was so big, towering over her, she had to crane her head back to look up at him.

“No,” she whispered. “I’m fine. I’m good, really. Just the machine. The beep. It startled me a little. That’s all, you know how these things go.”

Rakell nodded. “Of course. Is there anything I can do?”

“No,” she said, still caught in his gaze, like a fly in a trap. “I just have to. Push this button.”

The last words came out breathlessly. Rakell was right there. So close she could touch him.

Then suddenly Laura was touching him, her hand on his chest, feeling his heart. Was it beating as fast as hers? She couldn’t tell over the roaring in her ears and the sudden brightness of all the lights.

“You’re so warm,” she said, babbling now about anything. “Have you always been so warm? Like your skin, it’s just hot to the touch. It’s okay though, I don’t mind it. I didn’t mean to be rude. I just—”

“Laura.”

She looked up as he spoke her name, his voice reaching out and taking command of her. Her body shuddered like it had been struck by electricity.

“Yes?” she squeaked.

“Be quiet,” he said, and leaned down.

His lips crashed into hers, waves breaking along the shoreline. Laura surged up to meet him. Hungry for more, she released control, her mouth parting as his tongue sought hers, strong, yet not overbearing.

I must be dreaming, she thought to herself.

Then her phone began to ring.

Or maybe not. That wouldn’t happen in a dream. We’d end up on my desk. Or bent over it…

Rakell pulled back, both of them looking at one another tentatively, unsure of what to do.

She sighed. “I should get that.”

Chapter Thirteen

Rakell

I must be dreaming.

Had that just happened? He was still trying to decipher fact from fiction, his brain fried by the electricity of their kiss, the burn of her body pressed up against him. Every facet of it had fit perfectly.

It had to be a dream then. Nothing in life ever felt quite so…right.

The room seemed to grow in size as Laura stepped back into her office, the simple glass wall creating more than just a physical barrier. It gave him space to breathe, to think it over.

To relive the moment.

Her touch had been fire almost too hot for the fire dragon to handle. He’d wanted little more than to take her, right then. Claim her as his own so that all who came later would know. But he couldn’t. Not with her, not with Laura.

Oh but his dragon yearned for it. Still, that wasn’t the way, that wasn’t how this had to go. Rakell was supposed to be her bodyguard, her protector. Not her lover. For all he knew, she was simply falling into this because he was scaring her. She might think this was how she was supposed to pay him.

Rakell snorted as Laura picked up the phone.

“You need to give her more credit. She’s a strong woman, she knows that she owes you nothing for your protection. Don’t make things up.”

“Hey Kristin.”

He perked up for a moment, wondering what Blede’s mate was doing calling. Listening in to the call, it sounded like she wanted to set up a meeting with Kristin and Sam, to apologize and try her best to make up for everything that had happened.

And hopefully tell them that it was just regular thugs, and end this dragon nonsense.

Rakell tuned out the conversation after that, leaving Kristin to her privacy. He didn’t usually mean to overhear things like this, but his dragon hearing was so sensitive that if he was distracted or not focusing on it, he could hear all sorts of things that weren’t meant for his ears.

Resist her charms. You’re