The Dragon's Fate - Roxie Ray Page 0,31

random science facts while on vacation at the beach.

My mate was smart and beautiful.

By the time we reached the restaurant, the mood was pretty light, and my tattoo was burning something fierce.

Such a good burn though. The ache in my chest was all but gone. Only when I had moments of insecurity did it flare up, and even then, it wasn’t bad.

Throughout the dinner, I avoided any heavy topics. We spent the evening getting to know each other. After we’d finished eating, I took a chance that she might not be ready to end the evening yet. I knew I wasn’t. “You up for a walk?” I asked.

She smiled and nodded. “If I can change shoes.”

Grinning, I drove to her apartment and tried to hop out and open her door, but she beat me to it. “There’s a walking trail behind the complex that comes out at the park in town,” she said. “We can take that?”

I'd known it was there, having lived here all my life, there wasn’t much about the small town that I didn’t know. But there was no need to sound like I knew it all, so I grinned and nodded. “I’ll be right back,” she said and ran on her clicky heels toward her door.

Her ground-floor apartment front door was in my sight, so I didn’t worry about her getting out of sight and into danger. A couple of minutes later, she joined me in front of my truck. “Ready,” she chirped.

She was an inch or two shorter, but her hot pink tennis shoes looked cute in contrast with the somewhat dressy outfit. I grinned and let her set the pace.

By the time we walked around the building and hit the trail, my hand had brushed hers several times. I was itching to grab it as we walked and talked, and when we moved onto the trail and had to walk even closer together, I went for it.

I caught the grin that crossed her face and was instantly really glad I’d done it. I made the right choice.

We continued talking about ourselves while avoiding the heavy stuff. I didn’t mention my father and she didn’t mention her ex. Like we had a silent agreement to keep things happy tonight on our first date.

My intention when we got back to her apartment was to just walk her to her door and make sure she was locked up safely, but then at the door, Bri unlocked it and turned toward me. She was close enough for me to smell the strawberry in her lip gloss, which she’d reapplied in the truck after dinner.

I’d liked that she hadn’t felt like she had to run to the bathroom and do it in secret.

She stood on her tippy toes and pressed her lips to mine. I hadn’t intended on even kissing her, but since she initiated it, I took full advantage. Leaning over, I tilted my head, deepening the kiss.

My tattoo flared, as if it literally was on fire when her dainty tongue slipped out and caressed the seam of my lips. I opened my mouth and met her tongue with mine, and my gums tingled, the desire to bite her nearly overwhelming. It would take everything in me not to do it if and when we went further than this.

She pulled back, breathless, and I had to admit it felt like there was less air in my lungs, too.

“When can I see you again?” I asked.

“We’ve been staying with my parents since,” she ducked her eyes, “well, you know. We’re moving back here during spring break this week. But Hayden usually chooses weekends with her grandparents unless I have something specific planned for us.”

That sounded like she wanted to see me again. “Let me know your schedule. I’ll work around it. I just want to see you again.”

She blushed and grinned. “I’ll text you.”

I leaned forward and pressed one more soft kiss to her warm lips, then backed away before I tried to push for more. “Lock up tight. Goodnight.”

Knowing the betas were out there to make sure she stayed safe, I drove home with the biggest grin on my face. I couldn’t wait for our next date.

11

Bri

After a sluggish weekend enjoying the thought that we didn’t have to get up and go anywhere in particular on Monday, I decided we’d get up and go somewhere as I lay in bed Monday morning. We had several playdates scheduled for this week and had already hosted Tori once, yesterday afternoon,