Dragon's Second Chance Romance - Riley Storm Page 0,58

a single mate, Claire. You’re human. You have something I don’t.”

“What’s that?” she asked nervously.

“Freedom to choose,” he told her quietly. “To choose me or, if you wish, to not choose me.”

“Oh.” She sat back against the couch and considered his words.

“I’ll be here for you, but if you decide I’m not the one for you, once the vampires have been dealt with, you’ll never see me again,” he said quietly. “That I promise.”

Claire exhaled slowly. “I’m not saying yes,” she said at last. “Nor am I saying no. But Ro, if this is going to work out, then you’re going to need to do something.”

“What’s that?” the big man asked, shifting to better face her.

“Talk to me,” she said quietly. “I know you’re upset at breaking the law earlier and getting me out of there without the authorities seeing me. But you can’t keep beating yourself up for it. It’s an unusual situation.”

“They could have killed you,” he started to say, but she cut him off.

“But they didn’t, because of you. You found me.” She tilted her lips. “How did you find me, by the way?”

“Your phone,” he said. “Remember how we set up ‘find my phone’? I used it.”

Claire smiled. Pietro wasn’t a technological Neanderthal, but it wasn’t his best subject either. She’d heard that was the way with many dragons. They often preferred a simpler life. Hearing how proud he was that he’d remembered to use that, when his mind would have been filled with fear for her safety, was absolutely adorable.

“You are so cute right now,” she said, leaning in and throwing her hands around his neck. “Like seriously. Hard to handle. That was smart of you. Dumb of them too, to let me keep it on me.”

“You don’t hear me complaining,” he said, pulling her in closer.

“No, I don’t,” she admitted, falling into a kiss that lingered on for several seconds. “Definitely not complaining.”

“I’d like to hear you,” he growled into her ear, sending shivers down her spine. “Though complaints wasn’t quite the sound I had in mind…”

“Oh you would, would you?” she purred, pressing her chest against his body as an answering fire awoke in her, rising to match the look in his eyes as he gazed down at her.

“Mmmm. Indeed. Here, let me show you.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

Pietro

Claire didn’t resist.

Instead, she all but melted at his touch as he lowered her to the floor, the plush area rug reaching up to caress them both. He took her hands, pushing them up above her head, pinning them gently to the ground, exerting his strength over her as he watched her face.

Biting her tongue, Claire stared back at him. She was a sight to behold, spread out underneath him, her flaming red hair like an echo of his scales, spread out on either side of her, drawing attention to the center where her face gazed up at him, desire pooling thick in her eyes.

“God, you’re so beautiful,” he growled, struck once more by how lucky he was to have found someone like her.

“You really think so?” she asked, smiling shyly.

“If you could read my thoughts, you would never have a doubt again,” he rumbled. “You would know how stunning you look.”

“Well, thank you,” she said with a nervous giggle, glancing between their hips. “That’s the only indicator I have, though it seems to work quite well.”

“You bring out the best in me. What can I say,” he said, leaning down to kiss her, covering her body with his entirely.

Their lips met, and he forced himself to take it slow. To memorize that moment. Pietro never wanted to forget what it was like to have her under him. To feel so close and intimate with someone the way he did with Claire. It was perfect.

Her hands slipped free of his grasp and wrapped tightly around his neck, ensuring that the kiss went on for some time, even as her body began to move against him. It was hard for Pietro to resist simply tearing her clothes away and taking her. He wanted to feel the warmth of her as he entered, to hear the gasp as he pushed deeper, and the cries as he punished her body with the ultimate expression of pleasure.

But first, he wanted her to suffer pleasantly. A wry grin twisted his lips, and he pressed his hips down between her legs, rubbing himself just right. She hissed and stiffened as he passed over her core, and he repeated the movement a few more times,