To Desire a Dragon - Amanda Milo Page 0,34

and snags a woven floor rug, setting me knees-down on it, his loincloth no barrier at all as his staff prods at my tunic dress (which has dropped to cover my lap) like it's trying to make friends.

I’m surprised to find that I’m no longer afraid of what Halki’s utterly strange organ will do. Instead, I’m primed to experience it again. “Why did you stop?” I ask.

“Wanted to see you,” he pants through bared teeth—and his gaze is devouring me. When he meets my eyes, his satisfaction is clear in his glowing green stare.

He takes a rib-launching breath and my eyes are drawn down the length of his body. He’s beautiful. Scales and all, his strong body is a work of art—and he is all mine. Fire laps through my system.

“Nalle,” Halki growls.

My eyes snap up to his.

“I want to skin you,” he declares.

The longest beat of silence ensues.

I don’t think I’ve ever blinked at anyone as much as I’m blinking up at him. And his face is so earnest, it’s disturbing. “Don’t repeat that. Just tell me you meant something else.”

Halki frowns. His clawed finger and thumb pinch my tunic’s shoulder strap. “Take this skin off.”

A laugh catches in the back of my throat, but he looks so serious, I don’t let it out. I should earn a prize for how hard I have to work to stifle my smile, but I reach for the fastenings on my dress.

“Wait,” Halki says. “I want to do the skinning.”

Eyes wide, I hold up my hands. “Every woman in the tribe is jealous of what’s happening in here, but they have no idea what I have to deal with when it comes to you.”

Halki frowns again. “Climaxes that make you cry my name?”

I nod primly. “All right, you can deliver those, I’ll give you that.”

He makes a disbelieving noise. “You’ll ‘give’ me that, will you? The nerve, female.” Under his gruff words, he sounds amused. And breaths coming in harsh pants, Halki slowly unwraps me.

A yearning look takes over his expression, and his gaze speaks to how fortunate he feels to have me. It sets my tummy on fire, combats my shyness, and dispels any vestiges of hesitation.

Manner caught between tenderness and hunger, he runs his fingers down my throat, between my breasts, over my belly, and down one thigh stained purple with his oils. It’s shocking—not the staining; his patience—because I expected him to rush and rip at me and take me. He’s wooing me after he conquered me, which feels backwards—but maybe this is the natural order for dragons: bond to mate, breed mate, learn mate.

Knees touching, his slightly trembling fingers careful, his eyes get hotter and hotter as he explores my body with touches that are so chaste they almost feel shy.

They make me feel shy. I find myself blushing under his starving, appreciative scrutiny.

When I glance away from him, Halki’s knuckle hooks me under the chin and tilts my head up until I’m forced to meet his eyes.

He grunts.

He frowns and grunts again. Then he’s scowling and showing me his teeth.

“What?” I ask, my voice shaking slightly as I try to suppress a nervous laugh. “Are you so caught up in passion that you’ve lost the ability to speak?”

Halki’s eyes flash. Looking gravely serious, he nods once.

I blink at him. “Oh.”

Learning how overcome he feels is intoxicating. He still hasn’t cum; he’s so swollen and hard between us that I’m amazed he’s not howling from pain. He’s leaking purple fluid onto the floor, but he’s ignoring his jutting organ, keeping his focus on me, so I keep my focus on the rest of his body. Lighting him up everywhere else that I can. My hands stroke up his sides—and to my delight, he arches and purrs for me in pleasure.

There isn’t really any need to remove his loincloth; as he’s already demonstrated, he can get to me fine simply by flipping it aside. But I bring slightly trembling fingers to the ties of it anyway, and my insides turn warmer when Halki’s skin flickers at my finger’s touch over his hip.

Now both of us are naked, facing each other.

His wide chest fills my field of vision. He’s so tall that he’d have to lean down if he wanted me to stick out my tongue and flick one of his nipples.

My tongue suddenly wants that. I wonder how he’d react. I don’t think dragons have nipples in their natural form so teasing his should be an eye-opening experience for