The (Not) Satisfied Dragon - Colette Rhodes Page 0,34
want to kiss you too,” I admitted.
“You can kiss me and still be mad at me. I won't forget,” Hiram chuckled, moving his hand up to cup my jaw and gently stroking my cheek with his thumb. The tenderness of his touch was my undoing. I closed the distance between us, my lips ghosting over his. Hiram's hand tightened slightly on my jaw, holding me in place as he took the lead.
For all of his arrogant swagger, Hiram didn't kiss me like he was cool and collected. He kissed me like I was a queen and he was my humble servant. He worshiped my lips, reverently parting them with his tongue and exploring my mouth like he wanted to memorize it. The fluttering in my stomach was morphing and twisting into something else. Something more urgent, moving lower in my body.
“Fuck,” Hiram swore quietly, breaking apart from me, still cupping my face. “I'm trying to be a good boy, but you are godsdamn temptation on legs.” I blinked up at him in a daze, bringing my fingers up to touch my swollen lips.
“Take a minute to cool off, Hiram,” Ezra commanded, making me jump. How long had he been standing there?
Ezra was leaning against the archway that led to the parlor, arms crossed over his chest and legs crossed at his ankles. It was the most relaxed I'd ever seen him, and I didn't know how to handle it. He wasn't the easiest to read, but it looked like some tension had leached out of his face over the past couple of days. Maybe Hiram and I reaching a truce was bigger than just us. I guess that's how flights worked — nothing happened in isolation.
“I hate to admit it, but that's probably a good idea, Alpha,” Hiram chuckled. He pressed his lips hard against my temple before extricating himself and standing up and adjusting the front of his trousers. “I'm going to get some fresh air.”
Ezra approached as Hiram let himself out the front door, holding his hand out to help me up. The familiarity of the moment struck me — he'd done it once before when I'd been scrubbing the floor and he'd suggested us going for a fly. I'd found the gesture condescending. Did he think I couldn't stand up by myself? But it didn't look like that's what he was thinking. He looked like he wanted to touch me. And I kind of wanted to touch him back.
I slipped my hand into his much larger one and Ezra gently tugged me to my feet, keeping a hold of my hand. My head only came up to his chest and standing this close, I had to tip my head right back to see his face.
“Do you like your paints?” he murmured, his thumb drifting over my knuckles.
“I love them.”
“Good. I want you to be happy here, Shira. We all do.”
There was a hint of vulnerability in his dark blue eyes that made me realize in that moment how powerful I was. Ezra didn't just want me to be happy. He needed me to be happy. It was written there in his navy eyes how essential that was to him.
“I want to fly.”
Ezra never smiled, his mouth was either set in a straight line or slightly downturned, but his eyes gave away the emotions he didn't want me to see. And right now, he thought I was funny.
“You're laughing with your eyeballs,” I blurted, face instantly flaming like someone had just thrown a ball of fire directly at my head. The corners of Ezra's eyes crinkled and the tiny change in his demeanor filled me with warmth.
“I am. I see you've worked out that you have all the power now, my lo—, er, Shira. You can ask me for anything and I won't be able to deny you.”
“So we can fly?”
“All of us?” he confirmed. I nodded my head before glancing past him at the wall I'd started sketching my mural on. He turned slightly to follow my gaze.
“Then let's fly.”
Ezra must have called them silently since Seff, Oren, and Levi seemed to materialize out of nowhere as we made our way outside where Hiram was leaning against the side of the den, waiting expectantly for us. How often did they communicate that way? The less concerned I became about holding myself back from them, the more annoyed I got that I couldn't hear what they were saying.
“How are you feeling about shifting again?” Levi asked, giving me