Origin (Scales N' Spells #1) - A.J. Sherwood Page 0,101

until a slim hand slipped under the hem of his shirt and trailed upwards, fingers soothing along his skin in a sensual caress. Those fingers found a nipple and tweaked it, first gently, then with strength. Alric arched a little into it, gasping into Cameron’s mouth. Damn, he’d forgotten how good that felt.

There might have been a smirk on Cameron’s mouth as he swallowed that sound, his fingers doing it again. This was heading in one direction, and he shifted uncomfortably. His young lover clearly wanted sex, but was he actually ready for this?

Okay, so maybe his body and dragon were both shouting for more. For all of it. To explore every delectable inch of Cameron until the man trembled and panted beneath him.

But his mind was not exactly on board with this plan.

On one level, he understood that Cameron had already seen him. Touched those scars, knew the damage. There wasn’t anything to fear. But the rest of his mind rebelled at the mental image of him laying exposed next to all of Cameron’s perfection. He recoiled from it and his hand snapped up, catching Cameron’s wrist and removing it from under his shirt.

Cameron pulled back, his eyes searching Alric’s face. “If you’re not in the mood for sex, I’ll stop.”

Alric’s mouth opened and closed, no words emerging.

Expression hardening, Cameron sat further up. “But if you’re afraid to have sex with me because of your scars, then that’s a different matter. Which is it, Alric?”

Shit. Alric looked away from him, trying to regain his composure. Cameron read him far too well.

“Okay, no. This stops now.”

What did that mean? Alarmed, Alric’s head jerked back around. Cameron left his lap abruptly and he scrambled for him, trying to catch Cameron and draw him back in. “Wait—”

“Nope. I thought after I put the potion on your scars, you’d be okay with me. But you’re clearly not, so let’s put this into perspective.” Cameron faced him, arms akimbo, a dark frown on his face. “I’m not perfect either, Alric. I have scars too.”

Alric stared back at him, thrown for a mental loop. “You do?”

“Hell yeah, man. It’s not like I was wrapped in silk my entire life. I’ve got quite a few. Let me show you. Most are small, I grant you, but this one” —Cameron pulled at the sleeve of his shirt to expose an elbow—“I had three warts there that I had removed, and they got infected so they didn’t heal clean.” He toed off his shoes and then yanked off socks, leaving them carelessly aside. “And then there’s this scar here, right next to my big toe. Mom accidentally dropped her sewing scissors when I was about three, nearly took my toe off. She still feels guilty about it.”

Alric looked at the scar on Cameron’s bare foot, barely able to see the thin white line, it was so old. Where was he going with this?

Cameron stripped his shirt off and Alric’s question died unspoken at seeing all of that lovely skin exposed. His libido was desperately trying to turn off his brain. Why were they talking about scars again? He just wanted to get his hands on the man. Cameron didn’t have the perfect of a gym rat, but he was perfect to Alric’s eyes. Not too slim, the muscles smooth without being ultra-defined. His hands twitched with the need to caress every inch of that olive-toned skin.

“—three dots here where they took out my appendix,” Cameron was saying, pointing to them before turning and exposing his back to Alric. “And see that round, puckered looking scar? My neighbor as a kid was practicing with his bow and arrow, and he shot over the fence by mistake and hit me. It went in like a quarter of an inch, not bad, but it left the scar behind. I screamed bloody murder when it happened. I understand he’s still banned for life from picking up a bow. Oh, and here—”

The words flowed over Alric, none of them sinking in past the surface. He watched like a man spellbound as Cameron casually took off his pants and kicked them to the side, revealing a pair of bright red boxer briefs beautifully molded to his body. It actually took Alric a moment to drag his eyes to where Cameron pointed to an oddly shaped scar just above his knee. He couldn’t focus on it, his gaze wandering up over every inch of him. All he could see was this man, this beautiful, enchanting