To Tame a Dragon - Tiffany Roberts Page 0,28

flowers that were blooming in the desert even now. Those markings only enhanced the natural grace of her lithe limbs. He’d not thought that grace possible in the human form, but she defied his expectations.

Pale scars also marked her skin here and there, some barely distinguishable from her unmarred flesh, including a thin one across the back of her hand. That called his attention to her fingers; they were long and slender, rough and elegant simultaneously. He’d already felt some of their strength—miniscule compared to his own, but surprising from such a small, fragile looking human. That strength had been intriguing, as had been the scrape of her blunt, pale claws over his scales.

What would those hands feel like elsewhere on his body?

His cock twitched in anticipation.

Falthyris shifted his eyes lower still, to her supple thighs and toned calves, to her dainty feet and little toes, which were also tipped with blunt claws. Those legs were strong, too. The feel of them looped around his waist, of her thighs squeezing his hips, her heels pressing into his back to drive him deeper, faster…

He groaned and curled the fingers of his free hand around his seeping cock. His mind swirled, his heartfire intensified, and building pressure briefly tensed his muscles. He longed to experience those sensations again, longed to feel her hungry sex grasping his shaft. Her scent swelled in his awareness, blossoming like the desert flowers of which it was reminiscent, and overpowered all other smells.

The Red Heat coursed through his body, creating a shudder that rattled his wings. It crept into the edges of his vision and slowly stained his world crimson. He could claim release from her so easily. He could take as much pleasure as he wished, could do anything he wanted with her.

He could taste those full pink lips with his own, could taste her skin with his tongue, could—

The sound of something heavy thumping onto the floor jarred him from those thoughts. He reflexively withdrew his hand from his shaft.

The sandstone ox had fallen, forgotten in his lust.

The human’s eyes snapped open, and she leapt to her feet. One of her arms were raised in an instant, those slender fingers curled around a fist-sized rock. She swung it toward him but halted her arm abruptly—well before she would’ve struck him—when she met his gaze. Her eyes were rounded, and the bright reflections from the cave mouth gleaming in them made her irises look darker than ever in contrast.

Lowering her arm, she frowned, brow creasing as she trailed her gaze down his body. Her eyes lingered on his cock before she shifted her attention to the ox. Those delicate brows shot back up in surprise. “You hunted?”

Falthyris forced himself to ignore the way her eyes had raked over him—he’d very nearly felt her gaze like a sensual, physical touch—and glanced at the carcass. “Of course I hunted, human. These creatures are not in the habit of wandering into dragons’ lairs and dropping dead in offering.”

The female tilted her head, regarding him silently for a few moments. She glanced at the ox again uncertainly.

“I have not eaten in a long while,” Falthyris said slowly, “so I obtained food. Against my better judgment, I brought it here to share with you.”

“But you are male,” she said flatly.

“Yes, as evidenced by the protrusion between my legs. Quite observant of you.”

She scowled and looked at the rock in her hand as though she were considering using it. With a disgusted sigh, she tossed the rock aside and met his gaze again. “The males in our tribe do not hunt. It is the duty of the huntresses—my duty—to provide. It is not safe for males to venture beyond the safety of our village.”

“Because your males are weak, like the rest of your people.” But Falthyris could not deny the confidence in her stance or the strength and pride in her voice, just as he could not deny the fact that they deepened that ache low in his belly. And he felt just a hint of pride, too—his female was a huntress.

She notched her chin up. “My people are not weak, dragon. We are not insects.”

“No, you are not. The comparison is insulting to the insects.”

The female clenched her fists at her sides and stepped closer. “And you are nothing but an arrogant, spoiled lizard.”

Her robe parted, fully revealing her strange but alluring chest mounds and their bronze circles. Her reply should have infuriated him, but it was difficult to be angry