Sated blue eyes met his. “Jared, I just want you to know that I’ve never done anything like this before. I’ve never just jumped into bed with a stranger.”
With his heart pounding, he buried his face in her neck, needing the connection between them more than he needed air. It was impossible to be close to her and not touch. “I know, Chloe, I know.” God, she made him feel the way no other woman had ever made him feel. A warm, comfortable silence fell over them and he could almost hear her mind churning, sorting through the turn of events.
A long moment later, Chloe broke the quiet. “We, uh, we forgot to use a condom.” She softly brushed her fingers through his hair.
“Yeah, I got a little crazed. Sorry about that, sweetheart. I’ve never lost control before. But trust me I’m clean, so you don’t have to worry about anything.”
“And I’m on the pill,” she assured him.
Hearing her mention birth control made his gut twist. He’d never put much thought into birth control before. Sure he’d love to have a family, but considering what he was, the chances of him impregnating a human woman were nil.
Her low, contented breath whispered across his cheek as she snuggled in tighter. “Have you always lived on the island, Jared?”
“Yes, always,” he said. Well, technically that wasn’t true. Eons ago when humans began abusing dragon magic, draining them of their very life, he’d escaped his home on the Australian continent and come to the island looking for sanctuary, but he couldn’t very well tell her that.
“It’s beautiful here,” she murmured. “I don’t ever want to leave.”
His stomach plummeted at the thought of her going back to her home on the mainland. “Are you just here for a week-long vacation?”
“Two weeks,” she explained. “And it’s not really a vacation. You see, I’m a zoologist from York University in Toronto and my boss sent me here to search for the Ryuu dragon.”
His heart began to race; his palms began to sweat. “Chloe—”
She waved a dismissive hand. “I know, I know, it’s ridiculous. Dragon’s don’t exist.” She reached over the side of the bed and grabbed a swatch out of her nightstand. “But this swatch has led some to believe otherwise.”
Jared worked to remain expressionless. “Where’d you get that?”
“Some lunatic brought it to the university. If you ask me, I think it’s a mutated caruncle from a turkey.”
Jared examined the swatch, remembering all too well the night the man had cut it from his wing. He’d given the man a fright, and let him go, fully expecting the island folk to protect Jared and work to dispel the rumor, the same way they’d been dispelling them for hundreds of years. “I believe you’re right. It does look like a caruncle,” he agreed. “I’ll get rid of this for you.”
“That’s okay. I’ll take care of it.” Chloe took the swatch from him, placed in on the nightstand and curled against him. She moaned low then redirected the conversation. “Will you stay the night?”
Her sweet voice rumbled through him, and the softness and need lingering in the depths overwhelmed his senses, but as reality inched its way back into his brain, he knew he needed to flee. There was nothing he’d rather do than spend the night with her, but under the circumstances it was completely out of the question.
“Afraid not.” He offered her no explanation, knowing he needed to retreat to his lair. His body was tired, and he was losing control. If he wasn’t careful he’d soon morph into a being that would turn their intimate moment of ecstasy into one of chaos and confusion. He didn’t want to frighten her, nor did he want her running away from him, disgusted with what he really was. Deep inside he knew she was his mate, but he couldn’t explain how or why. And how could he tell her about his heritage without her thinking he was a crazed lunatic? He needed to get away to think, to sort through matters and figure out what the hell was going on.
Clearly disappointed, Chloe rolled aside, retreating both physically and emotionally, and he hated himself for having to sever the connection. His gut clenched, but it was best to leave her alone for the night and give himself time to wrap his mind around the turn of events. With a heavy heart, he slipped from the bed.
The truth was, even if Chloe was his mate, they could never have a real relationship, not a lasting one anyway, the kind she deserved. They could forget about happily-ever-after. He might be a magical fairy-tale creature, but this was no fairy tale. This was reality. A cold harsh reality in which he lived.
Sure he could indulge in a wild affair once in a while, but anything everlasting was out of the questions. Not that anyone had ever had him thinking of everlasting before Chloe. And despite the fact that she was the catalyst for sparking his magic—and likely sustaining it—he certainly couldn’t ask her to give up her life to stay with him.
She was a zoologist with a career in Canada—a zoologist in search of a dragon. Even if he told her what he was, and she decided not to run away screaming or announce his presence to the world, he couldn’t ask her toss out all she had ever known to stay with him, to keep his magic alive for his sake, and for the sake of the people residing on the island.
Honestly, how could he ask her to give up her life, to save his?
4
Mesmerized with the way he moved, Chloe watched him pull on
