“Or maybe you’d rather talk?” he asked. “You look like you have something on your mind.”
She resisted the urge to laugh. Jesus, was she really that transparent?
He gave her a wickedly playful grin that curled her toes and dampened her panties. “So what do you say? Drink? Or talk?”
Hell, she didn’t want to drink or talk. She wanted to play. And she wanted to be bad. Really, really bad. After all, being a good girl merely left her single, and with a job she certainly couldn’t go back to.
She held her hand out. “It’s nice to meet you, Benjared. I’m Chloe.”
His rough hand curled around hers and brought on wild and wicked sensations. Her mind raced, and her body tingled right down to the tips of her toes. God, there was something so carnal and so primal about him that it had her burning from the inside out. “Call me, Jared. Jared Sani.”
“Jared…” she murmured, trying out the name and wondering how it would sound on her lips when she screamed it during climax.
Jared watched her. Watched the way her eyes flickered over his body with heated interest, and the seductive way she brushed her tongue over her lush bottom lip. He knew what she was thinking. Hell, he was thinking it too. Or at least his cock was thinking it. He was so goddamn hard, his dick was ready to break free from its zippered cage and drive into her hot, moist center in one powerful thrust. It had been a long time since he’d come across a woman who exuded sweet and sexy at the same time. Talk about a mind-blowing turn-on.
As he went to work on making her another drink, he wondered what brought her to the island. Was it for a little R&R, or was it because of the recent rumblings about the Ryuu dragon? With her fair skin, manicured nails, long and loose auburn hair, and flirty sundress with a hint of cleavage exposed, she didn’t resemble a dragon hunter at all. Far from it, really. Which was a good thing, otherwise he’d never be able to fuck her the way she needed to be fucked. Because if he did, and if he lost his control, even for a moment, and exposed a hint of his primal self to a dragon hunter, he’d end up under a microscope. Not that he’d have to worry about that in the near future anyway, he quickly reminded himself. Not with the way his body was growing old and his magic dying. Still though, he didn’t want to take his final breath on a cold steel table, dissected and examined before the last of his magic had faded and he disappeared right along with it.
Of course, no woman had ever rattled him enough to lose his hard-earned control before—control that had kept him safe and alive thus far. But there was something different about Chloe. He’d spotted warmth and compassion in the depth of her eyes when they met his—traits he’d yet to see in the barrage of women he’d encountered. Honestly, it had the strangest effect on him. And the way she’d cared for that rare, long-horned beetle instead of swatting it away or squishing it beneath her shoes, like so many others would, told him a great deal about her character.
He took a long moment to just watch her and read her body language. Deep down he suspected she was a good girl, a sweet young thing looking for a little bad-boy action. Perhaps she’d been hurt and was striving for a way to put her past behind her, or perhaps she just wanted to step out of character while at the seductive singles resort. As a bartender, he’d certainly seen and heard it all over the years, having come across numerous women who fell into one of the aforementioned categories. Either way, something about the twinkle in her eyes had him believing she had a plethora of forbidden desires that she’d yet to discover. And goddammit, he wanted to be the guy to help her discover them. With the way his cock was clamoring for attention, he’d like to start right now by introducing her to a little naughty—and a whole lot taboo—pleasure, because he suspected she had no idea just how much she wanted that.
With that last thought in mind, Jared pulled a bowl of partially frozen strawberries from the freezer, placed them on the counter and used a plastic measuring cup to grab a scoopful.
Chloe tossed her long curls over her shoulder and pointed a finger at the blender. “Is that for me?”
“Yeah,” he responded and took in the mischievous look in her bright blue eyes. When she puckered her full lips, he studied her reaction and asked, “Second thoughts?”
“No it’s just that I used to bartend in my college days and I make it differently.”
He was just about to dump the scoopful of strawberries into the blender, but the look on her face stilled his movements and told him just how much she wanted to play. He wanted to play too. Perhaps it was the beast in him, or perhaps it was the man. Regardless, they’d have a good time together, and she’d go back to civilization in a week or two, and he’d remain exactly where he was. The same way he’d remained stationary, chained to the island for the last thousand years.
It wasn’t like they could have any sort of relationship beyond sex. Not with him being a—well, with him being different and all. And it wasn’t like any of the women who’d sidled up to his bar wanted more anyway. A hot fling with a bartender while on vacation was all they were looking for. Jared knew better than to long for anything else. If a woman ever found out what he was, they’d run screaming for the hills. He had to admit, as the
