Chapter Seven
He watched the heat come into her face. Damn, she really was pretty, even if she took pains not to be. He had the feeling Kett would bite the head off anyone who dared her to be pretty.
He sat up and pulled his sweater off. Outside it was freezing, but since he’d only gotten dressed just outside the door, he hadn’t bothered to put a lot on.
“How did you get here?” Kett asked as he stood and toed off his boots.
“Same way you did.”
“Dragon?”
If only she knew. Bael just smiled at her and unfastened his fly. Kett’s gaze flickered down to it and she swallowed, which made him smile even more. Pretty much the instant she’d whispered in his ear he’d gotten hard as a rock and his erection hadn’t gone down since. Just the thought of those lips wrapped around it was making him cross-eyed.
She folded her arms across her chest, but not before he’d seen the way her nipples had gone hard.
“Aren’t you cold?” she asked as he stripped off his shirt.
“Nope. Right now I’m very hot,” he said. He glanced at the fire, which had been smoldering away quietly, and it suddenly flared into life.
Bael paused. That had never happened before.
But right now he had other things on his mind. “Aren’t you hot?”
“No,” she said.
“You look pretty hot to me.”
Kett swallowed again. “Look, Bael, we need to talk about the-”
“Not backing out, are you?” He kicked away the last of his clothes and looked her up and down. In the subdued light cast by the fire and the single low-burning gas lamp, her skin gleamed and her eyes shone, glittering like starlight. Her brows were drawn down, her jaw was stiff and she wore her usual look of tight, barely controlled anger.
Maybe it was the mate in him talking, but Bael had never seen a more desirable woman.
“I never back out,” she said. Then, as if it had just occurred to her, “But do you really want me to suck your cock just because I made a promise?”
“I don’t care
“I-”
He closed the distance between them and ran his hands lightly over her shoulders. “You really ought to get out of these wet things,” he said, the back of his hand brushing her breast. She shivered, but he didn’t think it was because of the temperature.
“I’m fine,” she said, her voice tight, her eyes mutinous.
“You know,” he leaned closer just to breathe in her scent, which right now contained a lot of smoke, “you really shouldn’t make promises you don’t intend to keep.”
“I don’t. Didn’t,” she amended, lifting her chin.
The leather over her thigh brushed the desperately sensitive skin of his cock and he exhaled sharply.
So did she.
Her eyes were glittering, challenging him to force her to go through with it. Her chest was heaving ever so subtly. She was breathing fast and practically quivering. She was wound up like a spring, he realized. And she was being incredibly defiant. Being Kett, if she really didn’t want to suck his cock then she’d most likely have just kneed him in the groin and thrown him out the window.
She wouldn’t have wasted time arguing about it.
A smile threatened Bael’s mouth. She
“Fine,” he said abruptly. “It’s okay. I don’t expect you to. Wouldn’t make you do something you didn’t want to.”
There was a moment of silence while Kett regarded him warily. Then relief came over her face, but she was a rotten actress and he caught the definite undertone of disappointment.
“You sure?” she asked doubtfully.
“Yep,” he said, stepping back as if he didn’t care. “No fun if your heart’s not in it. Ah well.” He ruffled her hair and watched her scowl instantly return.
“Right then,” Kett said, her voice faltering a little. “Well, good. I’m…glad we’ve sorted that out.” She tugged on her shirt as if to straighten it, then realized it was damp and filthy and sighed irritably. “Right,” she said again.
Bael turned away so she wouldn’t see him smiling. He pulled back the wonderfully soft, clean-scented covers from the bed, leaving them turned down as he stretched out. Damn, this was a comfortable bed. Way more comfortable than that lumpy mattress he’d slept on last night. Not that he’d minded much at the time, what with Kett there, naked in his arms.
His cock throbbed at the thought and he slid one hand down his stomach toward it.
“Are you going to stay there?” Kett asked suddenly, and Bael stilled his hand, pausing a beat before he looked up at her.
“Did you want me to sleep on the floor?” He looked dolefully at the bare boards, then back at her.
“There are dozens of other rooms,” Kett said, her eyes lingering on his body. On his cock, to be precise. Bael couldn’t really blame her; as dark and hard as it was, it did rather draw the attention. “I’ll just go and find-”
“No no,” Bael sat up, “I’ll do it.”
He moved toward the door and had his hand on the knob before she rushed to stop him.
“Ain’t you gonna get dressed?” she hissed.
He shrugged. “I’m not sure my clothes would even fit over this,” he said, pointing at his enormous erection.
He watched the panic flit over her face at the thought of him wandering her stepmother’s house completely naked with a huge hard-on, and almost laughed. He’d do it too. Nasc didn’t have the same issues about nudity that humans did.
Plus, it was hella fun annoying her.
Her eyes narrowed. “You bloody would, as well,” she said, stepping back, relenting. “Okay, you can stay here.”
Bael smiled. He knew as well as she did that they’d be unable to share a bed without touching.
“But you sleep there.” She pointed to the studded leather chesterfield.
It looked uncomfortable.
Well, he didn’t actually have any intentions of sleeping there, so it didn’t matter all that much. Bael smiled and sauntered over to stretch out on it. It was, however, too short to stretch, so he lay with his knees bent and open, and reached down to adjust his cock.
“Right,” Kett said, standing frozen by the door as if totally unable to move.
“Night then,” Bael said, smiling encouragingly.
She swallowed, then nodded as if shaking herself out of it and moved mechanically toward the bed. She pulled her clothes off with jerky, defiant movements and Bael watched unashamedly as each new bit of fascinating flesh was revealed.
His cock throbbed when she turned her back and presented her fantastic ass to him. He patted his uncomfortable member soothingly, and when she turned around again, stroked it with deliberate movements.
“Do you mind?” Kett asked, her voice taut.
“Not at all,” Bael replied, moving his fingers up his shaft. Her eyes flashed at him. “I can’t sleep like this,” he said-fairly, he thought.
Her nostrils flared and she grabbed a blanket from the bed, throwing it at him. “Here.”
“Thanks,” he caught it with his free hand, “but I’m really too hot for that.” He rolled his head back and arched
