When she turned to face Aaron, a wave of heat punched straight to her core.
He, too, had just recovered from their encounter with the Elysians, so why did he look so rested? So…lickable.
He'd tied his hair back from his face at the nape of his neck and shaved off his beard, too.
The un-kept look from earlier had made him seem rugged. But Aaron, clean shaven, was simply devastating.
It only added to that feeling of barely leashed energy he carried about him. The attempt to rein in that dominant side of his only made his macho self even more prominent.
She wanted to reach out and run her fingers over that firm jaw, to feel the shape of those cheekbones that would feel sharp yet soft.
He'd left the top buttons of his shirt undone, and even at this distance, the triangle of honey-brown skin below his throat glistened in the fading sunlight.
He looked hot and sexy, and her dragon clawed, wanting to be let out.
Her dragon wanted to brush the underside of her wings where they were most sensitive over this man. She wanted to sniff him, to take his scent inside until it was stamped in her very pores, so everyone would know she belonged to him.
That thought broke through the sexual haze she'd fallen into.
If just being in the same space with him did this to her…when he had not even touched her, when all he had to do was look at her and her dragon reacted as if she were going up in flames…well, then, Hope knew she couldn't delay this anymore.
Before her resolution could fail her, she stepped away from Indira. With the crowd at her back, she walked the short stretch of clearing that separated her from the lethalness of his presence.
Every step she took brought her closer to that pulsing charisma he wore in such a casual fashion.
Aaron was the kind of man who'd stand out in a crowd, the kind who'd step into a room and instantly suck up every bit of air in the space.
Your kind of man, her dragon growled, waves of agitation from the beast twisting her inside, making her pause mid-step.
Her dragon never, ever, fought with her. Oh, she could feel the emotions of the beast all the time, but the only other time she had felt it this unsettled was when she'd been just five.
When the tsunamis of 2014 had crashed into their island, Indira had not even been born. Her parents had shifted to dragon form and carried them to the top of the hill of the island. They'd ferried the rest of the shifters and humans to safety.
Her mother had been caught in one of the last killer waves and died.
Her father had hung on, missing his mate, until Eve had turned eighteen. Then it was as if his will had given way, and he’d breathed his last breath, leaving Eve in charge.
Her parents had been mated for life and even after death. Too bad it wasn't going to be the same for her.
All these thoughts ran through her head as she took a deep breath, calming her dragon.
But it was to no avail.
Her dragon knew what she was going to do, and this time there was no holding it down.
29
Aaron
Aaron watched Hope glide toward him. Her back was straight, hands loose at her sides. The easy gait of a woman at home among her own kind.
Head held high, muscles shifting under her golden skin caressed by that thin white top that threatened to drive him a little mad.
It was only when he raised his hand that he realized he had reached for her. He wanted to tear the tunic off her and cup those plump breasts that rose and fell under her shift as she walked toward him.
That vanilla and hot spice scent of hers wrapped itself around his senses, sending a rush of liquid heat through his groin.
He shuffled his feet, moving his legs apart to accommodate his growing arousal. Just a whisper of a movement, but he knew she’d caught it, for a tinge of red laced her cheekbones.
She stepped up to him, passing so close that the heat from her skin seared him, the hair on his forearms rising in response.
She made to move past him.
His hand snaked out and he grabbed her wrist.
A tremor shook her, and he knew whatever game she was playing, she was not as calm as she seemed.
Heat from her skin leaped into him, through him. He was sure he could feel her dragon strain to touch him. To possess him, as he wanted to possess her.
"Why are you fighting this, fighting us?" He'd been compelled to ask the question, but every part of him screamed he did not want to hear the answer.
Because, hell, when it came down to it, it didn't matter that she was a dragon shifter and he was an immortal warrior.
All it came down to was that she was a woman and he was a man, and they fit in the most basic of ways. It was just so right. There was nothing more to it other than that. Nothing else mattered. Except it did. To her.
"Hope." He hated the defensiveness in his tone. Hated that she made him want her with such a visceral passion that a touch was all it took to inflame his already engorged senses. And yet he knew it was important that he push her to speak her mind.
As if realizing that he was at the end of his tether, she turned to him, and he swore.
Those green eyes had turned dragon. The pupils showed verticals slit with gold specks swirling in the irises. It was the beast warring to take over. The struggle was so palpable that he could all but feel the blaze of emotions firing up inside her.
No, whatever she was going to do, it wasn't easy for her. Her dragon was fighting it every step of the way, tearing her from the inside out.
"You are in your own personal hell, aren't you, baby?" Reaching up with his free hand, he pushed aside a curl of hair which had fallen over her cheek.
Her eyelids swept down, hiding the sight of those green-gold eyes for a second. She flinched.
"You aren't going to give in to your dragon, are you?" He gripped her wrist.
Just for a few more seconds he could feel her skin on his, couldn't he?
Leaning toward her, he bent until he was eye level with her. His breath whistled out over her cheek. He held that emerald-green gaze. The golden flecks in those gorgeous eyes twisted in tune to an inner turbulence he couldn't see. Waves of tension radiated from her.
He sucked in a breath. The blood thudded at his temples. "What are you going to do, you stubborn woman? You're going to regret it forever, but you are going to do it anyway, aren't you? For you can't stand to see me hurt. Just as if I let any harm come to you, I'd never be able to live with myself." The last few words seeped out of him, the truth of it sinking into his skin.
"I am sorry, Aaron." She tugged at his grasp.
The suddenness of her action took him by surprise, enough to have him loosen his grip on her.
Sliding past him, she headed toward the front of the crowd.
His woman—his mate—took the arm of another man and climbed the dais.
Looking into his face, she smiled. Her features lit up as if she saw no one else but him.
Rage burned a path through the muddled thoughts in Aaron’s head.
Jason. He recognized the dragon shifter who'd shouted out in support of Hope when they'd fought that first time.
A quiet hush fell over the space. The two walked up to the raised platform.
Cold fingers of foreboding skittered down Aaron's spine. A part of him knew what was coming, and yet he couldn’t quite comprehend what was taking place.
Eve stepped up from the other side, gliding onto the platform. "Hope has agreed to mate with Jason." She placed her arms around the couple. "Let's celebrate their union and hope for the birth of a full-blooded dragon shifter who will continue our lineage and be the protector of this island."