Tanner had seen where I lived. Hell, I'd stolen his wallet. Twice. And he still took me out to dinner.
I was going to show him those dragons.
And maybe, if things went well, I'd show him some other things, too.
10
Tanner
The clay dragon had my coloring right down to the purple shimmer on top of its scales. Of all the things I could have imagined her doing in her spare time, this wasn't one of them. We'd just walked into her apartment when she spun to me. "You never told me something interesting about yourself. Something that no one knows."
I shrugged my lightweight jacket off and hung it on the crooked hanging knob she had by the front door.
This one was easy. It wasn't a terrible secret, but it wasn't something I wanted anyone else to know. Ella was my mate. She could know anything about me.
"I garden."
Ella blinked. "I'm sorry?"
I wiggled my fingers. "With these hands. I garden. A lot. In fact, I'm a designated Master Gardener and I teach classes once a month down at the LSU Ag Center."
She blinked again. "Really." Her voice was flat.
I laughed. "Really."
"And no one else knows this about you?" She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted like I'd cheated her out of something.
"Not a soul. No one comes to my house and I have a high fence in the back. I've spent years getting it exactly how I want it."
"I want to see this," she said and headed to the kitchen. "Want something to drink?"
I wanted to drink down Ella and taste every inch of her, but I settled for something a little less heavy. "A beer would be great."
"It's cheap and I only have two." There was an apology in her voice. How could she possibly know I didn't care what she had or didn't have?
"Doesn't matter to me." I sat down onto the old couch and winced as it squeaked in protest at my weight.
Ella brought an opened beer over to me and sat on the opposite side in a chair that looked a little newer. "I'll show you my garden when we do this again."
One of her dark eyebrows rose. "And you're so sure we will do this again?"
A lazy grin slid over my mouth. "Oh, I'm positive."
Ella snorted and rolled her eyes, but not before I'd noticed her cheeks pinken. She rose up and gestured for me to follow. The apartment wasn't large, but she took me into what appeared to be an office that had seen better days. A battered laptop rested on a scarred old desk but above the computer was a shelf filled with clay creatures. She picked one up and handed it to me.
It was the blue dragon. The one that looked like me. I held it like a precious newborn in the palm of my hand and raised it up to eye level so I could see all the detail she'd put in it.
Every scale was meticulously carved. The tail curled around the dragon's body and ended in a perfect fork. The eyes were closed in peaceful sleep and one tooth poked out of the side of its mouth. It was incredible. And uncanny. I no longer slept in my dragon form, but once in a while me and my brothers would go to Ireland. There we would find our true forms and stay in them for a while to make up for all the time we had to spend as human.
I handed the dragon back to her, but she shook her head. "No. You keep it. You're the first person who has ever had a reaction to one like that. I'd like you to have it."
I inhaled a shaky breath. "I would love that," I said and turned to carefully walk the dragon out to the coffee table so I wouldn't forget it. She followed me and when I turned around, she stood too close to me.
Our chests almost touched. Ella tilted her face up to me, her eyes a startling blue even in the dim light. A low growl rumbled in my chest. Her eyes widened, but she didn't look scared. She looked intrigued.
I couldn't mate with her even though I so badly wanted to. She was human. Too fragile.
Ella stood on her tiptoes and brushed her lips across mine. The mating bond between us ebbed and swelled and while I knew she probably couldn't see it, I knew from her gasp she felt it. Electricity sparked between us as I reached out and dragged her against me. Her breath came in a surprised exhale, but she didn't resist.
I swept my lips across hers, claiming them in a bruising kiss. I wanted to taste her everywhere. My fingers itched to claim what was mine, but I held back. Ella's arms and legs wrapped around me. She was plastered to me like wallpaper and it took every ounce of self-restraint I had not to claim her right there. Instead, I walked her over to the wall, raised her arms above her head, and planted kisses down her neck and her collarbone. I nudged the tip of her breasts with my nose and chuckled as she gasped.
But as I kissed her and as she moved against me, I realized something I hadn't before. Ella smelled human, but this close to her, I could tell something else.
She wasn't completely human. Whether she knew it was another story. She had a slightly familiar smell, but I couldn't place it. It was cloves and honey, a mix of spices similar to chai lingering under her human heritage. If I had to guess, she was only half, maybe less, human. This delighted every single part of me. I slid my hands up her thighs, feeling her warm and bare skin.
With a flick and a tug of my fingers, the wrap dress opened, exposing a sapphire lace bra and an expanse of pale skin.
Ella's head was back in wild abandon. Her hair fell in disarray around her face and shoulders. I played her like a violin. I unhooked her bra with a simple twist and her breasts sprang free. I groaned and claimed the peak of one rosy nipple. Ella's fingers gripped my shoulders for a moment before her hands went everywhere. Down my back, my chest, until she found the belt holding my slacks up. She muttered something unintelligible, and I helped her along. With one hand, I stripped the belt out of the loops and unbuttoned my slacks. With one creative foot move, she'd pushed them down, and I stepped out of them.
I carried Ella to her bedroom. The apartment was small, so I had no trouble finding it. As soon as the door opened, the smell of her filled my nostrils. It was almost overwhelming with her in my arms and me in her den. I laid her gently on the bed, her bare breasts begging me to tease them. Her underwear was barely a scrap and snapped underneath a deft finger. I pulled them down and bared her completely to me.
"Tanner," she murmured, beckoning me to her. Ella was a wild and wicked enchantress and I'd suddenly fallen under her spell.
She licked her ruby red lips, and I was reminded of Snow White. Except this was no PG fairytale. I planned to take her fast and hard, and when she finished, I planned to do it all over again. I'd worry about what she was later. It made no difference to me. In fact, it could only be a positive.
Ella sat up and hitched my underwear down. When my cock sprang free, Ella whimpered.
Then she licked her lips, and I nearly came undone. She reached for me and her lips closed over the head. I tried not to jerk. The feel of her mouth so warm and wet...
"Ella," I groaned.
She took me deeper. I cried out at the ecstasy of it. "For the god's sake," I muttered in delicious agony. Ella lips were exquisite torture. My hands tangled in her hair and moved with her movements and just as I was about to lose control, I stepped away from her. "Christ, Ella."