It didn’t seem right to lead him on if that was all she wanted, though.
She paused at the door and glanced back. Maybe Evangeline wanted her to get this out of her system, though. Evangeline had said nothing about a relationship. If anything, Evangeline had made it sound like she wanted Isabella and Dillon to hook-up.
Dillon’s muscle-bound body filled her mind. Her imagination conjured his soft smile and wondered if he would love her gently or if his dragon would urge him to be rougher. She wouldn’t have minded either.
Cursing, she let her forehead fall against the unopened door.
“Are you alright? You ran out of there pretty fast.”
She let out a squeal and bolted upright. Dillon stood near her elbow with his head bent so he could get a better look at her.
“Oh, fine. I mean, I’m fine.” She tried to force her lips into the shape of a reassuring smile, but she thought it might have come across as queasy.
“The Chinese food didn’t upset your stomach, did it?”
She threw up both hands in a placating gesture. “No! It was absolutely delicious. I just…Evangeline…she said something…”
She could have sworn a red blush flooded his cheeks. “Oh, um. I might have heard.”
Isabella straightened. No one else had followed them down the hill. So, she took Dillon’s hand in hers and led him inside.
Her heart fluttered against her breastbone, but she didn’t try to calm it. She let the anticipation fill her while Dillon closed the door behind them. Before taking another step, she rose on her tiptoes and pressed a chaste kiss against Dillon’s lips.
“Thank you for everything,” she whispered, barely pulling away.
A growl vibrated his chest. He leaned into her as his hand grazed her hip. She savored his warmth, comforting as it was in the tumultuous time. Around Dillon, her world no longer felt uncertain. He grounded her in a way she’d never felt before. A deep-seated need for more gripped her, making her curl her fingers into the front of his shirt.
With his free hand, Dillon brushed her hair away from her face. His eyes followed the movement before trailing down her cheek, her neck, and lower. Warmth blossomed along her skin, making her feel alive.
She’d been touched before. Men had come to her for sexual favors, but none had made her feel like this. Under Dillon’s gaze, she wasn’t just a piece of meat to be fondled. He savored her, stared at her like she was a work of art. She knew she was no marble masterpiece, but he didn’t seem to care.
She slid her hands up his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck. Where this would go next, she wasn’t sure. Did she want to go any further? Did she want to drag Dillon into her room, or should she end it here?
Dillon cupped her face and regarded her for a long moment, like he could sense her hesitation. “You tell me when you’re ready.”
Her breath hitched. She opened her mouth to say that she was, but the words wouldn’t come out. Her stomach churned nervously. The anticipation from earlier turned cold. Tommy’s words returned to haunt her. She didn’t want to be too easy. She didn’t want to jump from man to man while she found out what she wanted.
That wouldn’t be fair to Dillon or herself. She needed to take her time and work on being confident on her own.
Swallowing, she reluctantly unwound her arms from his neck and took a step back.
“I’m a patient man,” Dillon assured her. “Not like those hot-headed fools I live with. When you’re good and ready, you come to me. I’ll be waiting.”
He laid a gentle kiss on her forehead before passing and leaving her alone in the hall. She’d never assumed that Dillon would say something like that. Her heart clenched as she stared in the direction he’d gone. At first, she blamed the sensation on fear, but she soon realized it was only the unknown that had upset her.
No man had ever promised her something so sweet. Dillon barely knew her, and yet he promised to wait for her. She didn’t even know if Dillon would be what she wanted when she was ready to date again.
She covered her mouth with her hand. Did that mean he already knew he wanted her?
Chapter Seven
“What would your friend like?” Dillon asked into the phone.
Silence lasted for a heartbeat before Evangeline crooned, “Why? Is it because you like her? Are you falling for my friend? Do you want to mate her up?”
Casey’s mate was sometimes too much. More often than not, she filled the empty space with noise, so Dillon didn’t have to speak up, but in moments like this he wondered how Casey dealt with her. She would be ferocious when she changed.
Daphne had booked her flight, though it was still a month away. Casey’s sister had helped a number of new shifters enter Zander’s pack. If anyone could guide Evangeline through the process with the fewest hiccups, it was Daphne.
Casey had warned Dillon and Erik against catching feelings for his sister, but Dillon had no interest in either Evangeline or Daphne. Both were too loud and aggressive. He liked Isabella, who’d spent the last week softly padding around the cabin. She’d filled the space with the smell of fresh blueberry muffins and buttermilk pancakes, so the cabin seemed like a real home for the first time since Dillon had arrived.
Dillon knew what he wanted. He only needed to wait until Isabella was ready to love him, too.
On the other end of the call, Evangeline groaned, probably frustrated that she couldn’t get a rise out of him like she could with Gavin and Erik. “I don’t think Isabella is that difficult to shop for. You helped her move in. She likes plants and her rabbit.”
Dillon picked up a bottle of bubble bath and turned it around to read the back. The long ingredient list made no sense to him. He didn’t know why he even bothered. Still, he tossed it into his basket.
“Plants and rabbits,” he said back to Evangeline.
“I guess so. Or you could just give her some good dick.”
He closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. Leave it to Evangeline to jump right to the obvious. He wanted to touch Isabella more than anything. Every time he crossed her in the hall, his beast would shove him in her direction. The beast growled and scraped for physical contact, but he’d told Isabella that he would wait.
As it turned out, that was the hardest part for him.
Dillon was an animal, at heart. He didn’t know how much patience he had left in him. His lonely beast had all but claimed her. He only needed to mark her so the others would know she was off limits. No other woman would ever appeal to him the same.
Had Gavin felt this way about the woman he’d thought to be his mate, then he wouldn’t be hiding in the mountains. He would be hunting her down and convincing her to come back to him. Dillon’s rising feelings for Isabella only proved to him that Gavin had never known love. Though, that shouldn’t have surprised him considering the way Zander treated those in his care.
He said goodbye to Evangeline and tossed a few more items into his basket. Isabella had been working hard around the cabin. She didn’t need to work to earn her keep. He hoped this reward showed her that.
***
Isabella had two doctors tell her that it was amazing that she was already showing. Because of her erratic cycle, she hadn’t noticed her first missed period. The first doctor informed her that she was further along than she’d anticipated. That coupled with her petite frame meant that she would have to start hiding her bump soon. Not yet…but soon.