The war going on inside Elaina’s mind roared louder with every inch Alex moved closer. It would have been easier if her experiment had turned out differently. But no.
She’d felt nothing. No warmth, no tingle, no rush at all from her kiss with the cop. It wasn’t the kissing.
It was Alex.
She’d run out of strength to push him away. She hadn’t been able to escape before he’d arrived and tempted her again, and his honesty had defused her anger from that gossip column. Now she quivered, anticipating the hit from her new drug of choice.
His lips touched hers, and she melted against him. She needed this. She needed him. Fire lit her nerve endings, and all thoughts of being scared, of worrying about her father, of her goals for the future fled.
She opened her mouth, allowing his tongue access. He tasted clean, almost tangy. His flavor sharpened her senses. More alive than ever before and yet somehow closer to death.
He pulled away, and she couldn’t help a whimper. But then his lips trailed down her neck. Heated shivers followed, rolling through her limbs. Oh...
She slid her fingers under his hat and tangled them in his hair. His cap flopped to the floor, and she tugged him harder against her.
Without her realizing it, her legs had parted, and he came forward on his knees between them. She scooted toward the edge of the bed and pressed into him. Close wasn’t close enough.
He slipped an arm around her and drew her to his chest. The heat of his body added to the warmth his touch brought to her heart. Desperate need burned within her in response.
His muscles rippled under his T-shirt, and she had the urge to trace their lines with her fingers—or maybe her tongue. Damn, she was losing it.
That truth didn’t stop her thighs from falling farther apart. Or stop her feet from wrapping behind his legs and tugging him even closer.
His mouth on her neck was driving her crazy. And the spot between the tops of her thighs wanted—needed—something.
His hardness touched the spot, and her body shuddered. “Alex...”
One strong hand tucked under her bottom, and he lifted them onto the middle of her twin-size bed together. His other hand shoved her hard-earned outfits to the floor.
She glanced at the untidy heap. “My clothes!”
He laid her on her back and followed her down, rumbling into her neck, “I’ll buy you new ones.”
His deep, nearly growling, voice sent shock waves through her body. Did he have to be so sexy? She forgot about her clothes, along with everything else, and arched into him.
A moment later, he planted his elbow on the mattress and propped himself up. Strength and intensity glinted in his silvery-gray eyes. In response, her heartbeat swelled in power.
“Now that I have you right where I want you.” He emphasized his position by pressing his body into hers and using his free hand to pin her wrists on the bedspread. “You need to answer one question.”
His head dipped, placing his lips out of reach of hers. “Will...”
She stretched up to him, and he leaned back.
“You...”
His body closed in again, taunting.
“Move...”
The tip of his tongue flicked her lips.
“In...”
He avoided her attempt once more.
“With...”
She broke free of his grasp and yanked his head to hers. Their mouths met, and she couldn’t stifle her moan.
Dragon strength good. Using extra energy to steal that kiss was totally worth it.
Prickles skated across her skin. Electric sensations danced wherever their bodies touched.
She anchored her calf across his jeans and nudged him onto her. A cry escaped with her body’s response, like a lit fuse sparking along her limbs. Any more aroused, and she’d explode.
His mouth moved frantically across her earlobes, neck, and collarbone, echoing her desperation. “You need to say yes. I want you. I want you so much.”
His hips thrust against hers, and she gasped at the pressure—the delicious pressure. All thoughts of resistance or fear were crowded out by her hopeless need to experience this. She was lost. Utterly lost.
“Yes, I—”
He thrust again, and she curled her hips up to his.
“Damn it, yes, I want you too.”
He angled away and studied her. “You mean that?”
She lifted her head to chase his lips, but they were out of reach. A handful of his shirt scrunched in her fist, answering his question. A devious grin flashed across his face, and he pushed himself farther above her.
“Alex, please.” She yanked on his shirt, untucking it from his jeans.
“Please? Please, what? Please take this off?” He knelt for a second and wrestled off his T-shirt. “Well, since you asked so nicely.”
She gaped at his chiseled abs and swallowed, her mouth watering. Her fingertips skimmed from his chest to his back.
He flung his shirt across her apartment and bent down to her again, dipping below her collarbone. His hair ruffled her neck, and his muscles bunched and flexed under her palms.
He inched up her shirt from her waist, and her skin tingled with the sensation of flesh touching flesh. Just when she thought this experience couldn’t get any better, his fingers slipped under her bra and glided over her nipple.
A shudder blasted through her body, almost levitating her off the bed, and she gasped in a hiss.
“You like that, huh?” He sounded amused at how easily he could play her.
One hand slid her shirt up near her shoulders, and his other hand released her bra clasp. His eyelids drooped at the view. “Oh God, I have to taste you.”
Uh... She drew back. “Taste me?”
“Yes.” A groan rumbled through his ribs. “I’m going to lick you...” His tongue flicked her nipple. “And suck you...”
His lips closed over her nub, erect and eager for more. A squeak escaped through her pinched lips.
“All over.”
She nodded, not sure what noises she’d make if she opened her mouth. How much more could her body take? And here she’d thought kissing had sent her over the edge.
Apparently, the urge to use tongues like this wasn’t unique to dragons after all. Silly her for not investigating the sexual behavior of humans. How was she to know that she’d ever get this opportunity? Especially since she’d never looked for it—or wanted it—before.
He leaned over her and winked. “And something tells me you’re going to like it.” His mouth sought her other breast and gave it the same treatment.
“Uh... Ah, yes.” Her breath stuttered with each circle of his tongue around her nipple. “Umm, I just didn’t know humans did this.”
His lips slipped from her, and he raised his head. “How could you not—?” His brows pulled together in a slight grimace. “You’ve never done this before.”
His tone, almost like a croak, set her on edge. What was he getting at?
Oh. Heat gathered in her neck and threatened to creep into her cheeks. Damn it, she never blushed.
“Get off.” She shoved him away. “Get off me.”
He sat up, unresisting. She held back from launching him off the bed.
No, she did not “do” insecure. Fine, she didn’t know what she was doing—unlike all her neighbors and the readers of the “50 Ways to Please Your Lover” articles she saw on magazine covers. But she wasn’t a human and never would be. Human expectations shouldn’t apply to her. She’d never tried to fit in with their ideas of relationships, and she wasn’t going to start now.
Her chin lifted. She straightened her shirt and met his wide-eyed gaze.
His mouth worked through several shapes before he formed the words. “You’re a virgin?”
Humans. They turned the simplest thing into a big deal.
“Yes. In fact, until last night, I was a virgin in every sense of the word, as I’d never even kissed anyone.”
She shot him a look, daring him to insult her. It wasn’t her goal in life to fit in with human rules, and nothing he could say would change that.