She could barely make out his face, but his husky voice filled her ears. “To save time, I’m going to carry you.”
He put an arm under her knees and swooped her up as if she weighed nothing. She squeaked as her body made contact with his chest. “I am perfectly capable of walking by myself. Put me down right now, Bram.”
Adjusting his grip on her legs and waist, the dragon-shifter held her tighter against his hard, muscled chest. Despite the layers of clothing between them, the contact sent a sizzle through her body, which ended between her legs.
Bram’s voice filled her ears. “No. Why human females feel the need to wear uncomfortable, ridiculous shoes, I’ll never understand. Our land here isn’t designed for those things. Once you change your shoes, you can walk on your own, but not before. You did bring other shoes with you, correct?”
Before she could help herself, she mumbled, “But you’re supposed to like women in heels.”
Bram squeezed her. “Why? They hide your true gait. In your case, it is full of confidence and efficiency. You should embrace it if you want to seduce a dragon-shifter.”
“You’re giving me advice on how to seduce you now?”
She felt him give a half-shrug. “As clan leader, I don’t have a lot of time. Don’t wear the heels and don’t do the fake voice. They hide who you are, which doesn’t convince me to take you as my mate.”
“So no to the sexy heels, and no to the husky voice. Should I wear a trash bag then too, instead of my form-fitting clothes?”
Even in the dark, she could hear the smile in his voice. “A bin bag would be easier to rip off when I wanted you in my bed.”
She rolled her eyes. “Leave it to a man to make a bin bag sexy.”
For a second, Bram remained silent and she wondered if she’d gone too far. In the dark, she felt comfortable and had nearly forgotten she was being carried in the arms of a dragon-shifter, in the middle of dragon-shifter land. If she’d rolled her eyes at Marcus down south, she never would’ve heard the end of it.
But then Bram leaned close to her ear and the heat of his breath caressed her skin. “I’m sure that even if I required you to wear one every night as part of the arrangement of our mating, you’d probably find a way to rebel and wear those bloody awful things that squeeze your body into some unnatural shape beneath it.”
She laughed. “Corsets are very 19th century. Exactly how old are you?”
His tone became more distant. “Old enough.”
Hmph. Dragon-shifters had lifespans similar to humans, so it wasn’t as if she was really insulting him. He couldn’t be more than thirty-five or so. She must’ve touched on a sore spot without even trying. She should drop it, but she added it to her lists of things to find out about Bram.
She frowned. Wait a second, since when had she started a list? It wasn’t like she was really still doing her DDA inspector job. Any information she sent back now would be promptly dismissed as tainted the instant her mating to Bram happened. Well, she hoped the mating would happen. And the dragon-shifter hadn’t even agreed to mate her yet. It would be dangerous if she became too interested in him too soon. She’d just have to be careful.
Bram shifted his hold on her and soon her feet were on the ground. The dragonman opened the door, leaned around her, and flipped on a light. They had arrived at her temporary cottage.
While she might’ve protested earlier, she already missed the heat and safety she’d felt in Bram’s arms. However, she kept her face brave and confident, not wanting to let on that little tidbit or the dragonman might use it against her. She looked up. “I’ll change my shoes and fetch my things. Then you can carry them back instead of me.”
Judging by Bram’s expressionless face, whatever camaraderie they’d shared on the way here had cooled. That bothered her more than she liked.
Rather than focus too long on that fact, she stepped inside the door, kicked off her heels, and went inside the cottage. She had a feeling their walk back would be mostly in silence.
Chapter Two
Bram poured his second cup of black coffee and took a sip. He preferred tea to the nasty black brew, but he needed something to help wake him up and make him more alert for his meeting in thirty minutes with Finn Stewart.
It was all Evie Marshall’s fault. He should’ve been able to nab five hours of sleep, but he’d spent the first two of those imagining her soft, warm body next to his. Or, rather, under his.
And even when he’d finally chased away the sexual fantasies created by both him and his dragon, he’d had a restless three hours of sleep. Evie’s comment about age had brought back memories best forgotten. He very much wanted to get the surliness out of his system with the human female, but she slept like a log and was still asleep. Not even banging on the door had woken her.
So much for the female being on edge because her life was in danger.
His dragon chimed in. She feels safe with us. That is a good sign.
In no mood to argue with his stubborn beast, Bram pushed the dragon to the back of his
mind and went out of the kitchen to his desk. Kai had given the green light for him to borrow Nikki, so he dialed the young dragonwoman. When she answered, he said without preamble, “Nikki, your new assignment starts this morning. You’re to be Evie Marshall’s full-time guard. I need you here in five minutes to get the female up and out of my cottage before Finn Stewart shows up.”
He could hear the confusion in her voice. “Can’t you wake her up while I make my way there? It would make things easier.”