Page 20 of Ancient Promises
There wasn’t a price tag on it; one of her friends had probably shelved it thinking it had been ready to go.
“I’d have to research the book to find a price. I probably got it from an estate sale, but I don’t remember it.” She turned to the computer and put the information in, starting with a random search.
He was suddenly behind her, looking over her shoulder, radiating all kinds of heat and making her whole body flush.
Holy crap, he needed to back up and give her some space or she was going to combust.
She straightened her shoulders and ignored how good he smelled and how much she liked his nearness, reminding her beasts thathewas the one who didn’t wanther.
“Here,” she said, clicking on a link to a rare bookstore she liked to peruse in her free time looking for old books. “The seventh edition is worth a few hundred dollars, and while they don’t have an eighth edition listed, generally the later versions aren’t as costly as the earlier ones.”
She turned slowly, giving him time to back away from her, but he didn’t.
He stared down at her, his eyes darkening and the scent of his arousal becoming like a living thing she could touch and caress.
She swallowed hard. He was so very close to her.
“I could let you have the book for two hundred, if that seems fair.”
A soft trill sounded in his chest, and she figured it for his dragon. It was a sweet sound and made her beasts sit up in her head. She was unable to stop the purr that rumbled in her own chest, her lion coming to the forefront.
He touched her jaw, tracing the curve with his fingertips so lightly that it made goosebumps erupt over her arms.
“You are so very beautiful, Diem,” he said with a husky tone, his eyes flashing to a yellowish-gold. “So tempting.”
He pressed his lips to hers and the world dropped away.
She didn’t hear the males putting the new door up, or the cars that passed on the street outside. She only heard the sound of her heart pounding in her ears and her beasts purring and howling in happiness in her head.
He licked at her lips with a growl, and she opened her mouth. He plunged his tongue inside, sliding it along hers and rocking her to the core. He tasted like dark chocolate and wine, like a decadent night filled with carnal things.
She didn’t know what to do with her hands, so she gripped the front of his shirt and pulled him a little closer.
His arms went around her and he pulled her even closer, their bodies bumping as the kiss deepened.
A sharp call sounded from somewhere in the distance and Eivross stiffened, breaking the kiss with a snarl.
The call sounded again, but it was different this time, like it had come from another source.
And then two calls came at the same time.
“What the heck is that?” Diem asked.
Eivross shook his head and took a step away, turning toward the front door. “Dragons.”
Chapter Nine
Dragons?
Diem followed Eivross out the doorway, stepping over tools and materials, and apologizing to Veron and Jair.
“Did you guys hear that too?” Jair asked.
“Eivross said it’s dragons,” Diem said. They walked into the middle of the deserted street and looked up. In the distance were two dark shapes, soaring in the sky.
“Do you know who they are?” she asked.
Eivross was silent as he stared with a furrowed brow. Shaking his head as another set of calls echoed, he said, “I don’t know who they are, but I know what those calls mean.”