“You needn’t be worried that the destruction of a demon’s physical form will stain your soul,” he said with a pained twist of his lips. “It won’t.”

“You speak like you have experience in this matter. How many demons have you offed?”

“None before tonight.” He hesitated, then added slowly, “Why aren’t you worried about Mrs. P’s whereabouts?”

“That was a really excellent change of subject.”

“Thank you.” He made another of those little bows that looked incredibly sexy, rather than silly as I’d expected.

“I’m not worried because I fully expect to find her in the embrace of Edvard. Or at least trying to seduce him. She’s quite the character. I’ll Google demons to see if what you said is true, you know.”

“I’m sure you will. Do I need to apologize?”

“To Mrs. P for rifling through her things and breaking a hotel glass? Probably not. I’ll put things back the way she had them, and she doubtless won’t even notice. I’m forever taking the things she lifts from her bag anyway.”

“No, I meant for that kiss. I didn’t intend to do it. I just—you’re so—and we were there. Together.”

I smiled. Slowly. “I enjoyed it, actually. You’re quite the kisser.”

“So are you.” His voice seemed to have roughened. He cleared it and made an embarrassed gesture. “I enjoyed it as well. Perhaps another time we could do it again.”

“That sounds like a lovely plan,” I said, just as if he’d casually mentioned getting together for coffee. I don’t know what possessed me then. I can only attribute the fact that I walked over to him and planted my lips on his to the fact that I’d been woken up out of the most erotic dream of my life, coupled with the adrenaline rush of having dealt with murderous demons.

If anyone was due a little distraction, I figured it was me. Especially now that Jian had given me his blessing to move beyond what we had together. I smiled at Rowan, feeling that it was somehow right we should be together at that moment.

It was as if fate had brought us together… and I was never one to take fate for granted.

Six

“Sophea…” Rowan cupped my behind, and pulled me against his hips, groaning into my mouth when I parted my lips for him. “We really shouldn’t.”

“Why not? We’re both adults. I assume you’re not involved with anyone and I know I’m not, and great Caesar’s gizzard, do I want to see if you live up to the dream. Besides, Jian said at the séance that he wants me to move on, and I assume that includes finally being with another man.”

“Dream?” he asked, peeling off the t-shirt that I slept in. “Finally? You haven’t… erm…”

“No. Not since Jian.” Cool air hit my naked flesh, making me shiver… until his hands cupped my breasts, instantly making them feel like they were on fire.

“I’ll do my best to live up to such an honor,” he murmured, his hands and mouth making me wild.

“I have no doubt you’ll do just that. I think… oh yes, do the other, please… I think we’d better go into my room just in case Mrs. P comes back early. I wouldn’t want to shock her.”

He murmured an agreement into my chest, still kissing and nibbling and licking as I backed us up into my room, nudging the door closed behind us.

I bit the tendon on his neck, licking the spot afterward as I unbuttoned his shirt, peeling it off to expose his chest.

Goddess above, it was a gorgeous chest. He had lovely soft chest hair that emphasized the swells of muscle, and a long line that led down into the waistband of his pants. I stroked one pectoral, the memories of the dream mingling with reality until I couldn’t differentiate between the two.

“You’re on fire,” he said, sucking my earlobe at the same time he slid off my cotton shorts.

“Only for you,” I answered, working on his belt.

“I meant that literally,” he said, pulling back to give me a smile filled with pure heat.

I looked down. Around my feet, a ring of fire had formed. “Eek. Um. Should I be worried?”

“No. It can’t hurt you.”

I tamped out a bit of fire that was meandering toward Rowan. “I can make fire?”

He tipped me backward, his cheeks rubbing against my breasts, the sensation making my toes curl in ecstasy. “Dragons can, yes. I guess this means their mates have that ability, as well. From what I understand, it’s a reaction to strong emotions. Are you feeling strong emotions, Sophea?”

“That’s an understatement,” I said, whimpering when he molested first one breast, then the other. My hands were still working on his belt, and finally got it free from the buckle, and the button on his waistband undone.

“Tell me what you want,” he said, cupping my breast.

“You?” I said, hoping he wasn’t going to make me catalog my every desire, because at that moment, I had a metric butt-ton of them.

That must have been the answer he was looking for, because he scooped me up and carried me to the bed. “That’s ironic, because I happen to want you very badly. Impossibly so, as a matter of fact.”

“Did you have a dream, too?” I asked, trying to arrange myself on the bed so I looked like a goddess about to receive her lover rather than a rumpled tourist with unsexy underwear and jet lag.

He paused as he was about to undo his zipper. “Why do you keep mentioning a dream?”

“Ignore my mouth. It says unimportant things,” I said, donning a come-hither pose.

He dropped his pants, then quickly removed his underwear and crawled across the bed toward me.

“You changed out of your boots,” I said by way of conversation, suddenly feeling shy. What did I know about Rowan, really, other than the fact that I wanted him more than anything I could think of?

He paused as he loomed over me, glancing toward the floor where he’d slipped out of a pair of brogues. “Yes, I did. Sophea?”

“Hmm?”

His eyes were guarded. “Did I misread your signals? Do you not wish for me to be here?”

“Not in the least. I really do want to be with you, Rowan. I want to make love to you. I want you to make love to me. I’m just… it’s been a long time since I was with a man, and the first few minutes are always kind of awkward, don’t you think? I mean, in the dream, you were just there, naked, kissing my breasts and touching me, and holy hells, your penis was Mr. Hello, I’ll Be Your Penis for the Night. Oh, goddess, I’m babbling, aren’t I?”