“Of course I’m comfortable with you,” she said, rubbing her leg against him. “You’re beefy, but not so beefy that you are unreasonable.”

He nipped her calf. “I mean with us. Me being a dragon. More specifically, I now hold the position your late husband held.”

She looked thoughtful at that, but smiled after a minute’s thought. “You know, I think Jian knew what was coming—although how he could is beyond me, but then again, he was a ghost talking to me at a séance, so who am I to quibble about impossible things. He seemed to be telling me that someone else was coming into my life, and to embrace it. Embrace you. So if you’re feeling like you’re suddenly a Jian substitute, don’t. I don’t think of you that way at all. Jian was himself, and you are an entirely different man. Both good, just different.”

“You are wise beyond your years,” he said, feeling a tightness in his chest relax. He’d never had a relationship with a widow before, and wasn’t sure how to proceed without feeling like he was stomping over her memories.

“Hardly that. But I have had some time to reflect since we were in Munich.” She fluttered her lashes at him. “This feels right.”

“We have an obvious connection,” he said, sliding his hand up her bare leg. She shivered in response, and he took the moment to reach behind her to unhook the leather bodice. “I am now a wyvern. You are a wyvern’s mate. We were meant to be together.”

It was amazing just how true that was, and how quickly his mind had adapted to his changed circumstance, and yet already he was having difficulty remembering the time before the event.

“Now you’re being overly dramatic,” she chided, but smiled as she did so. “Why don’t we just enjoy the moment, and worry about what sort of a relationship we will want after we’ve dealt with the whole situation with Mrs. P and the ring?”

He peeled the bodice off her, instantly possessing himself of her breasts, the weight and heat of them in his hands making his blood sing. Desire blazed into being within him, roaring to life with an intensity that threatened to overwhelm. It wasn’t until the pressure built up within him that he noticed the floor around them was on fire.

“Is that you or me?” he asked, pausing a moment in the torment of her delightful breasts.

Sophea, who had pulled off his shirt and was nibbling a path along his neck and shoulder, paused to look down, her eyes narrowing. “Yours, I think. Wait.” Her forehead wrinkled as she focused, and eventually managed to set her feet afire. “Yes, that’s yours. Mine feels a bit different.”

“Ah. We should probably stop it, since I doubt if the carpet is fireproof.”

“Smart thinking.” They both tamped down their respective fires until nothing was left. “Now then,” he said, returning his attention to her silken delights. “Where was I?”

“About to give me a chance to play with your nubs,” she said, pushing back on his shoulders until he released her.

“No,” he said, turning his attention to her skirt. How did it attach? And more important, how did he take it off her?

“Excuse me? Did you just tell me no? I assume your mind is muddled by the trauma of being zapped into dragonness, and that what you really meant to say was ‘Yes, Sophea, I will gladly let you reciprocate the wonderful feelings you’ve been experiencing, for I, too, am looking forward to having my nipples molested.’ That is what you meant to say, right?”

“No,” he repeated, and having discovered the hooks and eyes that closed the skirt, undid them until the skirt was loose. He stood up, pulling her up with him, causing the skirt to slide down her hips to the floor with a leathery whoosh. “Another time you may work your lusts upon my nipple nubs, but right now, I must do this.”

“That’s just selfish, hogging all the nipple-based pleasure-giving fun—” Sophea started to protest, but he stopped her by kissing her soundly.

“Let me do this,” he said softly, giving in to temptation and nibbling on her adorable earlobe. “I can’t explain why I have to, but I feel like I must or I’ll explode.”

Her entire stance softened, her head turning so that her lips brushed his as she melted against him. “I’m sorry. I forgot that you were just bopped on the head with dragon emotions. We are such kick-ass people, of course you feel things stronger than you did before. And I would very much like you to make love to me.”

“Another time,” he promised as he stripped her of her underwear before hurriedly removing his own clothing, “another time I will allow you to lead. But right now… mmrf.” The last word was garbled when he buried his face in her belly.

She giggled and simultaneously sucked in her breath. He looked down at the incredible sight of her lying beneath him, her eyes shining with a light that beckoned to him, her body so perfectly made to fit his, he couldn’t imagine ever considering any other woman. But something wasn’t quite right, some urge was riding him hard, making him want something… more.

“You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, and to the end of my days, I will thank whatever gods were responsible for sending you to me,” he said, bending down to press a kiss to her sweet lips.

She sighed. “That is the nicest thing that anyone has—eep!”

Without warning, he flipped her over onto her belly, that delectable, soft, enticing belly, and spread her legs enough to settle between them.

“Don’t ask questions,” he said, pulling her hips up while sliding a finger into her heated depths. She was, thankfully, ready to receive his attentions, which was good since he didn’t think he’d be able to last another second. “I don’t know why I have to do this, but I do.”

“Well, it’s a little different, but I don’t suppose it’s—goodness gracious, great balls of fire!” She almost sang the last part of that sentence when he slid into her with one powerful thrust of his hips. “That is… wow, that’s… oh yes, do that move to the left again.”

He moved to the left, and then to the right, and then just because he was a man who believed in covering all the bases, upward and downward as well. As he bent to kiss the back of her neck, intending on trying a few diagonal moves that he hoped would have her squealing with joy, an urge came to him, overpowering him, driving him harder and deeper into her, the pressure building inside until he swirled his tongue on the back of her neck, and breathed fire.