Killian Read online

  dated someone, he wouldn't even meet Chloe until the relationship was serious. Really serious. Like long-term serious. Now Killian is just downstairs – and I'm not even dating him.

  Why is my stomach all tied up in knots?

  I try to shake off all of the doubts running through my head as I look in the mirror. I pick up a tube of lipstick and set it back down. Too much. A dab of lip gloss is good enough. At least I showered and shaved my legs today.

  When I get to the living room, I stop short. Killian is still in the armchair slouched over and angled to the side, and Chloe stands in front of him with her back toward me.

  Holding her makeup case out to the side like an artist's palette.

  Oh, no.

  "Chloe, what are you doing to Mr. Saint?"

  "He said I could, mom." She doesn't turn around. Instead she finishes applying whatever she's putting onto Killian's face.

  "I'm a girl dragon," Killian explains. "Who needed makeup."

  "It's perfect," Chloe declares, turning around and stepping to the side.

  Killian sits up. "How does it look? Am I pretty? I feel pretty."

  "It's mah-velous," Chloe says, affecting an accent.

  "Marvelous, right?" Killian asks, looking at me. Purple and green eye shadow is plastered up to his eyebrows and across his temples. His cheeks are an unnatural shade of pink and his lips are fire-engine red. The makeup makes him look more like a deranged clown than a girl dragon.

  "That's one word for it." Laughter bubbles up in my chest at the sight of Killian gruff, bearded, built-like-a-linebacker Killian covered in Chloe's makeup, and I have to cover my mouth with my hand, my chest shaking so that Chloe doesn't see me laughing.

  "It's beautiful!" Chloe decrees.

  "At least someone appreciates the effort I've put into my appearance," Killian deadpans, and I actually snort, covering it up by doubling-over and coughing loudly. "Did you just snort?"

  "Oh yeah, she does that when she sleeps, too," Chloe says.

  "Oh, really?" Killian asks.

  "Yeah, she's really loud sometimes."

  "I do not snort! Or snore."

  "Your kid just ratted you out," Killian points out.

  "Oh be quiet, fashionista."

  "You're jealous of my beauty."

  "The dragon needs her nails done too," Chloe interrupts.

  I look at Killian, my eyebrows raised. "That sounds like a great idea. Nail polish would really tie the whole thing together."

  "I don't know about that "

  "I have all different colors!" Chloe exclaims. "They’re in my room."

  She dashes off to her room and Killian looks at me. "Don't pretend you're not turned on, cupcake."

  "I'll try to maintain control over myself." I pause for a second. "Thanks for letting her do that."

  Killian shrugs. "What's a little makeup? It washes off."

  I look at him blankly.

  Now he looks worried. "It does wash off, right?"

  Chloe bursts back into the room, two hands full of mini nail polish bottles in a rainbow of colors. "You can even use all of the colors!"

  "All of the colors?" Killian asks. "Lucky me."

  25

  Killian

  "She's already asleep." Lily rounds the corner from the stairs and stops short when she sees me. "It's been like two minutes since I said goodnight to her." She giggles. "You're still looking mah-velous."

  "I tried to find something in your bathroom to clean up with, but all I saw were white towels." I suddenly feel awkward standing here in her house with her alone, despite the fact that I should have felt a hell of a lot more awkward an hour ago when Chloe was applying layer after layer of makeup on me.

  "I should have told you where to find a washcloth. There are some in the linen closet."

  I follow Lily down the hall. "I didn't want to go poking around in your stuff."

  Lily opens the linen closet, turning toward me to raise her eyebrows. "I thought that's exactly what you wanted to do," she says, her voice laced with innuendo.

  And there it is. The second she says anything remotely sexual, my cock twitches, reminding me of exactly what I want to do with her. "You know me well."

  Lily laughs as she steps into the bathroom, holding the washcloth under the tap. "Actually, that's not true at all. I know you hate Brussels sprouts, do the crossword, and have three brothers. And that you’re not an ex-convict. And that you look good in lipstick."

  "You know more about me than most people." That's the honest truth.

  She looks at me over her shoulder. "Actually, I do believe that."

  "I hate mushrooms, too. A lot." I reach for the washcloth, but Lily steps close to me. "And I like building stuff. And working with leather.”

  She raises her eyebrows. “Leather, huh? I thought you said you weren’t springing any weird fetishes on me.”

  “I said I wouldn’t spring them on you,” I remind her. “I’m going to ease you in gently.”

  She touches the cloth to the side of my cheek. “I can’t tell when you’re joking.”

  “I know. It helps me maintain an air of mystery.”

  She goes silent, dragging the cloth across my temple. "Chloe really did a number on you."

  I close my eyes as she wipes off the eye shadow that has to be caked on an inch thick. "She's a pretty alright kid."

  Lily laughs. "Yeah, she's not so bad. I think I'll keep her." She pauses for a second. "You didn't have to let her paint you up."

  "I know." I stand still as Lily wipes the other side of my face and my eyelid. When she finishes, I open my eyes to see her right in front of me, the edge of the cloth in her hand.

  "I bet this is the last thing on earth you thought you'd ever hear someone say to you, but you have lipstick on your beard," she says, laughing.

  “I’ve heard it before,” I deadpan.

  “Are you just waiting for me to beg you to tell me about the leather thing?” she asks, putting the edge of the cloth to my beard.

  “I’m waiting for you to beg me in general.” My hands slide around her hips, and I pull her against me. “I’ll show you the leather stuff. It’s less kinky than it sounds.”

  “I don’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed.”

  “I do leatherworking – custom saddles, that kind of thing. It’s always been a hobby. And, don’t worry. I don’t need leather to be kinky.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “Uh-huh.” I bring my lips down hard on hers, the way I’ve been thinking about nonstop since she left my cabin. Hell, I've been thinking about it pretty much nonstop since I met her, if I'm going to be honest about it. I haven't been able to get my mind off those lips.

  Or the way her body melts against me. Or how her tongue responds to mine and she presses against me, her hips on my hardness.

  When she moans, the sound half-muted by my mouth, it's my undoing. In an instant, I'm pulling her shirt over her head as her hands slip underneath mine. She yanks at my shirt, wordlessly demanding its removal, and I toss it onto the floor behind me. I slip off her bra, my mouth quickly replacing it as my tongue circles her nipples one at a time.

  Her hands are at the back of my head and she moans softly as her nipples come to attention. When she pulls me up, demanding my mouth on hers again, there's nothing soft about it this time. I kiss her hungrily, my need for her unrelenting, and I have to tell myself to slow down because what I want to do is rip off her clothes and fuck the hell out of her right now.

  Sliding my hands under her ass, I lift her easily, setting her onto the bathroom counter. She looks down at me, her hair tumbling forward and brushing against my face. Her face is flushed already, her lips smudged with bright red lipstick.

  "I want you," she whispers, her eyes trained on me. The rumble that comes from my chest at her words surprises even me.

  Those words. The ones I've been wanting to hear.

  "Are you sure?" I ask, my voice clouded by my lust for her. I can hardly thin