“I thought it rude to walk inside someone’s house uninvited.” He said.
“You’re a dragon – you just flew me to my house. I think you have more than earned your invitation.” I answered. “Now come inside and make yourself at home.”
“If you insist.”
“I just have to finish something really quick and then we can, I don’t know, watch a movie or something.” I couldn’t believe what I was saying. Was I really asking a dragon to sit down and watch a movie with me? What was I trying to do, bore him to death? Besides, I didn’t even know who he was, and yet, I was treating him like he was my lifelong partner. But it was too late to kick him out now.
“What are you working on?” He asked, hovering over to my work station. Before I could stop him, he picked up some of my unfinished paintings. “These are quite good. I like them.”
“Oh, they aren’t done yet. They will be much better when I finish.” I tried to snatch them away but he held them over his head with this playful expression on his face. “I will return these on one condition.”
“They are my paintings!” I shouted in protest. “Now give them back!” I jumped but it still wasn’t enough to make up for our difference in height. He had to be at least 6’5 if not taller. By comparison, I was a pipsqueak at only 4’10.
“Only if you give me a kiss,” his eyes shone with pure mischief.
“Kiss?” I asked, dropping back down to my heels, “but I don’t even know who you are…”
“And yet you invited me into your home and you rode on my back,” he purred, leaning down ever so slightly.
I thought it was the perfect opportunity to snatch the paintings from him but he anticipated my movements and pulled them away with a click of his tongue.
“Hey, this isn’t funny!”
“If you really want them, then you’ll give me a kiss,” he taunted, “besides, you can’t tell me that you haven’t thought about it.” As he leaned in a second time I was captivated by those eyes of his. They were dark and mysterious like they held all the secrets of the world. They were wondrous and I wanted to look into their depths forever. So, before I could talk myself out of it, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss.
When I say it was the best damn feeling of my life, I’m not lying. His lips were pure sugar, melting onto mine. He bit my bottom lip and tugged on it before hoisting me up and onto my desk. The kiss intensified as his tongue slipped into my mouth, tangling with mine. He moved with a lustful hunger and I swear things were about to escalate into something more but then he stopped and returned my paintings.
***
The following morning.
I woke up from what felt like a vivid dream. I scratched the side of my head trying to make sense of it. I had ridden on the back of a shapeshifting dragon and then made out with his human form. I couldn’t remember whether we had done more than that but I secretly hoped as much. You don’t understand how unbelievably sexy that man truly was.
“Ah,” I sighed, sinking into my pillow, “if only it wasn’t a dream…” I was about to fall asleep when my phone buzzed. I found it tangled up with my blankets.
The notification on my screen said that I had an unread email from a client. My eyes widened with horror. Had I finished in time? Like a bo
lt of lightning, I got out of bed and rushed over to my workstation where a beautiful painting awaited me. I relaxed my shoulders and read through the email.
“You did a fantastic job with this, Rosie. We will be using your services again in the future. Thank you once again for expediting this for us.”
So, they had liked it.
Good.
That meant I would get paid this week and my bank account certainly needed it.
Chapter 4: Foster
That same morning.
Things were pretty slow at the café, they usually were after the morning rush. Bored, I entertained myself by playing a match three game underneath the counter. I was so close to beating the high score when Myles came bursting through the doors.
Luckily, he had taken my advice and had stopped walking through town shirtless and barefoot. While the ladies didn’t seem to mind all that much, the men certainly did. And for good reason too. Most of them didn’t want their wives ogling over someone else.
“I see you’ve borrowed my shirt,” I said once he was close enough to hear me. In all honesty, the shirt was two sizes too small and he was stretching it out beyond repair. “You can at least ask me before you use my stuff, you know,” I chided him, but I doubted whether he would learn. Myles was notorious for his thick head. I know because I have to deal with it each and every day.
“I did not come here to speak about borrowed garments, Foster,” he hissed.