Fire The Blood: Dragon Mage Series Book III Read Free Page A

have to answer; just relax."  He rubbed one hand up and down her back
again while the other an arm held her around her waist, halting her feeble
struggles.  "Your secrets are safe with me," he whispered directly
into her ear.  "You can trust me."
    Asha lifted her head and
met those eyes of fire.  "I don't even know you."  His mouth quirked
at one corner in a slightly naughty grin, and her eyes were drawn to the scar
down the center of it.  Before she realized her intent, she had a finger
against those wicked lips and was touching the scar.  It was a ragged line that
contrasted seductively with the soft skin of his mouth.  She finally looked
away from those lips and back into his eyes.  "I remember the taste of
your blood, from when you saved me."
    "What did it taste
like?"  His voice had turned gruff, and the feel of his lips moving
against her finger had her jerking back with a gasp.  She licked her lips. 
"Like heat… and power. It was my first kiss, and the first time in my
whole life that I remember being warm."  She bit her bottom lip then
pressed them together, watching the fire in his eyes blaze out of control even
as she felt an unfamiliar yearning under her own skin.  "Was it the mage
blood?" she whispered, her eyes moving back to his lips as her finger
trailed the raised scar a second time.  "Or the kiss?"
    "Let's find
out," he growled, his hot mouth finding hers unerringly.  He sank into
her, and she welcomed the heat of him, her hands going to his face to hold him
closer while the taste of him and the warm slip of his tongue caused explosions
from every nerve ending in her body.  The fire whipped between them just that
fast.  It was so fast that Asha panicked, jerking herself out of his arms and
back into the water that was boiling higher and hotter around them.  He stood
to his full height, his eyes like flame tracking every inch of exposed skin he
could capture.  They were both breathing hard.  She could feel her eyes
rounding in her face as she tried to deal with the sudden shift in her world.
    "Well," he
asked, his tone a touch mocking and boiling with heat.  "Warm
enough?"
    She felt hunted by those
eyes and overpowered by the differences in their bodies.  He may have been only
a few inches taller, but all of it was hard, hungry male, and she felt
decidedly tiny and fragile standing before him naked but for the water that
swirled and boiled playfully around them.  She swallowed and fought the need to
back up another step.  "Sufficiently, yes."
    "Then I suggest you
check my bag and see if any of my clothes survived the fire.  You're going to
need cover if you expect to leave the room."
    She raised her chin at
his hard tone.  "That's considerate of you."
    "Not really."
    Asha scrunched her brow,
trying to figure out what he could possibly mean by that.  She gave up and
headed for the slightly singed bag he alluded to.  She climbed out of the hot
spring feeling the heat of his eyes touch all her intimate places; she
shivered, but this time it was not from the cold.  The magic of the place had
already enveloped her and dried her instantly, though her hair that fell dry and
soft to her hips would need a thorough brushing.  Because she did not have to
stop to dry off, she quickly dressed in the white tunic she found.  It fell
like a dress to her knees, and she had to roll up the sleeves, but it would get
her to her room.  At least his bag had been far enough from the cave entrance
and protected.  She could see what was left of his leathers spread out over
some rocks, and they were still smoking.  She winced at the sight.
    "And well you should
feel bad," he said.  His voice had lost none of its heat.  "The least
you could have done was burned them before I took the time to scrub them like
an old washer woman."
    Her temper hit a slow
simmer as she raised her chin and pointed it his way.  Her hands went to her
hips, battle ready.  "The honest labor probably did you