Dragon with Benefits (Forgotten Dragons Book 4) Read online

  All Trevor noticed was how graceful and beautiful she was. The way her smile lit up the whole room. The way her curves looked in those jeans…

  Trevor took a deep breath, trying to think of other things than how hot last night with Petra had been.

  He took several steps again, and the skates beneath him scratched over the frozen surface.

  Apparently, he’d missed the whole roller blading craze while protecting humans from evil shifters over the years, Trevor supposed.

  No time like the present, though.

  Petra reached out a hand, and he pushed off the wall, taking one stride then another until he was right beside her.

  “Not bad,” she said encouragingly.

  Trevor stumbled a bit, coming to a stop, then wrapped an arm around her back, pulling her into his chest. When she let out a surprised puff of air that dissipated into white mist, he leaned down to kiss her.

  He might as well enjoy one more amazing moment before he died on this ice.

  For a moment, their lips melded together, warm and comforting and sensual. The feeling of being home, of being alive.

  When Trevor finally pulled away, Petra looked up at him with that lost, aroused, sweet expression that made him want to hold on to her and never let her go.

  “What was that for?” Petra asked.

  Trevor tried to suppress the smile at the corners of his mouth. “I was going to say something about that being my reward for skating…” He judged the distance he’d just crossed. “Ten feet. But really, I just wanted to do it.”

  “Ah, well, try and earn another one, then. And I’m not going to make it easy.” With a wink, she turned and headed for the mass of people lazily skating in an endless circle around the rink.

  No way Trevor was going to let humans outdo him, even in something a detestable as skating on ice.

  He pushed off, his feet wobbling a bit as he tried to use brute force to make his way over the ice. Around him, people stared up at the six-and-a-half-foot man swinging his arms to try to go faster than the pair of six-year-olds next to him, but he ignored it. He wasn’t here for them.

  Petra smiled over her shoulder, teasing him as she waggled a finger, and Trevor gave chase, feeling the dragon roar inside him.

  After a moment, he started to feel the slick surface beneath his feet a little more keenly. And in no time at all, he let his legs do the work without having to pump his arms dramatically just to gain speed.

  The second he was within reach, he took Petra’s hand in his, coming up alongside her.

  “Gotcha,” he exclaimed with a huff, matching his speed to meet Petra’s as they settled into an easy pace.

  “It looks like you can teach old dogs new tricks,” she said, leaning into his shoulder a bit as she spoke. He loved it whenever any part of her was touching any part of him.

  “Hey, I’m not old.” In fact, he actually was, but his thirty-something appearance wasn’t going to change so she didn’t need to know that.

  “Would you prefer stubborn? Set in your ways?” She wriggled her eyebrows at him, and Trevor had to suppress a laugh.

  Touché.

  “I prefer ‘iron-willed.’ Though, I have to admit that even ice skating has its… charms,” he said, unable to hate the activity now that it gave him and Petra an excuse to be next to each other, enjoying the company and warmth of the other. Holding hands like nothing else mattered in the world.

  “Okay, Mr. Man with an iron will, tell me how it is you’ve never been ice skating before?”

  Trevor thought about it for a moment. “I guess life never brought me in contact with such a place before.”

  “Did you have any fun growing up?”

  “Honestly, my childhood wasn’t much about fun. More duty and responsibility, things like that.” Chad’s face flashed in his mind, and Trevor cast aside the thought. “What about you, though? Aside from mastering the dark arts of ice traversal?”

  She laughed again, the sound of her joy melting the walls Trevor had built around his heart after so long.

  “I don’t know. The normal stuff kids do? A little bit of everything, a whole lot of nothing. I guess journalism has always been a curiosity of mine, given that I started a pretend newspaper I distributed around the house when I was ten.”

  “What was the headline?”

  “‘Frogs Are Gross,’ I think. Or something like that.”

  “To be fair, I think frogs are gross too. It sounds like a good paper,” Trevor replied. They rounded a corner, heading in the direction of the seating area, and he took her hand, pulling them away from the crowd and to the edge of the rink. “I don’t know how you humans do it, but my foot is already cramping.”

  As they came to the step leading off the ice, he came up first, then helped Petra onto the carpeted flooring so she wouldn’t trip.

  “That’s probably because you’re wearing shoes that are two sizes too small.” Her hand seemed so small in his, gripping it as she stepped into his awaiting arms.

  “It’s not my fault they don’t carry skates for people with big feet,” he blustered, not really that upset to be off the ice anyway. “Maybe the sport was invented by people of deficient foot size so they could feel superior to big-footed people?”

  Petra laughed, sitting at a table and undoing the laces on her shoes, and Trevor sat next to her, wanting to follow her around like a moth chasing light.

  “I see you’ve finally caught us, oh mighty-footed one,” Petra said bemusedly over her shoulder. “Long ago, we humans had a meeting and thought of ways to torture people that make us feel small due to their condescendingly large feet. But without ice skating, how else are we to cope with our sad, insignificant walking devices?”

  “You can’t, sorry.” Trevor struggled with his own laces, then simply tore them in half and shoved the skates off his feet. He’d just pay for the damn things anyway.

  “Darn,” she said, looking playfully disappointed

  Trevor leaned down, helping undo the laces of her other skate, then pulling them both off gently for her. “So you’ll just have to live with having tiny, cute feet forever, I guess.” When he helped her stand, he placed a kiss on her forehead.

  “I think I can live with that.”

  For a second, he just wrapped his arms around her, warming her with his big body. Then, before his dragon could get too many ideas, he leaned down and picked up both pairs of skates, and they headed for the return booth.

  “Oh, hot chocolate sounds nice,” Petra said, looking at a small concession stand to the side.

  “Roger that.”

  “Also, I noticed all the lights are up for the holidays at the park across the street. We should go see them.”

  “That sounds amazing,” he replied, handing the skates to a young-looking worker and handing them a hundred-dollar bill for whatever damage he might have caused to the laces on the skates while ripping them off. Once their own shoes were back on, he took Petra over to a table by the concession stand and got in line, eager to resume their date.

  Because as long as he was with Petra, it felt like nothing in the world could go wrong.

  Chapter 12

  Petra tried to not gape openly as Trevor stood awkwardly in the concession line, towering over the young couples and families grouped around him. But as tall—and devastatingly handsome—as he was, Petra could imagine why he seemed to value his privacy sometimes.

  A teenager bumped into him, and he scowled in displeasure, as if even the sheer proximity of other humans bothered him in some deep way.

  Petra laughed to herself and rested her chin on her palm, just watching as his beautiful bronze hair fell slightly over his face. Watching the way he carefully moved, in spite of his broad shoulders and thick muscle, like he didn’t want to plow anyone over even though he could with his bulk.

  Trevor was stubborn and hotheaded at times, but he was no bully, and Petra had to admire that.

  “Is this seat taken?”

  Petra looked up
to see a man in his early forties motioning to the bench on the other side of the table.

  Petra shook her head quickly, then went right back to watching Trevor and trying not to think dirty thoughts about him.

  It was hard with those jeans he wore. And that ass. So perfect.

  The man sat down, making the plastic picnic table creak slightly, and when Petra looked over her shoulder, she realized, to her dismay, that the spot he’d been asking about was next to her.

  She leaned back slightly, wondering how to get out of this awkward situation. “Um…”

  “I’m Fred,” he offered, scooting in a little closer. “And you’re gorgeous. You come here often?”

  She blinked. She’d been hit on before, but this was pretty brazen. “No. But—”

  “Great place, right? Nothing gets you in the holiday spirit like ice skating.”

  “Sure,” she replied, looking over at Trevor again. He was almost at the booth, surrounded by a crowd that was jostling him as he tried to go forward to make his order.

  “Well, nothing except for getting down in front of a nice hot fire,” Fred said, leaning in a little closer. “With a cute lady.”

  “Not interested,” Petra said, scooting back until her butt was almost off the bench. She hated being rude, but she was going to have to be. “I’m here with someone.”

  Fred, somehow undaunted by this, just scooted closer. “Sure you are. Now, what do you say we get out of here and—”

  “Move it, unknown person. Or I will literally move this bench outside, with you on it, right now.” Trevor stood directly over Fred, a large cup of cocoa in each hand, looking ready to commit murder at any second.

  Fred stared up at Trevor for a split second, paled, then raised his hands innocently and disappeared without another word.

  With a huff, Trevor slumped onto the seat next to her and handed over one tall cup.

  Petra took a sip of the hot liquid, unable to hold back a grin at the angry way Trevor watched Fred’s back until he was apparently satisfied that the interloper had left.

  “Thank you,” Petra said, letting out a breath of relief that the situation had been dealt with. It was kind of nice to have someone backing her since that wasn’t usually the case. “I don’t think he meant any harm, though.”

  Trevor’s golden eyes flicked to her, then back at the direction Fred had left. “I did.”

  She stood, offering her hand, and Trevor took it, looking less grumpy now that it was just the both of them. Once he was up, Trevor led them both outside into the chilly night air, and Petra found herself nestling into his side instinctively, holding her hot chocolate in the other hand.

  “I don’t know if you noticed, but the tables are in fact bolted to the floor,” she teased.

  “I don’t know if you noticed, but I have my ways. If I wanted that table outside and in the cold, I could do it.”

  From his expression, Petra could tell he definitely wasn’t joking. Which, of course, only made it funnier, the mental image of this tall, beautiful man hefting a whole table and tossing it outside like it weighed nothing.

  As absurd as it was, it didn’t feel too far off the mark for some reason.

  They crossed the street and walked under a cheesy sign that simply said “Winter Fun-derland” before entering a wide, circular area arrayed with every imaginable kind of holiday lighting wrapped around trees, statues, bushes, and even the bathroom on the other side of the park.

  For several minutes, they meandered, commenting on the scenery and just basking in the warmth of the hot chocolate and good company.

  “I think hanging icicles are the best kind of lights,” Petra said. At this point, Trevor’s heavy wool coat was wrapped around her, trapping her into his side.

  Which, of course, left her head right at pec height next to Trevor.

  His muscles felt so nice against her cheek…

  “What?” His tone was playful. “Why make something so cheery so ominous? Icicles kill people, you know. I’ll definitely have to watch out for you. No, classic multicolored strings for me, always.”

  She smiled, flushing a bit at his comment about watching out for her. “So are you in charge of lights, then, icicle hater? Does Chad care?”

  There was a second of reticence in Trevor’s gaze, so short it was nearly imperceptible. But then he flashed another cocky smile and tugged his arm around Petra, mashing them together in ways that made her wish they were somewhere alone and out of the cold.

  “Actually, we don’t do much holiday celebrating. Not really time or energy for it, I suppose.”

  Petra thought of Trevor all alone except for Chad in that giant mansion, and it made her heart ache for him. “Well, if we’re still seeing each other, then I demand we put up at least one string of lights. Even if it’s just over the balcony inside.”

  “Demands? Who says you get to make demands about the decor?” Trevor responded playfully. “You’ll have to go through the proper channels if that’s going to happen.”

  “Oh, and who would that be?”

  “Me. Of course.”

  “And if I said it would not only spread holiday cheer, but also make me happy to put those lights up for you?”

  Trevor stopped, and he turned so they were facing each other now. Without saying a word, he gathered Petra’s cold hands up to his chest and blew on them, the thick puffs from his mouth tingling her skin and warming it as if from the inside out.

  “Then consider it done,” he said, his words muffled against her fingers as he continued to blow over them. Even when her hands were toasty and comfortable, he continued to tease her, his lips brushing against her knuckles and making her slightly flustered as she thought about the other things he could do with his lips.

  By the way his expression went from cool and collected to intense and heated, Petra didn’t think she was the only one.

  Trevor finally put her hands down, and Petra almost had a mind to ask him to keep doing it just so she could keep experiencing such a hot, tender moment between them. But as he tucked her hands into his jacket pockets and wrapped his arms around her, she had to admit this wasn’t too bad either.

  “I’m not used to doing this,” he said.

  “Doing what?” She rested her head against him, enjoying the way he seemed to shield her from even the very elements themselves, the sound of the wind whistling through the trees never reaching her with its cold tendrils.

  “Being out with someone in the world. Trying new things.”

  He seemed so vulnerable. The very opposite of the sushi douchebag she’d believed him to be from their first interactions together.

  “Are you glad you did?”

  He nodded. “For so long, it wasn’t worth trying. I didn’t see the point of bothering. But now, with you, I can’t stop wanting to experience more things.”

  She looked up at him, and their gazes locked in that way that felt magnetic. Like they couldn’t look away, even if they wanted to. “I’m just glad you’re enjoying it. You deserve some happiness too.”

  He smiled, but his eyes were tight. “It doesn’t feel like my life is my own sometimes. But when I’m with you, all I want to do is share it with you. Every second I possibly can.”

  Petra felt too happy for words, and when he pulled her in tight again, she let out a contented sigh. “I feel the same way with you too. Regardless of where this is going.”

  Though, to be honest, the proximity of his warm, strong body was getting more distracting by the second.

  She took in a long breath, the scent of high-end aftershave and that spicy, smoky scent that was all Trevor scintillating her.

  “Speaking of where this is going…” She ran her hands down his arm, and he gave a light shudder. “Should we go back to your place and warm up?”

  His grin could have melted a whole ice rink. “Hell yeah.”

  Chapter 13

  Trevor hadn’t wanted anything more in the world than to turn into a dragon, fly Petra back to the ma
nsion, and get her inside so they could go crazy on each other.

  But a swift drive in the car while sharing countless sensual, stolen glances back and forth was certainly the next best thing.

  By the time they were at the front door, their hands were all over each other, Petra pulling on the lapels of his coat while he undid the lock with one hand and pulled her in to kiss her with the other.

  “Oh, the door,” Petra exclaimed between sighs as he sucked on her ear, enjoying the way her soft hair tickled his cheek.

  Damn, she smelled good too. Like always.

  “I got it,” he said, and the lock clicked free. A second later, he threw the door open and brought them inside to warmth and privacy.

  And perhaps in the first time in his entire life as a dragon, Trevor was aware of the fact that he wasn’t wondering where Chad was right now.

  Petra was all he could think about.

  Petra pulled free of him for a moment, tossing off her coat before tearing at his. Trevor let it slide free, running his hands over the outline of her body, down her sides, even the very shape of her making him ridiculously hard.

  “C’mon,” she said, pulling him by the hand toward the stairs and his bedroom.

  But Trevor had another idea.

  “Actually, come with me.”

  “What?” She paused at the base of the steps, looking slightly confused.

  “I want to show you something,” Trevor said, squeezing her hand with his and leading them down a high-ceilinged corridor full of fancy paintings and high-end decor. Things he and Chad had amassed over a lifetime.

  And which meant nothing compared to the woman whose palm he held as if the entire world were in his hands right now.

  “Where are we going? Oh my God, do you have a kinky sex dungeon?” Petra asked with a giggle, looking around eagerly as Trevor led them to the back of the mansion.

  “What? No. What gave you that idea?” The eerie quiet of the place surrounded them on every side.

  “I don’t know. Big, lonely place. There’s got to be some skeletons in these closets,” she exclaimed curiously like an explorer unearthing some ancient cavern. “But maybe that’s just the reporter in me going a little wild.”