Dragos Goes to Washington (Elder Races #8.5)(16)

“See you downstairs.”

As Eva left, she pulled the door closed behind her, and Pia was finally alone. She located her purse, tucked on a table by a large vase filled with purple irises and yellow roses, and pulled out the jewelry box holding the diamond pendant.

She didn’t have time to be sick, but luckily she had something she could do about it for now. If she was still sick later, she would see a doctor next week when she got home.

As soon as she settled the necklace into place around her neck, she felt better, steadier. That’d do.

With a renewed sense of purpose, she turned back to the bathroom. Now it was time to get down to business.

By the time Dragos stepped into the bedroom, she had showered, dried her hair and rolled it up in hot curlers, and she sat at a vanity in a royal blue dressing gown as she applied the requisite ten pounds of makeup.

He walked over to her, hooked a finger into the neckline of the dressing gown and pulled it away so that he could kiss her naked shoulder. At the touch of his warm, firm mouth on her skin, a shiver of pleasure ran down her spine, and she leaned back against his thighs with a throaty murmur. She had to make a conscious effort to remember to hold on to her mascara wand as he cupped her breast.

“We don’t have time for that,” she told him.

“I know,” he murmured, massaging her through the thin silk. “I just couldn’t help touching you.” He grew still. Then his hand left her breast to touch the diamond pendant as his gold gaze met hers in the mirror.

“No, I’m not,” she told him in answer to the question he hadn’t asked. “I’m wearing it as a precaution. You know, just in case. I don’t want to throw up unexpectedly on anybody important this week. Besides, it’s pretty.”

His hard mouth pulled into a slow, sexy smile. He touched the diamond where it dangled just above the hollow of her breasts. “It is pretty, isn’t it? And it’s resting in one of my very favorite places in the world. I look forward to taking it off later this evening.”

She looked forward to taking it off later too, but for an entirely different reason. Hopefully by that point the strange bout of sickness would have passed and she would be back to normal.

Careful not to mess either her curling hair or her makeup, she turned her head to press a kiss against his forearm. His hand traveled up to caress the line of her neck. “What are you wearing this evening?”

“I decided to go ultrachic,” she said. “So I settled on the black sheath Dior.”

“Perfect.” He smiled. “I’d better shower and shave, and we’ll leave in a half an hour. Is that enough time for you to finish getting ready?”

“Absolutely. All I have to do is take the curlers out, pin up my hair and slip on the dress.” She turned her attention back to her reflection and picked up her lipstick. Around the O she made with her lips, she said, “Oh, and also do this.”

He murmured, “You look good enough to eat.”

“Don’t you dare,” she warned. “You’ll mess everything up, and I don’t have time to pull this off again.”

Laughing, he stripped off his clothes. “Oh, I dare. I’ll just eat you later.”

Nude, he walked into the bathroom, and she had to pause to admire his powerful, lithe body. His sleek, heavy muscles rippled under dark bronze skin. In his human form or as a dragon, he was the most magnificent male she had ever laid eyes on.

She raised her voice. “I thought you should know. You make me so stinking happy. Especially when you walk around nude.”

His laughter sounded. “You make me pretty stinking happy too, lover.”

The sound of the shower started, and only then was she able to turn back to what she was doing.

She triple-checked her makeup for any flaws. By the time she had shimmied into the floor length, strapless gown and slipped on her high heeled Pradas, Dragos’s electric travel shaver was buzzing in the bathroom. Quickly she pulled out the hot curlers and ran her fingers through her hair. Large shining curls tumbled around her bare shoulders.

The buzz of his razor stopped. She looked over her shoulder and found him frozen in the doorway. Except for a towel slung around his hips, he was still nude, and he stared at her with such naked hunger, it scorched her skin.

“I think I’ve changed my mind. I’ll leave my hair down tonight.” Tilting her head, she gave him a small smile. “Our half an hour is almost up. Shouldn’t you be hurrying?”

His sharp intake of breath was audible across the room. She laughed. Stepping back, he slammed the bathroom door.

When he stepped out again, five minutes later, he was fully dressed. Fastening the last of her diamond stud earrings into her ear, she turned away from the vanity mirror and lost the ability to breathe.

She could almost get used to the daily reality of how he impacted her—almost—until she saw him like this, his massive, powerful body clothed in a severe, elegant black tux. The formal clothes did nothing to make him appear domesticated. If anything, they highlighted his handsome, brutal features, jet-black hair and piercing gold eyes, while the pristine white shirt brought out the richness of his dark bronze skin.

His soft growl reached her from across the room. “Don’t look at me like that, or we really won’t get out the door this evening.”

She jerked away and scooped up her beaded black clutch. Like a gawky yearling with too much leg, she didn’t feel quite in control of all her limbs. “Right,” she muttered. “Out the door.”