Last Immortal Dragon (Gray Back Bears #6)(16)

“Four,” she said, forcing herself to lean back. Clara cupped his cheeks and brought his fevered gaze to hers. “You can’t be disappointed in me if it doesn’t happen, and you can’t be disappointed if the baby turns out to be a grizzly like me.”

Damon’s gaze was lightening by the second to that silver that churned like storm clouds. He looked down at her lips and blinked slowly. “Anything else?”

“I’m not signing this contract. We’re ripping it up and doing this as friends, not business partners. You don’t owe me some cushy comfortable life after all is said and done. I wouldn’t feel right taking your money past what you want to help out with the baby. Deal?”

Damon dragged his attention back to her eyes and angled his head thoughtfully. “No contract?”

Clara grabbed a knife from the crystal butter dish and cut a slit across her palm, then turned his hand over and did the same to his. While hers dripped red and filled the air with the scent of iron, Damon’s cut healed instantly, only offering a small line of blood no bigger than a papercut.

His voice was hollow when he murmured, “I don’t bleed much.”

Offering her hand for a shake, she said, “No matter. It’s enough. Shake to seal the deal.”

He pressed his palm against hers and that same shocking pain she’d felt last night when she’d touched him for the first time zinged up her nerve endings.

“Ouch,” she yelped, yanking her hand back. She looked at the stinging cut and gasped as it glowed orange from the inside and healed instantly. Her bear shifter healing was fast, but not that efficient. “What the hell?” she asked on a shocked breath.

Damon frowned at her hand as he rubbed his own. He said something so softly, even with her impeccable hearing, she almost missed it. She could’ve sworn it sounded like, “Dangerous Clara.”

With a sharp inhalation of breath, he drew her knuckles to his lips and let his mouth linger against her skin. “I accept your negotiations. We can start trying whenever you like.”

“Hmm,” she hummed as she leaned forward and kissed his throat. “I’ll have to check my schedule, but I might be able to pencil you in now.”

“Now?” he asked as he angled his head back and gave her more access to nibble at his neck. His shoulders shook curiously, as if she’d given him chills.

“Unless you want to enjoy your pancakes first.”

Damon dropped his chin to his chest and smiled at the plates of food, and for a moment, she thought he was going to choose breakfast over her. But then he turned just enough that his lips pressed onto hers. His mouth moved against hers easily, like water. She tasted sweet syrup as he pushed his tongue gently past the parted seam of her lips.

A soft moan escaped as she wrapped her arms around his neck and melted against him. Gently, he pulled her to the edge of her stool and harder against his long erection. Holy moly, she was being kissed! This wasn’t the passionless pecks from her crew or the empty goodnight kisses she’d had when she’d tried her hand at dating. This was passion and fire burning her up from the middle outward. This was limbs going numb and hearts pounding against each other. This was falling for a man with a touch. Her stomach dipped like she was on a rollercoaster, and she opened her eyes in a rush just to make sure they weren’t floating.

Damon eased back and pressed his forehead against hers. His breath shook, and he closed his eyes, hiding the brilliant color from her.

“No, no, Mr. Dragon,” she whispered, cupping his cheeks. “Don’t hide yourself from me.”

Damon’s nostrils flared, and his chest rose and fell with his quick, panting breath. “It’s been a while.”

“Since what?”

She thought he would say since he’d had sex with a woman, but he shocked her into stillness when he said, “It’s been a while since I let anyone in.”

Clara’s lip trembled, so she bit hard to steady it. “I won’t hurt you.” And for some reason she couldn’t fathom, that was the easiest oath she’d ever made. Damon was fierce and strong. Deadly. But as he lifted those uncertain silver eyes to hers, the ones with the long pupil that contracted as he focused on her face, it was clear that Damon guarded his heart as the dragons of legend had guarded castles and helpless maidens.

She wanted in. Wanted to be close to him more than anything she’d ever wanted in her life. It felt significant and necessary. Whoever she’d been yesterday didn’t matter anymore, because when she was around Damon, she felt bigger. She felt important again after losing her self-worth somewhere along the way. Without words, just by looking at her with that vulnerability churning in his mercury-colored eyes, he was offering her a little sliver of his cold heart that he’d warmed just for her. And that ounce of trust he was offering bound her to him. The threads of her soul reached out, desperate to embrace his as he leaned forward again and sipped her lips. The urgency had dimmed from his kiss and been replaced with a timid, silent question. Am I worthy?

Her heart was swelling, filling her chest cavity until it was hard to breathe. She ran her fingertips gently through his hair as she angled her head and parted her lips for him. Damon brushed his tongue against hers, and she released a long, shaky sigh, expelling her nervousness completely. She trusted him. It made no sense that she trusted a man like Damon so quickly, but for unexplainable reasons, and more to do with instinct, she did. He was good—not the monster she’d thought. The cold mask he wore was a fa?ade to protect himself from letting people in, but it slipped away around her.