Free Forbidden Embers by Tessa Adams Page A

asked.
    “And what?”
    “Aren’t you going to apologize?”
    “Why should I when I’m not sorry?”
    Her cheeks flamed yet again, but this time it was more indignation than discomfiture that made her blush. Maybe she’d been wrong. Maybe he was antisocial after all.
    She wasn’t sure what to say to that, so she kept her mouth shut—until he moved a little closer and ran a finger down her cheek. “I like the way you look when you blush.”
    Of course, his words only made it worse. “Yeah, right. Nothing like looking like a tomato to really impress a guy.”
    “Do you want to impress me?” he asked.
    “It was just an expression,” she stuttered.
    “Was it?” His voice had dropped, deepened, and his eyes seemed to glow as the shadows lengthened around them.
    “Yes!” Cecily glanced around. The sun was setting and it would be dark soon. She needed to leave, to head back to the compound, but she was finding it difficult to move when he looked at her so intently. In all her life, she’d never had a man look at her quite like that before.
    Oh, a number of her father’s factionnaires and business allies had studied her intently for years, but their looks were usually loaded with avarice. They saw her as a means to an end, a way to gain power in the clan—especially now that her father and Jacob were out of the picture. They wanted her, but only because of what she could bring them.
    The look in Logan’s eyes, the way he angled his body toward her, the way his heat wrapped around her, told her more clearly than any words could that he wanted something else entirely from her. Maybe it was stupid to believe that—he was rogue, after all—but she found that she didn’t care.
    So what if she was being stupid up here on the top of this mountain?
    So what if she wanted to believe that this one dragon wanted her, Cecily, not just the Crown Princess of the Wyvernmoon clan?
    So what if for once she wanted to act like a woman and not a puppet in her father’s quest to keep his Conseil in line?
    No one would know if she didn’t tell them. And for this moment, right now, she wanted to say to hell with her innate caution. To hell with her innocence. To hell with everything but the heat coursing through her body under his steady perusal.
    “Logan.” She took a step toward him, told herself to reach out to him, but she wasn’t that brave. Not yet. She wouldn’t run away if he wanted to kiss her, but she couldn’t bring herself to initiate it.
    She didn’t know how.
    “Cecily.” This time when he smiled, it didn’t hold a trace of mockery. Instead, it was warm and enticing and just a little bit feral. For the first time since she’d met him, she could see the beast that lurked deep inside him—intelligent, cunning, determined.
    The knowledge made her chest tighten, made the act of drawing air into her lungs almost impossible. Deep inside, her own dragon stirred. Stretched. Even preened a little under the regard.
    He must have seen the beast, because his eyes darkened and his breathing grew shallower. Harsher. Then he lifted a finger to her mouth, toyed with her lower lip.
    She gasped and he took instant advantage, stroking his finger from her lip to the inside of her mouth. He traced the sharp edge of her teeth with his fingertip before brushing against the very tip of her tongue.
    Instinctively, she bit down, nipping at the warm, resilient flesh.
    He groaned and she started to apologize, more than a little shocked that she’d bitten him. But the look on his face told her he’d liked it, that she had nothing to apologize for. So she did it again, then laved her tongue against the small wound to soothe away the sting.
    “Cecily.” This time when he said her name, his voice was low and gravelly and so tempting that she found herself leaning toward him without conscious thought.
    She didn’t have far to go. He stepped forward, closing the distance between them until her breasts skimmed against his bare stomach.