Page 7 of Desired By the Dragon

Clearly having seen my attempt at a surreptitious sniff, the vampire laughed. “Only soda in there? Let me buy you a real drink.”

One drink turned to five, boredom keeping me rooted in my chair as I people-watched. A girl four seats down was making eyes at the oblivious bartender, and an uptight-looking group of supes were bickering in the corner about the best theological argument for the existence of supes which — snooze. My eyes drifted away and I sipped obliviously at my drink, realizing too late what the bartender had just set down in front of me.

My eyes blew wide as I looked down at the glass of silver liquid, like someone had poured silver glitter into vodka.

Fucking moonshine.

The bartender nodded in the direction of another guy, who gave me a thumbs up before brushing his hair back and out of his face. I nodded, not wanting to drink more of the stuff given its potency, but also not wanting to waste perfectly good alcohol.

I lifted the drink, contemplating making the rounds to see if anyone I recognized was in the bar who could maybe use the company. Before I could go more than three steps, I was cursing as my elbow collided with someone’s shoulder and sloshed half my drink everywhere.

“Shit, sorry.” The accent was English, and the charming smile certainly didn’t hurt either as the guy, a human by the smell of him, offered me a napkin. “Buy you another?”

Well, now I had to drink the damned thing.

I nodded and then feigned interest in whatever story this guy was peddling as his eyes drifted down to my chest where my sloshed drink had turned my white tee slightly see-through.

So that was his ploy.

Thanks to the moonshine I’d already ingested, I didn’t even notice when he dropped something in my drink. Some deity out there must have been watching over me, though. Before I could even lift the glass, it was being gently pushed away from me and a strong, tattooed forearm lifted the tourist by his collar.

The low snarl in my rescuer’s voice was thick enough that I couldn’t make out what he said, but judging by the way he lifted the tourist off his seat, the message was clear. He affirmed as much a second later. “Get the fuck out of here.”

The air was warm, tasting a little like smoke that didn’t come from me, and when the tourist vanished out of the bar the other man turned to me, apologetic. “Sorry, I just wasn’t sure if you’d seen whatever he dumped in there and⁠—”

“Thank you,” I said, knowing I was staring but unable to care. His eyes were so blue. Maybe I could have listened to the warning alarms blaring inside of my head if the moonshine hadn’t chosen that moment to really kick in. I needed to go home. Now.

Instead, I swayed closer to this man, this dragon, and looked up at him from under my lashes.

“Do I know you?”

“No,” he said, voice smooth and deep, amused. “At least, I don’t know you.”

I smirked, resting my hand on his chest and playing with the collar of his shirt. “Do you want to?”

He swallowed and I watched the movement with raptness, the strong column of his throat hypnotizing. “I, ah… How much have you had to drink?”

I considered that, until my eyes snagged on his tattoos again and instead followed their trail up and over his strong forearms, the black watch on his wrist only making his veins pop more. "What did you say?”

His mouth was plush and when he smiled there was a dimple in his cheek that I wanted to bite. “How much have you had to drink?”

Ah, yes. “It won’t matter in twenty minutes.” I gestured to the bartender and then handed the silvery shot off to my rescuer. “But in the meantime…”

There was a darkness in his eyes that told me he was hovering on the brink, contemplating temptation, before he licked his lips and decided to take the plunge. A single droplet of moonshine caught on his bottom lip and I reached up with my thumb, wiping it away before sucking the digit into my mouth. Then his eyes burned.

“I’m M⁠—”

I covered his mouth with my palm and shook my head. “Let’s not.”

He nodded, any protests he may have had went unsaid as his breath lightly feathered against my palm.

I could tell when his drink kicked in, his breathing deepened, the tense lines of his body relaxed, and when I stepped closer he inhaled deeply.

If this pull was a result of the heat, I couldn’t bring myself to care.

“Follow me,” he murmured, and his deep rumble shot straight to my groin.

I didn’t hesitate, just slipped my hand into his and luxuriated in the warmth of his skin.