Burn This! (A 300 Moons Book)(Bad Boy Alphas) (12 page)

J
ohnny stood as still
as a statue as the breeze blew his hair across his face. He waited. He would wait here an eternity if he had to.

She had come back for him.

Knowing her own life was on the line, angry at him, and confused about the mixed signals he had been giving her, she had come back into the burning building for him anyway.

Until this point, so many of the kindnesses she had shown him could have been ascribed to wishful thinking. After all, she was a nurse and duty-bound to help him.

But what she did tonight went well beyond any sense of duty.

She loved him. Even if she hadn’t realized it yet.

At least she
had
loved him.

Now that she had seen what he was…

Anyone would be repulsed by that, and there was no way she would ever love him now.

But for Johnny, it was enough that she had loved him once.

He gazed in wonder at the beauty before him, her dark hair shining in the moonlight. Most women would have been running or cowering. Even now, she stood before him, studying him with those large brown eyes.

To have been loved by such a woman, even for a short time, would be enough.

Though even now, he couldn’t help but
hope.

After all, even a mouse being fed to a python was allowed to hope.

He ventured a smile, cheating a little and giving her the crooked one that drove the crowds wild.

She smiled back at him, the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

And then she was walking toward him, her eyes luminous, her face softened by relief and he hoped by happiness too.

“Johnny,” she sighed, calling him by his nickname for the first time, though he doubted that she realized it.

He folded his arms around her in reply.

She went on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck. When he pulled her closer, she shivered a little in satisfaction, snuggling into his chest.

“I’ve got you,” he assured her, struggling with the lump in his throat.

“I thought,” she wept into his chest. “I thought you were dead.”

“I’ve never been more alive,” he murmured into her hair. With her in his arms at last, his heart soared higher than his wings could ever take him.

“But, you…
You
…” she interrupted herself to accuse him, letting go of him and stepping back.

He let go of her, though he missed her sweet warmth immediately.

“You turned into a dragon,” she said, angrily wiping the tears from her face as she stared at him incredulously.

“Yes,” he agreed, trying to keep up.

“That’s what you were hiding,” she continued.

He nodded.

“Is that the real reason you were in rehab?” she asked.

“Yes, I thought I could… stop being a dragon,” he replied, knowing how stupid it sounded, but not wanting to make her angrier by taking too much time to explain.

“You lied,” she added.

He nodded again, slowly.

“Why would you want that?” she asked.

“I never wanted to lie to you,” he said immediately.

“No, not that,” she said impatiently. “Why wouldn’t you want to turn into a dragon?”

“Because I want to be a man, a human,” he tried to explain. “I want to have a human life.”

“Well, great thinking. If you hadn’t turned into a dragon we’d both be dead.”

“If it weren’t for the dragon, there wouldn’t have been a fire in the first place.” He looked away, unable to meet her eyes. “What happened tonight was all my fault. I destroy things. I could’ve hurt a lot of people.”

“But the fire wasn’t your fault,” she insisted. “You were fighting with that…thing. I saw you.”

She might be right, but Johnny had a feeling it would be a long time before he convinced himself of that.

“And you didn’t hurt anyone,” she insisted.

That was true. Even when the dragon was fully in control, he had never felt the urge to harm anyone - only to protect.

“You saved me,” Neve said, realization dawning on her beautiful face. “Again.”

She was beginning to understand everything, and so was Johnny.

“You turned into a dragon that day at the island.”

It wasn’t a question, but he answered anyway.

“Yes, I did.”

“Did you do that to save me from the shark?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah,” he admitted again. “I did.”

“But you don’t want to be a dragon, you want to be a man, huh?” she asked.

“Well, not right then,” he admitted. “Right then I only wanted to protect you. And so did he.”

“Who?” she asked, looking around in confusion.

“Uh, the dragon,” Johnny said sheepishly. He’d never really talked like this outside of his family. “We almost never agree. Well, except about one thing.”

“What thing?” Neve asked.

The dragon laughed in his head.

Go on then, boy, tell her.

“About you,” he admitted, staring boldly into her eyes instead of looking away as he was tempted to do.

She stared at him for a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity.

Then she laughed.

Her laughter rang out and echoed in the empty hills, and Johnny thought again of church bells, as he had that day on the water. He’d thought that wonderful sound might have been lost to him forever. And in that instant, he knew he would give his life to hear it again.

Well, go on, boy, she’s yours, that’s your sign. Take her before she gets mad again.

The dragon sounded as if he might like it if she got mad again.

But Johnny wasn’t going to waste time asking.

He stepped through the grass to take his love into his arms. He was laughing too now, and smiling so hard he could feel the tears in the corners of his eyes.

He had been alone with this secret all his life, alone in a crowd, alone in success, alone in defeat. Only his siblings shared his burden. Now his lonely watch was over. And though he hadn’t defeated the dragon, he had found a reason to respect it. Whatever obstacles faced him, he would face them with Neve, the bravest most capable person he had ever met, by his side.

She was pressed against him again now, so small and warm. She smelled like herself, amplified by sweat and tears and laughter, and seasoned with fire.

Johnny breathed her in, intoxicated. He needed to get her someplace warm and comfortable. Every instinct told him to carry her away to a safe place, and claim her right away. The drive was so strong he could hardly think.

Neve’s arms snaked around Johnny’s neck again and she lifted her face to brush his lips lightly with her own.

His body surged with violent desire in response to her gentle kiss.

He slid one hand behind her head, and kissed her savagely, his other hand curving around her ass and pulling her closer, so that she could feel the press of his throbbing cock against her belly.

She moaned lightly, enflaming him further.

There was no way he could wait. He needed to shelter her, pleasure her, and then fill her with himself. The demand was irresistible.

He lifted her in his arms, noticing how her legs wrapped around him automatically, how perfectly her curves assimilated his lean muscles.

He began to carry her across the meadow, in search of a safe place.

“Please,” she murmured into his neck.

“What is it, babe?” he asked her distractedly.

“Please, I need, I need to hold you,” she said.

But he knew what she really meant.

N
eve floated
in a haze of desire.

Johnny held her close, his eyes almost unfocused with his own need.

He was carrying her someplace, where she had no idea, since there seemed to be nothing for miles.

“Please,” she said again, burying her face in his neck.

He froze in place, and then she felt him sink to the ground with her in his arms.

Gently as if she were a newborn, Johnny laid her down in the tall grass.

The sky was black behind him, and he seemed to glow with the same luminescence as the stars. Her mind told her it was an illusion, probably the result of the tears in her eyes.

But in her heart, Neve knew that wasn’t true. The glow was there to tell her he was the one - that he was hers and she was his.

He lowered himself to her, curling one hand over her forehead in a protective gesture, the other caressing her cheek.

“Neve,” he said, as if her name were praise.

Her heart ached and his touch soothed her soul, but she needed more, needed him.

She reached for him, and he lowered his head to kiss her slowly, gently.

Frustrated, she took his lower lip between her teeth and licked it.

He growled in response. His hand disappeared from her cheek and pushed her top up over her breasts. She sat up a little so he could pull it over her head.

He pushed her down again and released the front clasp on her bra.

She could hear his intake of breath when he saw her breasts. Hoping to hurry him along, she arched her back, offering them to him.

He fell on her with a growl, nuzzling and licking at her taut nipples.

Neve felt every stroke of his tongue. She trembled, unable even to voice her need for him to suckle and bite instead of this endless tenderness.

He continued to tease and torment her breasts, even as he slid his hand under her to ease the cotton scrubs down to her ankles.

The cool night air felt so good to Neve’s heated skin.

To her great disappointment, Johnny drew back.

He was gazing down at her, the look on his face half pain, half pleasure.

“I love you, Neve Whittaker,” he told her plainly. “But I’ll stop now if you want me to. I’ll get us out of here and you can decide how you feel after a meal and a good night’s sleep.”

She searched his face desperately, trying to coax her frazzled mind into remembering how to put together the words that would make him keep going.

He loved her. Could that be true?

His jaw rippled with tension as he watched her and waited.

It was true. And, impossibly, she loved him back.

“I love you too,” she managed, reaching for him again.

It was enough.

With a groan, he buried his face in her soft belly, then worked his way downward.

Neve’s senses were suddenly amped up. She could feel every blade of grass beneath her back, hear the breeze in the palm trees, taste the slight moisture in the air.

But mostly she felt the pull of her need.

Johnny nuzzled the soft skin of her thighs, urging her legs open.

She looked down at him and he rested his cheek on her thigh to gaze into her eyes as one of his long fingers parted her curls.

Neve whimpered as he stroked her gently, without penetrating. She was so wet - she could tell by the way his callused finger slipped so easily against her, creating a delicious friction against her swollen sex.

“Poor baby,” he whispered in wonder, shifting his body between her legs.

Neve bit her lip, wishing for control. It was all she could do not to beg.

She could feel his breath against her.

“Oh god, baby,” he whispered.

And then his hands were spreading her wide. The night air cooled her and then his hot tongue was there, stroking her until she thought she would explode, then slowing to tease and torment her more.

Neve was vaguely aware that she was moaning.

He lapped at her again, this time sliding a finger against her opening.

She lifted her hips up to him, sliding her fingers through his hair, trying not to grind herself against him, but barely able to help herself.

“So good,” he murmured, sinking his finger inside.

Neve saw the stars with her eyes closed.

“Are you ready, love?” he asked her.

Unable to speak, she tilted her hips up to him in reply.

“Good girl,” he praised her.

Neve waited in an agony of anticipation.

The she felt his finger moving inside her, massaging a place that made her gasp with pleasure.

“Oh, please,” she pleaded, lifting her hips shamelessly up to his mouth.

Johnny smiled against her and then slid his tongue upward to circle her clitoris without touching it.

“Please, please,” she begged.

Johnny smiled against her and then he flicked his tongue out to lash her where she needed it the most.

Neve thought her heart would stop beating.

As if that one indulgence had broken down his control, Johnny began to lap at her frenziedly, manipulating the tiny nub until Neve could feel the pleasure building, building, high as a roller coaster.

Then he pushed her over the edge and she felt herself float for a moment.

As the climax finally crashed down on her, she rode wave after wave of maddening pleasure in a symphony that seemed like it might never end.

When it was done, she pushed up on her elbows, panting slightly.

“Beautiful Neve,” Johnny whispered.

But Neve didn’t want niceties, she wanted her man.

“Please,” she asked again, reaching for him.

He crawled up to her and she could see her own juices glistening on his lips.

She pulled his face down to her and kissed him anyway, surprised to find that she didn’t mind the taste of her own desire, that truthfully she found it sexy to taste herself on his lips.

Johnny kissed her slowly, gently exploring her mouth.

Neve wrapped her legs around his waist, and pulled him closer.

He was so hard, so hot against her belly.

“Easy, babe,” he growled.

Neve found herself as worked up as before, as if he hadn’t just solaced her.

She slid her hand between them to touch him. He was so large she could hardly hold him. Gently, she stroked smooth velvety skin over rigid muscle beneath, and rejoiced as she felt him trembling in response.

“Neve,” he said softly through clenched teeth.

“I need you, please,” she begged again.

“It’s not just me,” he told her. “It’s… us.”

She gazed up at him and saw his amber eyes had taken on a golden hue. The thought of the dragon electrified her, amplifying her desire.

“I need both of you,” she whispered.

He lowered his head to rest his forehead against hers.

“We are yours,” he whispered back.