The Dragon Billionaire's Secret Mate: BBW Dragon Shifter Paranormal Romance (6 page)

He carried her to her bedroom and laid her gently down n the mattress. She'd already taken her shoes off earlier, but apart from that, she was fully clothed. He was sure as hell not going to start undressing her while she was sleeping, though, so he just pulled the blanket up around her. Theresa snuggled into it, curling in on herself and making a sleepy sound. Samuel smiled, helplessly charmed.

He closed the door between them, and finally let himself give in to the impulse to shift. His reflection in the dark windows blurred and changed, the shadow of wings spreading out towards the ceiling of the room. Samuel looked at himself in the blurry mirror of the windows. Only a mated dragon could shift all the way, so it was still his human body looking back at him from his reflection, unchanged but for the pair of wings emerging from his back and the golden glow of his eyes.

His dragon's eyes were perfectly suited to the dim light of the room. Colors seemed to sharpen with the shift, scents grew stronger, sounds louder. Samuel could smell Theresa's lingering scent on the couch cushions. If he concentrated, he could hear the steady sound of her heartbeat, the slow, soothing rhythm of her breath. She was deeply asleep.

The dragon inside him purred contentedly. She was safe here, he'd make sure of that. Nothing human could get through him to her.

Samuel curled up on the couch. He should go to bed soon, but for now, he could allow himself a little more time spent guarding Theresa's sleep.

***

The next few days were some of the best days of Samuel's life. He took Theresa out sailing again, showed her around the city and took her to all of his favorite restaurants.

On Tuesday, they went on an after-hours tour of the Shedd Aquarium, just the two of them in the big empty building. He'd been a major donor for long enough that they didn't mind letting him in after all the tourists had left.

He'd been to the aquarium many times before, but seeing the wonder in Theresa's eyes made it new all over again.

"This is one of my favorites," Samuel said, pointing at a display in front of them. Theresa squinted at the big algae plant swaying gently in what seemed like an otherwise empty glass case.

"So what you're saying is, you just really like slimy algae?" she asked with a grin.

"Look closer," Samuel said. He crouched down to show her what looked like the plant's big, leafy roots swaying gently in the currents.

"Oh! They're not roots! They're seahorses!" Theresa said, startled.

"Leafy sea dragons," Samuel said with a smile. One of the little creatures turned its head, looking at them with dark button eyes over its long snout. Then it twirled its tail and swum away, its fins floating in the water exactly like the seaweed they were meant to mimic.

"They're amazing!" Theresa said.

They shared a grin. Samuel felt warmed through by Theresa's enthusiasm. "Okay, now I have to show you the moray eels," he said, holding out a hand to pull her to his feet.

"Are they as pretty as the sea dragons?" Theresa asked. She was still holding his hand. Samuel reluctantly made himself let go.

"Nope. They're the creepiest fish you'll ever see in your life."

"Okay, now this I have to see." She hooked her arm into his and let him drag her on, laughing.

***

On Thursday, Theresa stopped him just as he picked up the phone to make a lunch reservation for them.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I need a break from the gourmet restaurants," she said with a smile. "Can't we just have a picnic by the beach or something?"

"Absolutely," Samuel said immediately, although mentally he was floundering a little. He'd never had a picnic before in his life. How did you even go about organizing something like that? Baskets and blankets were involved somehow, that was about all he knew. Well, if she wanted it, he'd make it happen somehow.

It turned out he needn't have worried. Theresa immediately took over organizing their outing. She found a blanket somewhere in the back of the guest room closet, picked out some mismatched cutlery in the back of the cutlery drawer ("You can't take your good forks on a picnic, are you crazy? What if we lose one!"), begged a basket off the housekeeper, and then dragged him on a whirlwind tour through the supermarket.

Samuel couldn't even remember the last time he'd done his own shopping. In the wake of Theresa's contagious enthusiasm, it turned out to be a lot more fun that he'd have thought it would be.

They ended up on the lakeshore, lounging comfortably on their blanket, watching the ships go by in the distance and eating a variety of cold cuts and cheeses with a loaf of crusty bread so fresh it was still a little warm on the inside.

Samuel laid back on the blanket, feeling the warmth of the sunlight on his face. "This was a great idea," he said. He reached out blindly for Theresa's hand, giving it a quick squeeze. Theresa squeezed back.

"I'm glad," she said. She laid down next to him, her hand still in his. Samuel looked at her through half-closed eyes. Her dark curls shone with a reddish glow in the sunlight, and the corner of her mouth was quirked up in a smile. God, she was beautiful.

They dozed in the sun, warm and content. It took Samuel almost an hour to realize she was still holding his hand. It had felt so natural. He never wanted to let go again.

***

On Friday, they took the jet to New York. They spent the day wandering around Manhattan.

"Do you mind if we have pizza for lunch?" Samuel asked. "I just, okay, don't ever tell anyone I said this, but the pizza's so much better over here."

"So you don't like Chicago style pizza? That's what you're saying?" Theresa clarified with a grin.

Samuel groaned. "It's terrible. I'm sorry. I feel like I'm betraying my city."

Theresa laughed. "Well come on then. Little Italy's walking distance from here. Let's have lunch, traitor."

Samuel winced, covering his face with his hands, laughing through his fingers.

They ended up splitting an enormous pepperoni and cheese.

"You're spoiling me way too much. I must have gained three pounds this week," Theresa said, eyeing the last slice of pizza on the plate with guilty longing.

Samuel nudged it over to her. "So what if you did? You look fantastic. We've been walking all over town for hours, and you're not even breathing hard. Who cares about a few pounds more or less as long as you're healthy and happy?"

They went to the Alexander Hamilton musical, which turned out to be a lot more fun than Samuel had expected, and then took the jet back, flying through the night. He'd figured they'd sleep on the plane, but somehow they just kept talking instead. The sun was rising by the time they stumbled back into the penthouse, both of them so tired they'd gone right through exhaustion and ended up at giddiness.

Samuel dropped his keys twice trying to unlock the door, and for some reason that seemed hilariously funny to both of them. They were both of them still laughing when they collapsed onto the sofa. And then Theresa turned to him, put a hand on his cheek, and kissed him.

Samuel froze.

Her soft lips pressed against his. Her scent enveloped him. Inside him, the dragon was rousing with a wild, feral desire that almost swept him away.

It almost hurt to pull away. "You know you don't have to—" he started.

The soft smile Theresa gave him warmed him through and through. "I know," she said. "That's why I want to."

She kissed him again. This time, he didn't hold himself back. He let himself drown in the taste of her, the feel of her body pressed against his. Her scent was changing already, turning sweet and heady with arousal. Her kisses were hungry and eager. Samuel had never wanted a woman the way he wanted her now; his entire body felt lit up by her touch. It was almost physically painful to pull back. But he had to. This wasn't fair to her. If they were going to do this, she deserved to know the truth of what he was.

Samuel's chest clenched. If she got scared, if she decided to walk away…

She deserved to know the truth.

He took a few steps back, putting distance between them. Theresa watched him worriedly. "There's something you need to know about me," he said. "Please don't be scared. I won't hurt you."

He closed his eyes, and let the transformation take over.

***

Theresa stared, wide-eyed, as a golden glow enveloped Samuel's body. For a moment she could see nothing but his silhouette, backlit by the warm bright light, and then even that blurred and changed. When the light disappeared she could finally see the full effect of the transformation that had just taken place. Theresa gasped.

Dark wings emerged from Samuel's back, glossy black like the lake at midnight, shading towards red at the edges as if they'd been dipped in molten fire. They were shockingly beautiful. Later, it would strike her that that had been her first thought: the beauty of his wings, instead of the fact that they couldn't possibly be real.

"I'm sorry," Samuel said. His great wings curled in tightly around him, as if he was trying to make himself seem smaller. "I won't hurt you," he repeated. "If you want to leave, I won't stop you."

He was standing by the wall opposite the door, leaving her an easy escape route. But she wasn't scared, Theresa realized, just as it belatedly occurred to her that maybe she should be. Samuel had just changed into… into some sort of mystical creature, right before her eyes.

But it was Samuel! Even with the addition of the wings, his body was familiar. And the first thing he'd been worried about was making sure she knew she didn't have to be scared. Whatever he was, she couldn't imagine that he was going to hurt her.

"Can I look at you?" she asked.

Samuel came a little closer. The wings weren't the only thing that had changed, she saw. His eyes glowed golden in the dim light of the room. Glossy black claws emerged from the tips of his fingers. When he noticed her looking at them, he retracted them neatly, like a cat, until only the very tip of them still showed. He curled his hand in as if to hide even that, as if worried his claws might scare her, or maybe disgust her.

"What are you?" Theresa asked.

"I'm a dragon," Samuel said.

Theresa squinted at him dubiously. He had the wings, of course—and she could see now that they were dragon's wings, like something out of a storybook—but the rest of his body was still very human.

"This isn't my real shape," Samuel said, as if reading the objection from her face. "Unbonded dragons can't transform all the way. I won't gain my full powers until I meet my mate."

That stung; a terrible, unexpected pang. So somewhere out there, he had a mate waiting for him, probably another dragon just like him.

She'd always known this was a temporary arrangement, she reminded herself. And maybe this was the reason he couldn't date like a normal person. He was a good guy; he wouldn't want to lead anyone on when he couldn't commit to a human woman. At least she'd gotten to spend this time with him. At least she'd gotten to see this, his miraculous transformation, living proof that magic was real in the world after all.

"I'm sorry," Samuel said again.

"Are you kidding me? This is amazing! Dragons exist! Dragons exist and I get to see one!"

She suddenly laughed, although it still sounded shaky. "Now it makes sense why that non-disclosure agreement had so many pages. I knew you had to be hiding
something
."

Samuel looked at her, startled into a laugh. "You're taking this really well," he said.

"I wish I could see you in your actual dragon form," Theresa said. How magical would that be? But he'd have to meet his mate before that could happen. And once that happened, once he found this mystical dragon woman he was waiting for, what would he care about a plain librarian?

"I'm sorry I can't show you," Samuel said.

"This is already pretty amazing," Theresa said honestly.

She reached for one of his hands, uncurling it until she could see the sharp tips of his claws. Samuel slowly flexed his fingers, letting her see his claws emerge. She ran her fingers over the side of one. They were smooth as polished glass.

"Careful," Samuel said, but Theresa was already making sure not to get too close to the wickedly sharp edge.

When she let go of his hand, he immediately retracted his claws again. Theresa figured he was still worried about scaring her; but fear was the last thing on her mind. She reached out to touch one of his wings.

The glossy scales were smooth as polished stone, but somehow soft, too, a texture like nothing she'd ever felt before. She ran her fingers over them, fascinated. Samuel made a low sound. The wing beneath her hand flexed and tensed.

Theresa snatched her hand back. "I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?"

"No," Samuel said. He curled the wing around himself and looked down at the place she'd touched as if he'd never seen it before. "No one's ever touched my wings," he said. "I can't believe you're taking this so well. This isn't exactly what you signed up for."