Taming the Dragon Collection by Jessica Ryan Page B

telling him something completely foreign. It made sense; why would his human form think and feel differently than his dragon form? It was Alek in both cases.
    “You do not understand dragons,” he said quickly, following her eyes and then her finger. “Do you find my human body pleasing?”
    Now it was Mara’s turn to stammer and stutter as she was thrown off her game. She hadn’t expected him to turn the tables like this. All she could do was look down and answer with a quick “yes”.
    Alek smiled at her, a devious, almost knowing smile. He had won this round.
    “I will see you for dinner,” he said, stepping out of the water.
    She tried not to look, but her eyes still traveled across his mountainous back and tight butt.
    “I will bring it on time,” she promised.
    “No,” he said, wrapping a towel around his waist. “You will join me for dinner again. You will not make it.”
    Mara giggled and looked away again as Alek strode confidently from the room. She understood dragons better than he thought she did.
     

Chapter 14
     
    Mara found a new dress, one that was absolutely splendid, waiting just beside the bath when she got out. She hadn’t noticed it earlier and she concluded that Alek must have dropped it off for her while she was bathing. He was very quiet and sneaky when he wanted to be. She pondered this fact and remembered the way he had snuck up on her at the river during her failed escape bid. She realized he must have wanted her to hear him all the times she had caught him staring at her in dragon form.
    He can deny his feelings all he wants, Mara thought. He definitely likes me. Dragons are just as stubborn and confusing as human men.
    The dress flowed all the way to her ankles and it was made out of a shimmering blue material that complimented her eyes in a way the ugly brown dresses she was used to could only dream of. Of course it was cut low and the bodice pushed into her breasts, forcing them to be displayed prominently.
    Mara left the bathing chamber feeling perkier than she had since she had arrived. It was almost like she had a real life date with a dragon. How many women in her position could say that?
    The other maids were nowhere to be found as she walked into the dining chamber to find Alek sitting behind the table with a broad smile on his face. Her earlier distraction with her body had obviously improved his mood.
    That’s good, she thought. Maybe we’ll have more headway in our conversation tonight.
    It seemed every time they spoke she got further and further with the dragon. Soon maybe he would spill the beans about his past and about dragons. Maybe he would finally admit his lustful feelings for her and not blame them on his human form. Or they would just eat and make small talk before she was banished back to her duties. As Mara walked across the room she thought that would be the most likely scenario, but Alek surprised her yet again.
    “Please sit,” he said, standing to pull her chair out. She smiled at him and when she was seated he pushed her chair in and fell heavily into his own seat.
    “It’s been a rough day,” he said, sighing and acting as if he had just come in from tilling the fields.
    “A rough day counting your treasure and sleeping on it?” she asked, winking at Alek as he gave her a confused look.
    “Yes, I suppose so,” he said quickly.
    “You’re certainly acting a bit different,” she said, immediately laying her cards on the table and dismissing any chance of small talk.
    “How so?” he asked.
    “Well, you pulled my chair out for me and gave me a pretty new dress to wear. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were courting me, Mr. Alek.”
    “Just call me Alek,” he said flatly. “I merely pulled your chair out so that I could allow this human body the opportunity to peer down your dress as I pushed your seat in. Furthermore, I presented you with the dress so I would have something pleasing to look at as opposed to the usual muddy brown