Teresa Medeiros - [FairyTale 02] by The Bride, the Beast

witticisms.”
    The Dragon’s lips curved in a reluctant smile. “Shall I attempt to pull you back in? “
    “No, thank you. I was headed the other way.” “So I gathered.”
    He removed the chair and deftly vaulted up on the table. Her pale feet scissored at the air, vainly seeking purchase. He wrapped his hands around her ankles to still them.
    “There now, Miss Wilder. Don’t be afraid. It’s all right. I’ve got you now.”
    Gwendolyn feared that, for that very reason, nothing would ever be all right again. The Dragon’s voice was a more comforting rumble than the cat’s purring, but it was a lie. The warm palms curled around her bare ankles promised security, but delivered only danger. Her mortification swelled as she remembered with a flush of horror that she’d neglected to don any drawers before slipping into the nightdress. If those strong, lean fingers of his should stray…
    “Tupper is coming around the other way,” heinformed her. “He’ll have to go all the way down to the ground and climb back up over some broken stones, so it may take him several minutes to reach you. Perhaps if I got a good grip on your legs… ?” His hands inched toward her calves.
    “No!” Gwendolyn shouted, squirming violently. “I’d prefer to wait until Mr. Tuppingham arrives, if you please.”
    “While you’re waiting, would you care to explain how you came to find yourself in your current… um… predicament? “
    She sighed. “When I woke up, there was some sort of animal sitting on my feet.”
    “That could have only been Toby here. The rascal must have slipped into the room last night while your door was ajar.”
    Gwendolyn did not want to think about the Dragon’s nocturnal visit and that tantalizing mingling of their breaths that shouldn’t have been a kiss, but was.
    “Do you have a fear of cats?” he asked her.
    “On the contrary, I’m actually quite fond of them.” She was not about to confess that she’d mistaken the cat for a goblin. “I thought he was… a rat.”
    The Dragon laughed. “If I woke up to find a rat that weighed nearly two stone sitting on my feet, I’d leap out the nearest window, too.” Gwendolyn’s breathing took on a ragged edge as he began to absently trace a pattern against her skin with the very tip of his finger. “I think I should try to pull you back through myself. Tupper doesn’t seem to be making any progress.”
    “No, I think I hear him coming now,” she called out cheerfully, although what she actually heard was the distant sound of stones crashing and a smattering of curses.
    Naturally he ignored her wishes and wrapped his arms firmly around her thighs. It took only one sharp tug from those muscular arms to bring her sliding into his embrace.
    Gwendolyn found herself enfolded from behind in a vise of velvet and steel. His arms were wrapped around her waist, his hips pressed to the softness of her backside. The trailing tails of his hem warned her that he’d neglected to fasten his shirt. If she turned, her cheek would be pressed against his chest, skin to skin.
    But he would never allow that. It took her a dazed moment to realize that he was as much a prisoner as she was.
    “Now I seem to be the one in the predicament,” he said dryly.
    “What’s wrong, M’lord Dragon? “ she asked. “Haven’t you any blindfolds in your pocket?”
    “I’m afraid I took them out to make room for my manacles and cat-o’-nine-tails.”
    “Perhaps you can persuade Mr. Tuppingham to loan you his cravat again.”
    “I just might do that if the bumbling oaf ever arrives….”
    They both heard him then, still distant enough to make most of his oaths mercifully inaudible.
    Taking advantage of their situation, the cat jumpedup on the table and began to wend his way through the maze of their ankles.
    “I do believe Toby has taken a fancy to you,” the Dragon remarked. “ I’ve never heard the grumpy old monster purr before.”
    As the cat butted his head