Light His Fire: Paranormal BBW Dragon Shifter Mail-Order Bride Romance by Anya Nowlan

when he’d dip down between her legs for the first time and have a taste of her maddening wetness.
    “You ask a lot of questions,” he said, smirking. “Good to know I’ve at least piqued your interest. I was beginning to think you were just doing this to appease me. I think you should trust me because I know I would never hurt you. Not willingly, not knowingly. Damn, I think I’d lose a limb instead of putting you in harm’s way. And I think you should go on more dates with me because you want to know what makes a man like me tick that way for a woman. I think you want to get it, to understand, and I respect that. But I think deep down inside, you feel it too. Whether or not you want to admit it is a whole other story, though.”
    He took a big bite of one of the sandwiches, giving her a moment to digest his words. Ares had feared that he wouldn’t know what to tell her, how to answer her questions or make her feel at ease around him. But now, when they were talking, it all felt so easy. Just tell her the truth and that would be that. How hard was that?
    His dragon knew what they felt for her better than the man ever could, but the words flowed through both of them. Dragons didn’t joke around about their mates, and when a dragon was sure of something, it was nearly impossible to convince them otherwise. Dragons above, Ares had tried reasoning with his dragon. All his rational, sensible protests that it just wasn’t the time to settle down yet and get a bride like everyone else around him had fallen on deaf ears. The dragon had decided.
    Now, spending time with Pearl, Ares had to admit that his dragon had been completely right – he couldn’t get enough of her.
    The sun was falling lower and lower and soon, it would disappear behind the treetops altogether. The rushing water filled the air with a happy babbling even when Ares and Pearl were silent. He couldn’t get enough of looking at her. She almost vibrated with energy. There was so much about her that he needed to learn, but what he already knew had him completely tied up.
    She was a woman who wasn’t afraid of standing up for herself. Everything about her told him that she was the kind of woman who wouldn’t mind going on an adventure with him. He felt a note of hesitance about her and he wasn’t sure if it was because of him or something else, but it didn’t matter. She would see and she would understand that they were perfect for each other, at her own pace. All he could do was help her along.
    “Those are fighting words,” she finally said, smirking.
    He gave her a devilish look and hopped up on his feet. Ares kicked off his boots and was halfway through dragging off his shirt before she could say a word about it. He wasn’t too modest to assume it was because of his abs.
    “What are you doing!?” she asked, laughing.
    “I promised I’d get you out of those clothes and dammit, I’m gonna do it.”
    He loved the way her eyes filled with surprise and how she laughed when he grabbed for her. As if he was picking up nothing at all, he hauled her into his arms and then over his shoulder.
    Taking a page out of Devon’s book after all! Ares thought to himself with a grin, running at full speed towards the ledge.
    “Ares!” Pearl screamed, her nails digging into his back.
    A second later, they were already down in the depths of the crystal blue pool and Pearl’s laughter made the entire world around them that much brighter.
    “You’re insane!” she called, splashing water at him.
    Apollo grinned and swam over to her, pulling her to him as soon as she was within arm’s reach. Her red dress was clinging to her curves like a second skin and he could see her chest rise and fall quickly.
    “Only when you need me to be,” he said.
    Then, he kissed her, and Ares Goldplains was pretty sure he was never going to let her out of that kiss again.
     

CHAPTER EIGHT
    Pearl
     
    That kiss knocked her whole universe upside down. Black turned to white, up