The woman should know by now that there was nothing appropriate about him. He'd thought about it all night, and fixing her up with his brother made sense. She'd be better off with a full dragon mate who had lots of fire and money and lived on a safe invisible island in the middle of nowhere.
But his gut had ached the whole time. For the moment, she was in his hands. Temporarily. Ah hell, why not? He gave in and grasped her hair clip, opening it and tossing it across the room. All of that glorious hair flew around. The smell of roses heated through him and settled.
"Bear," she protested.
He landed his hands at her waist. He was a rough bear shifter and not a smooth dragon shifter-so be it. "I thought I heard you talking to somebody in your room." But then when he tried to really listen, all he got was silence. Was he imagining things now?
"Sometimes I mumble to myself when I'm planning my day." She spread her fingers over his chest. "Close your eyes."
"Wait. Will this hurt you?" While he wanted to be whole again, he wouldn't use her to do it. Not if it caused her pain.
She rolled her eyes. "No. Stop worrying and shut your eyes."
Man, she was bossy sometimes. "All right, but if it starts to hurt, you stop."
"Of course."
He shut his eyes. His chest warmed and heated, and then the solid flow of energy moved inside him, going deep and massaging. He groaned and let his head roll back on the sofa. For the moment, he forgot about the sexy woman on his lap and just felt the healing balm going deep inside him. The feeling was nearly indescribable. His body relaxed, taken away. All pain disappeared, and tension soon flowed down his arms and out his fingertips.
Deep down, where he hadn't been able to find himself, he started to mend. He could feel it happen.
The world floated by outside him, and he couldn't care less. He became energy in that moment-free and healthy. No worries, no pain. No anger, either.
Soon, an alertness wound through him. The world returned. He was aware of the woman on his lap and the scent of roses. Her taut thighs clasping his. Smooth hands, fingers wide, sending warmth through his entire body. When he came back into himself, he did it with one word. "Nessa." His eyelids opened.
She leaned back, her eyes dark pools of pure violet light.
He breathed.
As he watched, her eyes morphed back to the violet blue he already knew well. She blinked several times, as if coming back into herself.
"Are you all right?" he whispered.
She barely nodded. "Aye. That was . . . unique."
His hands felt just right on her hips. "For you, too?"
"Yes. I've never experienced anything like that." A cute frown drew down her eyebrows. "I've been out of it before, but never a part of somebody else's essence, you know? I always figured that kind of connection only happened between family."
"Or mates." He said the word she was obviously trying to avoid.
She looked down at her hands on his chest. "We're not mates."
No, and he'd never given one inch of credibility to fate or destiny, even though many of his people did. "No, we're not." The fabric beneath his hands was high-end and silky, and the hips beneath it firm and narrow.
A small smile played on her mouth. "Did you feel your muscles return to health?"
He rolled his shoulders. "I did. It was weird. I could sense them strengthening and getting healthy, but it was different from whatever went on deeper. I guess my messing with physics and turning into a dragon was a very bad idea."
Her smile lit her face. "You violated physical laws. That was a very bad idea."
His chest was wider-almost as wide as before he'd gotten sick. His legs felt strong again. A rumble came up from his chest that was all bear. "I feel like myself again." Like the alpha of the grizzly nation.
"Your physical strength has returned," she said thoughtfully.
Did that seem to worry her? He tilted his head to the side. "I won't hurt you, Ness."
"I won't hurt you, either." She dropped her hands and looked to the side.
"Wait." He flexed his fingers and fought the strong need to pull her closer to his now very awake groin. "Thank you."
She smiled and shimmied her hips to dismount. "You're welcome."
He bit back a groan. She had to stop wiggling on him. "I thought about what you said yesterday, and I think you should go meet my brother."
"The dragon," she said, irritation swirling in her eyes.
"Yes."
Her other shoe dropped from her wriggling. "Because I'm superficial and need a lot of money."