“Can I help you with something?” she asked. “I can call a shelter or maybe someone you know…”
He pursed his lips. “How about you just let me stay here and continue my observation? Or is that too much trouble for you?” His tone was slightly sarcastic and she raised an eyebrow in amusement.
“No, it’s no trouble at all,” she said sweetly. “You’re welcome to just stay in out of the rain as long as you like.” She looked at the clock. “Well, until we close. I was just making sure you didn’t need help.”
“I don’t,” he said flatly. He was frankly a little offended that she thought he was some kind of invalid seeking help. What about him was giving her that impression?
He flinched back when she reached for a lock of his hair that was falling over his face. “At least let me give you a wash and a shave,” she said. “On the house.”
He frowned. He didn’t want to accept this human’s pity, as in his other form he could eat her in one bite. But he’d seen her hands in the other man’s hair, and he wanted that. Wanted her touching him. Looking at him.
“All right, human.” He bit his lip and ignored the way he’d referred to her as she let out a light, tinkling laugh and led him over to her chair.
He sat down, sinking into the soft cushion with a sigh. She had to put the chair all the way down to work on him because he was extraordinarily tall compared to most humans. And good-looking, and muscled, if he said so himself.
As he faced the mirror, he admitted he was a little the worse for wear after his travels. He had an overgrowth of black beard, but that was manly. And his hair was tangled from wind and the slight rain.
He’d worn a long black trench over his clothing because it would provide shelter from the rain and elements and he didn’t know how long it would take to find lodgings.
But he didn’t see anything wrong in the mirror. If anything, he just looked masculine. Strong.
She leaned him back and helped rest his head on the sink. “I bet you’ll be a whole new person after this,” she said with a wink.
His eyes skimmed her curvy body, so close and warm, and then came back to her eyes, a beautiful clear blue like wildflowers.
Her hands worked through his hair, soaping and kneading, and he relaxed into her touch, her scent, the soft sound of her voice. The look of her kind face. The press of her body as she leaned over him. Even being a dragon, and very impervious to heat, he was on fire.
He stared at her, feeling shock unlike anything he’d felt as she finished washing and wrung his hair dry. Then she reached for a razor and foam to start the shaving.
As she carefully glided over his face, dipping in and out of a bowl, rinsing and wiping the razor so as not to cut him, he found there was a great deal of eye contact to be found in a shave.
What was she doing to him, the minx? His body felt warm. His throat tight and dry. Every touch was hot agony.
She was still humming happily as she grabbed a towel and dried his face, bringing him to a sitting position. He took the towel from her, keeping it over his face a little longer to hide his reaction until he calmed down.
He was an immortal dragon. He did not fall for human hairdressers, no matter how kind they were. He set the towel down.
The salon was instantly silent. Zach turned in his chair to see Erin standing a few feet away, a fresh towel in her hand hanging limp at her side, eyes wide, lips parted.
The humans were looking at him differently now. Several of the women who’d been scorning him before were giving him looks of lust. Invitation.
But he cared only for the reaction of one person. Erin, who was standing there frozen in pure shock. Maybe not even the good kind.
“Good heavens, what is it?” he snapped, yanking the cape from around his neck and jerking it to the ground as he stood with folded arms. He brushed his wet, black hair behind his ears and stared them down.
Another woman stepped forward, this one pale with blond hair, looking more like the wenches from his day in England. “Can I take your coat?”
He shrugged and handed it to her. “I demand to know why you’re staring,” he said to the room.
The woman who had taken his coat was gaping at him, her eyes wandering up and down his body.
He smirked. That was the response from human women he was more used to. He turned back to Erin, and realized the fact that he cared so much about what she thought could only really mean one thing. Something he’d never considered before in either of his lives.
Even as she marched up to him, irritation flooding her beautiful face, the possibility overwhelmed him.
The oracle had sent him out here to find out if he could get along with humanity. She should be happy that he had possibly just found a human mate.
Awakened Dragons Complete Series