The twist of his lips was amused.
"A purring dragon. I never thought to see the day."
He stroked a hand down her spine and gave her a leisurely kiss. "Dragons are mythological. I am Drai. I am very real."
She rocked her hips against him in a teasing motion. "I can tell."
He gripped her hips and held her still. "No more coupling until you are physically fit. So, now, you will get a proper massage and then we will have a meal together. Our first of many."
He was true to his word. He removed them from the tub, wrapped her in a fluffy towel, wrapped his own around his hips and led her to a room adjacent to the bath chamber that contained a massage bed.
He got her situated, turned up the heat in the room and removed her towel with only minor slapping of his hands on her part.
He held her down with one hand on the base of her spine and poured warm oil across her skin with the other. When he was satisfied as to the amount on her flesh, he moved the holding hand and started a soothing massage.
"Oh, you could do this for a living." She groaned, grunted and arched in response to the pressure he put on the knots in her back. He was quite careful, never putting too much effort into relieving her tension.
When his oiled hands slid across her ass, she groaned but didn't fight the release of tension in her glutes. Her thighs felt abused before he got there and limp when he finished. Even her toes were oiled, massaged and tugged until they relaxed completely.
The moment she was convinced that she was made of overcooked linguini, he flipped her over and poured more oil across her breasts and belly.
At her rueful expression, he smiled. "Your back was to relieve your pain. This is simply a reward for my attention to detail."
She took a breath to give him a piece of her mind, but when he brought both his hands to massage her breasts and the sensitive tissues around them, she changed her mind and exhaled on a groan. He worked out all the tension in the muscles just over and under her breasts and she sighed happily. Pulling her own body weight did a number on the pectorals and hers were simply under a protective coating.
His hands worked down her ribs, rubbed across her belly and then the tops of her thighs. When he removed his hands from her, she thought he was finished, but he placed a hand on her chest and lifted a smaller bottle of oil.
"This one is for more intimate contact. Hold still, you are a little chafed." He dribbled the oil across two fingers and parted her legs with an elbow while reaching to caress her slit with the oiled digits.
The oil started off cooling and soothing, but a rapid warming took place and she was soon squirming as his ministrations became far more arousing than refreshing.
Her orgasm caught her by surprise, sweeping over her in a wave and stealing her breath. Merc kept his slow strokes up and down on the open folds of her flesh until every quiver had ceased.
With a slow grin, he wiped his hands on a towel and helped her sit up. Instead of being coated in oil, her body was now silky soft and smelled lightly of citrus. "This is my favourite scent."
He smiled and bowed. "I know. Despite my misgivings, I had the house stocked with your favourite things."
She grimaced and hopped down from the bed. "I saw the statues."
"I look forward to seeing them in person. I only ever had them described to me. Why did you pose for them?" He took her hand and led her back into the bathroom and then the bedroom.
"I had never seen psychic sculpture, already knew about you, so knew I would not be pursuing any relationships in the Alliance. It gave me a little voyeuristic freedom." She admitted it. He could read her emotions, so there was no point in hiding her motivations.
"Ah. Well, using your Alliance file, clothing has been provided for you to my specifications."
Smiling with anticipation, she opened the wardrobe he gestured to and was both intrigued and confused by the clothing in front of her. The boots were
Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child