“Well, they’re not.”

He yelled down for Grom to hush, before turning back to her. “What were you doing outside in your underwear?”

“You could turn around, you know.”

Turning would hurt. Instead, he stared at the ceiling. Didn’t matter. The image of her in those two flimsy scraps of black were seared into his memory now.

She let out a frustrated sigh. “I was just getting some air.”

“I see.” He didn’t exactly. She could have opened a window.

“I thought you were asleep.”

“I was, but—” Telling her what he thought he’d seen probably wouldn’t help him with whatever rehabilitation was supposed to be happening. “I woke up. Grom climbed on the bed. I was restless.”

“Well, everything’s fine. You can go back downstairs now.”

Except he wasn’t sure he could. Not without help. He glanced toward the steps. “I do not think I can.”

“You jumped up here. Can’t you jump down?”

“Too much pain.” He looked at her again, forgetting that he was supposed to be averting his eyes.

“Right.” Her brows rose, and she pointed at the ceiling. “Do you mind?”

“Prosti.” He lifted his gaze again. “I need my crutches. That is all.”

“Where are they?”

She was moving toward the closet. Getting clothes. “On the couch.”

“Okay, I’ll get them.” A hanger chimed against the closet’s metal bar. “You can stop staring at the ceiling.”

He did. Only to see she was wearing one of his shirts. A green and blue flannel that was worn soft from years of washing. One of his favorites. Never more so than now, with her long pale legs peeking out under the hem. It skimmed the tops of her thighs.

She tugged at it. “I hope it’s okay I put this on. I forgot to bring a robe.”

He nodded, lost for words. It was very, very okay.

“I’ll be right back.” She jogged down the steps, returning a minute later with his crutches. She handed them over. “I’m sorry I made you think someone was breaking in. I won’t go out at night anymore.”

“Go out whenever you want. Do whatever you want. I just didn’t realize…” He shrugged as he got the crutches under him. “My instincts are hard to ignore. I thought you were in danger.”

She put her hand on his arm. “You jumped up here and endured that pain because you thought I was in danger?”

He nodded, staring into her eyes and the depth of new emotion there. “I told you. I am a dragon. We are fighters, and we are protectors. You are in my house. My guest.” He hesitated. “My friend. I will not let harm come to you.”

The muscles in the slender column of her throat worked as she whispered his name. “Van…” She shook her head, her eyes suddenly liquid.

She planted her hands on his chest, leaned in, and kissed him.

This kiss was nothing like the first. It wasn’t cautious or hesitant or the slightest bit timid. This kiss was hungry and needy and almost knocked Van off his feet.

Heat erupted inside him, kindled by her demanding mouth and her hands on his bare chest. Three points of contact. Three brands burned into his skin. The heat turned into fire and lit him from within. His fire, her light. Together, they caused a combustion of his senses unlike anything he’d ever felt before.

He leaned on the crutches for support so that he could touch her. His hands went to the curve of her waist, as comfortable there as if her hips had been under his grasp a thousand times before. And yet, touching her like that was utterly new, thrilling him down to his soul with the intimacy of it.

She was warm beneath his flannel. Not at all like a woman who’d just come in from the cold. But very much like a woman who was as on fire as the dragon she was kissing.

He lifted his hands to thread his fingers through the silk of her hair, and he whispered against her lips, “Lisa, you are so beautiful.”

A soft noise, part sob, part gasp, left her. She eased back, sucking her bottom lip between her teeth. “I know I said no kissing. And I know I started that. But…”

She took a breath and shook her head like she couldn’t quite find the words.

He smiled gently. “No need to explain.”

He expected her to back away, but she stayed close to him a little longer. “Thank you.”

“You are welcome.” He wasn’t sure what she was thanking him for—the kiss? Trying to protect her? Not judging her after she’d told him there could be nothing between them? Whatever it was, it didn’t matter nearly as much as her being safe and happy. “Now you must go to sleep so you can rehabilitate me again tomorrow.”

She laughed softly. “After seeing you jump up here, I think you’re probably capable of more than you’ve been letting on.”

“Ah, but you have not seen me get back down.” That was going to be a lengthy, painful process.

She glanced at the stairs, then back at him. “Can I help?”

“I will be fine.” He kissed her forehead. “Good night, beautiful Lisa.”

She blushed. “Good night, Van.”

He left her standing there and slowly worked his way down the stairs with his crutches. The pain was excruciating. But her kiss lingered on his lips, numbing the worst of it most pleasurably to the point that he was still smiling when he reached the bottom, still smiling when he climbed back into bed, and still smiling when Grom crawled up and joined him.