High House Draconis Box Set

by Riley Storm

  Wait, what?

  “If you say so,” Victor rumbled, and leaned in to kiss her for the second time that day.

  It was as good as she remembered. Better, even, because now his arms were wrapped around her, making Cheryl feel safe, but also small. It was comforting, in a way that Victor had never seemed before. From enemies to…to what? What were they now?

  Does it matter? He feels so good…

  She shifted to get a better angle, reaching up to stroke his face, then his chin and running her hand over the hard, exposed muscles of his shoulders and arm. Her fingernails clawed at his chest as she moaned softly into his mouth, loving the way she could trace the outline of every muscle without clothes to hide them.

  Cheryl frowned, her mouth no longer moving with Victor’s as something about that thought prodded at her brain, a second before something hard pressed against her outer thigh.

  “Uhh, Victor?” she said, opening her eyes, looking at him for the first time with a brain that was functioning.

  “Yeah?”

  “I know that your suit got ripped up earlier, but I distinctly remember you were still wearing it when we got here.”

  “Ah.” Victor shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah.”

  “Why is it that you don’t have a shirt on?” she asked, her eyes naturally drawn lower. “Or pants? Or…um, any clothing at all?”

  “Ahhhh.”

  She leaned over a little to get a better glimpse between them to confirm something else. “And you’re…”

  “Yes, yes, I know, I’m sorry. I can’t control that. It knows I think you’re unbelievably gorgeous, and then we were kissing, and your hands were on me and I…”

  “I’m flattered,” she said, “but I don’t know if—”

  “I know. You’re not interested, it was just a kiss. It’s fine. Here, I’ll take you inside. You probably need to relax, to think things over.”

  He stood up abruptly, cradling her to his chest and headed for the house.

  Cheryl started to protest, to say that wasn’t what she had intended to say, but the easy way he lifted her from the ground slowed the protest. That and the warm press of his chest against her cheek as she leaned into him combined to still any words.

  Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to enjoy this for a moment.

  But only for a moment…

  Chapter 23

  It was impossible to ignore the way she felt pressed against him.

  Victor tried, however, because he wasn’t sure he was ready to go down that path again. After Elizabeth, there had been a couple of others. Attempts by his hurting brain to try and get back out there, to put the past behind him.

  It hadn’t worked.

  Now he had something else, something that was all of a sudden startling to feel a little more real, a little more tangible than those, and while it was exciting and intriguing, it was also terrifying. Could he put himself back out there?

  That’s assuming Cheryl is even thinking that. She probably just thinks it was a kiss and nothing more. After all, she didn’t want anything more, like she said.

  His brain had already forgotten that she’d said she didn’t ‘know’, not ‘no’, too busy was it circling, examining everything, trying to dig deep and figure it out.

  The walk across the lawns out back of Drakon Keep seemed to stretch on forever, and yet be over in an instant. Victor couldn’t decide on whether he wanted the moment to last, or if it would be better to just get it over with.

  “Do me a favor and grab the door handle?” he asked as they approached a small door set into the stone wall.

  “You can put me down, you know,” she teased. “I must be getting heavy by now.”

  Victor rolled his eyes. “You weigh no more than a feather to me. Besides, you’ve had a rough afternoon. I don’t mind carrying you.”

  Trying to sound calm, internally his heart was racing. Right now, he was carrying her against him, holding her aloft with ease, and ensuring that she wasn’t bothered by any other part of his anatomy. A part that, if she started walking, would surely cause a distraction.

  If I could just focus on something other than her touch, her presence in my arms, maybe I could get it to go down, he growled at himself as the door opened and they slipped inside.

  “Is this all part of the dragon aspect then?” she wanted to know. “You’re super strong?”

  “Stronger. Faster. Heal quicker. All of that, yes,” he said, wondering why he’d never hesitated to tell her the secrets of his kind.

  “That must be nice,” she said, leaning her head into his shoulder, eyes wandering the ceiling as he walked them down one corridor and then another.

  The soft padding of the carpet underfoot meant it was perfect for helping him move quietly through the Keep. There weren’t many occupants, but the last thing he wanted to do right now was explain to Aaric or Francis what was going on. He didn’t want to subject Cheryl to any further scrutiny. Not after everything she’d endured.

  He only breathed a sigh of relief when they were standing in front of his quarters, having evaded everyone. Again, with Cheryl’s help, he got the door open and took her inside, laying her down onto his bed. He immediately crouched next to it, hiding his nudity from her eyes.

  More than once, he caught her gaze slipping, but he kept his stomach pressed to the mattress.

  “Just take a little lie down,” he urged. “Let your brain process everything you’ve just seen and learned. It…it’s a lot to take in. You’re well within your rights to feel tired, overwhelmed, and confused.”

  “I know I should probably be freaking out,” Cheryl said, staring blankly at the ceiling. “This is one of the mind-altering experiences. World changing. And yet…yet I don’t feel scared, Victor,” she said, rolling onto her side to look at him directly, with an intensity to her eyes that surprised him.

  Maybe she’s more adaptable than you thought…

  “You don’t have anything to fear from us,” he reassured her. “We’re not going to harm you.”

  “Even if I go blabbing to the newspaper?”

  He shrugged. “Who’s going to believe you? You have no proof. They’ll just lock you up in an institution and call you insane.”

  Frowning, Cheryl looked back up at the ceiling. “I’m not going to tell anyway. I…,” she giggled.

  “What’s so funny?” he wanted to know.

  “Nothing, I guess. I just was thinking that it was fun to be on the inside of the secret. That it was neat. Like, I know what you really are, and nobody else doesn’t. That’s pretty sweet, don’t you think?”

  “I think it is,” he agreed, a chuckle bubbling up in his throat. “Yeah, yeah it’s cool. Though I think I’ll miss the days when I could just go out to the middle of nowhere and soar through the clouds for hours on end without fear of being noticed.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said abruptly, face clouding over. “That must be terrible for you.”

  He shrugged. “I go at night sometimes. It’s a different experience, but it’s still more freeing than anything else I can do. Maybe one day we’ll be able to live alongside humans, but I don’t expect it.”

  “Most of us aren’t that open-minded,” Cheryl admitted, her head tilting again to look at him. “Do you hate me?”

  The sudden change of topic again caught him off guard. “What?” he asked, trying to wrap his mind around the question. “Why would you think that?”

  “You…you’ve been blaming me for someone else’s actions ever since we met. You know now that I didn’t mean you any harm, that it’s all coincidence I look like her. But do you still hold a grudge against me anyway?”

  Victor almost said ‘no’ as fast as he could, but just before he started to speak, a little voice niggled at the back of his head, warning him that would be a bad idea. This was a question that bore thinking about. That she wanted to know he’d truly considered the answer to before giving it.

  Did he hate her?

  She
was stubborn. Annoying. Had worked hard to foil his plans, and that bothered him certainly. But that was before. Wasn’t it? They had reached a new understanding now between them. One that would lead…somewhere else.

  Victor wasn’t sure what the path before them was. He didn’t necessarily believe what Victor had suggested, but he didn’t have any other ideas either. Maybe she was his mate, though that seemed highly unlikely.

  Maybe she was just someone he could get along with and be with for a while. That person who would help him get back on his feet, learn to be comfortable again, to not hate.

  Or maybe she was nothing.

  His dragon shied away from that last thought the hardest, reacting so strongly it left him with a mild headache that was slow to fade.

  Okay. So, she’s more to me than nothing, though I was fairly positive of that myself. What is she then?

  Victor couldn’t answer that, not to himself, and not to Cheryl if she asked, but he did know one thing.

  “No,” he said with a certainty he wouldn’t have felt in answering her question right away. “I don’t hate you anymore. I’m through blaming you for the actions of others. For my actions. You’ve shown me it’s time for me to take some responsibility. I don’t know what that’s going to mean in the long run,” he explained. “But I think it’s time I find out.”

  He reached up and gave her hand a squeeze. “Thank you for that, by the way. I owe you. Now sleep.”

  Then he got up, ignoring the way her eyes shot to his groin before immediately flicking back to his face as if they’d never left. It was unavoidable, but he wanted to go now, to let her rest now she had her answer.

  “Wait,” she said quietly, and fingers slipped into his hand as he tried to turn to go, holding him fast.

  “Yes?” he asked, his own voice nearly hoarse from tension. “Do you need something else?”

  “I do.”

  He shuddered slightly at the throaty reply. Please don’t. I’m not sure I can resist right now, he pleaded. Part of him desperately wanted to go on, to see where it led, while another warned him it would be best if he left the room.

  “What can I get you?” he asked, still not turning back around.

  Cheryl pulled on his hand, harder this time, forcing him to turn back around.

  “You,” she replied, eyes big and filling with desire.

  Victor groaned. He owed it to her to try to resist one last time. “Cheryl,” he started to say, but her eyes lit up before he could do more than say her name.

  “I’m not some child, Victor. Nor am I drunk. I know what I’m doing. I know what I want. I know what you want,” she added, glancing pointedly at the rock-solid erection between his legs that was pointing right at her. “Why do you want to deny this? Do you…do you not want me?”

  They both knew that was a lie. The physical evidence proved that. But Cheryl needed more than just that, he knew. She wanted to hear him say it in his own voice.

  “I do,” he growled. “There’s little more I would love to do than to climb on top of you, to let you feel my weight press you down, to hold you tight to me. I want it so very much, as you can see. But you’re not thinking straight right now. You’ve just had your mind filled with stunning new knowledge. Absorb that first, then we can talk,” he said, in disbelief of the words coming from his mouth.

  “Thank you,” she told him, biting her lower lip. “I appreciate your chivalry. But trust me when I say my mind is clear, and aware of the decisions I’m making. If you want me,” she breathed softly. “I’m right here. Take me.”

  Victor groaned softly, swaying toward the bed.

  Her free hand trailed up her side, fingers gently scraping over one of her breasts, teasing him with the thought of what lay beneath. Even as he watched her, his cock strained at attention, desperately reaching out toward Cheryl. It throbbed, aching for release, a release only her delicate touch could provide.

  “Cheryl,” he whispered as she grabbed her breast through her shirt, back arching ever so slightly.

  He was working on finding his resistance, on strengthening it, when she pushed her free hand across her ribs and between her legs.

  The soft moan that filled the roam swept over him like a tsunami, eradicating all his resistance.

  Victor climbed onto the bed and lowered his mouth to hers.

  Cheryl rose to meet him.

  Chapter 24

  Victor might have been a water dragon, but everywhere his hands touched her, he spread a fire that wouldn’t go out. Cheryl’s skin burned at every caress, scrape, scratch and under his grip.

  The heat washed over her body, igniting her need to be naked. She writhed and wiggled under his body, the two of them working in unison to fulfill her need. Shirt went one direction, pants somewhere else entirely. Victor was growing more frantic and needy with every passing second he spent on top of her, and she nearly didn’t get her bra off before he ripped it.

  The underwear was a lost cause. It simply ceased to exist as he casually tore it from her body. Sitting back, he stared down at her.

  Cheryl was breathing hard, her body preparing for what was to come as his gaze roamed over her naked flesh. The large, and very hard cock between his legs seemed to stiffen even more, a surefire sign of his arousal that was unmistakable. Biting her lip, she started to envision what it would feel like when he was inside of her.

  Her mouth opened to tell him she wanted him, but Victor had other ideas. His mouth covered hers again, with a brief fierceness that left her panting and thrusting her hips up at him, desperate to capture even just a little of his cock between her walls. But he denied her that pleasure, his fingers closing around her wrists, pressing them down into the bed as she clawed at his hips in protest.

  “In time,” he rumbled before his mouth found her neck.

  She hissed at the fire his kiss spread down her neck, and then across her breasts as he kissed her entire body—or so it felt like—the entire time her wrists held immobile, pinned to the bed. She could do little more than make noise and writhe at the pleasure he inflicted upon her.

  Once his mouth slipped between her legs, however, she could control it no longer and nearly wrenched her wrists free. The big man was stronger, though, and he kept her like that, his eyes on her face even as his tongue brushed against her swollen lips and then slid warmly along her clit.

  Cheryl felt like she couldn’t breathe, the pleasure was nearly too much. It was suffocating, robbing her of the ability to control her body, and yet she heard her voice begging for more, pleading with Victor not to stop, to keep going.

  Whatever she was saying must have worked, because the dragon shifter never let up. He kept at it, until she was trembling on the precipice of explosion, her entire body locking up, refusing to obey any commands except the ones dictated by the ecstasy Victor was about to inflict upon her.

  “Victor,” she cried out, back arching high involuntarily. “Fuck. You’re going to make me—”

  Any more words she might have been about to utter were lost as he finally sent her over the edge. Nothing but a loud, wordless cry filled the room for several moments, and then suddenly she lost control.

  Violent spasms of pleasure wracked her body over and over again. Victor’s name slipped from her mouth any number of times as she lost all sense of her belonging, giving herself freely to the orgasm his tongue had given and was now prolonging.

  He wasn’t stopping, she realized somewhere in the back corner of her mind. Long, warm strokes, faster now, and a little lighter, but never stopping. She shuddered and tried to protest, but he had full control over her now. She would do whatever he wanted, whatever he asked, as long as he kept playing with her clit like that.

  “I can’t,” she tried to say, but her body was abruptly shifting into a different mode. “Oh, my God. Oh, my God, Victor. Holy fuck, that’s so good. How are you—” She twisted her wrists in his grasp, grabbing up fistfuls of sheets, white light erupting in her eyes as another climax rushed over her
like a river suddenly entering rapids.

  Cheryl couldn’t recall much of whatever happened, only the blissful pleasure that filled her body from head to toe, a warmth that refused to go away.

  Only then did Victor’s grip on her wrists relax. He wiped at his mouth and then came back up to her. She grabbed at his head with a frantic need, pulling him down to her.

  “That was amazing,” she whispered. “I can barely feel my body now.”

  He chuckled, lightly kissing her neck, one hand reaching between their bodies. “So, you can’t feel this?” he teased as the tip of something hard and fleshy pressed against her soaking opening.

  “Um.” It was a brilliant response, and coincidentally the only one she was capable of making as he slipped inside her.

  Victor grinned and kissed her again. This time, he slid his arms under her and back to grab her head, their bodies coming together as one while he gently pushed deeper and deeper inside of her.

  They simply rocked back and forth, neither one trying to force anything. She needed the time to adjust. Her eyes were clearly bigger than other parts of her, and they were making it known.

  “Fuck, you’re big,” she moaned as she took more of him inside her again.

  “The best words a guy will ever hear,” he chuckled, but she could see him biting his lip.

  He was fighting to keep his composure too, which made her feel better.

  Then, all at once, resistance ceased and he slid in, filling her completely and then some. By far the biggest she’d ever had, Cheryl was surprised she could take all of him. Surprised, and also blissfully ecstatic as they started to move against one another with more urgency.

  “No, give it back,” she moaned as his hips pulled away from her. “Please,” she added, enjoying the way his eyes flashed as she showed him how much she wanted him.

  Pleasure was a two-way street, and Cheryl intended to give him as much as she could.

  Of course, she thought to herself as Victor pushed back in with a little more vigor, I’m not going to turn down any that he wants to give me either. She let her head fall back, making sure he knew just how good it felt by the noises coming from her mouth.