That would be a good song line, she told herself as she sipped coffee with creamer. When Ashton had time to go out and buy creamer the day before, she didn’t know.
At the door, she stopped and threw a last glance over her shoulder. Ashton stood in the bedroom doorway, practically pouting. Somewhere in the night, he’d lost his sweatpants. Naked once again, he didn’t bother hiding everything he had to offer.
“Could you call in sick? Just this once?”
Her heart lodged itself in her throat. Temptation beckoned her toward him, but she couldn’t give in. There was more at stake than just her jobs. If she didn’t earn these hours, she would fall behind on bills. Her credit would tank all over again. She would never be able to replace the beat-up car outside or buy a house of her own.
“If you don’t take time off, you’re going to burn out. What will you do when that happens?”
She shook her head. He wouldn’t understand. Ashton never suffered under the weight of impending failure.
“If you won’t, then I will for you.” Ashton appeared in front of her. He plucked her phone from her purse and darted for the other side of the room again. The grin on his lips was almost disarming.
Almost.
“Ashton Lawrence Drake! Put my phone down right now.” She marched over to him and reached for the phone, but he spun out of reach and danced away from her.
“You remember my middle name,” he said. “I would feel special if I didn’t hate it so much. You know what name I would like to hear?”
She didn’t respond, only serving him a glare hot enough to render flesh from bone.
“Makenna Grace Drake. That’s a sexy name. I like to imagine it on album covers. Of course, we’d have to arrange the name change first, though.”
She was floored. Had he admitted to wanting to marry her? She could barely believe it. The suggestion had her stunned long enough that he called the diner and the gas station. Instead of saying she was calling in sick, he slipped and said calling in dicked. Makenna should have been enraged. She should have thrown something at his head for being a pretentious shit head.
But she felt none of those things. It was as if someone had lifted a weight from her shoulders. Her dread of the coming day disappeared. She waited for guilt to slowly rise in its place, but it never came.
“What have you done to me?”
Ashton only grinned. Gone was the solemn man she’d found in the night. In the light of the day, he was filled with joy. Nothing that happened between them could be hidden or later forgotten.
“You were a bad influence on me back in high school and you’re a bad influence now.” Makenna joked, but she was exhilarated. She could breathe deep for once.
Ashton ignored her accusation. “Let’s get this day started off right. I can make us breakfast, but the only thing I know how to make are fried eggs and toast. If that’s not enough, you’ll have to help me. I won’t say no to your company in the kitchen.
“After that we can figure out some of the controls in your recording studio together. I don’t know if either of us have ever used equipment like that. It might be fun to figure it out together.”
Makenna moved her weight from foot to foot. Ashton, on his way to the kitchen, stopped when he noticed her expression. She wasn’t sure how to tell him the truth without hurting his feelings. Not only because it meant they wouldn’t have to mess with the equipment, but because it meant revealing something that happened so long ago.
His face fell. “Mac? Do you not want help?”
“You should go out and find a woman who can give you more time and attention than I can,” she said instead. Blurting it out like that felt harsh, but perhaps it was time.
Letting Ashton into her life could end horribly for him. They were on borrowed time. In the morning, she would have to go back to work. Her schedule between all three jobs left little time for sleep, let alone a lover. Ashton would be alone, struggling with his beast on his own.
His jaw tightened as he looked away, but he didn’t seem angry. She wanted to know what was going through his mind, but she had no right to his thoughts. Just as he once pushed her away, she was now doing the same. They couldn’t let wistful, old memories pull them back together again. It was going to hurt him.
When Ashton turned to face her, his eyes were alight with the fire of his beast. He stalked toward her. She wanted to run, but her feet were firmly planted where she stood. All Makenna could do was swallow and try to find her voice. The beast ruled Ashton in that moment. It approached her.
“You need more than I can give,” she whispered once she discovered her voice.
Ashton said nothing. The beast growled and pressed his body into her. She staggered back until she hit the counter, pinned between the heat of a dragon and an immovable object. Fear should have turned her into a screaming mess. Her body betrayed her, heart thudding with unexpected excitement. Makenna wanted him to touch her.
She craved it.
The force of her desire dragged her under. She reached for Ashton, gripping him tight. A small voice inside her claimed him. Ashton belonged to her and no one else. A thread of worry trembled inside her. If what she felt was anything like what Ashton and his beast felt, they were both doomed.
“I’m not enough,” she whispered.
His hand gently cupped her jaw and turned her face upward. She didn’t realize until then that tears were trailing down her cheeks. Warm until they dripped from her chin, they left trails of cold along her face. Ashton wiped them away with his thumb.
“You’re more than enough. You’re all I’ve ever wanted.”
His whispered words sung inside her. They rattled the bars of the cage she’d placed around her own soul. She hadn’t realized how badly she’d trapped herself. It wasn’t that her situation was entirely her fault, but so much of it could have been easier if only she’d asked for help.
She ran her hands down his chest while letting her head fall against his shoulder. He rumbled, like a cat purring with pleasure. The sound was soothing.
Ashton’s voice was choked when he spoke. “I need you.”
Makenna, confused, looked him in the eyes and found the blazing force of the beast. Ashton struggled to keep hold of his body, but the beast was fighting for control once more.
“I’m right here. I don’t…”
The beast growled and Ashton ducked his head. Before she knew what happened, teeth dragged along the skin of her neck. She let out a cry that was a mix of alarm and excitement. The sensation flooded her body before pooling in her core. The tight throb that began there nearly made her moan.
“The beast wants me to take you,” Ashton whispered into her skin. His grip on her hips was light, almost quaking. “I can hold it off, but not for long. If you don’t want…if you can’t handle…” He swallowed audibly. “Run.”
But Makenna didn’t run. She wasn’t afraid of the dragon inside Ashton. If she could help him regain control of his beast, then she would do whatever it took. At least, that was her excuse for what she was about to do.
Sensing that she wasn’t about to flee, the beast growled and shoved her back against the counter. His body melded into hers. Teeth scraped against her neck again. His tongue found the small hollow of her throat. She moaned, one arm tightening around the back of his neck to hold him there.
Ashton ripped at her clothing, uncaring of what state he left it in. Makenna should have grieved for the pieces she would have to replace, but there was nothing on her mind other than Ashton. The fury of his touch, the power of his need, was unlike anything they’d done before.
He quickly spun her around. She flung her hands out, slapping them onto the counter to brace herself. He reached around the front of her, fingers parting her folds. When had she lost her panties? She hadn’t even noticed.
“So slick already,” Ashton moaned.
He wrapped his other hand around her throat and held her tight to his body. She felt his growing erection pressed against her ba
ckside, but quickly lost herself in the sensations his fingers wrought between her legs. They slid over the most sensitive parts of her before teasing her entrance with small circles.
Makenna groaned, a plea rising to her lips. She wanted more. Her body thrummed like the strings of a guitar, but it wasn’t a full chord. It was only a single note. His hips pumped against her backside, cock sliding between her butt cheeks. His rumbling growl of pleasure hummed along her spine.
Her fingers curled against the counter top. She needed more. She needed him inside her, but she couldn’t find the words to tell him. Her mind was lost to the need.
“You’re mine, Makenna. You always were.” The voice she heard was and wasn’t Ashton. “I claim you.”
Her breath caught. His decree should have made her run. Makenna should have gotten out of the apartment and left Ashton to cool down, but her mind wanted nothing to do with the idea. All it wanted was Ashton. Every ounce of him inside her, thrusting and slamming her core.
“Take me,” was all she could say.
He pulled back, but only barely. His fingers never left her soft folds. Instead, they helped the tip of his cock find her entrance. He was larger than she remembered. Or, perhaps she’d gotten smaller. Whatever it was, they had to ease him into her one inch at a time. Frustration was never stronger than it was in that moment. Makenna wanted all of him but fought for patience.
She wasn’t sure she was right for him. Her life was too demanding. She had time for no one. Yet, a primal part of her loathed the idea of giving Ashton up. It became feral at the thought of letting any other woman touch him. Ashton was made for her, easily taking up residence in the hollow part of her heart that he’d carved years ago.
As a human, she wasn’t sure if this meant they were fated mates. When Ashton left her for the big city, she forgot all about talking to the other human mates. She’d planned to ask after she graduated high school, but never made it that far. It left her stumbling blind through the feelings swelling inside her.
Ashton found the very center of her core and groaned. His fingers tightened around her neck, but she savored the feeling. Her life was in his hands. She gave him control and relished the lack of it. Her shoulders felt lighter. She could breathe deeper. Then he began pumping. Each thrust slammed just the right spot inside her and stole her breath.
Makenna groaned. Ashton tilted her head and swallowed the sound with a kiss. The taste of his lips was a drug and she wanted more, but the position wouldn’t allow her. He pulled his hand away from her throat and let it rake down her back. She leaned forward and Ashton pressed even deeper inside her.
It stroked the building wall of pleasure. She felt the walls around it begin to tremble. It would break any second. Greater than any orgasm she’d accomplished on her own, she nearly feared it. A tentative excitement thrummed through her. The next thrust brought her to her peak. She threw her head back as the sensation washed over her. It left a wake of pleasure that filled every inch of her body.
Her muscles throbbed with the heat of her pulsing core. If Ashton was the fire, then she was the forge. Everything after this would be new, changed by what they were creating with their bodies.
Before this, Makenna thought she was only helping Ashton through a moment. She’d given him her body to help appease the beast. Now, she realized there was no other way to live. Their souls had always been bound, fitting together like puzzle pieces.
Ashton came not long after she did. He spasmed behind her, jerking out at the last second to spill warmth along her bent back. She felt the mark of it, the scent that would cling to her for days. There was no mistaking what happened now.
They were mated.
Her heart thundered as she laid her cheek against the counter. Ashton cursed under his breath and disappeared to fetch a clean towel. While he was gone, Makenna tried to consider the implications of their bond. Neither had meant for it to happen, but she didn’t think there was any way to fight fate.
All she could do was wonder why fate had dealt both such terrible cards. The bills stacked on the counter beside her seemed to tease her. For a short moment, she’d known the bliss of happiness. It couldn’t last long, not with life waiting for her like a cackling devil. Whatever she and Ashton had would always bear the weight of her debt.
Not even the home studio he’d made for her could lighten it. She was trapped and feared she would drag him under.
But Ashton returned. He was gentle as he cleaned her back. He pulled her into his arms, laying a soft kiss on her lips. She wanted to capture the moment and savor it. If she could hold the taste of him on her tongue for always, then it wouldn’t hurt so bad when she finally drowned in the mess that was her life.
Ashton didn’t catch the hesitation in her movements. He grinned, a man on top of the world as he held her. To him, she’d given herself to him. Makenna wondered how he didn’t see the rough life that was ahead of them.
Jasper was unruly, a monster without a tamer so long as he was alone. The task to keep him in line was in Ashton’s hands. Couldn’t he feel the weight of the responsibility? Did it not torment him the way her debt taunted her?
“I think we need to find you some new clothes,” Ashton said while his hands slid down her naked form.
His touch sent ripples through her, echoes of the orgasm she’d lost herself to only moments ago. Those echoes begged her to stay and play, they tempted her with a life filled with possibility. If she closed her eyes, she caught glimpses of a possible future. She saw nights in the recording studio, teaching Ashton to use the equipment. They would make music together, with the equipment by day and their bodies by night.
If only she didn’t have the bill collectors on her doorstep. She could declare bankruptcy and start all over again, but what would she use to start again? She wasn’t sure how to take the first step after a fall like that. It scared her.
Ashton could feel the tense worry in his mate’s shoulders. It worried him. He checked over and over to see if he’d hurt her in the heat of his need, but when he asked, she only shook her head and smiled. The smile was tight-lipped every time.
It was clear something had gone wrong, but she wouldn’t tell him. He wanted to scream. Not at her, but just to release the nervous energy building in him. The beast fed on it. Seeing that she was troubled, the beast paced. It made him frantic. He wasn’t close to losing control, but if he didn’t figure out what was wrong, he feared the bond they’d forged would begin to crumble.
The intensity of his beast was already a weight on it. Makenna made it clear she wasn’t capable of dealing with his beast. She didn’t want to be responsible for the struggle between him and his dragon. He couldn’t blame her.
“We should go out tonight,” Ashton suggested. He wanted to ply her with food and good times, to tease that smile from her once more.
When she stepped out of her bedroom, her eyes didn’t stay on him. He saw the heat of her happiness when she looked at him, but it died as soon as she looked away. He followed her gaze to the stack of bills laying on the counter.
“I’m not one for fancy restaurants,” Makenna said, brushing him off before collapsing on the couch. “I’m too much of a mess for places like that.”
“Does Grove even have a fancy restaurant?” He followed her to the couch. Climbing onto it like a cat, he moved to drop onto her lap, greedy for her touch.
Before he could lower himself, the buzzing of his phone claimed the silence.
Griffin again. He regretted giving his number to his cousin. He knew what the call meant without even having to answer. Jasper was loose again. The gold dragon was foiling Ashton’s plans to win the heart of his mate once again. There was no way he would convince Makenna they were meant to be if they kept having to run in opposite directions.
“Let’s go get him,” Makenna declared. She leapt to her feet, snatching her keys on her way to the door.
“There’s no way you’re coming with me.” He cracked his neck and summoned the beas
t inside him. He would fly to Jasper if he had to. Whatever it took to keep Makenna home safe.
She grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him down to her eyelevel. It took him by surprise. His lips parted, but no words came to him as he stared into the determination across his mate’s face.
“This is my home. You have a cozy city apartment to return to, but this is where my life is. If Jasper thinks he can turn it into a freakshow because he can’t control himself, then I want to be there to put my foot up his ass.”
. Ashton wasn’t ashamed to admit that her sudden feisty attitude made his dick hard again. His mate stormed out the door before he could stop her. She left him in awe, and he kind of liked it.
“Then you can buy me a pizza!” she called back to him.
Ashton shook his head and wondered what he’d done to deserve her.
Chapter Twelve
Jasper was perilously close to Grove. Makenna could see the dragon through the naked trees only because she knew what she was looking for. If he took to the sky, everyone in town would see him. Decades ago, that wouldn’t have been a problem. Few tourists took to the mountain town. And they didn’t have pocket computers constantly connected to the world wide web.
One photo was all it would take to turn Grove into a spectacle. She knew it wouldn’t be like the monster of Lock Ness. It wouldn’t be a grainy, unbelievable photo. Phones captured clear images now. The gold dragon would be uploaded to the internet and the world would know there was something afoot.
Makenna parked the car in the first available space. Ashton was out of the car before she’d fully stopped. Griffin ran toward them. His unbound platinum blond hair bounced around his shoulders. Deep lines had been carved between his brows, perhaps by the burden of Jasper’s beast.
“What are we going to do?” Griffin hissed, keeping his voice low among the general public.
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