She shook her head but couldn’t speak. Her breath hitched in her throat as aftershocks took her. Gripping her shoulders, he slid his hands beneath her ass and lifted her onto his lap, his cock still inside her as her body shuddered between rigid and relaxed until the last of her orgasms ebbed.
Finally, she lifted her head from his chest. “That was AMAZING!”
He chuckled, holding her tight. “I thought I hurt you.”
She exhaled softly, her body sensitive and humming. “You did, sort of. I thought my insides would tear in two with your size, but I didn’t, and it was the most incredible feeling I’ve ever had.”
Her body clenched one last time and she laughed. “Literally, see? I’ll probably feel you inside me for days.”
Soren peeled her arms from around his neck and laid her back on the mattress before slipping his member from her body. He moved to the bed’s edge and lifted the coverlet, helping her tuck her legs under.
She giggled, stretching out her legs. “I don’t think I could walk if I tried.”
He chuckled, slipping in beside her under the covers. “You will, just give it a little time.”
A tired smile broke into a yawn and she stretched again. “And what was that weird heat?”
“I told you what that was.”
Shaking her head, she turned on her side to face him. “I think I’d remember if you told me your cock was a human flame thrower.”
His index finger traced the outline of her lips before he leaned in with a ghost of a kiss. “I never said I was human.”
Her brows scrunched despite her exhaustion. “Earlier you said something about your dragon. Are you telling me that wasn’t a metaphor?”
He shook his head.
“So the dragon part is real? As in claws, teeth, scales, lashing tail and giant wings, real?”
Soren nodded. “Yes to all of the above, but only when I am in my animal form.”
“Animal form?” Hannah struggled to her elbows. “You said something earlier about being separated from your dual nature, but I thought that was just talk. Are you trying to tell me you’re a—”
“Dragon shifter. Yes.” He kissed the end of her nose. “I will tell you everything, to thávma mou, but now you need sleep more than answers. There will be time enough to talk later. The world isn’t as two-dimensional as you think,” he replied, using her earlier turn of phrase.
“What does that mean? To thávma mou?”
He opened his arms and Hannah tucked herself under his shoulder. Soren kissed the top of her head and opened his mouth to speak, but her gentle snoring left a smile on his face instead.
“It means my miracle.”
Chapter Six
“Hannah! Over here,” Valerie called from a corner table at the back of the café.
Waving back, Hannah maneuvered past the crowd to slide into a chair opposite her friend. “Sorry, I’m late. I got caught up at work.” She winced, scooting her chair closer to the table. “I can’t seem to get it together today.”
“What’s with the face? You sit on a nail?”
Hannah ignored the snark, but high heat stained her cheeks just the same.
Valerie dropped her chin, eyeing her friend. “Oh no you don’t. You can’t get away that easily, missy. I’ve known you forever, and Hannah Foster never blushes.”
“Give me a break. I sprinted the last couple of blocks so I wouldn’t be late, and I’ve got the chub rub to prove it. I think that’s worth a wince or two.”
Valerie shook her head. “Nice try, but I’m not buying it. Not only are you blushing, but you’re being purposely evasive. If I didn’t know better, I’d guess you got laid last night.”
Hannah opened her menu and scanned the lunch specials, avoiding her friend’s scrutiny.
“Oh. My. God!” Val’s mouth dropped open. “You little slut! You rode the naked stranger in your back yard!” Her lips slid into a deliberate grin. “Who is he, then? Did you find out? Not someone from man bun central.”
Hannah choked on her water.
“I’ll take that as a big fat no.” Valerie handed her a wad of napkins.
Wiping her mouth, Hannah coughed. “You bet your sweet ass the answer is no.”
“Who, then?”
“A chance meeting,” Hannah replied, running a hand over her chin.
Val leaned in, eager. “A chance meeting from when? Where? Why didn’t you tell me?
Hannah shrugged, but didn’t reply. There was no way Valerie would believe Soren’s cockamamie story. She wasn’t sure she believed yet.
“Fine. Don’t give me the particulars. Considering how frenzied you seem today I’d say you were fucked stupid. You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of, unless you did something ultra kinky last night.”
Hannah studied the menu again.
“Hannah Marie Foster! You dirty ass girl. Tell me now or I swear I’ll post last year’s New Year’s pictures on Instagram!”
“You can’t. I spent most of last New Year’s with my head over the toilet.”
Val’s palm hit the table. “Exactly. Now spill!”
“Okay, okay. Jeez. Aggie hooked me up with a guy. He’s not from around here. He’s…worldly.”
Try otherworldly.
I don’t know that yet.
Two words: Silhouetted wings.
“Worldly. That sounds promising.”
“Maybe. We didn’t get around to talking—much.”
Valerie’s grin widened. “Were you otherwise occupied or is he just the strong, silent type?” She waggled her eyebrows.
“Val—”
“Hot, nasty monkey sex that’s all action and no talk. It doesn’t get better than that.” She paused, thinking. “That wouldn’t work for me, though. I like dirty talk in bed, so—”
“Val! Can I finish, please?”
A sheepish look stole over Valerie’s face, and she shrugged. “Sorry, babe. I guess it has been a long draught for me, too.”
“Girl, I hear you.”
“So, if you had to rate this guy, is he a man or a mouse?”
Hannah considered her friend, and a private smile tugged at her mouth. “I’d say he’s a dragon.”
“As in your favorite fire-breathing mythical creature?” Val raised an eyebrow. “I assume we’re talking metaphorically, but way to go just the same.”
“Thanks.”
“Why do you sound like you’re not sure he’s for real?”
“Oh, he’s real enough.” Hannah exhaled. “Flesh and blood. And I mean HARD flesh. As in harder than trigonometry.”
Valerie snorted. “Well, that explains a lot.”
“Explains what? Do I have post sex stink?” Hannah lifted her arm, sniffing.
Laughing, Val shook her head. “No, but there was a hint of bowlegged cowboy when you walked in earlier. That must have been some midnight ride, Paul Revere.”
Hannah puffed out a breath. “You have no idea.”
“So where is your dragon now?”
The waitress walked toward them, and Hannah closed her menu. “My place.”
***
Soren walked around Hannah’s bedroom. So much amazed him, yet other things seemed archaic. Even before his long exile, Oloris was light years ahead of Earth. The blue planet was originally a penal colony, but there was no way he was sharing that tidbit with Hannah. Telling her he was a sex slave cursed to an ancient book nearly sent her over the edge, as did telling her he was a dragon shifter.
Hannah wasn’t the only one who needed answers, and until he was satisfied further revelations were not part of his plan, including telling her he was from a shifter planet. The woman would have him careening back into the book’s darkness before he could utter a plea for mercy.
Still, he had to tell her. Her trust in him demanded it. He looked around the room at all the feminine touches. Soft, yet strong of character. It amazed him how he could sense her in everything around him. That and the fact her scent permeated everything. The bedding, the dra
peries, her clothes hanging in the open closet. Soren inhaled and let her trace mark his soul like a tattoo.
He exhaled and walked into the bathroom. Earlier, he listened as Hannah called Aggie from here when she thought he was asleep.
Aggie would have much to explain. If she was truly his Dracosarra, then perhaps she was the hidden ace he needed. She knew him. Knew his story.
If she was the one who gifted the book to Hannah, then perhaps she knew another way to end his torment. A frown tugged at his lips as eight hundred years of pent up anger gnawed at his insides.
Whatever transpired between you, I’m sure you two can figure it out.
Hannah’s words were clear. Calm, but unmistakable. Aggie Draakki was not someone to be trifled with. Aggie had a plan. He knew it in his gut the same way he knew his dragon paced once again within him. The knowledge drove a smile to his lips as he turned on the shower the way Hannah had showed him earlier.
It was all due to her. Hannah. Somehow, this deliciously curvy woman had awakened his beast, and he wasn’t talking about his dick, though the thought of how her body fit his so perfectly made his cock jerk.
With a simple caress, she breathed life into the dual nature buried for so many years. One touch filled the emptiness that left him hollow for nearly a millennium.
Your true mate will calm the beast within and set fire to its breath. She will give you wings to soar and the strength to face whatever the future holds. Trust me, Soren. This woman you hunger for is not the one. She lives in darkness. Her touch is dangerous. Be smart, my prince. I beg of you.
The memory stung, and its truth a bitter pill. Aggie had been right all along. Anger bubbled fresh at the wasted centuries. His dragon huffed in reply and its breath registered a smoky acknowledgment in Soren’s mind. It clawed for freedom. “Soon,” he murmured.
They both craved Nova’s open skies with its two suns and the pink ocean. The purple trees that covered the plains below the Ice Mountains and the springs—he smiled at the memory. The hot springs of Aelantedes.
Still naked from their time in bed, he stepped into the warm spray. Every muscle tensed and then immediately relaxed as the water cascaded over his skin. He sighed with pleasure at the elemental feel.
Water. Pure. Clean.
A low growl left his throat at the visceral effect. He lifted his face to the hot jets and opened his mouth, gulping in deep draughts. Lust. Thirst. Hunger. Every primal urge denied for so long was now at a hand’s reach.
Hannah was the reason. The how and the why of being in her life, in her bed, no longer mattered. His dragon roared inside.
One word.
Mine.
The feeling overwhelmed him and Soren’s cock hardened. He wrapped his fingers around his shaft and ran a hand over the corded length, curling the flat of his palm over his swelling head.
Hannah’s scent lingered on his skin and in the steam that surrounded him. He leaned his forehead on the cool tile, letting the water pelt his back as he quickened his stroke.
Her mouth, her breasts, the slick taste of her pussy, every sense crowded with the memory. Soren licked the beads of water from his lips as they dripped from his hair and skin, their salty taste reminding him this was real. HE was real.
He jerked his cock, letting the corporeal feel fill him as his mind filled with images of Hannah spread wide and willing, her body shaking with pleasure as his body took hers. With a rough moan his climax shuddered through him, Hannah’s name on his lips as he came.
Soren let the feeling ebb before he turned, pressing his back to the tile. He had waited eight hundred years for this day and would wait no longer.
Hannah would be his and the gods willing, he would be free.
Chapter Seven
The clock dragged, and Hannah couldn’t concentrate. Lunch with Val gave her a much needed break from her racing thoughts, but only because Valerie never let a word in edgewise.
Hannah frowned. She shouldn’t have opened her big mouth about Soren, especially since Valerie insisted on meeting him.
She put her friend off as best she could, but true to form Val wouldn’t take no for an answer. At least she agreed to wait for the weekend.
There were too many missing pieces to the puzzle to start introducing him around. How would she explain when people asked how they met? “This is my boyfriend, Soren. He just appeared in my back garden one night—naked. At first I thought he was a pervert, then I thought a male escort, but he might just be a nutcase. The city’s crawling with them, but he does have a pretty face.”
Hannah groaned. She had a lot to think about tonight.
Think?
Yeah right.
Not much brain activity happening with his face buried in your pussy. Last night you could barely form a single cohesive sentence.
Her own voice mocked even as her clit pulsed at the memory of his talented tongue.
She shivered.
“Hannah?”
Her head jerked around, and high heat stained her cheeks at being caught unawares. Thank God, people couldn’t read minds.
With your 3D Triple X replay on continuous loop, you’d be the most popular librarian in history.
Shut up. Please.
“Hannah—” her boss called again.
“Uhm, sorry, Edith.” She dragged the back of her hand over her forehead and then picked up a cleaning brush from the worktable.
The older woman shifted the stack of books in her arms from one hip to the other, eyeing Hannah. “Are you okay? You seem preoccupied. Is everything all right?”
“I’m fine, Edith. Really.”
“You’ve been flushed and distracted all day, and you’ve been working on the same piece far too long. I think you might be coming down with something.”
More like coming down ON something. Hard.
Hannah ignored the tease from the back of her head and fidgeted with the folio in front of her. “I’m just being careful, Edith. The paper is so wafer-thin and fragile, I didn’t want to rush.”
Her boss moved to the end of the renovation table and gently slipped the historic document out from under Hannah’s fingers.
“Maybe you’d better go home. Your work has been exemplary so far, Hannah. I wouldn’t want an unintentional mistake to blemish your record. Our donations and your fellowship depend on maintaining a certain level of excellence. Not that I’m worried. Better safe than sorry.” She patted Hannah’s hand.
Hannah’s shoulders slumped. This was so not good. Edith Marcs had the power to make or break her career and arguing with the woman was unthinkable. Edith was right. She hadn’t done a blessed thing yesterday or today.
“I think that’s probably a good idea, Edith,” Hannah replied, as her boss waited beside her table. “I’m not myself, today.”
She gave Edith a quick nod and then packed her brushes into their leather case, storing them in her drawer. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Edith waved her hand lightly. “The work will keep. If you’re still not feeling up to sorts, stay home tomorrow as well.”
Hannah grabbed her purse and her jacket. She made her goodbyes and headed out the main library doors, past the building’s historic lions.
Damn. Her distraction with Soren and his dick were going to cost her dream job. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”
Pressing her lips together, she crossed 5th Avenue and walked at an annoyed clip toward the subway. Despite today’s sexual haze and its fallout, she smiled thinking about Soren in her brother’s gym shorts and how the nylon left nothing to the imagination.
Soren was hung like a racehorse, or should she say more like a dragon. Hannah chuckled to herself. What did she know? She’d never seen a dragon’s dick.
She laughed out loud, drawing looks from other pedestrians outside Grand Central. Maybe, she had. Maybe she not only saw a dragon cock, she rode one.
She licked her lips thinking about the silken feel of Soren’s dick in her hand, wondering how his velvet he
ad would taste against her tongue. He’d gone down on her, and now it was time to return the favor.
A shiver stopped her mid-step and she pivoted on the corner between the subway entrance toward the taxi queue. Without another thought, she raised two fingers and whistled. “Taxi!”
Screw the subway. She needed answers, and the sooner the better. Finding Aggie would put the missing pieces together in Soren’s story. Or at least help her understand.
She hoped.
A taxi pulled to the curb and she opened the rear passenger door and got in.
“Where to?” the driver asked.
Hannah opened her mouth to tell him the Upper East Side, but then stopped.
Damn.
She adjusted herself in her seat, her panties wet just thinking about him, but even that didn’t stop the nagging voice at the back of her mind.
You know nothing about him.
It was true. She knew nothing about Soren, other than he knew his way around a woman’s body. Especially her body. There were plenty of high-end escorts with the same claim to fame. Just because Valerie didn’t send him, didn’t mean his coming wasn’t a mistake meant for someone else.
That’s a ridiculous assumption.
She’d let him stay at her house because she believed Aggie was involved in some way, but the truth was she didn’t know. Not for sure, and she wouldn’t until she spoke with the old woman.
“You got somewhere you want to go or not?” the cabbie asked, impatient.
Hannah blinked. “Uhm, yeah. Take me to the nearest Big and Tall store you know.”
He thought for a moment. “That would be Rochester. Between 52nd and 6th.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
The taxi pulled into traffic and headed across 42nd Street toward the Avenue of the Americas.
So you’re choosing info over intercourse?
Ew. Stop now.
How about conversation over cock?
Even worse.
Perhaps, but that doesn’t make it untrue. You can’t concentrate, and your panties really need freshening.
Dude!
I’m your inner monologue. I don’t make the rules.
She squashed the errant thoughts and focused on the tasks at hand. Finding Aggie and getting Soren something decent to wear so he could leave the house, either with or without her.
Her Captive Dragon: Howls Romance Page 5
