by Riley Storm
“Of course,” he said immediately. “You’re safe here.”
“Exactly.” Emma took a deep breath. “Which means, Asher, that either they know your secret…or the more likely option, is that they’re shapeshifters too. Am I close?”
He thought over his next words carefully, but quickly realized that even by hesitating, he had already given her the answer. There was no sense in holding anything back from her at this point. She was in too deep.
“Yes,” he said quietly, impressed at her thinking and logic after everything that had happened. “They’re all dragon shapeshifters as well.”
“Right. Well, if that’s the case,” Emma said. “given that I’m still terribly unsure and kind of scared of all this, I think I’d feel more comfortable with you nearby.”
“Are you sure?” he asked cautiously.
“Yeah. I…being around a bunch of foreign people who can all spit fire and fly is, um, well I don’t know if intimidating quite captures the spirit of the emotion,” she said with a weak smile.
Asher nodded. “I understand. There are other humans here, human women. I’ll introduce you to some of them when we get a chance. Hopefully, that will make you feel more at home.”
He cursed himself. He’d meant to say more comfortable, not at home. There was no need for Emma to think this was her home. Was there?
Judging by the twitch of her eyebrows, she’d picked up on it as well.
“Do you want me to stay then?” he asked, gesturing at the room.
Emma looked around. The room was bare, the walls and tops of things spartan, devoid of personalization. It was a guest room after all.
“Can I come to your room?’ she asked quietly.
Asher nodded and pushed open the door. Emma walked out into the hallway and they headed toward his room.
“I still can’t quite believe this,” she whispered. “A whole family of dragon shapeshifters. I… Can I see your scales again?”
Asher was surprised. He had purposefully avoided doing anything that might make reference to his other half’s appearance, not wanting to scare her.
“Sure,” he said, sticking out his arm and focusing. A moment later the skin turned crimson and hardened, scales the size of quarters lining his forearm and extending up toward his chest.
Emma reached out and ran her fingers along them.
“I’m super scared, but this is also realllllyyy cool,” she said, running her entire hand over his scales repeatedly. “It shouldn’t be possible. I didn’t know it was.”
“We work hard to keep ourselves a secret,” he said quietly.
“I can imagine,” Emma agreed, still fascinated with the scales even as he stopped at his door. “That would instil a lot of panic if everyone knew.”
“Yeah.”
Asher wisely didn’t tell her that it wasn’t panic they were worried about, but more the reactions of powerful humans, including governments. That wasn’t her fear to worry about though. It was his.
Chapter Thirty-One
Emma
“Okay, so you can change into a dragon,” she said, looking around his quarters.
They were much more personalized. More than she’d expected from a single male, truthfully. A few picture frames of him, his brothers and an older couple that she surmised would be his parents hunt from one wall. A painting of some sort of comic-book scene dominated another wall.
“You have succulents?” she asked, stunned as she looked at the ledge nearest the window. “Who are you?”
He chuckled. “You know who I am, Emma. That hasn’t changed one bit.”
“Right. Except the part where you’re a dragon.”
“Yes, I am that,” he said.
Emma shivered. “I need a warm shower,” she said, guessing at which of the doors on the left-hand wall led to the bathroom and pulling it open.
Closet.
“Oops,” she said with a laugh, then headed for the other one as Asher pointed at it. “Thanks.”
“Not a problem.”
Emma went inside, then paused, sticking her head back out the open door. “What are you waiting for? You must be cold too. And I doubt even a dragon enjoys wearing wet clothing. Or are you too scared?”
Asher’s eyebrows went up. “I…I didn’t want to make any assumptions,” he said. “You know, we’ve only been…together, like that, once. This morning, actually, and I…”
Emma sighed. “Dude. You’ve already seen me naked now. I’ve seen you naked. You’re currently half-naked, wearing nasty wet pants. I’ve also seen what you are, what you really are. Or half of it at least. I think we might be past that point.”
“You really aren’t in shock anymore,” Asher remarked, following her inside and stripping down while she did the same.
“I had a long, uncomfortable car ride to come to terms with it,” she said. “I still am having a hard time believing it, but yeah. It certainly seems to be true. You can fly, spit fire…wait!”
Asher spun, looking at her in alarm. “What is it? What’s wrong?” He faced the door, arms coming up, ready to fight.
“I just had a thought,” she said, a memory coming to her. At your vault. You pulled out a torch. I never saw you light it, did you…you know?”
Asher smiled. “I don’t have to breathe the fire,” he said, holding up a hand.
A second later, flames began to dance around it. “Flames are…my friend.”
She nodded. “Okay. Cool. Way cool.”
They continued to strip. For whatever reason, Emma didn’t feel uncomfortable around Asher while naked. It just, felt right. She couldn’t describe it.
They hopped in the shower together, and immediately Asher began to rub her down. Not in any sexual way, but in that tender, caring way that a partner would, someone who simply wanted to ensure she was okay.
And happy.
“When you told me you’d never lied to me,” she asked, turning around to face him, the water pelting her back now with its warmth. “Was that the truth?”
Asher cupped her chin, tilting her head upward. “Yes. I obviously held this back, but I never lied.”
“I’ve met you all along then?” she asked, feeling sure she knew the answer, but needing to hear him say it nonetheless. “You haven’t been pretending to be someone else?”
Asher snorted. “No. I’ve never felt the need to around you. Everything just came naturally. I just couldn’t risk revealing what I am. Not until I was sure.”
“Sure of what?”
“That I could trust you with that heavy a secret, for starters. But even if I knew I could trust you,” he continued swiftly, wiping water off his face. “That doesn’t mean everyone wants to know. There’s so much responsibility, so much risk. You can’t tell anyone, about this, Emma. You can’t get drunk and let it slip to your coworkers that you fucked a dragon, that you flew with one. None of that.”
She nodded. It made sense what he was saying. Just because someone was worthy of the trust didn’t mean they wished to be included in something so monumental and earth-shattering. Those were two different aspects of the secret she’d never thought to separate.
Then again, I’ve only had a few hours to digest it. Only fair that someone with a lifetime spent protecting his secret would have thought about it a few different ways.
“So, you feel that way now? You felt I wanted to know this secret?” she asked, keeping her voice light.
“I felt you were worth the trust,” he said gravely. “But I also knew that it was worth saving your life for. No matter how you may have reacted to me.”
Emma cringed as she recalled her initial actions. “That can’t have been easy, can it?” she asked quietly, remembering the screaming, the horror and revulsion she’d felt at his changed appearance.
Asher tried to smile and wave it off, but she could tell it had hurt him. Down to the core.
“I’m sorry,” she said, leaning forward, wrapping him up in a wet hug. “I really am grateful that you saved
my life. I’m happy you feel that I was worth it. Even after everything I’ve done to you. What made you think that?”
His lips curved upward for a long moment as he returned the hug. “Because, Emma. I’m beginning to think that you may be fated.”
“Fated for what?”
“Me.”
Emma’s eyebrows shot up, she stepped back, forgetting about the shower for the moment. “I’m sorry, what? Fated for you? Sorry, Asher, but I don’t believe in fate.”
The dragon shrugged, seemingly unconcerned with her reaction. “Fate doesn’t force people to do something,” he said quietly, sounding like more of an authority on the matter than anyone she could ever remember. How could he know what fate was?
“It doesn’t?”
“No,” he told her. “It presents people with choices, with the opportunity to seize something. You could easily have chosen to say no to me. To not be interested in me. But I believe that it was fate that put you in my path.”
“You mean put my house in your path.”
Asher sagged. “Yes, I suppose that’s one way to look at it,” he said wryly, then growing serious again. “That, I believe, is why we feel so comfortable around one another. Why you feel a pull to me, and I to you. We could resist,” he added. “But something tells me that we don’t want to.”
There was a long silence.
“At least,” Asher said, leaning in toward her as water continued to pour down over her head. “I don’t want to.”
Emma bit her lip. She didn’t back away—though there was nowhere for her to go at this point either—but she didn’t lean into him either.
“It’s not that I don’t feel anything for you,” she said quietly, speaking from the heart, from her core. “I think we both know better than that. But that was before, Asher. Before this. I’ve got a lot of adjusting to do.”
“I know,” he said quietly.
She leaned a little closer. “There’s a whole new side of you that I know nothing about. I need to learn more about that, before I can say anything for certain.”
“I understand,” he said.
“But even with all that. All the unknown, the lack of information.” Her hand came up from where it hung lamely at her side, so that she could place it on his chest, above his heart. “I’m not sure what you are, Asher Aterna. But I know who you are, and that, to me, is a pretty darn good starting point.”
Then she finally leaned forward and let him kiss her.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Emma
Up until that precise moment, there had been no sexual tension in the shower. She hadn’t been the slightest bit turned on, despite his delicious naked body being so close to hers.
That all changed the instant their lips met, releasing that charged energy through her body, and likely his as well. Neither one of them moved at first, simply kissing through the water, taking a second to bask in their renewed connection.
Emma was serious, in that she didn’t know what the future would bring and could promise him nothing at all. There were too many unknowns for that. The only thing she knew was that she was willing to explore them with him.
That seemed to be enough for Asher, and she was happy.
Something poked her in the stomach, and the moment was broken. Her hand came up to grasp his shaft and—
“What the?” she looked down. It wasn’t the tip of his penis that had poked her, but a finger. Several inches down, she could see him hardening, growing longer, but that wasn’t what she’d felt.
Asher was chuckling. “Gotcha,” he teased.
She splashed water at him.
He gave it right back.
They stared at one another, and the next thing Emma knew she was pressed up against the tiles, her legs wrapped around his waist, Asher’s mouth latched on to her neck, biting, sucking, kiss and generally driving her wild. She rubbed her crotch against him, feeling his cock, having it slide against her.
This was no lovemaking, no sensual, passionate embrace. She wanted him, wanted to feel him, to let go and give herself to him.
Asher, by contrast, seemed fully ready and willing to take her. He had one hand tucked under her ass, holding her up. The other grabbed both hands and shoved them above her head, his massively larger palm pinning them to the shower wall.
She gasped, feeling helpless and loving it. He returned to her mouth and they kissed frantically, driving each other into a frenzy that could only end one way.
The pent-up fears and concerns of earlier, the scare of realizing what the world around her truly was capable of. The terrifying drive up the mountain. The acceptance of one another for what they were. It all boiled over into an indeterminate feeling that left Emma needing to feel alive.
This is how she was going to get it.
His lips parted and he forced his way into her mouth. She succumbed with a whimper, driven wild by his forcefulness. He was taking what he wanted, which was hot, but knowing that what he wanted was her drove her passion to a whole new level.
The water shut off and they slowly dripped dry. Waves of heat beat at her as Asher’s internal temperature went up and she gasped for breath, his overwhelming masculinity leaving her heart thundering in her chest and her lungs devoid of oxygen.
“Oh fuck,” she yelped as her gyrations finally captured what she truly wanted, and he pushed inside her.
She’d not been quite ready for it, but now that he was there, she had no intentions of giving him up. Her wetness coated him, and despite his deep growls and rough touch, Asher took his time burying the rest of his length.
“Please,” she moaned, wishing he wouldn’t take so long. It had gone from being polite, to a tease as he made her wait, aching to feel all of him, that delicious little stretch that his size forced upon her. It was too good.
If I ever get it.
Asher growled, and hoisted her further up on the wall, so that he could attack her breasts with his mouth, hungry lips sucking on them while his tongue flicked over and around her nipples.
That would have been wonderful, was wonderful, except he slid almost entirely out of her to do so. Emma pouted, biting her lip as pleasure spread out from her chest, but wishing he would go deeper inside her again.
“Asher,” she moaned, growing impatient. “Stop teasing me!”
He chuckled, giving her one nipple a little nibble with his teeth. Just enough to cause her to shiver and gasp.
Then he dropped her several inches without warning.
She yelped in surprise, but the noise quickly became a cry of pleasure as the sensations he was inflicting on her caught up to her battered brain.
It seemed Asher had had enough by this point, because moments later, she slid down the tiled shower wall, until her hips angled up and pressed into his. She was slack in his grip, too focused on the thick cock buried deep inside her to do anything else. It was up to Asher to keep her in the air now.
He let go of her hands, but she didn’t care at this point. They fell around his neck by default, tightening and giving her something to latch on to. Nails dug into his back and Asher growled.
She didn’t stop, but judging by the sudden pressure on her walls, he enjoyed the sensation.
Arousal was beating down any last restraints, any willingness to take it slow, and both of them were eager to come at this point. It would not be long. Letting go of his neck with one hand, she dropped her hand between her legs, finding her clit.
Asher’s eyes lit up as he watched her touch herself. Emma was struck by a sudden wave of arousal, seeing the way he looked at her. She brought her other hand free and massaged her breast at the same time, tugging on her nipples as well. It added to her own pleasure but seeing Asher’s reaction made it all the better.
“I can’t hold,” he growled, thrusting faster. “Emma…”
“Do it,” she moaned. “It’s okay. I’m good.”
His eyes opened wide and he nodded. His hips slammed into her harder, faster. She couldn’t contain h
erself any longer. A loud cry ripped from her throat and she flung her head back as he came.
The sudden explosion of warmth deep inside her sent Emma across the edge as well, and she bucked and heaved in his grip, her body letting loose with all the tension and stress it had been carrying, burning it free with a wave of endorphins that deluged her mind and the rest of her into an almost numb state within seconds.
“Holy…just holy,” she gasped, at a loss for words as she sagged back against the wall.
“We’re going down,” Asher informed her a moment before his knees grew wobbly.
She tried to stop it, but Asher maintained enough control to spill them to the tub in a controlled manner, where she came to as top, suddenly above him.
“Well this is interesting,” she said, flexing her muscles and squeezing around him. “I could handle this.”
Asher bit his lip, and to her surprise his hands came up to play with her breasts.
Inside her, she felt him pulse and stir.
“Are you serious?” she gaped. “Again?”
“Yeah. Why not? Unless you aren’t interested.
Emma shrugged. “I mean, if you really want.”
“With a sight like this,” he said, gesturing up at her, his eyes wide with renewed desire. “How could I not?”
“Okay, but don’t you have somewhere else to be? Other things to do?”
“Not until the morning,” he rumbled, massaging her breasts, already building her arousal again.
“What’s in the morning?” she asked in a tight voice, head falling back.
“In the morning, I’m going to Doran’s home. I’m going to talk to the head of Clan Teres,” Asher rumbled.
“Oh, okay.” Emma’s hips were starting to move of their own accord, grinding against Asher. “But tomorrow you said?”
“Yes. Tomorrow. For now, you’re all mine,” he rumbled.
Emma was alright with that. Yes, she was quite alright with that indeed.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Asher
