“So…” Nicole squinted at me and smiled. “Tell me about your hoard.”
“Ah…” I laughed. I couldn’t think of what else to do with her pressed against me. I lay back in the hot, bubbly water, the air cool on my skin. Every sensation seemed heightened now. I was all too aware of Nicole's almost naked body. “It’s...big.” I grinned and glanced over at her, biting my lip.
“Oh is it?” Her hair was down, falling in long, luxurious shiny waves around her bare warm brown shoulders. “Well, you know what they say, Justin, Size doesn’t matter.” She looked very happy about that and I threw back my head and laughed.
“Are you sure?” I said. I turned my head and we bumped noses. My heart thudded in my chest. She turned into me a little and her breasts bobbed in the water, the thin layer of lace that covered them pressing up against my chest. I leaned in closer and our lips brushed.
“Maybe it does a little,” she whispered, before our lips properly met.
The moment we kissed, I felt as if the fires within us merged into one. I could feel our mutual desire, a blazing flame that could swallow us whole. Nicole threw her arms around my neck and I pulled her into my lap, her body now pressing up against mine as she straddled me. I wrapped my arms around her, delighting in the feel of her smooth skin in the hot water, her round ass plush under my palms as I clutched at her through her underwear.
“Fuck,” I whispered into her mouth. “Nicole…”
My mate.
My mind insisted on the words; they pulsed and chanted within me. I shook even as I held her, I wanted to say them so badly as her fingers tangled in my hair and our tongues curled together. She pulled back and looked at me, her mouth parted, her eyes wide and guileless as a doe’s. Her hands slid from around my neck and she slid them down my bare chest, pressing at every inch of me.
“I can’t stop thinking about...about this,” she said, her voice quivering.
That was good. It should have been enough. I wanted it to be more.
I wanted her to say: I can’t stop thinking about you.
I wanted everything, not just this body as beautiful as it was, but her soul, her mind, her heart. I wanted to be her mate, her everything, and I wanted Tyler to be my son. I had a lump in my throat, I felt it so keenly as I held her.
But I couldn’t say all that. I couldn’t stand to watch her pull away and look at me pityingly.
Don’t you know, I still disdain you? She’d hated me in the beginning. Maybe she didn’t know. But civility and raw attraction hardly signified love.
I couldn’t say it. So instead I said, “Do you want to see my hoard, baby?”
She smiled against my mouth, her eyes flicking up and down. I was hard. She must have felt it. She pressed herself down against me and I gasped a little, bucking up into her. We humped a little, splashing, kissing idly. She was teasing me, I realized. I loved her for it.
I loved her.
It hurt to admit it to myself.
I loved her.
“Are you sure?” I whispered in her ear. I had been with many women. I had truly enjoyed most of them and according to their own words (unless they’d all been lying), they’d enjoyed me. Yet as much as I desperately wanted Nicole, a part of me was hesitant. The wiser part of me that thought it better to guard my heart from breaking, was afraid of sleeping with Nicole. But the dragon...the dragon spoke much louder than that wiser part.
Dragons aren’t necessarily wise. Or at least, we’re definitely not known for it.
I was getting truly riled up as we seemed unwilling to quite let go of each other. I wanted her now, my cock engorged in my briefs. But I wanted her on my hoard. I wanted to see what she looked like completely naked and utterly wanton before me, surrounded by all that precious gold I’d painstakingly stored up for just such an occasion.
Finally I had to push her away or it was going to happen now and I didn’t want it to.
She looked at me darkly. Her lips were red and swallowed. “Sorry,” she breathed. She licked those lips and said, “I got caught up.”
“Don’t be sorry.” I kissed her cheek and help her climb out of the water. “You’re a vixen.”
I had a small pool house in a corner of the roof and I got us towels, but we left our clothes there. I’d have someone collect them later. We didn’t have time for that now as I took her hand and led her to the elevator, the two of us wrapped in fluffy beach towels.
We’d barely enjoyed the hot tub but none of that seemed to matter. Nicole leaned against me and then turned her head and kissed my ear. I shut my eyes and imagined she was really mine, that she was my mate and lived here with me. We’d be together always. I’d take care of her and Tyler for the rest of our lives. I’d watch Tyler grow to be a strong and brilliant dragon and Nicole would be by my side and…
Ding.
The elevator slid open to the V level. That was V for vault. The floor between the penthouse and the roof. It was actually two floors merged into one massive floor. We stepped out in our bare, wet feet to the cold marble tile of a wide corridor.
The entryway looked like some generic lobby in an upscale building; smooth and bare white walls and white floors, and one smooth steel door that looked like another elevator at first glance. Except for the panel on the side with the glowing shape of a hand etched into it.
I winked at Nicole and padded across the hall, pressing my still damp hand to the panel.
The doors slid open and already my heart started to palpitate, my cock quickly growing again in my soaked briefs as Nicole came up next to me.
I heard her intake of breath. I heard her quiet, “Oh…”
It had taken me years. It was my favorite hobby as it is any male dragon’s.
For aesthetic’s sake, the hoard looked the way you might imagine any fairy tale dragon’s gold hoard to look. There massive piles of shiny, gold coins and tall, narrow stack of gold bricks. There were tangled heaps of gold chains, goblets, statues, utensils… Any little knick knack made of gold that had ever captured my fancy was there and the place was a riot of glittering wonder. I had a couple of dozen gold eggs from around Europe.
I knew my hoard was good, very good in fact. I didn’t know how it ranked among other impressive hoards however. The truth was, I didn’t really want to know. Most male dragons were intensely private about showing their hoards to other male dragons so none of my friends had seen the entire collections. They’d seen certain select pieces but that was all.
“It’s magnificent,” Nicole said softly. She stood in the doorway, her eyes dilated and round as she took it all in. I stepped up behind her and gentle took the towel from around her shoulders, leaning into lay a soft kiss to her neck.
“Go ahead,” I whispered. “Touch it. Touch all of it. Lie down in it. I want to see you.”
Nicole blushed scarlet but I could see the fire in her eyes. The towel dropped to the floor and she padded into the massive vault and begin to softly touch stacks of gold coins.
“Will you take off the rest…?” I felt so lascivious, but Nicole spun around and her lips parted as she nodded. She reached behind herself and unsnapped her bra and it slipped down her body, falling to the floor. Her breasts were so plump and just a little pendulous. I wanted to fill my hands with them. I was painfully hard now as she slowly slid her panties down her thighs before finally stepping out of them.
Now she was naked.
Nicole was naked and she was touching my hoard. She peeked over her shoulder, through a curtain of hair, and smiled slyly before taking one shining gold coin and turning around to show me that she was rubbing it along her bottom lip. I fell back, slumping against the wall, palming myself through my briefs, and watched her little antics. She smiled and so carelessly knocked over several high stacks of coins and bars that I gasped. But she only laughed and then she bit her lip and knelt down before lying back atop the pile of gold.
“Oh God!” I bit my lip hard and shoved my briefs down, stepping out of them. Nicole watched me,
her cheeks red. She was surrounded by it all, naked and beckoning to me. She dragged a coin down her throat and I watched it make a path between her breasts. She parted her legs and reached back to take handfuls of coins and chains, throwing them over breasts and her belly. I watched her throw her head back and I saw her eyes flash with a brilliant orange glow, her dragon appearing momentarily.
“Come here,” she ordered, her voice demanding. My cock jutted out in front of me and I stumbled forward, breathless and trembling from desire to see her, my love, my mate surrounded by my hoard, enjoying it and bathing in it and urging me to take her on top of it all.
The only downside to being human and being incredibly turned on by the idea of making love on top of a pile of gold is that making love on top of a pile of gold is not incredibly comfortable.
And yet, I was so utterly aroused, that my knees didn’t complain as I knelt there atop the coins and pulled apart Nicole's knees, settling between them. My cock pressed against her belly and she gasped, arching up against me. I kissed her and she wrapped her legs around me and for a while we simple writhed together atop my hoard, driving each other wild. I kissed my way down her body and took each nipple in my mouth as gold spilled over her. My cock was leaking as I tasted the tangy metallic of gold and then the warm smooth skin of her body and then gold again. I worked my way down, having no particular plan except to make her feel good.
My mate. My mate and my hoard…
When I slipped my tongue inside her, I felt her tremble all around me and more than that I felt the power of her dragon radiating through the gold. It was a phenomenon I’d only heard about and never experienced; the totality of gold as our aphrodisiac. It was catalysing our pleasure, and more than that it was bringing us together, making us one. I tasted her and her pleasure was my pleasure. She was not only the sweetest thing I’d ever tasted, but her moans as she bucked against me were the sweetest sounds. But then I was moaning into her and her hands were clasped in mine. We were one body and one flesh.
“Justin…” She was weeping, crying for me, her thighs shaking as I licked and laved her and sucked at her clit. “Justin, God… Can you… God, can you feel that? Please, Justin, I need you! Please…”
I obeyed her commands and pulled away, and sat up to take a breath and get one last look at her, her legs wide open, her sex bright and swollen and throbbing for me. I leaned forward and smiled, kissing her kneecap, and then I climbed on top of her. My mind was a riot of our joined fires as I slid inside her, my throbbing cock plunging into her as she threw her head back, her legs wrapping around me to pull me in yet closer.
We found our rhythm and rocked together. I felt the buzz of an orgasm already creeping up at me and I kept it at bay, desperate to keep this going as long as possible. We shook, the two of us, united as one.
“Nicole…” I whispered her name and looked into her eyes and she nodded.
“Yes,” she said. “Justin, yes…”
Mine, I thought. Mine, mine, mine...my hoard and my mate…
“Oh God, oh Justin,” Nicole said. I could sense her getting close and I sped up, feeling her muscles tense. We were slicked with sweat and I felt myself grow yet larger inside her, her heartbeat pulsing with mine.
I muttered, “Fuck,” and came as tears leaked into my eyes.
“Yes, yes, yes…” Nicole cried out, sharp and abrupt, and it echoed in the vault.
I love you. I thought it and couldn’t bear to say it.
Chapter Eleven: Nicole
When I woke up in Justin’s arms, I shut my eyes again and pretended I was still asleep.
I couldn’t stay there forever, but God did I want to. I felt like the two of us had united. But in the cold light of the vault, waking up sticky if sated on top of Justin’s pile of gold, it seemed too much like a fairy tale. I couldn’t count on this being for real. It had been a magical night, to be sure. But the idea that Justin wanted me, like really wanted me, was too wonderful an idea to contemplate as reality. And reality was beckoning. I couldn’t help but feel like a crappy mother suddenly as I begrudgingly shifted and crawled out of Justin’s embrace. My kid had the flu and here I was banging my billionaire boss on top of his hoard. I had to get home, take care of my kid, and go back to work. I had to remember who I was and that life was no fairy tale.
I stood up, shivering from the chill of the vault, wrapped myself in the towel I’d been happy to drop the night before. I took one last look at Justin, sleeping peacefully among his treasure. He looked as handsome as ever, his beard growing in, his hair messy and sexily tousled. I blew him a kiss. Then I grabbed my bra and panties and jogged to the elevator.
I moved as fast as I could. I tried not to think even as memories of Justin inside me and of his pleasure mingling with my pleasure and even of his soul mingling with my soul poured through my mind. I just ran, shaking a little. I ran up the spiral staircase and to the guest room and threw on clothes and stuffed all my things into the backpack I’d brought. I found my phone and made a run for it, back to the elevator and all the way down to the street. My heart was pounding and I choked back tears as I called up a ride-share to go back to my apartment.
I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t stand to see Justin wake up and for things to go back to our pretend state of a relationship.
Back home, I almost cried again when I saw the immaculate state of my apartment. The place hadn’t looked that good since the day I’d moved in, yet somehow Justin’s housekeeping guy hadn’t changed it enough to make it weird. It was just organized and sparkling. Linda was on the couch, reading. She seemed surprised to see me and I kept things vague, but she didn’t ask questions. She said everything was paid up. Justin had taken care of all of it. She also said Tyler had been good and was almost completely well now. By the weekend, she said, he would be back in action. I thanked her and saw her off and then collapsed on my couch.
The place was so quiet. There was nothing to do now. All the laundry and dishes were done. I checked my email and my supervisor assured me that I would be fine when I was ready to come back but until then, I should focus on my son. I took care of a few bills but then I was stuck with my thoughts again.
Justin inside me…
My mate…
I’d thought it so many times the night before and now it was too demanding a thought to ignore.
I wanted Justin to be my mate and more than that, to me he already was.
You didn’t have to leave.
I couldn’t read the tone of Justin’s text. I’d stayed home one more day to take care of Tyler, but he was up and around. He almost could have gone to day-care, but for a little bit of fever.
I’d been compulsively checking my phone for texts from Justin or even Joanie. At the same time, I’d nearly texted Justin so many times. I’d written a bunch of different texts and then not sent them. I figured if he wanted to talk to me, he would. I just didn’t want to be the first one to put myself out there, if he wasn’t going to. What if he rejected me? I couldn’t handle it.
At least, he’d been a good influence on me as a shifter. That night after sleeping with him, I went flying. I felt rattled about it, but he’d assured me that he’d never been spotted once, even flying right over the park, if it was late enough at night. I put Tyler to bed and then I waited until three in the morning.
I went to the roof. I’d shifted up there before, just to feel my dragon body for a while. I didn’t love leaving Tyler alone in the apartment, but it was locked and I’d only be gone a few minutes.
Up on the roof, the cool air was crisp. I shifted and the stretch of muscles as my human body became dragon felt like a good kind of ache, like the soreness of muscles after some good exercise.
I’d heard a theory once that shifters, a long time ago, had put some kind of ward over New York City. Nobody knew what it was or what exactly they’d done. But for being the biggest city in the country and the city that never sleeps, you could get away with a lot. Most of the time, nobody would see you.
For the most part, I was still too paranoid to test the limits of that rumour. But Justin seemed to believe it too. And I trusted Justin.
I perched on the edge of the apartment building and stretched my wings out. At three, the Lower East Side was quiet, but still very much awake. There were people out, milling around, cars driving, the hum of activity even in the wee hours.
But nobody had noticed me yet.
I was still too nervous to fly very much over the city. I also hadn’t flown in such a long time that I felt a bit shaky with my wings. I took off and flew up high, soaring into the sky, high up enough to hide in the darkness but not nearly high enough to bother a plane. I flew around in a few circles and dipped and it felt so good, like stepping into a hot shower after freezing for a long time. But that was a gross understatement of the kind of satisfaction I felt as I let my wings carry me. I was sorry to end it. But I flew for a few minutes. Upon landing and finally shifting back into human form on the roof, I burst into tears.
I wasn’t sad. I was actually happy. I’d forgotten just how good it felt. I’d been ignoring my dragon and it hadn’t helped my human side at all. I felt better than I had in such a long time; looser, relaxed, and a little more at peace. All that stress I’d felt lately, I knew that was somewhat to do with going so long from a flight. I let myself cry though. Even that felt good. Sometimes you need that kind of catharsis to clear the head. I trotted down the stairs to my floor and let myself back into the apartment and found Tyler, happily asleep.
I made a mental note to myself to tell Justin how much he’d helped me. He deserved to know that. He’d helped me bring my dragon out again. I’d never be able to repay him.
But on Friday night, I got his text. My heart was pounding in my chest. I didn’t know what it meant. Things were weird between us. The fake relationship was working anyway, of that I was sure. Justin’s stock was rising again. A cursory google search revealed that people liked him since our appearances together. People liked me in particular too, which had sort of surprised me. Joanie had emailed about a casual appearance over the weekend but hadn’t specified more and I was too nervous after what had happened between me and Justin to ask.
Dragon's Fake Mate Page 10
