“I would not consider myself worthy of Chloe if such a visit became necessary, Marceline. Travel safely.”
An uneventful flight delivered Saul, Chloe, and Felix to Los Angeles where Leiv retrieved them from the airport. As usual, her every wish seemed to be his and Saul’s command. He drove her to a Wendy’s for a Frosty and the greasy burgers she craved, allowing her to introduce Saul to the frozen chocolate decadence for the first time.
Still, things didn’t quite feel right, and it took a minute for her to figure out what the anomaly was. There was silence from the front seat.
Something must be wrong with Leiv. He’s never so quiet.
The odd, taciturn change of personality warred with her memories of the chatty bear shifter. He was polite as ever as he helped her from the car, but the sparkle was missing from his eyes. Reluctant to intrude, she left him alone and retreated to her bedroom with Felix’s carrier. Saul promised to join her after he checked in on the household affairs.
“This is home now, at least for a while,” Chloe murmured to the curious feline. If Saul allowed them to remain once she made her confession. It felt foolish to move blindly into his home, but the wistful, crazy-in-love part of her wanted to trust nothing would change.
“Go on now. Have fun, baby,” she coaxed the cat, urging him from the carrier. Felix scrambled across the polished floors and slid beneath the bed. He ran circles across the room and leapt into a window sill to peer outside into the golden afternoon.
By the time Saul arrived with her luggage and personal items, she had sprawled across the bed with Felix nestled beside her. He was bored of investigating his new digs but intrigued by the gold silk tassel on her pillow case.
“What’s wrong with Leiv?” Chloe asked. She absently teased Felix and giggled at his batting paws.
“Matters of the heart, Chloe. Mahasti is similarly pensive.”
“Looks like they took advantage of our absence.”
“Indeed,” he replied without elaboration.
Fine. I’ll have to ask Mahasti about it then, Chloe thought, brimming with curiosity that her boyfriend wouldn’t sate with information. Since her arrival, she and the djinn in Saul’s service had developed a girlish camaraderie.
After she abandoned the bed, Chloe crouched beside the luggage pieces brought up from the car. Part of her wanted to lounge away the afternoon to enjoy the comforts of bed, but a desire to behave like an adult drove her to get an early start on establishing her professional career in California. She wouldn’t settle for being his low-maintenance human pet, a rent-free occupant of the manor who happened to share his bed. For Chloe, it was more than a mere desire to pull her own weight — she had worked her entire adult life and couldn’t fathom staying at home.
“Mahasti will unpack for you.”
“I can empty my own things, and I’m not unpacking right this moment,” she replied. She returned to the bed with a slim leather case and removed her laptop. “How do I access the internet here?”
Saul rattled off a complicated password that Chloe asked him to repeat twice. Jeez. Dragons are all about security. How the hell does he have that memorized? The long string of special characters, numbers, and letters looked like gibberish to her.
“What has you typing so busily?”
“Working on my resume. I need to update it.”
“That is unnecessary,” he told her with a chuckle.
“I mean it, Saul. I didn’t come here to be a trophy wife like one of the gems in your vault. I want a job.”
“Don’t be silly, Chloe. You will work with Drakenstone Studios.”
“As what?”
“You are a paralegal with many years of experience. Arrangements will be made for a new supervisory position—”
“I will not.”
Saul paused to stare at her and raise an inquisitive blond brow. “You will not do what?”
“Accept some management position handed to me. Everyone will know why I’m there! I’ll be a laughingstock. The boss’s new girlfriend given a cushy desk job to sit on her ass and collect a salary.”
“Why would I pay you a salary?” Saul’s quizzical expression deserved a punch, if not for the unveiled sincerity on his features.
“Are you teasing me? Saul, the entire purpose of employment is to receive a paycheck.”
“No.” His brow furrowed. “Did I sound as though I were jesting?”
Chloe sighed and rubbed her fingers against her temple. “Saul, I need a job. Income.”
“My love, it is common among dragons to combine hoards once mated. What is mine shall also become yours. We are not humans to maintain separate bank accounts and financial means.”
The bottom of her belly seemed to drop to her feet. Chloe stared. “Combine... hoards? Saul, I don’t have a hoard. I haven’t brought anything.”
“You have given me you. That is sufficient.” He paused, seemed to consider something, and then thoughtfully added, “And you have brought Felix.”
The tears flooded from Chloe all at once. Saul, who remained completely oblivious to the inner turmoil surrounding her secret, merely hugged her close and pressed his lips against her brow.
“Saul, you’re too good to be true.”
“No, I am a dragon.”
Chapter 5
“There we go, all set up.” Chloe stood back with her hands on her hips and regarded their tent with satisfaction. After Saul’s cavalier declaration of combining their holdings, Chloe had come to a single conclusion.
He needed to know about the baby, and she wanted to treat him to one fantastic night before she broke the news to him. Before she jeopardized their relationship and risked losing his trust.
Saul rumbled a noise of disapproval. “Am I not an improvement over a sleeping bag?” Her mate towered above her in his draconic body, seated on his haunches beside the tent.
“You’re great to sleep on. But you don’t keep mosquitos away and they love to bite on me.”
“I never notice them.”
“You have dragon skin,” Chloe pointed out dryly. She tried to pinch his hide between her fingers. Contrary to popular fiction, dragons lacked scales, and had the exterior of a lizard like a chameleon or gecko. After a soak in Leiv’s big fishing pond, Saul’s flesh resembled velvet, but it was thick and impervious to most damage. She loved to stroke her fingers over his face and through the silky mane at the base of his feathers and around his throat.
A plume of smoke accompanied his irritable huff. “I cannot fit inside.”
“Not like this you can’t,” she laughed. “But you can’t enjoy my skimpy underwear in this form either.”
For a giant creature, Saul had impeccable reflexes. Out of his dragon skin and into his human body in the blink of an eye, he swept her close and dipped her back into an exaggerated kiss. The playful flirt received the intended response and lulled her into a relaxed state in his arms.
“Come inside with me.”
A day ago when they visited the local town for an impromptu shopping trip, Chloe had beseeched Leiv to drive past the local sporting goods store. The brand new pads and sleeping bags filling the snug space were part of the surprise. Chloe kicked off her shoes and stepped inside the family-sized tent with Saul right behind her. She had the advantage, able to ogle every magnificent inch of his body since the shift had already bared him for her pleasure.
“Zip it up behind you, please,” she called over a shoulder.
Chloe spread a blanket over the sleeping bags and crouched down to power on the mp3 player. Smooth orchestral music whispered from the speakers once she set them to a low volume for ambience. “C’mon. Sit down in front of me. No, with your back to me.”
Saul’s bewildered expression was priceless. “Is this a new position? How will I—?”
“No, silly.” She failed to hold her giggles at bay. “This isn’t for sex. I’m going to give you a massage,” she explained once the obedient dragon lowered himself to sit in front of her.
Chloe bit her lower lip, divided between confessing her selfish motivations and keeping him completely in the dark. Uncertainty filled her almost at once, doubting whether Marcy’s idea to put him in the best possible mood would help. “To relax you.”
Saul looked back over his shoulder with a smug grin. “I know exactly what will make me relax.”
She rolled her eyes and pushed on his cheek to make him face forward again. “Trust me on this. Breathe in a deep breath and slowly let it out. If you really hate it, I’ll stop.”
As if he sensed the longing in her voice, Saul silenced his complaints and became still as a marble-carved statue. Her own personal David, but warm and alive beneath her hands. With a backpack of goodies within reach, she dragged it closer and unsnapped it with a hand.
I hope dragons aren’t allergic to anything, she thought. She uncapped a small, navy blue bottle and poured fragrant oil into her hands.
“What is that?”
Chloe nervously bit her lower lip again. At this rate, she’d die of an anxiety attack long before she had the child. “Something I hope you like,” she whispered.
“The smell is pleasant. Did you bring mint tea?”
“Not tea. Something even better.” I hope.
A surge of confidence overtook Chloe as she drizzled the oil onto one cupped palm and warmed it between her hands. After smoothing her fingers across his broad shoulders, she kneaded a path down his back with alternating pressure until the tension in his spine released. She swept his hair aside and brushed her lips against his nape. Saul purred as loudly as Felix, and the mental comparison made her giggle despite her best efforts otherwise.
Chloe stole a peek over Saul’s left shoulder to see his sexual interests hadn’t waned. His big cock stood tall in arousal, the very sight of it encouraging her body to match his reaction. Her core clenched and her dampening panties became an uncomfortable hindrance. She wanted him and had become practically insatiable when it came to satisfying her recent lusts.
Swallowing, she settled again with her bottom against her heels and slipped her hands down his sides until every drop vanished into his skin. Her dragon became like putty in her hands, a low groan escaping his half-parted lips. Another lean to the side revealed his serene features in profile, a man at complete peace who easily lay down once she moved from his path and coaxed him back against the blanket.
Chloe knelt alongside her lover to skim her fingers over his muscular chest, kneading his pectoral muscles, glossing him with scented oil, and anticipating him more with each breath.
“You’re gorgeous,” she finally murmured.
“Hm?” Saul finally opened his eyes to gaze at her.
“How are you so beautiful inside and out?”
“Dragons are superior in every way.” His warm grin and sparkling eyes eased the offense from his arrogant reply
With her willpower exhausted, Chloe climbed to her feet and pulled her shirt over her head. Saul caught the hint and sat up quickly to help. “I’ve become fond of your human ways to make love,” he admitted.
Saul unsnapped her jeans and yanked them down her thighs to discover a scant blue thong. His appreciative, rumbled growl sent her heart into excited palpitations. Thank goodness he loved her choice, as evidenced by the twitch that flexed his erection and the hunger in his eyes. During her last night in Texas, Marcy had swept her away on an all-evening girl-hunt for sexy attire, leading to a substantial increase in Chloe’s lingerie collection. Every night with Saul would become a surprise if her secret didn’t drive a wedge between them.
“Well?” she whispered.
Saul responded by shoving his face against her panties. He flicked his tongue against her freshly waxed mound through the delicate lace pattern while his strong fingers kneaded her bare ass cheeks, delivering his own massage.
“This color suits you,” he mumbled against the lace, following up with another flat press of his tongue. “A shame it must come off.”
“Watch and learn,” Chloe whispered. “The great thing about thongs is they can be shifted aside.”
The tiny triangle bunched up easily when Chloe pulled it to one side, and with Saul’s help, she sank upon his cock to receive the satisfying stretch she craved. Chloe shuddered once he reached full hilt then leaned forward to rest both hands over his oiled chest.
“You are the beautiful one, Chloe. You.”
She started slow with a roll of her hips that made Saul’s eyes glaze over. If this was to possibly be their last night together, she wanted it to last. To savor every moment. She watched anticipation tense his muscles and felt the twitch of his cock inside her. Every rise of her hips was one stroke closer to orgasm. He held her hips and directed her with care, groaning at times as his balls slapped against her ass.
And then she slowed and lay against him, touching tender kisses on his lips. She loved him. If there had ever been any doubt in her mind, she knew it now. She loved him for sharing his life and the secret of his draconic nature with her. For giving her a second chance. For nurturing her ills and befriending her closest lifelong pal.
The first hot tear slipped down her cheek and splashed against Saul’s bearded face. Her surprised dragon raised a hand and dried the wet trail with a wipe of his thumb over her skin.
“What is it?”
“Nothing,” Chloe lied. The knife stabbed her in the heart again, as if punishing her for the falsehood. “I’m just... so happy to be with you.”
Saul rolled, tucking her body in beneath his. “I cherish you, Chloe. You know this, right?” A slow backstroke withdrew his dick until only the sensitive crown remained, and then he drove forward again until their bodies met in a solid union. She shifted beneath him, threw her head back to expose her throat and groaned.
“Show me how much.”
Whether it was the beast in him or the man, Saul took her words as a challenge. Her lover learned quickly and knew exactly where to touch to make Chloe tremble or sigh. He nipped her ear in a playful bite that sent electric zings down her spine and gripped her thigh, drawing her leg up towards her chest.
The eucalyptus and mint oil tingled, transferred from his body to her skin. “Faster, Saul.”
Their bodies slapped together, the frenetic pace sped, and Saul didn’t dare to stop fucking her until her pussy squeezed his cock and shuddered with the arrival of orgasm. Chloe came hard. Every spasm was a delicious tremble around his dick, and through it all, he never slowed. Saul reaffirmed his place as her unstoppable and never tiring dragon lover while her snatch massaged him to the very end, coaxing him to join her in orgasm.
And somehow he denied the greedy spasms around his cock. It wasn’t just sex, it was an adrenaline-fueled claiming, as if some subconscious instinct drove him to assert his dominance again. Renew the act that made her his girl and his mate.
Another orgasm ignited the next series of contractions around Saul’s dick. She buried her fingers against his broad shoulders and wildly clung as the world spun. Chloe was soaking wet long before he spent his seed.
“My Chloe,” he rumbled against her jaw. “Mine.”
“Fuck, I love you,” she rasped on a heaving breath.
“Me or my cock?” he teased on a shallow backstroke.
Chloe arched beneath him and raised her hips, burying her toes against the blankets. The resulting grind of their bodies stimulated her clit and initiated another hard clench. “Both... I love it when you talk to me that way, too.” Saul had taken her occasional teases seriously regarding his use of the word ‘manhood’ and obliterated it from his vocabulary.
“There is definitely something to be admired in human slang,” he agreed.
“Now how am I supposed to get clean? You made a mess of me.” As if I could even move on my own after this.
“How do you think humans washed before the invention of the bathtub?” Saul asked? Clever as usual, he carried her outside to the cool stream that snaked through his property.
> “When the sun sets I will hunt a proper meal,” he said as he waded into the water.
“Okay. God, I can’t believe how clean the water runs here. It must be an advantage of living so far away from the city I guess.”
Once they lounged against the edge of the stream, her head against the grassy edge, Chloe had no desires beyond a glass of wine and a picnic basket. She tilted her head back to gaze at the colorful sky fast on its approach toward twilight.
“Would you like me to wash you?”
“Mm. I’ll be fine. Go do your manly thing. Hunt. I want to lay here and enjoy the water.” Chloe shooed him with her hands and splashed cold stream water at the approaching man. Chuckling first, he leaned close to kiss her brow then rose from his seat beside her to leave the narrow stream. Once he reached a safe distance from their tent and supplies, he transformed into a powerful beast, spread his wings, and took to the sky.
She didn’t know what came over her. Luckily, the sobbing began moments after Saul’s great wings carried him away, otherwise she would have never peeled him from her side to capture their dinner.
I don’t want to end this because of Freddy. Because I was stupid again.
Chloe dried off inside the tent and sprawled on the floor to rest. The realization of possibly losing her dragon haunted her the whole while that she lay beneath the eucalyptus mint scented blanket until, eventually, exhaustion claimed her completely. She fell asleep wishing her baby would have Saul’s golden eyes.
***
For the second time in their relationship, Chloe awakened to a succulent aroma wafting through the mosquito net of their tent. She crawled from beneath the quilted blanket and unzipped the flap to look outside.
In his dragon form, Saul tended the campfire fire by exhaling brief bursts of a fiery steam from his open mouth. The unfortunate goat skewered on a branch had been seared golden on all sides.
Animal welfare would be all over him for this, Chloe mused. At least his livestock were fat and healthy animals, free to roam hundreds of acres of pasture before becoming a meal fit for a dragon’s consumption.
Mated by the Dragon (Loved by the Dragon, #2) Page 5
