Forbidden Dragon (The Bride Hunt Book 5)

by Charlene Hartnady

  Granite knew exactly why he felt this way. Why there was an extra spring to his step. Why he looked so damned relaxed. It all had to do with one little doctor.

  More precisely, it had to do with getting his pipes cleaned every other day. Okay, for the last week, it had been every day. They were taking more and more chances but it was too good between them not to. He’d popped into her office unannounced and had blocked her door and made her come. Quick and hard. He hadn’t allowed her to return the favor. Granite loved watching as her breaths turned ragged and hoarse. He loved that look of awe she took on just as she reached the edge. He fucking loved the look of rapture when he made her come so hard her eyes watered.

  Granite had also snuck into her room in the early hours of the morning and had licked her clit until her legs shook. Until she’d had to cover her face with her pillow to muffle her cries. He’d fallen asleep at her place the other night. It was the first time he had slept at a female’s place. The first time he had really slept in another person’s arms. It was only a handful of hours but it was the best sleep he’d had in a long time. The human was good for him. He liked to think that the opposite was true but she was as sexy as hell.

  Especially when she had her mouth around his cock, her hand kneading his balls and her …

  “Hey! You zoned out there for a few seconds. You had this … smile on your face,” Volcano interrupted.

  “I wasn’t smiling.”

  “You were smiling. I know a smile when I see one.”

  Granite narrowed his eyes. “I was not smiling. It was indigestion.”

  “Indigestion!” Volcano laughed. “Like hell!” He laughed some more. “If you say so, asshole.”

  “I do fucking say so.”

  “Sure thing.” Volcano gave him a slap on the back. “Whatever.”

  Granite heaved an internal sigh of relief. Volcano might suspect something but he was clueless. He needed to be more careful. Was Louise acting any differently towards him? Were they any different together? With one another? Not that they were in public together very often. It was something they needed to consider. He was going to discuss it with her later. Granite had planned on sneaking into her room again tonight. It could wait until then.

  They just needed to be a bit more careful and a lot more aware. The last thing he wanted was for someone to find out. If this got out it would spell the end of her time here. The Resistance Therapy meant too much to Louise. It meant far too damned much to the career she’d worked so hard towards. She might not be able to find work very easily if she was made to leave. Positions like hers didn’t come around too often. Especially the research type, which was where her passion lay. No! They needed to proceed with extreme caution.

  “How are my nieces?” he asked, trying hard to concentrate on what Volcano had to say. Granite was worried about the female. His level of worry was a worry in itself. Louise was the best person for this job, he didn’t want to see her replaced and the program disrupted. That was it. That was why he was so damned tied up in knots. It helped him to relax some.

  Chapter 24

  That night …

  There was the sound of footfalls down the hallway. Granite forced himself to stop pacing. He waited and waited some more. The person slowed and stopped. It had to be her. The door swung open. Granite sucked in a deep breath as Louise walked through the door. “I thought you would never come back to your chamber.” The words left him in a rush. It felt like he’d been waiting for forever.

  Louise grabbed her chest and gasped. “You almost gave me a heart attack!” She pulled in a couple of deep breaths.

  “Where were you?” He was already scenting the air, trying to catch another male’s scent. What was wrong with him? Granite forced himself to calm down. She wasn’t that kind of female. The kind to fuck around.

  “I stepped up the contact time with silver again. Igneous had a bad reaction. His heart stopped during the therapy session.” She looked concerned.

  He could see that she was shaken up, could even scent fear on her. Granite didn’t like to see her so out of sorts. “What happened?” a low growl.

  Louise seemed to calm down but only slightly. “He arrested. It happened out of the blue. I managed to resuscitate him but it could have gone either way. I know you’ve said that shifters can come back from the dead, but I don’t like taking such huge risks. I think that we need to back up a bit. We’re pushing this whole thing just a bit too much.”

  Granite nodded. He trusted the female’s judgement. “Yes, okay. Send me an amended program when you get a chance.”

  Louise looked confused for a moment. “Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

  “Yeah, very sure. I don’t want anything serious to happen to any of the males and I respect your professional opinion.” He fucking hated that she was nervous and upset about the incident.

  It didn’t seem to placate her. She seemed agitated somehow. Louise removed her coat and slung it over the back of a chair. “I’m glad you’re here because we need to talk.”

  Granite strode to her and put his arms around her waist. “We can talk later.” She was wearing one of the summer dresses he had bought for her. It was grey with big black polka dots. She looked so damned cute in it. Her little breasts pushed up against the fabric. Her nipples were hard. He could only guess at the underwear that would be beneath the soft fabric. Her gaze had dropped to his dick more than once in the short time since she had arrived.

  His semi was now fully erect. He felt like a dick considering the nature of the conversation but it couldn’t be helped. He hadn’t seen her the whole day. His mouth watered for a taste of her sweet pussy.

  Louise shook her head, she took a step back severing contact. “We need to talk. I don’t think it can wait.”

  It looked like something serious. He reined in his need for her. “What is it? Did something happen? I told you we can change the program, I’m happy to go with your recommendations. I trust you.” He looked into her wide green eyes and realized that he did. Even more than he had before.

  “That’s just it,” she paused. “You shouldn’t be happy. Up until a short while ago you would have taken my head off.” She shook her head “Acted like a complete asshole if I’d attempted to table such a thing, let alone tried to implement it. Why the sudden change?”

  He thought about what she had said. “You are a good doctor.” It was the truth. “I’ve gotten to know you. I‒”

  “It’s because we’re intimate. You do know that your brother and Breeze suspect that there’s something between us?”

  “I know, Volcano spoke to me earlier. We need to be more careful. That’s all. In fact, I’d planned on chatting to you about it after making you come a couple of times.”

  “Oh flip, he spoke to you?” She covered her face with her hands for a second or two.

  “Yes, it’s not a big deal. We can keep this a secret. We need to be a bit more careful that’s all.” Something in him clenched at the thought of their relationship ending. Not that they had a real relationship. He enjoyed her company. They were compatible. It was an excellent arrangement.

  Louise shook her head. “No, it would be better just to stop this madness. We agreed it was short-term. We’ve had fun and now it should be over, before one of us gets burned.” By the look on her face she suspected that person would be her.

  “Neither of us is about to get burned. I won’t let that happen. Besides, no one is going to find out.” He put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her beautiful green eyes. “We are having fun, aren’t we? You’re enjoying yourself, aren’t you?” It felt like an icy fist had taken ahold of his heart. He struggled to breathe. He would not let her walk away. Not yet.

  “You know I’m having fun and of course I’m enjoying myself. We’re having a great time but it’s too big a risk,” she shook her head. Her frown became deeper. “It’s getting to a point where it’s not worth the risk anymore, Granite, you need to understand that. Someone is bound to

find out about us. You would get a slap on the wrist but I would end up out on my ass.”

  “We’re being careful.” That fist tightened a whole lot more. Granite struggled to breathe. He was losing the battle. The thought of not touching her again was too much. They were too damned good together. Another few weeks and this crazy attraction would peter out.

  “Not careful enough. The dynamic between two people who are intimate is different. Those close to you are starting to pick up on it.”

  “Bullshit! I like your pussy and that’s where it ends. No one is going to pick up on anything.”

  She seemed to shut down even further, looking at the ground, instead of at him. “I’ve made up my mind.”

  “Like hell!” he growled. His whole body felt tight. A need rose up in him.

  Have.

  Take.

  He tried to calm himself down and failed. “Don’t you like it when I touch you?” He cupped her pussy through the material of her dress. The need increased. He couldn’t get enough air. Couldn’t think beyond having Louise. Of convincing her that they were right. That this was all that mattered … right now.

  “Yes,” a moan. “Of course.”

  Thank fuck! Her honesty fueled him. Granite leaned down and gripped the fabric of her dress, he pulled the bodice from her shoulders, snapping one of the straps in the process. Her tight raspberry-tipped breasts sprang free. Fucking perfection. Soft curves and hard nubs. They begged him for affection.

  “Granite,” it was part warning and part plea. He chose to ignore the first and obey the second. On a groan, he closed his mouth over one of the nubs, it tightened up in his mouth.

  She moaned. “No, we …”

  “We’re good together.” He brushed a kiss across her lips. “Doesn’t this feel good?” He slid his hand beneath the hem of her dress and palmed her slit. She wore a pair of briefs. They were silk and smooth to the touch.

  “Yes …” another moan. Her eyes were glazed over. “But …”

  He couldn’t do buts, couldn’t take not touching all of her soft skin. Hearing her moan. It wasn’t about to happen, so best she accept it. “But you want to end it. Fuck that.” He couldn’t think clearly. Not with her pussy in his hand, the material wet beneath his touch. He needed to feel her soft skin so he ripped the underwear open, shredding the silk like it was nothing. The thought of not touching her again was maddening. It was unacceptable. He slipped a finger into her wet heat and pumped. His dick physically ached.

  “We can’t …” Her eyes closed and her head fell back. Her mouth opened. Her tight breasts rose and fell as her breathing became hard.

  “I need this,” he groaned. “I need you. You need me right back.”

  She bit down on her lip. He leaned in and suckled on her tight buds. He finger-fucked her a bit deeper, a whole lot quicker.

  “No!” Hearing her say it twisted his gut into knots. It caused his chest to tighten to the point of pain. His mind was foggy with sheer need. His balls pulled tight.

  “Do you want me to stop?” Her scent drove him to distraction so sweet and pungent. So his.

  “No! Yes! No … Oh god, you should stop,” she spoke through clenched teeth. Her breath ragged. What a picture she painted. “But I don’t want you to,” she managed to say through hard pants. “I want you.” Her fingers dug into him. Hearing her admit the truth pushed him right over the edge.

  “Good,” he growled, pulling down his pants. It happened before he could think on it. One minute, she was on the end of his finger and in the next she was on the end of his dick. Her eyes widened. It felt right. It felt fucking perfect.

  Her legs were around his hips and her dress was bunched up high on her waist. He was fucked if he could stop. He thrust in and out of her heat. Granite made a loud grunting noise with each thrust. Fuck if he could help it. Her back was against the wall and his hands gripped her thighs to hold her in position. Nothing had ever felt this good. This right. Pure pleasure rushed through him.

  “Oh god!” she moaned. “Oh … my … god … Granite,” she yelled his name as her pussy began to flutter.

  Then she was spasming around him. Milking the hell out of him. Her hands grabbed his back. Her nails dug in. The orgasm that tore through him was enough to bring him to his knees but it didn’t stop the thrusting or the pleasure.

  He roared as he found completion.

  It was only when Louise screamed his name that he realized he was biting her. Hard enough to draw blood. He’d come inside her and he’d marked her. What the fuck had he done? He put his forehead to hers. Their intermingled breaths were the only noise in the room. He’d fucked up in a big bad way, yet he couldn’t bring himself to regret it.

  Chapter 25

  Louise leaned her forehead against his shoulder. Her body still shook. Remnants of the most powerful orgasm of her life still lingered. In the tips of her breasts as they brushed against him. Deep inside her where his cock was still buried inside her.

  He had bitten her. The spot stung a little. She was sure he had broken the skin.

  Louise knew she should move away. Far away … but she couldn’t right now. Her legs felt like jello. Her eyes were at half-mast. She felt slightly drunk. It must have been from the endorphins.

  She had zero will-power when it came to this man. She had been able to sense where things were headed but had been unable to stop it. In fact, she’d welcomed it. Welcomed him into her body. Even now, she wanted more. So much more. More than he could ever give.

  “We’ll fix this,” he murmured as he rubbed a hand down her back.

  “How?” a whisper.

  “I’m sorry! So damned sorry. I let that get out of control.”

  Maybe he would understand now. Maybe he would agree to stop this madness.

  “It’s just that you’re …” he pulled back and cupped her cheeks while looking deep in her eyes, “in heat. Your scent affects me on a normal day but right now it’s damn near killing me.”

  Heat.

  What?

  What the hell was he talking about?

  She pulled away, trying to scramble off of his lap but he held onto her. “My heat, as in my ovulation. Is that what you’re saying?” She was freaking out right now but couldn’t seem to stop herself.

  Granite nodded once. “Calm down, female.”

  “Don’t you dare tell me to calm down. What the hell were you thinking? That should never have happened in the first place let alone while I am fertile. Have you completely lost your freaking mind?”

  “You can’t become pregnant. I would never have rutted you if that was the case.”

  “You just ejaculated inside of me.” She could feel the wetness slipping down her thighs.

  Granite shook his head which infuriated her. She reached down between their bodies and held up some of the evidence. “What the hell is this then? A figment of my imagination. I don’t think so. We’re not together. I can’t have your child.”

  “You are not going to have my child. I wouldn’t allow that.”

  His words hurt her. Each one like a hypodermic needle to the soul. The truth was that she was ready for marriage and children and she felt far too much for Granite already. “You might not have a choice in the matter. You just ejaculated inside of me and I’m fertile. I’m still not on the pill.”

  “I’m not fertile.”

  “Oh really now?” She had helped numerous single mothers give birth and plenty of them had stories to tell. Things like, ‘I’ll pull out at the right moment’, ‘it won’t happen from just one time’ and then there was the whole ‘I can’t have children’ thing. That was her personal favorite. “Let me guess, you were gouged by a bull or had them fried by a Fire dragon?”

  Granite frowned. “No! I can father children.”

  “What the hell are you saying then?” she yelled.

  “I will only become fertile for a short period every year or so after I am mated. After,” he repeated. “My mate will need to go into heat first, this will trigger my heat.”

  “So you’ve never,” she looked down at his junk, “had working equipment?” She looked back up at him.

  He narrowed his eyes. “My dick works just fine but I can’t father a child at this stage of my life, no.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “I’ve bedded females who were in heat before, none of them have conceived,” he shrugged. “It is the same with all of the Earth dragons. We’ve all had females. I have only been with humans.”

  Louise didn’t like hearing him talk about other women. This had gone too far. She could count her lucky stars that they couldn’t have a baby together, even though the wistful romantic part of her wanted just that … but not like this.

  Louise trusted him. There would be no child. She could calm down. Relax. All she could feel was disappointment though. It told her everything she needed to know.

  In that moment, she knew what she had to do. She had only partially committed before. “What will happen if Blaze finds out about this? He will find out.”

  Granite shifted her in his lap so that she was sitting across his thighs. “I won’t let that happen.”

  She widened her eyes. “How can it not?”

  “I’m going to call Volcano. I will confide in him. He won’t tell a single soul.”

  “And then? Everyone will know soon.”

  “No, they won’t.” Granite looked deadly serious. “I’m going to go on a trip.”

  “What kind of a trip? Won’t it be weird if you suddenly disappear on a trip?” It sounded nuts. “Even if you’re not here, I’ll be here. If one person catches my scent.”

  “I do travel from time to time so it won’t be seen as strange. We have mines deeper in the mountains.” He widened his eyes and licked his lips, like he hadn’t meant to tell her that.

  “What kind of mines?”

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