by Anya Nowlan
That meant that her calves were in knots and his expert touch could get the exact right reaction out of her. Or so she told herself.
It totally couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that she was getting touched by the man who’d made her scream his name over and over again not too long ago, right?
“What are my options?”
“Whatever you want.”
That familiar twist of desire tumbled through her, leaving a scorching path in its wake. Her heart thudded in her chest and she looked at Aeon, wide-eyed. Was he saying what she thought he was saying?
He’d hinted at it before, but true to his damnably mysterious form, he wouldn’t just spit it out. She wondered if it was on purpose.
Probably.
“That doesn’t tell me much.”
“How about this, then?”
Aeon’s hands moved up her calves and then slipped over her thighs and hips, before resting around her waist. He pulled her towards him sharply, leaving her tangled in his lap, staring up at him. His gray and black eyes swirled, the slimmest etchings of gold appearing in them slowly.
While it had sent her backing away in fear when she’d seen it in Shade, with Aeon it made her only want to get closer. To get a better look. To get lost in them.
He leaned forward and his lips found hers, his arms wrapping around her protectively. Their first night together had been hot as hell, there was no doubt about that, but now there was so much more tenderness and emotion in the kiss. It left her reeling, at the same time trying to desperately meet that kiss with all she had.
Her tongue slipped into his mouth and he growled darkly, the sound rumbling through Isobel. Her fingers slipped up his neck and tangled in his hair, feeling the silky strands glide against her touch.
The voice inside of her that had been telling her firmly to run for the past week or so – since being so unceremoniously picked up by Torren -, and which she’d heeded willingly, was growing ever quieter now. With Aeon’s arms around her, she didn’t feel like going anywhere but deeper into the embrace.
He plucked her off her seat easily and deposited her in his lap, her thighs straddling his. She could feel the thickness of his erection through his pants and ground against it shamelessly, gasping as she did so. The rumbling moan that left Aeon’s throat was music to her ears. With her nails slicking through his hair and then down his neck, she knew she must have been leaving scratches behind but neither of them seemed to care much.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” she whispered to him, breathless, with a small smile playing on her lips.
It reminded her of the first time she’d said that to him. And his reaction to it then, different from now.
His stormy eyes, stark with the gold in them now, looked up at her as if she’d just tried to reach into his chest and rip his heart right out of there. Like she’d told him to stop breathing and he was seriously considering it because she had said so. It was the kind of look that would stay with a woman for a long time and Isobel felt something crumbling within her.
Not her resolve, no, but some walls that she’d built. Some sort of barrier between herself and the notion that maybe she could be happy again one day. If a man as strong, powerful, sexy and intelligent as Aeon Prevoir would listen to her so intently, willing to do whatever she asked of him, why wouldn’t the world follow suite?
There was no reason why it wouldn’t!
“If that’s what you want,” he answered grittily, dropping his forehead against hers for a second.
She could feel the grip of his fingers tighten around her waist slightly, pulling her in closer while also trying to contain himself from doing anything further. Isobel smiled to herself, shaking her head a little. His touch had her in flames. She wouldn’t stop for any force in the world.
“I said we shouldn’t. Not that we won’t.”
Catching his gaze, she grinned. The next thing she knew, she saw all the raw force of the dragon flashing behind those mesmerizing eyes of his and then she was on her back on the couch, pinned between the plush seat and Aeon’s strong body.
His hands slipped smoothly under the folds of her dress and stole her panties right off of her. She had to only buck her hips upwards slightly for them to glide off. Aeon’s face was a hard mask of control as he tossed them aside, eyeing her in a way that was very nearly scary in its intensity.
He took a deeper breathe and Isobel spread her legs slightly, giving him a better view of her. She knew he had to have scented her easily because she was so damn wet she was practically drowning in her own juices. Slowly, she let one hand run down her body and between her legs, wetting them before finding her clit and rolling her fingertips over it.
Aeon let out a strangled moan, taking a deep breath. Isobel’s mind went deliciously blank as she watched him for a second, her hand working herself closer to the peak she’d been denied for far too long. Several nights, she’d thought of Aeon, the way he’d touched her and the things he’d done to her that one evening they’d had together, but she hadn’t laid a finger on herself.
It had been out of spite and annoyance and betrayal. Now, she was fully intending to make up for all of those nights. Preferably with the help of the dragon before her.
“You’re a tease, aren’t you?” he growled, with the sound rumbling straight through her.
“Me? Never!” Isobel countered innocently, arching her brows as her fingers dipped deeper, one of them slipping into her pussy.
That was too much for Aeon, obviously. He pushed off his suit jacket and tossed it aside. The dress shirt followed soon after and the tables were turned that easily. Getting a better look at what she’d been missing was unfair.
He was all corded muscle, flat plains of strength intermittent with lines her tongue needed to trace. There were cuts and bruises on him that made him even sexier because she knew they were all for her, gotten in the process of fighting for her. When he pushed her hand away and lapped his tongue over her slit for the first time, Isobel thought she’d cum right then.
“Shh,” Aeon murmured, licking a straight line up from the bottom of her slit up to her clit, roiling his tongue over the sensitive nub. “Not so fast, Isobel. I am not done with you yet.”
It was a promise, one that she was eager to see carried out. He pushed her back on the couch and she slouched into it, her hands resting on her lower stomach. She pressed down on it, as if trying to contain the butterflies flitting around in there. It was of no use, obviously. When he went back to teasing her clit with his tongue, Isobel’s fingers coiled in his hair instead, not sure whether she was pushing him away or pulling him closer.
Probably a little bit of both.
“Okay,” she muttered in response, her eyes wide as she watched him devour her.
His eyes were lidded, a red tint to his cheeks. His tongue was hot as it criss-crossed a path over her clit and then moved lower sometimes, his lips kissing and sucking on her and making her a trembling mess. When he pushed one finger into her, she clamped down around him for the first instant, but he eased it out of her again slowly before letting her take it again.
The rhythm he set up was mind-blowing in its truest sense. Vacant of thought, Isobel was taken over by the physical sensation and completely lost herself to it. Eagerly, desperately, happily. He pushed another finger into her and she squealed, writhing under his grip. With one hand on her hip, he pushed her down, keeping her where he wanted her.
“Aeon,” she whined, bucking her hips up, begging for more.
She clamped a hand over her own mouth, trying to shut herself up. If someone walked in on them and she was left without the orgasm begging to be released within her, Isobel was certain that her life would crumble around her. She couldn’t handle it. She needed this. She needed him.
And the last thought wasn’t anywhere near as scary as she thought it should be.
Aeon’s rhythm became punishingly fast and oh so right. It was as if he could sense exactly what she needed and when,
giving her the right kind of enjoyment all the time. He played her expertly.
Sucking her clit into his mouth and letting the very tip of his tongue flick over it quickly, while buried knuckle-deep in her pussy was her last straw. It was all she could take and her body contracted around his fingers, pressed deep into her and brushing against a spot she was still amazed to find that she even had.
As soon as she convulsed under the wave of her orgasm for the first time, Aeon’s hand was off her hip and he moved up her body swiftly, keeping his fingers in her. His thumb took the place of his mouth to tease her clit and he pulled her hand from her lips roughly, covering her mouth with his instead.
Isobel screamed into him, writhing and tossing with the intensity of her release. He took the scream, kissing her roughly, one hand around her waist to press her closer to his naked torso and the other still plunging into her pussy, making her orgasm last longer than it ever had before.
She shuddered under him, his weight pressing down on her in a way that was almost confusingly… safe. While all the passion she’d felt ricocheting between the two of them on their first night was still there, stronger than ever, then there was something new as well. Something she couldn’t, or maybe wouldn’t name yet.
When her breathing calmed slowly, Aeon pulled back from the kiss, finally giving her control of her own mouth. She almost wished he hadn’t, the sweetness of the kiss still lingering on her lips. Slowly, his eyes keeping hers strictly in their spell, he let his fingers slide out of her wet heat and smoothed the hem of her dress back down to cover her.
He was breathing just as heavily as she was. It was cute, even if that was a word she’d never imagined herself using about a dragon shifter.
“How was that?” he asked, and when he moved slightly she could feel how hard he was.
“Amazing.”
It was the truest sentence she’d said in a long while.
Her hand longed to snake down his body and grab his erection, pump him in her hand. Just as she was about to, there was a heavy knock on the door. Instead of throwing himself off of her, Aeon covered her more fully. He was obviously more than ready to protect her virtue – what was left of it, anyway – from the prying eyes of anyone unwise enough to barge in.
“It’s time!” a voice called from outside, muffled by the thick door.
Isobel’s cheeks flushed. With a shifter’s hearing, there was no way that whoever was standing guard hadn’t heard her moans.
“Understood,” Aeon answered back, regret in his tone. “Are you okay?” he asked, much softer now as he turned his attention back on Isobel.
“Slightly embarrassed, that’s all,” she said, as he helped her sit up.
“You should never be embarrassed about this.”
He was resolute, his eyes ablaze. It made her smile.
Sweet.
Another word she’d definitely not intended to use about this particular man. Yet here he was, breaking down all her preconceived notions about him once more. Damn him and his sexy, considerate ways.
“I’ll try not to,” she promised, as Aeon handed her back the pair of panties they’d discarded in their moment of passion.
He looked strictly uncomfortable as he stood up, moving his hard-on slightly. It was thick against his thigh and made her mouth water. When he caught her staring, she felt her blush get some renewed redness to it. Averting her gaze, she wiggled into her underwear and stood up as well.
“It’s time for me to go.”
Aeon cleared his voice and Isobel caught herself nodding, the corners of her mouth downturned. She didn’t want to see him go and that too seemed ridiculous to the rational side of her brain. But when a woman gets her world rocked as thoroughly as she had just now, could anyone blame her for not really listening to the rational side?
Isobel certainly was in no mood to do so.
“Alright.”
She nodded awkwardly, one hand on her stomach. It had been weird over the last few days and she’d blamed it on nerves, but what was there to be nervous about right now? She put that thought out of her head.
He paused for a second, as if wanting to say something else, but eventually chose not to. Turning on his heel, Aeon nodded his farewell. It was only when he was almost at the door that Isobel spoke up again, her hands rolling into fists as she fought to get a grip of her feelings.
“Aeon, wait.”
He stopped, one hand on the door.
“Yes?”
“I… Thank you for tonight.”
Stop being a goddamn teenager and say what you mean!
“It was my pleasure.”
“And, one more thing,” Isobel added before he could turn the knob. “I hope… I hope you win the next challenge.”
If his expression had been unreadable before then now it felt like someone had turned the key and unlocked all of his secrets. Aeon’s eyes suddenly flashed a deep, swirling gold, and his face was one of shock and surprise and carefully harbored joy. It was only a split second that she could spot him like that and then it was as if it had never happened at all.
But she’d seen it. He wasn’t here just because of honor or feeling like he owed her something. No, he was here for her. And the craziest thing was, she sort of wanted it that way.
“I hope so too, Isobel.”
The words came after a long silence and his voice shook a little, not as controlled and enunciated as he usually was. They stared at one another in evident confusion before a smile cracked over his lips and Aeon shook his head softly.
“Good night.”
“Night.”
When the door closed behind him, Isobel crumpled down on the couch, propping her head in her hands. Her fingers pressed into her cheeks and her eyes were wide.
What the hell was that?
Isobel
“Miss, we need to go.”
Grale’s pounding knocks at her door the morning of the challenge splintered right through her skull. It was like someone was trying to carve a path into her head using the straightest means possible and she was not thrilled for it.
Considering that Isobel was on her knees, hugging the porcelain toilet bowl, there weren’t exactly many things that were currently capable of bringing her joy. Her throat burned and her stomach churned.
“I’ll be right out!”
The muttering that came as a response to that could only have one meaning. It wasn’t the first time she’d given Grale that answer and he clearly was in no mood for any more excuses.
“Miss, we need to go. We cannot be late again!” came Grale’s grumbly answer.
This was sort of becoming a theme. Every damn morning, they’d be late to another silly function, or even worse, a challenge, because Isobel was taking so long ‘getting ready’. In all honesty, it wasn’t that at all.
Instead, most mornings, she’d been exactly where she was now, with the faucets running in the bathroom in the hope of drowning out the sounds. She wasn’t sure if Grale bought any of it but by the sound of him now, his patience was really running out.
He can break in if he wants to. A fine prize I’ll be, puking my guts out. What dragon wouldn’t want me!
The thought came with a roll of her eyes as Isobel reached for a wet cloth she’d left on the edge of the sink. She wiped her mouth with it and tossed it into a small hamper in the corner of the lavish bathroom. Heaving herself up off the floor, she tested her intestinal fortifications for a moment, swaying in place with a frown on her face.
It seemed okay. Finally. At least for now, anyway.
Sighing, Isobel turned to look at her reflection. She was dressed in a gold gown that hugged her curves and left her neckline curiously plunging. It looked like the dress was missing something and she couldn’t help but think that a necklace would have hit the spot, the fashionista in her speaking up for a change.
While the dragons had impeccable, if somewhat ostentatious taste, they’d avoided giving her any jewelry so far. Casey had told her that they cou
ldn’t do that because any piece she wore had to be that of her mate’s. Putting gold or gems on her that belonged to another dragon would have upset the competitors.
It was one of many, many dragon oddities that Isobel had become far too used to.
Her hair was messy and she fussed with it absently, her mind a roiling mess. This wasn’t the first time she’d thrown up. In fact, she’d been spending more and more time in her bathroom with each passing day. While she was no doctor, she was sure that the cause wasn’t food poisoning, as she’d originally guessed.
The fact of the matter was, she was pretty sure what was to blame. And even more than that, she was certain that it couldn’t be good news for her at this moment.
What a mess, Isobel…
Her hands went to her stomach in the middle of pinning back a lock. Biting her lip, she looked down at the curve of her body. She turned so her side would face the mirror instead, inspecting her reflection. There was nothing showing yet, but in her mind, she knew what it was.
She was pregnant. And it was Aeon’s.
As a sane, rational, sensible kind of woman, Isobel had always assumed that the talk about a woman’s intuition in regard to matters like these was nothing more than bullshit. No one could know so concretely that they were pregnant so early on and even less could they know without a shadow of a doubt that it was going to be a boy and he was a dragon.
But Isobel knew. As surely as she knew her own name and that she’d stepped into a mess she couldn’t quite handle on her own, she knew that she was pregnant with Aeon’s child.
“Miss! We need to get going!”
The yell was followed by another loud banging on the door.
“I’m coming!”
Isobel touched her hands to the cool surface of the marble sink and stared at herself. She looked positively glowing, save for the fact that her expression was fit for a funeral.
“How am I going to fix this?” she asked herself, posing the question to both herself and the baby growing inside of her.
She’d been on the verge of ignoring the proverbial elephant in the room for days now, but she couldn’t anymore. Knowing dragons, at least one of them would ‘see’ through the cloud of perfume she’d spritzed on herself to hide the scent she assumed she was carrying now. And even if they didn’t, if Aeon lost at the challenge today, she’d be at the mercy of another dragon.
