by Jill Haven
My outfit was country chic, jeans and a nice button-down, along with the cowboy boots I’d had stashed in the trunk of my car. I forced myself to wait until I was supposed to pick Haiden up before I went to his house.
It was well after dark by the time I arrived, and he was already outside, which made my heart lurch, shuffling from foot to foot. He had his arms wrapped around his stomach and his shoulders slumped. His dark hair was wet, as if he’d just showered. I got out and went over to where he stood in the darkness, my senses on high alert, but his smell was the only one that teased me. The closer I got to him, the better I felt. He slowly loosened from his huddle and glanced up to my face with a wisp of the smile he’d worn earlier.
“I worried you wouldn’t show up,” he said, by way of greeting.
“Why?”
“You’re so….” He cleared his throat and leaned around me to look at my car. “Um, well, you’re doing okay for yourself. You’re….” He flushed and stared off into the dark woods next to the house. “You could do better, you know?” He kicked at the ground with one toe. “I thought I should get this out of the way, so you don’t have to take me out if you don’t want. I’m a mess. I’m… I barely graduated high school. I have….” He pointed at the pink scar that wound around his jaw. “I have serious anxiety. It’s actually not that bad with you.” He frowned and squinted at me before shrugging. “But, it’s the kind of thing that requires meds to bring me down sometimes, or I pass out. Like, it’s bad.”
My mind whirled. “Why are you trying to scare me off?”
He shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t want you to think you’re getting someone special and then find out you got a dud and be mad at me,” he whispered, staring at the spot where he dug at the ground with the toe of his shoe. “I don’t like being yelled at or….” His face crumpled for a second before he seemed to get himself under control. “You’ve been okay so far.”
“Haiden?”
He uncurled himself a bit more, but still didn’t look me in the eye. His bottom lip trembled, and I wanted so badly to rip apart whomever had laid the foundation of this wall he had built around himself. Obviously, someone had hurt him, and he had the scars to prove it. He looked amazing dressed in a sweater and jeans, all the lines of his body outlined in soft fabric that made me want to touch him. How could anyone hurt him? All I wanted to do was please him and make him feel good.
“Haiden, I want to take you out. You’re a beautiful man, and I won’t lie, you’ve captured me with your stunning looks. I want to talk with you and get to know you better. Maybe I’ll be so annoying you won’t like me, but if we don’t get to know one another, you’ll never know.”
He frowned and glanced up, his mouth twitching toward a smile. “You think I’m hot? So… what about the rest? You, being—” He nodded toward my car again.
“Yes, I’m at a place in my life where I can indulge myself more than you can. My finances are very comfortable, so I’ll want to pay for dinner, but that just comes with having a few years on you. Do you mind?” I held my breath.
What would I do if he told me he wasn’t comfortable with my age? It was actually so much more of a difference than he even realized. My stomach sank as he bit his lip and studied me for a moment. Something passed between us, I couldn’t see it with my eyes, but it was almost as if the air buzzed alive and that space in my chest that bothered me when he wasn’t near eased and loosened until I was mostly myself again.
“I’d like to go with you.” He reached out and touched my arm, a questioning move that made my heart scrabble faster. “I’m not sure how comfortable I’ll be with anything, ever. I’ve had some bad…” He shrugged and didn’t go on.
“Let me take you out.” I chased his hand and took it in my own. Haiden smiled and I rubbed my thumb over his knuckles. He followed me to my car and then allowed me to open the door and help him inside, which mainly consisted of me holding his hand until I couldn’t any more. We rode to the steakhouse in silence with him smiling at me occasionally, while I soaked in his presence.
It bothered me that I couldn’t take him out properly. The urge to find spectacular gifts—maybe the ruby necklace in the safe at my home that used to belong to my mother—and foist them on him, nagged at me. The gem was about the size of a golf ball, but that didn’t seem good enough for him. Nothing I owned was treasure enough to gift to him.
I had enough of my common sense left to realize maybe this obsession was part of the mate bond playing tricks on my mind, but it didn’t stop the fantasy from unfurling; me wrapping Haiden in rich fabrics, draping him with jewels, and having my way with him in the middle of it all as he screamed my name. My cock twitched where it was trapped in my pants and I sighed, remembering the deep scent of Haiden’s arousal at the restaurant the other day. My groin heated and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.
Chuckling to myself as I turned the car into the restaurant got me an amused glance from him. He hesitated, but then said, “What are you thinking?”
“That I can’t believe I’ve finally met a man I want to date, and I’m too far from home to treat him right.”
“You’re doing a good job so far,” he murmured. My chest felt so light that I had trouble parking properly. I had to back up and situate the car again.
He smiled as we walked together toward the large wood-sided restaurant. He beat me to the door and held it open for me. I nodded my thanks and he followed me inside. I liked that. It seemed like he anticipated my need to make sure the room was safe for him, and a quick scan let me know that it was.
We were seated and had beers in front of us in a surprisingly crowded room in less than five minutes and then we were staring at each other across the table. His foot rested against mine, and I could feel that touch as if it was skin against skin. My heartbeat jangled in my ears and I had to force my attention away from the heat that settled into my groin.
“Points for not asking me if I’m old enough to drink,” Haiden said with a sharp raise of his eyebrow that surprised me. Was there a feisty personality hiding in there somewhere?
I laughed. “Didn’t honestly occur to me.”
We sipped our beers and stared for a while, both of us seemingly happy to exist near one another. Shaking myself, I asked, “What would you like to know about me?”
He ran his finger along the rim of his beer stein for a second and all I could think about was his hands on my body. My stomach tightened and I shifted my legs apart to make room for the growing problem between them.
“What brought you here to Muscogee?”
“Doing research.”
He nodded and studied me. “For what?”
My mind spun rapidly. I hadn’t thought much about how to approach this. I’d been so preoccupied with his safety and getting us to this moment that it hadn’t occurred to me to come up with a plausible story to tell him that didn’t involve dragons—which he clearly wasn’t ready for. “Um—ways to expand.”
“For like, a business?”
“Yeah, I own an importing firm.”
“Oh.” He frowned.
“It’s boring, but profitable.” I smiled at him and he grinned back.
“I suppose that’s all right if you do good things when you’re not at work to make up for it.” His face came alive as he shifted in his seat like he couldn’t contain his excitement. “Working at Go Wild isn’t fun either, but there are things I like about cooking, like baking those pies.”
Relieved, I rested my foot harder against his and he flushed, taking another drink of his beer. “The pie was delicious.”
He pressed back against me, and my mouth went dry. That amazing, aroused aroma of his began to color the air. I cleared my throat and tried to focus on the conversation. “Would you like to see Charleston sometime?”
His eyes went huge and he coughed, slamming his stein down onto the table. I began to stand, but he gestured me back into my seat. He mopped up some beer from the table with a napkin. “I’d love to see a
city. Any city. I’ve been planning to move. I need to… do some things for myself that I can’t here.”
“Like date?”
He shrugged. “And other things.” He looked away toward the wall near us, obviously thinking.
“What do you want to do?”
“I’m not sure,” he mumbled, but I got the impression he very much did have a plan. I thought about pressing the issue, but he smiled again, catching my eye as he did so, and scrambled my brain a bit.
“Your family won’t miss you when you leave?” I’d been wildly curious about his upbringing. Jade seemed to be his protector, and there were no signs of other family here that I’d seen. Dragons were mostly social, and I couldn’t imagine being away from the clan by myself for long.
“Not really,” he said with a sigh, and glanced down at the table. He smiled again, but it wasn’t the same happy one I’d gotten earlier.
“Oh. Why—”
“I’d rather not talk about that right now. So, you own a business, and you’re… how old?”
“Thirty-six.” I breathed faster, and he blinked at me for a second, nodding.
“You’re almost fourteen years older than me.” He chewed on his lip and nudged his foot against mine.
“We could work that out.”
He blinked at me before he said in a rush, “I like you a whole lot. You make me…” he gestured at himself as if that would suffice to explain the way he was feeling and heaved in a deep breath. “I’ve never felt like this,” he whispered. “I want to keep feeling this way.”
“Same. I mean, me too.”
He gave me a measuring look and I traced my fingers along the back of his hand. The heat that passed between us had his eyes closing for a second before he snapped them open. “I’m sorry. Most of my experience with guys has been crappy, so if I drag my feet on some things—”
“Don’t worry about it. I wasn’t raised to be disrespectful of—” I nearly bit my tongue in half to stop myself from saying omegas “—my partner.”
“You know all the right things to say, Carlisle. Are you sure you’re real?” He grinned and pinched the back of my wrist lightly. That led to me reaching across the table, but I didn’t want to hurt him the way I might if I roughhoused with Mason. Instead of poking him back, I ended up brushing some of his soft hair from his forehead, and the sultry heat that thrummed alive between us nearly broke my restraint. His eyes were beautiful, and they trapped me in their intensity. Gods, I’d told him I could respect any boundaries. Had I lied?
“So.” He glanced down. “What do slick city guys like yourself do for fun?”
“There hasn’t been much fun in my life recently. Nothing like right now.”
He rolled his eyes, but a pleased smile stayed stuck on his lips. “I don’t do much either. I read and work and I like to go on hikes in the woods.” His eyes lit up with that part.
“Oh?”
He told me all about some of his favorite outdoor haunts, a waterfall he knew of, how the autumn was the best time of the year to be out and about in Muscogee because “all the bugs are dead.” He said that last bit with a lopsided grin that had me chuckling. He sounded so much like a dragon, and my heart twisted. He really would make a wonderful mate.
We got a refill on our beers, and I teased the toe of my shoe against his while I told him about the places I enjoyed in Charleston. It had been so long since I had to share anything of myself with someone, I’d known my family and friends for nearly forever, that it was confusing to realize how many of my tastes had changed over the years while I spoke.
“You know, I guess I don’t like to go to the horse races anymore, but I do like music. Anytime, anyplace, sign me up. There’s nothing like seeing the way someone inspired attacks their instrument.” I wiggled my eyebrows at him.
Our gazes met by accident and for a few long heartbeats I felt like lightning struck our table. Heat flooded my body and I couldn’t move. My heart leaped almost painfully and pattered like I was flying a thousand feet above the ground.
Haiden laughed and the tension of the moment broke when he picked his beer stein back up. He set it down again and covered a large yawn with one hand. “Sorry. It’s not you. I’m usually trashed tired after a long day at work.”
My protective instincts roared alive and I slid my chair back from the table. “Let me take you home. I apologize. I didn’t think.”
“No, it’s okay.”
“You’re exhausted, and I’m keeping you awake. Let me get you back. I’m not leaving Muscogee just yet. We’ll have time to do this right.” He blinked at me and a tentative curl of his lips, the barest hint of pleasure, was my reward. My entire body thrummed with excitement when he nodded. I wanted to put him to bed, all right, but we weren’t anywhere near that stage of the game.
We hadn’t spent a lot of time together, but as I ushered him back to my car and then drove us to his apartment, I felt like I’d negotiated a major hurdle. I’d told him something about myself and knew a new sliver of information about him. He wanted to travel, leave this place, and perhaps that meant he’d be open to living with me. I knew I was getting ahead of myself, but as I walked him to his front door, I couldn’t rein in the wild adrenaline that spiked in my veins and had my hands shaking so badly that I shoved them into my pockets. He stopped at his front door and turned toward me.
Haiden studied me with wide eyes and one of his hands slipped up to toy with the collar of his shirt. Everything in me told me to be a gentleman, leave him with a kind gesture and plans for tomorrow. He chased his tongue along his bottom lip, and I stepped forward. He gasped when I snagged the back of his neck and drew him in. I crushed my lips to his.
Softness and fire. That’s the first thing I noticed. His lips were plush under mine, the heat of his mouth wildly addicting. I fluttered my tongue along the silky seam but didn’t force entrance. His sweet taste rolled through my body, and his intoxicating scent filled the air.
He’s turned on.
Fire flashed through my body, like the sparks of my breath when I was a dragon. He gasped and slid his hands up to my neck, pressing his slim body to my front. Firmness nudged my own shockingly aching cock. Heat streaked to my groin and that spot in my chest that had felt empty instead swarmed with sparks and fire—full and excited. All at once, I was aware of being harder than I ever had been in my life. I stepped back and clutched tightly at his hips, staring at his kiss-swollen lips, glossy with our spit. I dropped my hold before I did something I shouldn’t.
He stumbled back against the front door, one hand at his mouth, the other at his chest. “That was only a kiss,” he mumbled, but the words came out more like a question.
“Yeah.” I winced, as my words were too low, too full of my dragon, but my teeth were sharper in my mouth, and I wanted to turn him around, hold him still in my arms, and find the fluttering spot I could see vividly on his neck where his heart raced. My fangs itched and grew longer—I wanted to sink my teeth into him, mark him as mine. The urge to take him was so strong that I found myself inching a step forward. He canted his hips and I skated my gaze along his body, stopping when I saw the unmistakable bulge at his own groin. “You’re amazing. I’ll be back,” I whispered.
He nodded, eyes wide and maybe a little scared. I was so enflamed that I fled to my car, nearly slipping on the dew-wet grass as I went. I had to get away from him before I did something he wasn’t ready for, destroyed this fragile relationship we’d begun together. I got in my car and managed to drive away from him with every instinct I had screaming at me to go back and make him mine.
My cock ached and throbbed, and I could barely concentrate on the road. Not far from his house, I pulled over to the berm, and humans be damned, I opened my pants and freed my cock. The taste of him, the way his energy had trembled into my body—I’d never had anything like him, never seen such trust directed my way. He trusted me to keep him safe and not hurt him.
I touched my shaft and groaned. Vaguely, I checke
d for headlights in my rearview mirror, but didn’t see any. There were no houses on this stretch of road, so to hell with it. I rubbed my thumb over my cockhead. There was no taking my time, even if I’d wanted to. The heat and smell of him was still on my skin. I licked my lips, chasing the taste of him on my mouth, and wrapped my fist around my cock. I tugged, shoving my hips high into my own hand, dropping my head back against the seat and squeezing my eyes closed. Sticky precum leaked out and coated my palm, easing the way. That empty ache had already started in my chest, luring me back to him.
Gasping as my hand flew on my rock-hard cock, with his pretty lips and large, green, encouraging eyes as my fantasy material, I came suddenly. Heat streaked out of me and painted my hand, the cum musk bitter in the air. I shivered and shook through my orgasm, crying out and wishing he was there.
Laughing, I groaned when the wild pleasure began to recede. I didn’t need Bishop’s emails, or Larkin’s myths. Cleaning myself up as best I could with an old drive-through napkin that I pulled out of the glove box, I sighed. The instincts battering at me to go back to my mate were real. Even if everything I suspected about Haiden turned out to not be true—though I was very convinced he was a Divine Omega—I wanted him. I wanted to know everything about him, and I wouldn’t be able to rest properly until he was mine.
10
Haiden
Jade smiled at me, her rich brown eyes pretty in the bright sunshine. She had on a short black dress, long leather boots, and a red flannel shirt, and she walked beside me along the path through the willow trees in Chesterfield park, a little spot to the east of Muscogee’s town center. Her shoulder bumped mine occasionally as we strolled. I’m sure people probably thought we were dating because she was the only person I was ever really close to in public, but we were only friends, and being near her helped calm me down.
