by Sky Winters
Adelaide felt calmer instantly. She stared hard into his eyes as if looking for any sign of insincerity. But there was nothing of the sort. As she gazed at Thorne, she saw no fear and no doubt. There was nothing but determination and sincerity. He didn't need to say another word – she knew he meant what he said.
"Now…now you care," she said, her voice weak. "I thought I was just some job to you, just another paycheck."
"You…were," said Thorne, his eyes still fixed on her. "At least, that was the plan. But I knew that there was something different about you from the moment I first laid eyes on you. And not just because of whatever blood you have in your veins; because of the person you are."
Adelaide felt a pressure on her hand. Looking down, she saw that Thorne had placed his hand on hers. The touch, as it always was with him, was positively electric.
"I don't know what this mess is that we got ourselves into, or how we're going to get out of it, but I swear that I won't let a thing happen to you."
Adelaide didn't have to wonder for a moment if Thorne's words were sincere. She knew, just knew, at that moment that this man, this dragon in the body of a man, would do anything to keep her safe. The urge to surrender to him gripped her, and she wanted nothing more than to be wrapped in his arms. Then, as though he had some way to read her mind, he did just that. Thorne pulled Adelaide close, taking her into his embrace. She held still for a moment, savoring the feeling of his body wrapped around hers, closing her eyes as she listened to the sound of his heartbeat.
However, as soon as she was wrapped within him, Adelaide knew that she wanted more – much more. Still in Thorne's arms, she turned and gazed up at him. His eyes flicked down to her, his expression both warm and stern. Adelaide felt her lips part slightly as her heart beat faster.
Thorne's hands moved down to her hips, holding her firm. Then, he gave her what she wanted. Taking her chin into the crook of his finger, he leaned in and placed his lips on hers. The kiss was…different to Adelaide than the ones they'd shared before. When they'd made love the first time, the energy was unrestrained and primal, like two animals in the grip of their passions having at one another. But now…it was softer, more tender.
It was just what Adelaide wanted.
She fell into the kiss right away, her body loosening as she allowed herself to be supported by Thorne's strong grasp. They kissed long and deep, their tongues playing, exploring one another's mouths, the feel of Thorne's rough stubble against Adelaide's face intoxicating beyond belief. As they kissed, their hands moved over one another's bodies – Thorne's on her curves, and Adelaide's on the hard angles of his sculpted torso.
"I…haven't been able to stop thinking about you," she said, the words slipping from her mouth.
"And what have you been thinking about?"
"You," she said, her voice breathy. "You, being inside of me. Deep, so deep."
"Tell me what you want," said Thorne in between kisses along the curve of her neck. "I want to hear you say it."
The words were hard to speak. Adelaide had never been the type to be so open with expressing what she wanted. But after a moment, the sheer intoxication of Thorne's voice, his kiss, his touch, coaxed the words he wanted to hear out of her.
"I want you to fuck me," she said, gazing up at Thorne. "I want you to fuck me hard."
Thorne took in a long breath through his nostrils, the arousing power of the words working through his body. And as he looked down at Adelaide, she moved her hand down, down, until it was over the hard outline of his prick through his jeans. If there was any doubt what Thorne wanted, it vanished as she laid her hand on that firm, solid prick.
Thorne returned to his kisses, his touch now more intense, more firm. His hands on her hips, he moved them slowly upward, pulling up her shirt and exposing the flesh of her midriff. Once the shirt was off, he made short work of the clasp of her bra, snapping it off and tossing it aside. Thorne's lips then moved to her nipples, licking and lashing one after the other. Adelaide's head tilted back as she took in the sensation of him teasing and sucking her nipples, the wet strokes of his tongue beyond compare. His head just below hers, Adelaide took in a long, slow sniff of him, the scent of his hair and body like some kind of drug.
It almost seemed to her as though they were meant for one another on some deep, chemical level.
Thorne still paying attention to her breasts, Adelaide grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it off over his head. His salt-and-pepper hair fell down mussed in a sexy tussle, a pair of stray hairs dangling over his blue eyes in a manner that struck Adelaide as beyond sexy. Running her hands over his body, she kissed the back of his head and then his shoulders before bringing his face back up to hers to pull him into another long, sensual kiss.
"I want to make you feel good," he said, his voice a lovely purr. "I want to lick you until you cum hard, baby."
"Then do it."
A wicked grin formed on his gorgeous lips as he wrapped his arms around her slim waist. Then, with an effortless hoist, he lifted her off her feet and set her on a nearby chair. Once Adelaide was placed, Thorne dropped to his knees, Adelaide's legs open in front of him. He kissed her bare stomach as his hands undid her belt, and a few moments later, he'd pulled down her pants and panties, leaving her totally bare. Adelaide wanted to cross her legs out of modesty, the feeling of her pussy right there for him to see striking her at first as somewhat overwhelming, but as she watched Thorne's expression turn to one of sensual hunger as he gazed at her, she felt the feeling soon pass.
Thorne slipped his arms under Adelaide's legs, lifting her hips slightly and pulling her closer to him. Then, once his face was only a few inches from her pussy, he went to work. Thorne started with kisses along her inner thighs, licking and kissing the sensitive skin right near her sex. Adelaide felt herself get wetter by the moment, and just as he'd done before, Thorne knew just how to tease her to build the anticipation to a boiling point. By the time he finally placed his mouth on her pussy, Adelaide was about ready to go wild with desire.
Slipping a finger into her, Thorne ate her with a feverish passion. He expertly worked his tongue, paying just the right amount of attention to her clit as he fingered her, the pleasure building and building by the second.
"Ah, fuck, fuck," moaned Adelaide. "You're so goddamn good at that."
She'd never had a man please her with such expert skill before. It was like nothing she'd ever felt before – aside from their last love-making session, that is.
Thorne continued, the sound of his mouth on her pussy filling the air, that wet lashing sound that accompanied the ecstasy rushing through her body. It didn't take much more of this attention before an orgasm built, built, then released, pulsing through her as Thorne continued to go down on her.
Adelaide thrashed and moaned, her hands still shoved into Thorne's thick hair. She pressed his head against her sex, as if wanting to squeeze out every last drop of pleasure. Soon, the orgasm passed, and right as it did, all she wanted was for him to give her what she'd wanted from the beginning.
And Thorne was happy to indulge her.
Slipping his arms around her waist once again, Thorne wiped her juices from his mouth before lifting her up. Adelaide loved the feeling of being carried by him like this, and soon, he'd placed her on the edge of the nearby desk. Glancing down, she could see that his cock almost looked about ready to burst out of his jeans.
"I need it," she moaned. "Give it to me now."
Thorne smirked, appearing to love just how wild and out of control Adelaide was becoming. Undoing his belt and zipper, he pulled down his pants and underwear and stepped out of them, his long, thick cock pointing right toward Adelaide's pussy. He reached down, grabbed hold of it, and slowly, slowly, slid it into her inch by inch.
"Ohhh, oh God!" she shouted as he penetrated her, the feeling of him entering her like being split in half in the best way imaginable.
Once he was buried inside of her, Thorne began moving slowly, giving her a mo
ment to get used to his girth and length. Adelaide bit down on her lower lip so hard that she worried she might draw blood. But soon, once he'd entered her a few more times, nothing remained but the incredible feeling of him being inside of her.
Thorne began to rock his hips back and forth, his blue eyes locked onto Adelaide's. The feeling of him being inside of her, looking at her in that way, was like nothing she'd ever felt before. It was an overwhelming combination of both physical and emotional delight, and by the time the words slipped out of her mouth, she knew they'd come from a place deep down inside of her.
"I love you."
Her hand shot over her mouth as soon as she spoke, her eyes going wide. A sexy, knowing smile appeared on Thorne's lips as he took some amusement at the display. But he didn't leave her hanging for long.
"I love you, too."
Adelaide sighed with pure joy, the words dancing in her heart. But Thorne hadn't lost sight of the business at hand. The pace of his thrusts picked up, and soon, he was bucking into her hard, his hips slamming against hers as he fucked her over and over again, his cock moving deep inside of her and coaxing out of Adelaide's body pleasure that she'd never known before. He grunted as he drove into her, his face tightening in an expression of concentrated pleasure.
The orgasm stirred within Adelaide, and it didn't take much more of this before it broke loose, running through her limbs like white-hot pleasure. Then Thorne came, shooting himself into her with a grunt, his hands gripping her hips hard as he sprayed his load deep inside of her.
Once their orgasms passed, Thorne pulled Adelaide close, covering her face in tender kisses.
She knew she could stay like this forever.
***
The two of them lay together for a time, holding one another close. Neither of them said a word, instead gazing into each other's eyes, caressing one another's body, the routine broken only by the occasional kiss.
Then, a look formed on Thorne's face. It was like he had something to say but wasn't sure how to begin. Adelaide looked at him with concern, eager to know what was on his mind.
"I…was married once," he said, looking at the ceiling above. "For about five years. My wife and I were both mercs. It's how we met actually. Her name was Maryann."
"I…had no idea," said Adelaide.
"That's not by accident. I don't exactly tell this to just anyone."
He stopped for a moment, as if trying to carefully choose his next words.
"We were happy. It was a relationship like I'd never had before. We'd go on missions, get wild drunk, then make love till morning. But when I finally proposed, it was like I got a glimpse of a part of her that I didn't know was there. A tender side, a side that wasn't the merc that I knew. It was as though she'd always hoped I'd make her my wife so we could live the regular life of a house and kids that we'd both always wanted but never had the guts to admit to wanting. As regular as things can get when you're a dragon merc, that is."
"So, we got married. And once the partying was done, we started with the planning of just what was next. We'd decided to move upstate, to get a house and get away from all this bullshit in the city. Maybe even have a couple kids. We just had one last op to do, one last escort for some rich fucker who we'd been working for during the last few months.
"The op…didn't go as planned. We got caught in an ambush, and I was the only one in our crew to make it out. Everything happened so fast, I didn't even have a chance to see how Maryann left this earth. And just like that, just over the course of an hour, I went from a man with a wife and a whole life ahead of me, to a widower who'd lost everything.
"It took me a year before I could even put the bottle down long enough to get back on my feet. And when I did, I decided that things would be different. I'd get back into the merc game, but never again would I let my heart get in the middle of my work. I'd do anything for a payday, and not give a damn about anyone but myself and my new crew.
"But that all changed when I met you."
The words were like a fire in Adelaide's heart.
"You cast a spell on me from the moment I saw you, and I knew, deep down, that all the bullshit guards I put up would be nothing. And now you're carrying my child, about to be given away to someone else."
Then, a look of grim determination came across his face.
"I don't know how I'll get you back, but I swear I'll do it. I'll protect you, and make sure you and our baby are safe. I swear it."
Adelaide didn't know what to say. His words overwhelmed her with emotion. She wanted nothing more than to curl back into his arms and never leave.
But they both knew the days ahead of them would tear them apart. All they could do was hope their love would be enough to see them through.
CHAPTER 11
"Look at you, Thorne, all sharp and shit."
"Just part of the job," said Thorne, looking himself up and down in the full-length mirror in the operations room.
Noting how the tuxedo hung on his body, he couldn't help but think about how much he hated getting dressed up like this.
"Maybe this can be our new thing," said Mick, sticking his head in front of Thorne in front of the mirror and looking over his own formal outfit. "We can be the tuxedo mercs."
"Not a goddamn chance," said Jace. "Maybe you can pull it off in a tux, but I'm the one wearing a fucking full-length ball gown."
"It's a hell of a look," said Hoxson. "Makes me remember you're actually a woman."
"Fuck off," said Jace with a smirk.
Thorne wasn't in the mood for banter, however. The day of the Abruzzi gala had arrived before he knew, and now was the day that his job with Adelaide would come to a close. He'd hand her off to Cedric and the rest of the Abruzzi family, and hope to God they didn't suspect the child in her belly was his. He didn't even want to think about what would happen if he was found out.
But he put all that out of his head. All he cared about was making sure Adelaide got through the night safety. Whatever mercs had been after him knew better than to try anything at his headquarters, but the hall where the gala was being held was another matter. He knew that if whatever rival family was going to make a move, it'd be tonight.
"Where's the guest of honor?" said Corvo, adjusting his bowtie.
"Still getting ready," said Thorne.
He knew he needed to check up on her but seeing her on the night that he knew would be their last wasn't something he was looking forward to.
"Yo, Aurelius," said Mick. "You've been pretty fucking quiet tonight. Not looking forward to some hoity-toity elite dragon party?"
Aurelius stood leaning against the window looking out over the city, his arms crossed as he looked down in front of him at nothing in particular. He was dressed in a slim-fitting suit, his long, dark hair tied into a top-knot.
"Just eager to get this night over with," he said. "This op's been going on far too long; at this point, I just want to get paid."
"You and me both, man," said Hoxson, giving Aurelius a hearty slap on the back that he clearly didn't appreciate.
Thorne checked his watch and saw that the appointed time of the escort arriving was only a few minutes away. He knew it was time to check on Adelaide, but he wasn't looking forward to being alone with her, knowing it would only make the longing that currently gripped his heart all the more difficult to bear.
He gave the door of the bedroom where she'd been staying a knock and stepped it. Adelaide was there, standing in front of the mirror, dressed in the champagne-colored ball gown the Abruzzi had sent over. Her hair was up, giving him a full view of the lovely slope of her swan-like neck. The lighting in the room was soft, and Adelaide was perfectly in the frame of the window looking out onto the city behind her.
She looked so beautiful that Thorne could hardly stand it.
"It's about that time," he said.
Adelaide nodded.
"Then let's get this over with," she said.
Thorne's eyes flicked down to Adelaide's belly. Su
re enough, the bump had grown slightly over the last few days.
"I see you're coming along," he said.
Adelaide placed her hands on the bump.
"I still can't believe this is happening to fast," she said. "I feel like I'm in a dream."
Thorne felt the same way. He didn't want to think about the fact that he was giving away both his love and his child in the same night, but he knew that he didn't have another option. He'd played with fire by falling for Adelaide, and now the best he could hope for was that they'd both get through the night without being found out. And this was hardly a certain prospect.
Before he could say another word, his phone buzzed in his pocket, letting him know that their ride was here.
"Let's do this," he said.
Adelaide walked over to him, wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and looked deep into his eyes. At that moment, Thorne felt gripped by her beauty. Part of him wanted to damn the consequences, take her out of the city, and make a run for it.
But he knew what needed to be done.
They kissed slowly, both of them knowing that this very well could be the last time.
"Let's go," he said.
The group made their way outside where that same massive Humvee awaited them. After a brief drive, they arrived at the grand hall where the gala was already underway. The space was an elegant hall in the Upper West Side already packed full of the elite of the New York dragon society. Thorne scanned the crowd as he entered, noting that just about anyone who was anyone was there.
Before he and the rest of this crew could get their bearings, Harold and Marion Abruzzi, both dressed in expensive formalwear, approached them with beaming expressions on their faces.
"There they are," said Harold. "The day has finally arrived, and I couldn't be happier."
Harold gave Adelaide a kiss on the cheek before embracing her in a tight hug.
"Harold," said Thorne, giving the man a quick nod.
"Where's the lucky kid?" said Corvo, looking the gala over.
"Cedric is getting ready," said Marion. "We'll be presenting him and this lovely young thing together. So, let's get her out of here before we spoil the sight of the couple together for the first time."
