by Terra Wolf
My hands fiddled with the knobs on the tub until I was able to get the water temperature right. I peeled my gross dress off and tossed it on the floor, making a mental note to burn it at a later date. Once the tub was filled to my desired level, I cut the water off and plunged my entire body beneath its rippling surface. Warmth swallowed me, warming the icy places panic and fear had settled in during the last few hours. Clips of my attacker played through my mind like a crazed movie until I was able to settle on one image— him battling against Sebastian in his dragon form.
Sebastian was a dragon. If I hadn’t seen him in his other form, I wouldn’t have believed him at all. The fact that I had, though, left me very little room for disbelief. A new thought came to me then: holy shit, I slept with a dragon!
The thought bounced around my head, taking up more space than any other. What I’d said to Sebastian about always having believed creatures from books and movies existed still rang true. In fact, Violet knew this about me better than anyone. I wondered why she hadn’t mentioned anything to me about what the LeFroy family was before.
My body heat rose as I continued to think about her withholding something like that from me. She should’ve told me. Not because I wouldn’t have come to Willow Vale, or because I thought her keeping the information from me had led to my being kidnapped, but because I was her sister, her best friend.
It hurt me she hadn’t mentioned anything.
The door to the bathroom swung open and I surfaced in the water, startled and gasping for breath. Violet stepped into the room carrying a stack of clothes and a fluffy towel.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I grabbed an outfit from your suitcase and a clean towel.” She set them on the counter and inched her way back to the door. “I’m gonna make you some tea now. Are you hungry? I can whip up something for you to eat too if you want.”
I shook my head. “I’m not hungry. Thanks, though.”
“Okay.” She slipped out of the room and closed the door behind her.
I sunk beneath the water again, letting it cover every inch of me. I wasn’t ready for tea yet. My mind still had a lot to process, and my muscles had tension to release. Until I’d done both, everything else could wait.
Chapter 10
Sebastian
All was done. Silas and I had dumped the hunter’s truck, incinerated him, informed Bobby’s daughters of his death, and dropped his corpse off to them in the most respectful way possible.
I was drained, pissed, and heartbroken.
The only thing I wanted was to be near Casey. I needed to feel her, taste her, and smell her. I needed to be in her presence. She was the only thing that could save me from the emptiness clawing at my insides.
As Silas came to a rolling stop behind Violet’s SUV in his driveway, I knew my brother was feeling the same way. It was in his lazy movements. This day had been one of the most taxing we’d encountered in a while.
I reached for the handle on the door but didn’t pull it. Instead, I paused and glanced at my brother. “I think I’m gonna grab Casey and head back to my place.”
“I figured you might. I’ll call Scarlet and Batch and fill them in on everything.” He cut the engine on his car as he exhaled a long breath. “I feel horrible for Bobby’s daughters, but I’m thankful he was there. If he hadn’t been, I would have lost you. There was no way I would’ve been able to make it to you in time, Sebastian.”
“You were checking on Casey, which was what I should’ve been doing.” The words clawed at my throat on the way up, and I hung my head because I knew there was truth to them. I should have been the one to go to her. “Instead, I let my anger get the best of me. The only thing on my mind was taking down the hunter who’d stolen her from me.”
Silas placed a hand on my shoulder. “I would have done the same had it been Violet.” We sat in silence for a while, and I knew it was because he was imagining what it would have been like had things been reversed. “Let’s head inside. It’s time to get back to the women we love.”
“Definitely words I never thought would come out of your mouth,” I chuckled as I popped my door open.
“You and me both.” He grinned.
Violet and Casey were on the couch when Silas and I stepped inside. Casey’s hair was still wet from her shower, and her face was devoid of makeup. I’d expected her to look small and fragile, even a little frightened after everything she’d been through, but she didn’t. Instead, the woman looked fierce and calm, like she could kick anybody’s ass.
God, I loved that she was a tough-as-nails kind of chick.
Casey took a sip from the mug in her hand before moving to set it on the coffee table. She stood and I watched as she crossed the room, heading straight for me. Her flowery scent hit my nose, reminding me of lilacs and some sort of fruit. It invaded my nostrils as her arms wrapped around my neck. Every muscle in my body relaxed at her touch. I gripped her hips, pulling her closer until her body was flush against mine.
She was okay. She was safe. And she was mine. I was never going to let anybody hurt her again. I’d never been more certain of anything in my entire life.
“Wanna come back to my place with me?” Her body stiffened in my arms and I worried it was because she wasn’t as okay with what I was as she’d led me to believe. “You don’t have to. If you’d rather stay here with Violet, I understand.”
“Would you be okay if I stayed the night?” Her words were barely above a whisper, but I could make them out clearly.
“Absolutely.” I brushed my lips against the crown of her head, kissing her hair. “I’d be hurt if you didn’t.” I hated that I’d said the words because I didn’t want to put any pressure on her after everything she’d been through, but it was the truth. The raw, honest to God truth.
All I wanted was to spend the night with her wrapped in my arms. There wasn’t anything sexual about it, I just needed her to be near me.
“Let me grab a few things.” Casey left me to prepare a bag but returned within a few minutes. She’d twisted her hair into a high bun on top of her head, and looked as though she’d managed to get a second wind due to the color back in her face. “Ready?”
I nodded and watched as she gave Violet a hug goodbye. When she was at my side again, I took her bag from her.
“Are we taking your car or mine?” she asked.
“How about yours? I’ve never driven a Prius before.”
She dangled the keys to her rental in front of my face as we passed through the front door. “Here, but you have to promise you won’t drive like a bat out of hell. This isn’t my car. It’s a rental,” she reminded me.
I took them from her and then kissed the tip of her nose. “But, it’s a rental, sweetheart. Driving like a bat out of hell is what you’re supposed to do. As long as you don’t wreck it, there’s no harm no foul.”
She rolled her eyes and made a cute scoffing noise in the back of her throat. “Whatever, just be careful.”
“Of course.” I brushed my lips against hers, unable to help myself. I’d wanted to kiss her since knowing she was okay, but had decided to give her time to let what she’d learned I was sink in. “I have precious cargo inside.”
Casey lifted onto the tips of her toes and worked her lips against mine with a fiery passion I hadn’t known she possessed. I groaned as her teeth grazed across my bottom lip. All the blood in my body rushed to my dick, and I felt it stiffen in my shorts. She slid a hand between us to rub against my crotch, noticing it.
“Looks like you’re feeling pretty happy right now.” she teased, her hand still caressing me through my shorts.
“My place. Let’s finish this at my place,” I all but pleaded.
She winked and climbed into the passenger seat. I hurried to the driver side and tossed her bag in the back before cranking the engine. It took ten minutes to get to my place in the Prius. I was amazed at the speed the tiny car packed. Even though my time wasn’t a record, it sure was damn close.
As
soon as I shifted into park and cut the engine, I grabbed Casey’s bag from the backseat and raced around to open her door.
“Wow, so I guess chivalry isn’t dead after all.” She grinned, looking up at me through her dark lashes.
I reached for her hand and laced my fingers through hers. “I guess not.”
We started toward the back of the coffee shop where the stairs to my apartment waited. The instant we made it through my front door, I dropped her bag on the floor and scooped her into my arms. I carried her to my bedroom, where I carefully deposited her on the bed. My mouth worked against hers as I smoothed my hands along her body, memorizing every inch of her. I’d almost lost her today. Tension stiffened my muscles at the thought. Casey’s fingers slipped through my hair as her hips lifted to grind against me. Every part of me relaxed. I was with her. She was safe.
My tongue explored her mouth until the desire to taste the rest of her became something I couldn’t ignore. As I trailed my lips along her jawline and down the side of her neck, she flinched under the pressure of my lips against the bruises I’d forgotten about, causing me to pause. Anger and remorse pinged through me as the memory of how she’d gotten them surfaced in my mind.
“Don’t stop, I’m okay. Promise,” she breathed.
“You sure? We don’t have to do this.” I meant it. I wasn’t a jerk; while I might have been a lot of things, that wasn’t one of them. If she wanted to stop and rest I was okay with it.
“I’m sure.” Her fingers entwined with the hair at the base of my neck and she lifted up until her lips crushed against mine again.
My hands continued to roam across her body until I reached the waistband of her shorts. I slipped my hand inside, anxious to feel her slick center. She released a moan the second my fingertips brushed against her wetness that made my need for her feel overpowering, but I was determined to take things slow. I wanted to worship her. I wanted to erase everything that happened to her today and replace it all with memories of pleasure, but when she reached down and jerked my shorts and boxers to my knees, I knew taking her slow wasn’t going to happen. Casey pulled her shorts and panties to the side, exposing the entrance to her sweet center. Every nerve ending in my body shot to life at the sight. Her legs wrapped around my waist and she impaled herself with my aching cock.
“God, you feel so good,” I hissed.
Her nails scraped along the flesh of my back. “So do you,”
I thrust into her, nearly dying at how good it felt to be inside her again. My mouth worked over hers as my hands smoothed across her soft skin. She parted her lips as a moan slipped free and I dove my tongue into her mouth. I hooked my arm behind one of her knees, lifting her leg up so I could sink deep inside her. The deeper the better. Her other leg wrapped around my waist as she snaked her arms around my neck and buried her face in the crook of my shoulder. The feel of her teeth nibbling my skin shot an electric pulse through each of my nerve endings, jolting them all to life. A groan powered through me and I tipped my head back, lost in the delectable feel of Casey.
I continued to thrust in and out of her, switching up the pace in order to keep the moment lasting as long as it could. My mouth sealed against hers after another low groan of satisfaction spurred from deep within my chest.
“Oh God,” she whimpered. “It feels so good.”
At the feel of her silken muscles rippling against me in preparation for her climax, I inserted my hand between our bodies and rubbed her clit in slow circles, wanting to milk every ounce of it from her. In seconds, she was quaking around my shaft. Her teeth sank into my shoulder as she tried to muffle her moans. The pain and pleasure mixed together had me thrusting deeper within her until I came. I collapsed on top of her, breathing hard. Her fingers slipped through my hair as she trailed soft kisses along the side of my neck. I slid out of her and wrapped my arms around her middle, before rolling us onto our sides. For a long time, we didn’t do anything besides remain tangled up in one another’s limbs as we waited for our breathing to steady and our heart rate to normalize.
“I don’t want this week to be over,” she whispered, shattering the silence we’d been trapped in.
“And why is that?”
“Because then I have to go home.”
“You don’t have to. You can stay here, with me.” I kissed the sweet tasting skin of her shoulder while praying she’d say yes.
“You’d really want that?”
“Of course. There’s something strong between us…” I cut myself off, knowing I’d sound cheesy if I continued.
Casey shifted around to face me. “There is something strong between us, something I’ve never felt before with anyone. I can’t explain it.”
“You have no idea how good it is to hear you say those words.” I brushed my lips across hers.
She responded to my kiss, but pulled away from me before we got too heavy into it. The area between her brows pinched. “Would you seriously consider having me stay? Because you know, I am an author, which means my job is mobile. I really could stay for a while, if you’re serious about it, I mean.”
“Sweetheart, I don’t have to consider anything. I want you to stay. Forever, if you’ll agree to it.” I crushed my lips against hers again to better get my point across.
Her fingers squeezed along the back of my neck as our kiss deepened. It had my dick growing stiff and a craving to taste her on my tongue pumping through me. I reached between us and cupped her breast. Her hot breath filled my mouth as she moaned and I used my thumb and index finger to roll and pinch at her nipple until it pebbled beneath my touch. She draped her leg over me and I rolled her beneath my body.
This time, I would make love to her, letting her know exactly how much I wanted her to stay and how thankful I was that she’d stepped into my life. This time, I would allow my dragon to fully claim her.
The End
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About the Author - Terra Wolf
Best Selling author Terra Wolf loves all things cute, cuddly and alpha. Typically, you will find her stretched out with a blanket, some hot tea, and chocolate watching Netflix and working on her next book. Terra loves a happily ever after, even if it's not the way she expected.
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About the Author – Hailey Storm
Hailey Storm loves writing hot shifter romances filled with dreamy alpha males and fiery heroines. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and two kiddos. When she’s not thinking up new story ideas, Hailey can likely be found snuggled into the side of her own alpha male while sipping on a glass of red wine or watching the sunset.
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