Alpha Dragon: Alpha Bites Book 3
Page 10
He wasn’t going to give himself any slack over this, and Miranda realized, to her dismay, that this wasn’t something she was going to be able to fix. This was well beyond the means of her control or abilities as his lover and mate.
For the first time, Miranda really stopped to think about Garret’s age. He was a little over a hundred years old. That meant he’d grown up around the time just after women got the right to vote. Not that she thought he was a sexist, far from it, but he definitely had some old school ideas about how women were to be treated.
With respect, but also protected, especially if they were omega, and since Garret had raised his little sister after the death of his father, that made Anna almost more of a daughter to him than a sibling. Now he was blaming himself for not teaching her how to care for herself, for not trusting her abilities out in the real world.
“Garret. Garret.” Miranda took her mate by the hand, feeling the light tremble that was there, along with the warmth. She smiled up at him. “Whatever happens, I’m here if you need me. I’ll get you something to eat. I’ll sit and listen if you want someone to vent at, and I’ll wake you up after a couple of hours so you don’t sleep too long, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Garret’s jaw tightened, but the heat in his eyes didn’t make Miranda back down. She didn’t need to back down. She already knew that heat wasn’t for her. “It’s only been two day. I shouldn’t need rest.”
He did need it. That much was obvious. “Try to rest a little anyway. I’ll get you something to eat, and I’ll wake you up. I promise, then you can go back out and kick ass, save your sister, and I won’t have to worry about whether or not you’ll come back.”
That was the thing she worried about the most. Not that she was going to tell him that. Not when Garret was losing his mind over Anna.
Garret was still fighting it. Even from the grip of her hand, Miranda felt the tension running all through his body. He buzzed with it, as if there was an electric current keeping him locked in that tension.
“Come over here.”
“I don’t want to lie down,” Garret grumbled as Miranda led him to the bed.
“You’re just going to relax. Not sleep. I’ll get your computer, and you can mark off all the places on the map you searched, and where else Anna might be. Make sense? This is for your body to relax. Not for sleep.”
Garret grumbled and growled a little more, but he did climb into the king-sized bed. He glared at her a little when she pulled back the covers, but it was the half smile that let Miranda know they were all right. “Don’t tempt me, woman.”
“Wouldn’t think of it. Lie down.”
He did, though it was on top of the covers. That was fine. At least she got him in bed. Miranda went to Garret’s desk, grabbing the laptop and pen. She handed them to her mate, who took them with a sigh.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Garret pulled the keyboard off the screen and set it aside, using the top half as a tablet, opening the apps he wanted and making notes along the maps.
Miranda headed for the door.
“Miranda?”
She stopped and turned. Garret was looking at her, the expression on his face and in his eyes more honest and open than anything she had ever seen on him. “Yeah?”
“I’m not meaning to take this out on you.”
Her eyes widened a bit. Was that what he was worried about?
She smiled. “You’re not, so don’t worry. Do your work and I’ll be back with a couple of sandwiches. That’s working food.”
Garret smiled back at her, though it didn’t quiet reach his eyes.
Miranda understood, and she walked out, leaving her mate to pore over the map.
When Miranda came back fifteen minutes later with a plate of sandwiches and some french fries, Garret was out cold. He looked almost comical, hunched over like that, his mouth slightly parted as he snored, the pen he’d been using to write on his tablet screen hanging loosely out of his hand.
Miranda took the pen and the computer, putting them back on the desk before Garret accidentally destroyed them in his sleep. Miranda kept the plate of food in her hand as she climbed onto the bed and settled next to her mate, the love of her life who she hated to see hurting like this.
It was a slight risk, but Miranda leaned her head against Garret’s shoulder. If he could feel this in his sleep, then she hoped it was comforting for him and he would be able to be at peace for at least a little while as he napped.
If she could take away all his pain and worries, Miranda would do it right now and not think twice. Since she couldn’t magically sprout that power, she stayed next to Garret instead, silently pushing all her strength into him. She wasn’t sure if he was even able to take what she was offering, but she sent him that strength anyway.
The sandwiches would keep, but Miranda ate the fries before they could get cold.
Chapter 12
“How are you feeling?”
Katie spun around, looking at Jax, and smiling at the sight of him as she brushed the towel through her wet hair.
“Pretty good when you’re looking like that.”
He was dripping wet. Some of his scales had popped through his skin when they’d made love in the shower, and they were still on his shoulders and elbows, a little shiny, and, if possible, making him look even more handsome than Katie thought he already was.
Jax glanced down at himself, then smiled up at her. “I should walk around you looking like this a lot more often if this is the reaction I get.”
Katie felt the usual shyness creep up on her. She had to turn away from Jax before he could see the blush heating up her cheeks, but she still couldn’t stop smiling. “Sounds great.”
Yeah, it was best to not look at him right now, at the way the water on his body made his chest and abs glisten so stupidly and wonderfully. Katie struggled to contain herself, to keep from rushing back at him and jumping into his arms, curling her legs around Jax’s waist and letting him do to her what he’d just done in the shower, because that had been amazing.
Was it because the sex had been somewhat desperate? Katie had a long time to think about these things, almost a full human lifetime, in fact, and she’d done a lot of reading.
Adrenaline and desperation were supposed to play big parts in the way a man wanted to court a woman, or make love to her. There had definitely been something fuelling what had happened in that shower. Hell, Katie was trying to think of what she could do to recreate that feeling within Jax so they could do it again.
Why wasn’t Jax speaking to her?
Katie frowned, pulling the towel away from her hair as she turned to look back at Jax, who was still standing in the doorway to her bathroom, watching her, as though waiting.
She smiled, attempting to go for a flirty approach, though she wasn’t altogether sure how well she pulled it off. “You can come in here, you know? You don’t have to stand there.”
Something in Jax’s eyes stayed hard, even as he stepped into her bedroom, one hand still holding the loose towel around his waist.
Katie couldn’t help herself from being effected by it, the way her heart thudded against her ribs, and in her ears, especially when Jax closed the distance between them until there was barely any room to take a breath in.
She stared down at how low that towel hung on Jax’s hips. Either he didn’t notice that some of his dark blond pubic hairs were showing, or he didn’t care.
“How are you feeling?”
He’d already asked her that, and Katie could hardly think of a proper answer when she could smell his clean skin, and feel the warmth of his body radiating from him.
“Fine.”
Jax lifted a brow at her. She lifted a brow right back at him.
Now she knew what he was doing, and she wasn’t going to play into it. He still thought she was going to bolt. Jax was waiting for her to tell him to get out. Was that why he was standing so close? Getting up i
nto her personal space? To get a reaction out of her?
Fine. If he was looking for a reaction, she was going to give him one. Katie reached for the towel hanging around his hips. She didn’t dare take her eyes off Jax’s, noting the increased intensity, the storm clouds within them as she pulled the towel down, and he released it, letting her do what she wanted to do with him.
He stood naked in front of her, not moving, waiting for her to make another move, but fuck, Katie had definitely bitten off more than she could chew. What the hell else was she supposed to do to prove she was interested? That she wanted this? Wanted more than this?
She shifted from foot to foot, hating the staring, hating that she was so old and so new to this that she didn’t know what to do, didn’t know how to make a man want her the way she wanted him. “Do I have to give you a written invitation?”
Jax snorted softly, his hand reaching up to the shoulder of Katie’s bathrobe. Her first instinct was to reach up, to stop him from taking it off her. Jax hesitated, then looked her right in the eye as he pushed past her measly defenses.
Katie didn’t stop him as he opened her robe, letting it fall to the floor along with Jax’s towel.
Now they were both exposed, both naked and in front of each other, waiting for the other to make a move.
That’s what Katie thought had been happening, but no. She should have known better because ultimately, for all his patience and all his goodness, Jax was still an alpha, and he was apparently just waiting her out, waiting to be sure Katie wouldn’t say no before he leaned in.
He didn’t kiss her on the mouth, but those warm lips did press softly, sweetly, to Katie’s collarbone, to the spot between her breasts, and then to her right nipple. He sucked it into his warm mouth and held it tightly between his lips, rolling the nub gently between his teeth, but it was still a hard sensation she wasn’t used to. There was a fear of pain, but the incoming pleasure and the shocking sensations that rushed straight down to her core were almost too much to handle.
“I think I like the mating heat.” Katie ran her fingers through Jax’s hair, letting her nails gently scratch at his scalp. “It can’t be comfortable, bending over like that.”
Jax pulled away briefly, smiling up at her. “It’s not. Get on the bed.”
Katie shivered, responding eagerly to being commanded. “I think I like it when you tell me what to do.”
“Do you?” Jax rubbed his bottom lip with his thumb as Katie sat on the bed.
She nodded. “Yeah.”
He brought his hand forward, letting the pad of his thumb slide over her bottom lip this time. Katie shivered.
“Do you like it?”
Katie spoke softly. She didn’t want his finger to be removed from her mouth. “Yes.”
Without thinking, her tongue darted out, touching his thumb.
Jax’s eyes dilated.
They were going to make love again. Katie could tell it as surely as she could feel Jax’s thumb caressing her lip, and she wanted it.
“I think I was crazy.”
Jax’s hand traveled slowly away from her mouth, across her cheek, leaving behind a trail of heat as he ran his fingers through her still wet hair. “Crazy for what?”
God, even his voice had that touch of low and sexy, sensually erotic all rolled into one nice and neat little package. It was like a physical caress, another hand on her body, touching her, lulling her, making that sweet heat and pleasure pool between her legs.
“For you.” Her voice sounded so small in that moment. Was that really her talking? Katie didn’t think she sounded this swept away, or this helpless, in her every day dialogue.
Jax was doing this to her. It could only be him. There was no one else Katie responded to quite like this.
He leaned over her body again. He didn’t touch her this time, but Katie leaned far enough that she was lying on her back, and Jax was suddenly on top of her. His hands were on either side of her head, not quite locking her into place, but also making sure she knew she was his, and she wouldn’t be going anywhere.
Katie panted for breath already, because the thought of being so completely and totally dominated was by far the most pleasurable thing she’d ever felt in her life.
The fact that Jax wasn’t touching her was damn near criminal.
“Are you waiting for a written invitation?” She felt as if she was asking this a lot, like she couldn’t get him to respond fast enough.
His response shocked her. “Something like that.”
Katie jerked slightly at his words. She tried to hide it, but it was impossible to completely ignore what he’d just said. He had to be talking about how much she’d pushed him away all these years. There was nothing else he could mean by that.
Jax also had to have noticed her reaction to his words, but he chose not to mention anything of it as he leaned in. His mouth didn’t reach for her lips. Instead, he kissed her softly, sweetly, on her throat. He moved lower, pressing his mouth to the space between her breasts before pulling back.
“I can feel the heat in your body rising.”
Katie glared at him. “Well, yeah, that’s sort of what happens when you’re kissing me there.”
Jax glanced up at her, and Katie was caught within those eyes. He reached up, grabbing Katie by her wrist before pressing her hand to his chest. She felt his heartbeat, even though the spot she touched wasn’t over his heart.
Mostly, she felt the heat of his body.
Katie smiled up at him. “Are you trying to tell me something here?”
“Just that my heat matches yours. I don’t think it has much to do with where I’m kissing.”
“Where you’re kissing would have something to do with it.”
Jax grinned at her. “I’m detecting a challenge there.” Quickly, roughly, Jax took Katie by the ankles, yanking them up high, putting her legs onto his shoulders.
“What are you doing?” Katie tried desperately to keep control, but her words came out as a half shriek.
“Getting into a better position.”
That was the only thing Jax said to her before his lips touched a place that made her entire body tense with shock, with the sudden rush of pleasure, and with ecstasy and light. Katie’s first instinct was to pull away, right before she covered her face and moaned, unable to hold the noise inside herself as Jax’s lips kissed the lips of her sex.
And God, was he ever doing a good job of making out with her down there.
Katie would have loved to pop a joke about his kissing skills, but her main concern was focusing on her breathing. Jax’s tongue, his warm, wicked tongue that she had adored having inside her mouth, pushed through the folds of her sex, and were suddenly inside her.
Katie yanked her hands away from her mouth with a hard yell, gripping the sheets beneath her as she struggled for purchase. Okay, forget focusing on how to breathe. Right now she needed to concentrate on not letting her wolf side out. If she did, she would totally lose control of the damned thing and claw up her good sheets.
But Jax’s tongue pressed deeper inside her, spearing her again and again, and the rush of pleasure was too much to handle. “God, y-you’re good at that.”
Jax clearly heard her words because he chuckled, and the vibrations from that sweet noise sent even more pleasure, more want and need and desire bundling through her.
Jax slapped her ass.
Katie made an embarrassing squawking noise in reply, tensing from the unexpected move, but she was wide-eyed and aware once again, regardless of the pleasure.
Had Jax really just done that?
He had. As Katie looked at him, he stared back at her, shamelessly, with his tongue still flicking the inside of her body, making Katie’s eyes roll to the back of her head from the pleasure.
“I…I swear…get you for this.”
Jax chuckled again, and just like before, it was the vibration of that noise that gave her so much more pleasure, made her toes curl and her thighs quiver in response.
She reached for him, but her hands wouldn’t make it that far. Katie wanted to touch this man, wanted to cling to him and never let him go. The fact that she couldn’t made the intensity of her frustration peak.
She also wanted to push his face harder between her legs and make him finally finish this thing he’d started within her, but Jax seemed intent on taking his time one moment before driving her wild the next.
Then it came again. Jax stopped the slow, gentle teasing he’d been torturing her with as he hardened his tongue and thrust it deep inside her, deeper than it had ever gone before, and he flicked it.
The shock of pleasure was harsh as it tore through her body. Katie cried out, her thighs stiffening around Jax’s face. He chuckled again and pulled back.
“Don’t stop, don’t stop.”
“Have to take a breath. You’re going to strangle me to death.”
He said it with such a sexy smile on his face, and such a glimmer in his eyes, but Katie still couldn’t help her embarrassment. She’d really been strangling him with her thighs?
“Sorry.” Katie still buzzed with pleasure and panted for breath. Despite her embarrassment, she wanted Jax to hurry up and get back to what he’d been doing.
“Don’t worry about it. I like your thighs.”
He stroked his hand over her right thigh, still staring down at her as if she was a meal to be eaten. Maybe she was.
“They’re like a Bond woman’s thighs. A total weapon.”
More heat collected in Katie’s body. “I think that’s a compliment I can get behind.”
Jax liked Bond movies. She hadn’t known that. “I think, if you can get back to what you were doing, I’ll buy you every James Bond movie on Blu Ray, ten tubs of popcorn, and watch them with you naked.”
Jax’s eyes flashed. Katie wasn’t entirely sure what it was she’d done to put that look on his face, because it definitely couldn’t have been the promise of spy movies, but she knew in that moment that she’d definitely pleased him.