I said dubiously, “I don’t know Osmar. I don’t want to fall off.”
He shook his head, “You won’t. That’s not possible. A simple spell will keep your body on mine, unable to move.”
“That sounds---”
“Thrilling?”
“Crazy.”
“Maybe it is, but the look in your eyes tells me that you would at least want to try.”
I couldn’t lie. I definitely wanted to try. “Let’s do it.”
And before I could change my mind, there was another flash of light and the dragon was back. I took note of its jet-black skin and nails as thick as two-by-fours and grimaced. It lowered itself to the ground and reluctantly I approached it and awkwardly hefted myself onto its neck. I marveled at its wings that were the color of aquamarine with delicate silver veins running through them.
And before I could change my mind and jump off, we were in the air and I closed my eyes and started to scream in terror. I screamed as he accelerated and pushed off into the clouds. I screamed as he did loops in the sky. And then finally I opened my eyes and looked around. And I realized that we were just floating, drifting through the clouds. Part of me wanted to reach out and touch the clouds, but another part of me was convinced that doing so would mean instant death. So I hesitantly attempted to lift my hand to reach out and touch the fluffy white objects that surrounded me when I realized I couldn’t move my hands. I tried to shift my hips and realized I couldn’t do that either. Apparently the spell was working; I thought happily as I forced myself to relax and not look down.
I was able to relax at least, but the looking down part proved a challenge. And when I did look down, I immediately regretted it. That feeling of relaxation completely disappeared. I was scared again and I guess Osmar sensed it as he started to slowly descend. And I promptly closed my eyes as the wind tossed my hair straight back and I tried not to scream again. Finally, I chanced a glance and realized we were directly above town. I briefly wondered if Osmar had the ability to make us invisible. If not, wasn’t he afraid that whomever was out to kill him would see us?
That thought easily drifted away, as I gasped at the beauty below me. Our town really was picturesque. We glided down past the lakes and thick forests with trees the colors of fall: covered in bright red, yellow and green leaves. I was tempted to stick my feet in the lakes we passed and then remembered at the last moment that I was stuck to Osmar. And finally, he left the town area and drifted back to the canyon. I could see my car parked haphazardly on the road, and then he flew past it, and he settled back on the ground and immediately I could move my hands and the rest of my body.
I clumsily climbed off of him and again there was the flash of light and he was back.
He smiled at me and said, “Not too shabby for a first date, right?”
I narrowed my eyes at him and crossed my arms over my chest. “So that was our first date, but we’re already living together. That seems a little backwards, don’t you think?”
He looked down at me again, coming closer and said, “Just go with it, Cameron. I don’t bite.” And I opened my mouth, a retort on my lips when his mouth settled on mine. It was unexpected. It was sexy. He was delicious. And as his lips moved over my own, my tongue dipped into his mouth and I found myself deepening our kiss. I placed my hands in his hair that felt like silk against my fingertips and greedily returned his kiss, matching and even exceeding the level of passion that started all of this.
When we finally broke away from each other, we were both breathing heavily and I shook my head astounded by my own behavior.
“I’m sorry---”
“I’m not,” he quickly said reaching again for me and kissing me so thoroughly that I finally understood what women were talking about when they said their knees grew weak. Unfortunately, for me though, I wasn’t just having a physical response to Osmar. I felt as if that kiss connected us emotionally, and I wasn’t willing to go there with him. I couldn’t. I didn’t do emotions, especially with someone who possessed powers beyond what my mind could fathom. I pushed away at his shoulders, and he looked at me disappointed with eyes dark with desire.
“We can’t do this anymore. I want you out of my house.” And with that I walked away from him, determined not to look back as he called out for me to stop.
Chapter Four
I couldn’t sleep that night. I shifted back and forth in bed thinking about Osmar. And it was the intensity of my thoughts that scared me. My desire for him was all-consuming. I wanted him so much. Yet, I had pushed him away.
When I had arrived home, he had been there already, inside the house waiting for me. He sat at the dining room table, his hands folded.
I didn’t know how he had gotten home before me or unlocked the door? But he was a warlock… so what did I expect?
“What are you doing here?” I asked him, avoiding eye contact as I tossed my keys on the table.
“I wanted to talk to you.”
“We have nothing to talk about.”
“Cameron, I--”
I shook my head at him, making it clear that I was done talking. “You can stay here tonight. I want you gone by morning. You just have to figure out who’s trying to harm you some other way. I can’t have you in my home anymore.”
He attempted to reason with me, but I was too afraid that his reasoning would start to make sense to me and I would give in, and I didn’t want to give in. I hadn’t ever made love with any of the paranormal beings that came through our town and truth be told; I was afraid to. I was especially afraid that Osmar harbored some sort of power over me and that maybe he was using that to incite this desire I felt for him, nearly all day and night. I believed distance from him would bring me back to my senses. I wanted control over my emotions again and I wasn’t going to achieve it in his presence.
This isn’t working, I thought to myself as I stared up at the ceiling in my bedroom, pushing memories of our argument aside. All I could think about was that Osmar was just down the hall and how easy it would be to slip into his room and let him have me. I wanted him to have me.
And as I tried to think of something else, anything else, I found that I couldn’t. I was at the mercy of my body and it was telling me that I needed him inside me. I didn’t know when want had become a need, but somewhere along the line, that threshold had been crossed. I was going to Osmar; he just didn’t know it yet.
My breasts felt heavy, and I was already wet. I couldn’t help but let my hand find its way to my wetness, and I started to play with myself thinking of Osmar, wishing it were his hand instead of my own. I began to stroke my clit, tracing it in circles, before penetrating myself. Rocking my hips up and down, riding my own hand.
I came quickly; breathing heavily, my thighs spread wide, waiting for my heart rate to return to normal and when it did, I knew what I had to do.
I stood up and didn’t bother dressing as I left my room. I walked purposefully down the hall and didn’t bother to knock. I just reached forward and turned the knob, walking into the dark room.
I waited for my eyes to adjust and when they did, I could see Osmar was sitting up on his bed. The blanket around his waist, his bare chest showing. He was sitting up, clearly waiting for me.
I climbed on top of him, pulling back the blanket slowly. His member stood, already hard and waiting for me; I wanted to take it into my mouth, so I did.
I sucked him in deeply and swiftly. He tasted good, and I struggled to take him completely into my mouth. Osmar groaned and grabbed me by my hair, keeping my lips planted around his shaft, moving my mouth up and down his length. He wasn’t just long. He was also thick and I wondered if my sex would accommodate his. Not that it mattered, I would make it fit, even if he split me apart.
And with that thought, I brought my lips away from his sex, settled in his lap, and slid my wetness down on his waiting erection. We were still, silent, not moving, just listening to each other breath as my sex stretched to accommodate his own.
But then his hands grabbed my hips and he began to work me up and down on his sex. I took over, bouncing in his lap, my breasts jiggling with each of my movements. He grabbed them, roughly handling them while he kissed my neck and then pinched my nipples. It didn’t take me long to come as I rode him until my inner muscles clenched, and I became so wet that moisture dampened my thighs. And when I came, I screamed his name, tossing my head back. Osmar wasn’t done though. He tossed me down on the bed, climbed on top of me and thrust into me, forcing his sex into my own as my muscles quivered in ecstasy. My body welcomed him at that moment. He owned me and I happily, fully submitted to him.
When he finally came and I felt the heat of his desire spread into my sex, I moaned and tried to keep my body from shaking. But I couldn’t; our lovemaking had rocked me to my core and as I surrendered to sleep, he gently held me, not saying a word. In that silence, I found peace; my emotions and my physical being were no longer at war.
The next morning when I woke up next to him, I expected to feel awkward. Or at the very least, regret. But no, after making love over and over that night, several times, Osmar had whispered in my ear how much he adored me, how much he desired me. His words made me feel confident, secure and valued. His hands, almost worshipful on my body in the wee hours of the night made me feel special, dare I say, even loved.
Weeks after we became lovers, I sensed something was bothering Osmar and I figured it was not knowing who had harmed him. I contacted Jackie and asked her if she could stop by one afternoon. I figured that she might be able to help him and I trusted her. I didn’t give her any details. I just told her that I had a friend I wanted her to meet. She agreed to stop by that very afternoon. I didn’t tell Osmar and so he was surprised when she showed up at the door.
“I see you finally met your mate,” Jackie said smiling at me as she spotted Osmar behind me in the living room when I opened the door. What was more surprising than her words though was that they were directed not at me, but at Osmar.
I looked at her curiously, confused by her words. “Jackie, what are you talking about?”
Jackie frowned and looked from me to Osmar. “I thought---”
Silently Osmar shook his head and Jackie gave him a funny look, not continuing her sentence.
“I’m sorry, Osmar. When Cameron finally called, I thought it meant the two of you were ready. That you had,” she paused, “Well you know.”
I was still at a loss. I looked at Osmar. His expression was unreadable. Instantly, I felt my body grow tense.
“Osmar, what’s going on? How do you and Jackie know each other?”
He looked at Jackie and then back at me and sighed, “I lied to you, Cameron.”
His comment didn’t register at all. I stared between the two of them in confusion. “What? I don’t understand what’s going on.”
Jackie looked between the two of us and her eyes were full of regret. “I’m sorry Osmar. I thought she knew.”
“Knew what?” I said, growing angry, as she moved to leave. I stood in front of her blocking her exit.
“Osmar will explain everything.” She then put on her sunglasses and walked purposefully to her car; I moved to follow behind her, but Osmar stopped me.
“Let Jackie go.” He said softly, “This is between you and me. You see, I didn’t come here to find out who hurt me. I came here to find you. You’re my betrothed. My mate.”
Chapter Five
I was speechless. What was he talking about? I immediately started asking him questions, unsure where to even start.
“What do you mean I’m your mate? And betrothed? I’m not promised to anyone. That very idea is crazy!” I hissed at him.
He gestured toward the couch, “Let’s sit down. We need to talk.”
“No. I want explanations now. Tell me the truth Osmar. So there was never a threat?”
He shook his head, “I just needed a way to get close to you.”
“That’s it?” I said bitterly, “You wanted to get close to me so you did so by being deceitful? You think that’s okay with me? You think that would make me love you?”
He was silent, speechless, for once. That satisfied me to no end. Finally, he didn’t have a snappy comeback and it was because there was nothing he could say to make things better. And he knew it.
I didn’t bother trying too hard to hide how I really felt. I was shocked. I felt so betrayed and most of all, stupid.
I walked away from him and when he tried to catch my arm, I turned around and screamed at him. “Just leave me alone! Go away!”
“Cameron, please, just listen to me.”
I was done listening as I moved to my bedroom door. I walked in and slammed it behind me. I needn’t have bothered because he was suddenly in the bedroom with me, standing next to the bed where we had made love countless times.
Immediately, I became angry. So this was what it was like to get into an argument with a warlock? It meant that you never got any space.
“So tell me about all your lies. All the times I asked you about this so-called person who was coming after you. What about that?”
“I had to lie, Cameron. If I hadn’t, you wouldn’t have gotten to know me. You would have turned me away. So yeah, I lied. I did what I thought was best.”
I was too angry to pick his words apart, “But why Osmar? You couldn’t just walk up to me and ask me out on a date like a normal person? And what’s this about you being my mate? I’m a human. I don’t have a mate. I have a partner. Or a boyfriend or a husband, for goodness sake.”
“You are my mate. Do you want to know the real reason beings like me show up in this town?”
I crossed my arms and just stared at him, knowing I was acting immature, but at that point, I didn’t really care.
“No. Why?” I said grudgingly.
“To find our mates. For some reason, this town, this area, calls to us. It’s a draw that we cannot ignore nor shake off. When I arrived I realized that my mate, the one I was meant to be with, was a human. I saw you walk out of the bank and I just knew my mate was you. And I felt as if I knew you. My desire for you emotionally, physically, was so strong it hurt.”
I could only stare at him silently, because I had felt the same way.
“I never felt that way about anyone else. I talked to Jackie about you and she made it clear that you weren’t interested in my kind, so I had to find a way to get you to give me a chance, to get to know me.”
“Let me reiterate; you could have just knocked on my door like a normal guy and took me out on a date.”
“Please. You would have taken one look at me, realized I was one of the ‘others’ and wanted nothing to do with me.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Be honest with yourself, and with me, Cameron. You wouldn’t have given me a chance.”
I didn’t want to admit he was right so I threw his words back in his face, “Why should I be honest with you Osmar, when from the beginning, you’ve been lying to me?”
“I shouldn’t have lied, but I didn’t know what else to do. I’m sorry.”
“So all that was a ruse? The blood? The wound? They were all fake?”
He nodded, “Go ahead and be angry, but I did what I had to do to be with you. I just find it ironic that all of it was worthless; because of what I’ve done, you don’t even want me in your life anymore.”
He seemed angry now and exasperated. He sat down on my couch and raked a hand through his hair, “I’ve been looking for you my whole life. Something, I don’t know what, drew me here. To you. I spent so much time trying to come up with a way to approach you, but I couldn’t think of anything. I knew I had to do something to make it seem like I needed you, something convincing where even if you knew what I was, it wouldn’t matter.”
“And so your plan was to show up naked at my door?” I said incredulously.
He laughed ruefully, “I figured that I might as well use all my assets. If I was going to lie, at least I was going to give you
something nice to look at.”
I was silent for a second and then said, “I understand why you lied.”
He looked up at me in surprise, “You do?”
I nodded. “You’re right. I wouldn’t have even entertained your interest. Even though I’ve spent my whole life living around your kind, well not a weredragon or warlock, whatever you prefer to be called, I would have been too scared to start something with you.”
I sat down next to him, “So you knew from the beginning that you wanted to be with me?”
He shook his head, “No. I didn’t want to be with you. I had to be with you. I felt something immediately. When I saw you for the first time, it was as if you had part of my soul.”
My hand shook as I reached for his, “I guess I should say that I know the feeling. At first, I thought it was just lust. But no, I want so much more from you. I was just too afraid until now to tell you.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him softly, hoping that with my kiss, he could feel the emotions that I still had not spoken. I hadn’t said how his smile brightened my day. I hadn’t said how much I enjoyed talking to him, how his mere presence relaxed me. I didn’t mention that I felt that he was my soulmate. However, I did mention that I loved him.
As I pulled my mouth away from his, we said it together and then laughed. He stared down into my eyes and I stared back into his, “Does this mean you accept my apology?” He ventured.
I shrugged my shoulders, “No, it means I forgive you for now, but be prepared to spend your whole life being reminded of how much you screwed up.”
“The rest of my life?”
“At least,” I said as I brought my lips up to his again for another heartfelt kiss.
The End
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ROMANCE: SHAPESHIFTER ROMANCE: Dragon Baller's Bride (Dragon Shifter Alpha Male Romance) (Paranormal Romantic Suspense) Page 96
