He was settling into life together. In the morning, they’d shower like this together, making love and getting each other dirtier before washing off, him holding her up and gently cleaning her off, caressing her body.
“Lead, don’t… make me wait.” She gasped, biting his shoulder. He adjusted her slightly, and she wriggled impatiently, wanting to be one with him right away. He seated her over him, slowly sliding into her all the way until they were together.
“Ahh,” she said. “I’ll never get tired of that.”
“So think you’d be okay with a life with this dragon?” Lead asked, unable to hold himself back when they were like this.
She nodded, biting her lip. “Oh, yes. All the time. I can’t even remember what life was like before. Everything changed when I was kidnapped. And then again when I was found. I don’t think I could ever go back.”
“Good,” he said, thrusting in deep and then pulling back and repeating the motion, slowly speeding up. “Because I can’t live without you, Brittany. I can’t.”
“I know it’s crazy,” she said. “But so is this whole world. So I might as well just have what I want.”
He couldn’t agree more, and as her breaths increased and she gasped and moaned his name, closer and closer to completion, he felt his heart speed up.
His dragon roared in anticipation, as it always did when he was with her.
The past few days had been so pleasant. Games in the day time, watching the other dragons play football outside or playing video games at night.
Hearing stories from Brittany about the human world. He could tell that despite being human, Brittany had never really been happy in that world. She’d lost her family early, and she’d never really bonded with any friends.
It made him that much happier that she was willing to take a chance with him, to let him in where she hadn’t let anyone else.
He would never break that trust. He would die first, and he couldn’t die. He had to spend the rest of his life protecting her, loving her, getting to know everything she loved and hated.
He already knew she liked mild, sweet things. That she liked playing games and didn’t mind losing as long as everyone had fun. That she enjoyed being in groups but could also spend one-on-one time.
He also had heard more about her experience saving a kid who’d nearly been kidnapped, and it had only made him love her more.
He was pretty sure that was all that could happen the more they spent time together.
“How are you so wonderful?” she asked, throwing her head back again as she thrust with him, clashing their hips together in a symphony of sensation and wet heat.
“I’m not,” he said. “You are.” And then he drove deep, feeling tension overwhelm him. Luckily, she seemed to hit her limit at the same time, and she screamed, digging her nails into his shoulders and thrashing in his arms as the shower water rained all around them.
His teeth rested on the soft skin of her neck, wanting to bite down, to claim and mark her for everyone to see, but he held back.
He had a condom on, one he’d put on when they went into the shower so they wouldn’t have to pause when they moved to intercourse.
Now he wished it was off, that the rhythmic pulses of her sex clenching around him could mean they were fully mated. That she was finally his.
He’d never been so impatient for something in his life.
He’d also never asked for much. He’d spent his life following orders, not questioning any request to help others. He’d always tried to do the right thing.
So didn’t he now just deserve having one request granted?
He held Brittany tight, hoping the oracle would think the same thing.
When she slumped in his arms, still mumbling about how wonderful he was, he pulled out and caught her with both arms, swinging her up against his chest. He gently washed off with her and then stepped out of the shower with her in his arms.
“There,” he said as he set her down and wrapped her in a towel and then did the same for himself. “All clean.”
She smiled wickedly, plopping back on the bed in her towel. “Then why do I always feel so naughty?” She rolled onto her stomach, her generous cleavage pushing on the towel in a way that made his mouth dry and made him want to start all over again.
“I don’t know,” he said, jumping onto the bed with her and making it bounce. She squeaked and tried to get away, but he caught her with both hands and pulled her against his chest. “It’s a mystery.”
She giggled and settled in against him, then gave a little pout. “I guess I should probably go up to breakfast first.”
“I suppose,” he said. They’d been trying not to go everywhere together as a way of not making people suspicious. If the dragons noticed anything off, they didn’t mention it. Lead was glad he’d chosen a room in the basement, next to the gym, because it ensured no one would hear them.
No one questioned them sleeping down there, as Lead was assigned to watch out for her at night.
Still, he wasn’t sure how long he could keep this going.
“We should say something soon,” he said.
“What would we say?”
“True,” he said.
“Lead,” she said, looking up at him. “What are we?”
He didn’t know how to answer that. He knew what he wanted, but until he spoke to the oracle, he couldn’t tell Brittany for sure.
“Why does it still feel like you’re pulling back somewhat?” Brittany asked, sitting up gingerly. Her beautiful hair was damp and curling over her shoulders, looking wild and untamed. He pushed it back with his fingers, but she flinched away slightly.
“I’m not,” he said. “I’m just… It’s like I said. It’s complicated.”
“It’s just, this isn’t just a crush to me,” Brittany said. “Every day we’re together, my feelings get stronger for you. Sometimes, it’s like you’re all in with me, and I’m all you can see. But then sometimes I feel you pull back, and it sucks. I just… want to hear you say what you want from me.”
I want to mate you. Keep you forever. Pleasure you for the rest of your life. Protect you from everything in this or any other world in the universe.
But he couldn’t say any of that. Not yet, or it wouldn’t be fair.
“I told you when we started that I shouldn’t be doing this. That there were reasons I should hold back. Now I know I can’t hold back any longer, but there are still obstacles between us that I have to resolve. But trust me. I’m not letting you go.”
“Okay, I trust you,” she said. “It’s just hard sometimes when I know you’re holding back.”
Damn. He really needed to figure things out. It would make it easier for him as well if he just faced down his fears.
He had a sudden idea and wondered why he hadn’t thought of it. He could talk to Marina. She was close to the oracle. Maybe she could help him figure out the best way to ask for Brittany as his mate. Or if that was even possible.
“I mean, you don’t have to predict our whole future, but I just wanted to know that I’m not just something fun for you to obsess over now.”
“Of course not,” he said. “I’m not that kind of man. I couldn’t do any of this unless I—” He cut himself off, realizing he was about to say he loved her.
Love. Such a common word to most people. But he’d never had much love in his life. He’d had honor, nobility, integrity. His aunt and uncle had done their duty. His friends had been loyal and true.
But no one had ever mentioned love, and he’d never thought of his feelings for anyone that way.
Looking at Brittany, he knew that was what it was.
She stared up at him expectantly. “What were you going to say?”
“Nothing,” he said, resisting the urge to spill everything in his heart. He would work things out, and then he would deserve to tell her and hear her answer in return. “Just… I wouldn’t play with your heart. Just be patient a little longer, and I’ll try to make this right
.”
She nodded warily, still leaned on his chest. “I guess I don’t have a choice.” Her hand played over his bare chest, and she grinned up at him. “Still, you have a way of making it worth the trouble.”
He laughed at that, holding her close for a moment more before he had to let her get changed and leave the room without him.
Hopefully, just one more day of hiding, and then everything would be in the open.
Chapter 15
After Brittany got dressed in a white tunic with skinny jeans, and left her hair down in waves, she headed upstairs to see who might be up in the kitchen.
Luckily, her face seemed to have returned to a normal color, and hopefully, there was no remaining trace of her afterglow from what Lead had done.
She was falling for him. So hard. For a moment, back in his room, she’d thought he was about to say the same thing.
Then he’d pulled back. Again.
She hated when he did that. If only she had the dragon’s ability to read minds. She doubted she’d have been able to resist using it at that moment.
When Brittany walked into the kitchen, she saw someone was bent over the stove, stirring something and muttering to himself.
Arsenic, she thought with a grin.
“Hey,” she said, and he turned around, flashing green eyes at her. “What are you making?”
She’d been warned not to go in when Arsenic was cooking, but she’d become his friend at this point, or as close as one could probably be with this man.
He raised a dark eyebrow. “Why are you asking? Did Cadmium send you down here to mock me?”
“No,” she said, laughing. “I was just up early and figured your cooking couldn’t be as bad as everyone says.”
“I agree,” Arsenic said, looking pleased as he raised himself to his full height, which was quite intimidating. “I often think they are just mocking me for sport, but I can’t call them on it without more mocking ensuing.”
“Maybe they’re just exaggerating,” she said. “You know they like to tease.” Though, now that she was looking at the contents of the pot, she wasn’t sure.
Perhaps at one point it had been oatmeal, but now, who knew? It was dark and chunky, as if parts had burned to black and been stirred back in. There were little specks of orange. Could that possibly be cheese? Plus little bits of pink meat. And perhaps, if she looked close enough, bloated little raisins?
Uh oh.
“After all, I don’t do anything strange with my cooking,” Arsenic said. “I simply combine the human foods I like and can’t imagine why they would be unpalatable.”
“Well, do you follow a recipe?” she asked.
“Recipes are for fools,” Arsenic said stubbornly, stirring the gloop once more. He looked at her, and a light glinted in his eyes. She took a step back. “You want to taste it for me? You could tell me if the others are just being mean.”
She put her hands up nervously. “I’m not sure I’m the best judge.”
“Nonsense,” Arsenic said. “You are a human, and this is one hundred percent human food.” He took a step forward, holding a wooden spoon full of the gloop in his hand. He was tall, imposing, handsome, yet she couldn’t bring herself to eat the stuff he was holding.
Looking up at his face, which was slightly exotic, she thought he would play an excellent pirate in a movie. His natural tan and dark swarthy hair went perfectly with the role. Then again, maybe he was slightly too pretty.
“Why would I be a pirate?” he asked, stopping with the spoon in his hand.
“Excuse me?”
“I heard your thoughts. I’m sorry. I usually block them out and will go back to doing so, but you were blushing, and I was curious. Plus, you were nearly shouting them. You should be aware of that.”
She swallowed. “Ah. Well. Because you’re handsome and you… sort of just look like one.”
“Hm,” he said. “I have watched pirate movies and liked them. Perhaps if I’d come to Earth at a different time, I’d have been one.”
She smiled. “I can kind of see that. What did you do on your world?”
“I was an assassin,” he said flatly, shocking her.
“Oh. Um. That’s…”
“Not usual for this place, I know. But when someone had to be put down, when someone was hurting others and couldn’t be stopped any other way, they sent me in. My poison is very strong, you know, and I’m exceptional at controlling it.”
“Do you all have poison?”
“Of course,” he said. “We’re all metals. Or, as you so rudely pointed out earlier, I’m a metalloid, but my exceptional and desirable powers made me fit for the dragon guard.” He raised his chin. “No one would say otherwise.”
She cocked her head, realizing this was a person who felt a lot more insecure than he would ever let on. Taking a deep breath to steel herself, she took a step forward and clamped her mouth down over the spoon, taking the whole bite in.
She chewed, trying not to feel woozy as the dizzying array of contrasting flavors and burnt texture flooded her mouth. No matter how she chewed, it seemed it was never going to end.
“Mm,” she said, hoping it didn’t show that her eyes were watering. “It’s pretty good.”
Arsenic stared at her with a dark glare before grabbing her arm and pulling her to the sink. “Dammit, spit that out. I can see you think it’s terrible.” Arsenic let out a wary sigh. “Well, at least I know now that my teammates weren’t just mocking me.”
She leaned over the sink, and he held her hair back as she spat all of it down the drain. It was undignified, but she couldn’t help it. She stood up, wiping her lips with a paper towel and wanting anything to make the burnt taste go away.
Arsenic hurried to the fridge. “I’m sure there is something in here that Chromium has made.”
But as Arsenic was rummaging for something for her to eat, she looked out the window over the sink and saw Lead on the deck, sitting next to someone.
The female dragon, based on the long, blond hair hanging down her back. They were sitting fairly close, too.
“Is that Marina?” she asked, and Arsenic came over.
“Ah, yes,” Arsenic said. “Now there’s a messy story.”
Brittany’s heart made an oddly painful contraction. “What do you mean?”
Marina and Lead were leaned in as they talked, somewhat intimately, as if very good friends. Lead didn’t seem to be holding back with her the way he was with Brittany, but perhaps that was because she was his friend’s mate.
“Lead was one of the dragons competing for Marina on Drakkaris. Mercury won the challenge. Most of us knew he would from the start, but poor Lead really seemed to fall for her. I doubt he’s gotten over her still.”
Brittany’s heart felt as if it had dropped to the floor and was trying to hide under her toes. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides, and she turned away from the window, trying not to look at the people outside. “I see.”
Was that what he meant by complicated? Did he still have feelings for another woman?
It all made sense a bit now.
He liked her, but he’d said he didn’t know if he could mate her. He’d said he would try to fix things. Maybe he was talking to Marina now, trying to figure out his feelings. But if he did have feelings for Marina, ones that were holding him back, that couldn’t be resolved in a day.
She hoped Arsenic wasn’t reading her mind, but he was definitely watching her intently.
“You like him, don’t you?”
She shook her head, praying tears wouldn’t fall. “No. I just… I think it’s odd I didn’t know. Were they ever together?”
Arsenic leaned against the counter. “An odd question to ask if you don’t like him, but no. I don’t think so. I just know Lead tried really hard to win her and was pretty depressed for a while after we came here. He’s been a bit better lately.”
So was she just a replacement? Did he just want to win her because he couldn’t win Marina and he di
dn’t want to lose her again?
He was so possessive, calling Brittany his. He barely knew her, yet he’d been telling her she belonged to him, that no one else could touch her. Was he mistaking her for Marina in his mind?
If so, was he then hesitating when he thought about anything long term?
She wasn’t going to be a substitute for anyone.
She couldn’t resist glancing out the window, and her heart ached again, seeing how close they looked.
“I apologize if I said something I shouldn’t have,” Arsenic said, looking uncomfortable. “I guess you two got involved?”
She shook her head but knew he could tell she was lying. Damn it all.
“Did he ask you to mate him?”
“No,” she said softly, still feeling coldness and confusion mingling in her heart.
“That’s odd,” Arsenic said. “Dragons usually proclaim themselves early, and he’s too honorable to drag you along.”
She blinked. He’d been calling himself dishonorable all the time, ever since he’d been with her. He was constantly beating himself up, as if he were doing something awful, and she’d just thought he was being hard on himself.
But if he’d just been using her while getting over his feelings for another woman, that was pretty much the most dishonorable thing she could think of.
He’d never said he could commit to her, but he’d also said he wouldn’t let her go.
Suddenly, it all made sense.
Her heart pounded, and she smiled weakly, trying to keep Arsenic from seeing what was going on. “I’m going up to my room. I forgot something, I think.”
“But wait—” Arsenic started after her, but she put up a hand and gave a violent shake of her head.
“Just leave me alone.”
Chromium was headed for the kitchen and stopped when she passed him without even a wave. She saw him look in Arsenic’s direction, totally puzzled, but she couldn’t stop to talk.
She needed to hide. To pack. To tell the oracle she wanted to go back to her world. Tell her she wanted to leave before she could fall even harder for the dragon that had stolen her heart.
Lead Dragon (Dragon Guard of Drakkaris) Page 13
