by Tami Lund
She should ask him about that sometime. Why was he so adverse to it? Mating was a perfectly acceptable, naturally occurring aspect of a dragon’s life. Most dragons wanted it, couldn’t wait to find their mate, to live happily ever after. Normally, they were a monogamous species of animal.
Even Talia figured she’d take a mate someday. Once her job slowed down. Once Gabe decided to start acting like the reeve she knew she could lure out of him.
He claimed he was worried he’d lose his freedom, but she didn’t buy that. Technically speaking, he’d lost his freedom when he was chosen as reeve. And, like she often reminded him, as his PR manager, she practically controlled his life.
Not that she was suggesting she’d make a great mate. Because she wasn’t.
A floorboard creaked, far too close for him to have decided to go to his own room. Gods above, he really was coming to visit her in the middle of the night. She clenched her thighs. Bad, bad, very bad.
Another sound, and she swore he was standing right outside her door. Maybe even had his hand on the knob.
Turn it. Turn it. Turn the damn thing and put me out of my misery.
She released the breath she was holding when the faint sound of his footsteps against the wooden floor assaulted her ears, and a moment later, a door gently closed. He’d retreated to his own bedroom.
Crisis averted.
Well, not entirely. She was so tightly wound, so damn turned on, there was no way in hell she could sleep. Not without taking the edge off first.
Chapter 7
Son of a bitch, he couldn’t do it. Couldn’t, didn’t want to—there wasn’t even a difference anymore.
When he left the house, Gabe convinced himself he just needed to find some nameless, faceless woman and screw her, quick and dirty. Against the side of a building, in the back seat of a car, in a fucking bathroom stall. Didn’t even matter at this point. He just needed to take the edge off and appease his damn dragon, who was more determined to hook up with Talia than he’d ever been about anything in Gabe’s entire life.
Except sex with a random woman wasn’t what his dragon wanted. Hell, it wasn’t what he wanted, not anymore. Apparently he and his dragon were of the same mind in this respect. For once.
Which wasn’t helpful. Because sex with Talia was off the table. Not happening. Not possible.
After a frustrating hour of sitting at the bar in his favorite hookup joint, drinking beers and not finding any damn woman in the place interesting enough to even strike up a conversation, Gabe called it a night and headed back home.
His dragon had taken control at the top of the stairs, had led him straight to Talia’s door.
Or maybe it was him. He couldn’t tell anymore.
He stood outside her door, his hand pressed to the wood. But surely she was asleep, and if he snuck into her room, she’d probably shift into a dragon and burn him to a crisp before he could open his mouth to explain.
So he slunk back to his own bedroom.
Now he lay in bed, naked, both his eyes and his hardened shaft staring at the ceiling.
She’s down the hall doing the same damn thing you’re thinking about right now, his dragon whispered, the bastard.
Gabe grabbed his shaft, used the precum gathered at the tip as lubricant, and stroked a couple times, easing the pressure. A bit.
It’d be more fun if you were down the hall.
“For the love of the gods, shut up,” he muttered while trying to get himself off. But it wasn’t working. It was like his damn dragon took control of his dick and was refusing to allow him release.
Go to her.
He’d heard of dragon shifters going insane. In the history books, there were tales of dragons who couldn’t shift back to their human forms, who were forced to live out their lives as the giant, scaly beasts. Which meant they were cut off from society, since they had to go live in places that weren’t inhabited by actual humans.
Was that what Gabe’s dragon was trying to do to him?
I’m trying to give you pleasure. To give us both pleasure. To give her pleasure.
With a huff that pushed a stream of smoke from his nostrils, Gabe released his member and climbed out of bed, stalking out of the room and throwing open her door before he could give himself time to think about his actions and maybe talk himself out of it again.
His damn dragon cheered him on the entire way.
A nightlight was plugged into a socket in the hall, in case Ruby needed to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. The weak light spilled into Talia’s bedroom, illuminating the floor, the rug, and part of the bed. Enough for him to watch as she jerked her hand out of her shorts and scrambled into a seated position on the sheets.
Her chest rose and fell in rapid succession with her heavy breathing. He could smell her arousal. He sucked in air, unabashedly savoring the scent. His cock swelled, bobbing against his abdomen and reminding him that he’d walked in here naked.
Oops. Well, couldn’t hide his intent now.
“Um, what are you doing here?” she asked, her voice cracking, her gaze dropping to his groin. Her nipples were like erasers under her thin top, stabbing at it, almost begging him to tug it over her head so he could get his mouth on them.
Maybe this could work after all. Maybe they could find a happy medium. His dragon, of course, wanted him to leap into that bed, to charm her into having sex with him. And since the scaly beast believed she was his fated mate, Gabe worried it might actually be true.
If they didn’t have sex, that wouldn’t happen. Sex was what sealed the deal, what made the inevitable true. It was like a human wedding ceremony, except way more satisfying.
If one wanted to be mated. Which Gabe didn’t.
But mutual pleasure? Definitely wasn’t opposed to that. If she was interested, at any rate.
He waved at his member. “I’m having a hard time sleeping.”
Her lips quirked, and he responded with a sheepish grin.
“Did you, um, get lucky tonight?” She was having a difficult time pulling her gaze above waist level. That was good.
“Not yet.” He stepped into the room. “Nobody interesting at the bar.” Go for honesty. “Because I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
“Oh.” The word was a gasp, her eyes widening, her hand lifting, squeezing into a fist and pressing against her chest, between her breasts.
He took another step toward the bed. “Maybe, you know, maybe we can…” He’d never had a difficult time with words before, but then again, he’d never proposed not-quite-sex with a woman who may or may not be his fated mate, either.
“Do you think it’s wise?” she asked. “Sleeping together, I mean.”
He shook his head. “No sex. Just…everything else. Anything you want. Other than sex.”
She stared at him, her breathing coming in short pants, the scent of her arousal strengthening. His offer was tempting her. Thank the gods.
“Why?”
“Because I’m so fucking attracted to you I can’t even think about anyone else. And I think you feel the same.”
“No, I mean, why no sex?”
“I…” What the hell did he say? She didn’t seem to be aware of the fact that they may be fated mates, and he sure as hell didn’t want to bring it to her attention.
Clearing his throat, he said, “No, uh, condoms.” Female dragons couldn’t take human birth control. The hormones or whatever screwed with their heads, made them a little crazy, and half the time didn’t work anyway. So the only way to prevent baby dragons was condoms. Or not actually penetrating.
Brilliant.
“But all the other stuff, that’s the fun part anyway.” He quirked a brow. “I assure you, my tongue is an expert at pleasuring females.”
“Oh.” She squeezed her thighs together, probably imagining his head down there between them, his tongue lapping at her juices. Or at least he hoped that was what she was thinking. It was definitely part of his game plan for this evening.
All she had to do was say yes.
Her gaze darted to the open door behind him. “What about Ruby?”
He took another step closer. “She’s asleep.”
“I mean, what about her as far as…us.”
Not what he wanted to think about. He just wanted to ease the ache in his balls. Give her a handful of orgasms. That was it.
“Maybe we keep this between us. Not tell her. Or anyone.”
She frowned. “That’s for the best.”
Did that mean yes? He took another tentative step. He was so close his shadow fell across her legs and he could reach out and touch her bare shoulder. As soon as she said yes.
“Let me show you what it’s like, Talia.” His voice was gravelly, low, needy. “I have a few ideas. I promise you’ll be pleased. And exhausted. Sated.”
She didn’t say anything. For long moments, there was only the sound of their individual breathing while the anticipation in the air grew until it was damn near suffocating.
“Do you…do you have a couple of silk ties?”
*
The silk ties were supposed to be for him. Talia wanted to tie him up, to give the illusion that she was in total control while she explored every inch of his body.
Yet they’d ended up in his bed, with her wrists tied to the bedposts. He’d scooped her into his arms and practically run from her room. He’d placed her on her feet, stripped her naked, then lifted her and laid her on the bed, tying her up, all before she could even utter, “I meant for you.”
But hey, this wasn’t so bad, so she snapped her mouth shut and decided to give it a try. She was an open-minded woman, after all.
Clearly, since she was about to have sex with Gabe. Non-sex, rather. She appreciated his honesty about the condoms. He’d learned his lesson from his mistake with Ruby’s mother. Which was good, because she wasn’t sure she had the willpower to deny him when he showed up in her room, buck naked and hard as a freaking tree trunk. Metaphor on purpose, given the girth and length of that thing.
Her dragon had stared like it was a lollipop, which was good, she supposed, since licking it was definitely on the menu but sitting on it wasn’t.
“Hot damn, I like you like this,” Gabe said, standing next to the bed, his gaze roving her naked, helpless body, while he almost absently stroked himself. She licked her lips. Electricity shot through her veins; every nerve ending in her body eagerly anticipated his first move. Well, second, considering she was already naked and tied up.
She twisted her hips and lifted her knee, squeezing her inner muscles. “I need…”
“Me too,” he whispered. He leaned over the bed, pressing his fists into the sheets on either side of her body, and then he kissed her, a featherlight touch of skin on skin. She stretched upward as he pulled away, her hands squeezing the silken ties as they strained against the bedposts. She could snap them if she wanted, but that wasn’t part of the game.
His smile was lazy, cocky, while his lids dropped to half-mast and his gaze swept her body. “Where should I start?” he murmured.
“Anywhere.” She practically breathed the word.
He bent over her again, kissing her, this time lingering, his tongue flicking out to tease at her lower lip. She opened eagerly, her tongue twining with his. He shifted his weight to one arm and then she felt his other hand drift across her rib cage. The muscles quivered and he shifted up, cupping the underside of her breast and then kneading gently.
She moaned against his lips.
“You like that, do you?” he said and tweaked her nipple.
“Yes.” She gasped and arched into his touch, and he obliged her by rolling her nipple between his thumb and forefinger.
He broke the kiss, and she whimpered.
“Now, now, there are other parts of your body that require my attention.”
Oh yes, please.
He trailed his lips down her neck, sucking every few inches, as if her skin tasted so good he couldn’t get enough. He nibbled his way across her chest and finally down to her left breast, until he suckled her nipple into his mouth.
She cried out and squeezed her thighs together. She should break the damn restraints so she could put her hand between her legs and relieve some of the damn pressure there.
“Gabe…”
“Why does my name sound so damn sexy tumbling from your lips?”
“Oh gods.”
He smiled against her skin. “You need more, don’t you?”
She nodded.
He danced his fingers down, over her abdomen, to her thigh, while continuing to lave at her breast. She squirmed, and he skimmed across her sex but didn’t stop or apply pressure or do any damn thing but tease her.
“Gabe!”
He chuckled. “One word, and yet such different meaning each time you say it. What will it sound like when I do this?”
He pressed his fingers between her thighs. She spread for him and he slid them through her heat, then lifted them to his mouth and sucked her arousal from them.
“Gabe.”
His eyes darkened, the pupils becoming almost slits, like he’d shifted into his dragon. “That’s how I want you to say my name.”
“Gabe.”
He delved his fingers into her heat again, stroking inside her, thrusting, mimicking sex, while his thumb rubbed circles over her clit and her hips pumped of their own accord. She flew so high so quickly she lost her breath as she cried out his name again when her orgasm overcame her. Fireworks exploded behind her eyelids and inside her body, over and over while he continued to stroke until she squeezed her legs closed around his hand.
He pulled it away, and she opened her eyes to watch as he once again licked her essence from his fingers, stroking himself with his other hand.
She licked her lips, her gaze focused on the hand wrapped around his cock. “I want… Can I…?”
He glanced down at himself. “You want this”—he gave it a couple of deliberate tugs—“in your mouth?”
She swallowed and nodded.
His eyes widened and then he knelt on the bed, next to her shoulder, holding his cock and rubbing the tip against her lips. She licked the precum from them and then opened, inviting, offering. He held the headboard with one hand and used the other to guide his member into her mouth. She closed her lips around him, and he straightened and groaned, a guttural sound straight from his gut.
She couldn’t move effectively thanks to the restraints, so she let him set the pace; she sucked him in then let him pull partway out before pushing back into her mouth again, over and over in a steady rhythm while she rolled her tongue, stroking the pulsing vein on the underside of his cock.
After a few minutes, he shifted slightly, and she felt his hand on her hip, and then it was between her legs, stroking her once again. She hummed with her lips suctioned to his dick, and he hissed, his other hand coming down to tangle in her hair.
He began moving with more urgency, both his hips and his hand. Damn, the man was talented. She was being fucked two different ways at the same time and, gods above, it was about to trigger another—
He cried out, his body stiffening, and she felt the hot cream hit the back of her throat as she eagerly swallowed it down while her own climax rocked her, wrung her out until she was limp as a wet rag.
He gently extracted his softening cock and then his fingers, licking them clean once again before reaching across her to untie first one and then the other restraint. Her arms fell limply to the soft mattress while she continued to lay there, breathing heavily, watching him.
She knew what was next. He was going to send her back to her own bedroom. They’d had their fun, experienced mutual pleasure, and now it was over. That was how Gabe operated.
He sure as hell didn’t nudge his conquests to the side and then crawl onto the bed with them.
She stared at him as he did exactly that, then she watched as his face descended, moved ever closer, until he was kissing her, a long, drawn out melding of lip
s and tongue, and if she were really being fanciful, their souls, too. And then he tugged the covers over them both and laid his head on the pillow next to her.
“’Night, Talia.”
Whoa.
Chapter 8
Gabe woke with his arms wrapped around a body, one leg curled around two other ones, and the sun streaming in between the curtains he hadn’t closed last night. He had no idea he liked cuddling so much. Probably because he’d never stuck around long enough to do it before.
First, he had no interest in repeat performances with anyone he’d ever slept with before, so why bother staying once they got the orgasms out of the way? Second, he had no desire to actually converse with any of the women he’d slept with, so again, why bother hanging out? The good part was the sex, anyway. It would all go downhill after that, assuming he ever gave it a chance.
Of course, that was all before Talia. Before he’d tied her wrists to the bedposts—at her recommendation. That alone had nearly sent him over the edge. Oh, and don’t forget the way she’d blown his mind with those supple, full lips of hers. And he’d reciprocated by taking her to heights he knew damn well she’d never experienced before.
Who knew not actually having sex could be so much fun? Who knew not having sex would make him want to do it again? With the same woman, even.
The only downfall was the temptation to actually have sex. He rolled onto his back, one arm trapped under Talia’s sleeping form, and stared down at his wide awake and ready-to-go cock. He swore the damn thing winked at him. Gimme, gimme, gimme, it said. Or maybe that was his dragon. There were too damn many voices in his head.
Reaching over, he smoothed his hand over Talia’s supple, bare ass. She stirred and rolled onto her back, a small, pleased smile on her lips. It would be so easy to nestle himself between her legs, lift her thigh with one hand and grasp his cock with the other, and press into her.
