Dragon His Heels: Bad Alpha Dads

by Tami Lund

  Yeah, she had it bad, and, yeah, she knew damn well this wouldn’t last forever, but for right now, it felt too freaking good to stop. Hell, this morning he’d almost penetrated more than once while he slid his dick along her most sensitive parts. And she’d wanted it. Badly.

  But not badly enough to risk pregnancy.

  “Hey,” Gabe said, stepping into the room and closing the door. “I take it we’re sleeping here again tonight?”

  Inexplicably nervous, Talia shifted so she stood between him and the display of condoms. What did she think was about to happen? That he suddenly wouldn’t want to have sex with her anymore, now that she had protection?

  That didn’t make any sense.

  “Um, sure. I was just about to get ready for bed.”

  He strode toward her, arms outstretched, a wicked glint in his eye, a knowing smirk on his lips. “I like the way you think.”

  He wrapped his arms around her waist and cupped her ass, pulling her flush against his body as he dipped his head for a kiss. By the time they came up for air, he was as hard as a rock and she was putty in his hands. He grabbed the hemline of her shirt and froze, so still he could be a statue. His chest barely moved with his steady breathing.

  “Gabe?” she said after a few moments of silence.

  “You bought condoms,” he said, releasing her shirt and stepping away from her.

  She cleared her throat and pasted a cheerful smile on her face. “Figured it was better to be safe than sorry.” What a stupid thing to say. Why wasn’t she speaking the truth: I want to have actual sex with you.

  He walked over and picked up the box, studying the label far more intensely than seemed necessary. With his track record, he surely knew every brand out there, what worked, what didn’t. Which one gave him the most sensation, which fit the best.

  “I have no idea which is your favorite brand. If you like another one better, we can grab some tomorrow,” she offered.

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. Um… It’s…” He flipped the package over and appeared to study the writing on the back. “I’m, uh, allergic to this particular brand.”

  “You are?” Talia snatched the box out of his hand. “Are you allergic to latex? Wait—these are latex-free.”

  “No, not latex.” He shook his head. “That stuff.” He stabbed his finger at the list of long, hard-to-pronounce words written there. “Poly-something or another. Makes me—gives me hives.” He shuddered.

  “Oh.” Talia dropped her hand, frowning. She’d meant to make their evening even more enjoyable, but instead, they were having an awkward conversation about his allergies.

  Tossing the box over his shoulder, he sidled closer, slipping his arms around her waist again and rubbing against her like a cat. “We shouldn’t let that stop us, though.”

  “We can’t take the chance, Gabe.”

  “Not actual sex. Like we’ve been doing.” He bent and sucked her earlobe into his mouth. She closed her eyes and moaned. When he released it, he whispered, “I want more peach pie.”

  “Oh,” she said again, but this time it was breathy. Her body came alive; her dragon sat on her hind legs and let her tongue loll out of her mouth like an eager puppy.

  Gabe scooped her into his arms and carried her to the bed. He laid her down and then stood over her, hands on hips, licking his lips in an exaggerated motion. She giggled and he waggled his eyebrows.

  “Get ready to be eaten.”

  She spread her legs. “Yes, please.”

  ***

  After dropping Ruby at school the next morning, they returned to the kitchen to eat the breakfast they hadn’t had time for earlier because they’d crawled out of bed later than they should have. But she’d woken to Gabe toying with her nipple with one hand while the other thrummed her clit, and she hadn’t been able to focus on anything except finishing what he started. By the time they were both sated, they had less than twenty minutes to get Ruby to school.

  Talia placed her laptop on the counter while Gabe retrieved the food Noah had left warming in the oven. “Okay, let’s talk about this meeting with the Elders.”

  “Gods, woman, can I have a cup of coffee first?”

  She waited for him to pour one for each of them. And then she counted two sips before starting again.

  “You’re ruthless,” Gabe commented. “Do you now how many times I’ve thought they should have chosen you to be reeve instead of me?”

  “Really?” He’d never admitted that before. “Thanks. But honestly, I wouldn’t make a good face for this colony. That’s why they chose you. They saw something in you that marked you as a leader. My job is to guide you, maybe catch you before you accidentally fall off the cliff because you’re too busy denying your calling.”

  “Wow. Laying it all out there, aren’t you?”

  She shrugged. “Nothing I haven’t said to you before.”

  “Maybe not, but this is the first time I’m actually listening.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  He chuckled and slid off his barstool to place his coffee mug in the sink. “Come on,” he said, nodding at the kitchen door.

  “What?” she asked, but she was already standing, prepared to follow him.

  To the ends of the earth.

  Okay, let’s not get dramatic, she told her dragon with an internal eye roll.

  “I want to show you something.”

  “I’ve already seen it. Just this morning as a matter of fact.”

  He tossed a smirk over his shoulder and headed down the hall. She hurried to follow. But instead of climbing the stairs to the bedroom level, he strode across the whitewashed foyer to the door leading down to his basement.

  To where he kept his treasures.

  He started to punch the security code into the electronic pad next to the door.

  “Uh, what are you doing?”

  “Unlocking the door.”

  “Okay, Mr. Literal, why?”

  “So we can go downstairs.”

  “But why?”

  He glanced over his shoulder and arched one black brow. “Don’t tell me you aren’t a little curious? I thought you were a dragon.”

  “I am a dragon,” she said through gritted teeth. “But this is where you keep your treasures.”

  He flung his hand away from the door, feigning shock. “Why, I do believe you’re right, Talia. Come on, let’s see what sort of riches a reeve accumulates.”

  He punched in the code, waited for the beep, then leaned forward for the retinal scan. The lock on the steel door released, and he twisted the knob and grabbed her hand, tugging her along with him as he descended the stairs.

  Every dragon had a cache of treasures. Some were larger than others, of course. Talia had a small safe tucked underneath the basement stairs in her own house. Her hoard was more along the lines of family heirlooms than possessions that were actually worth money, although she had a few of those, too. Dragons loved shiny things, after all. And every boyfriend who’d ever given her a bauble had added to her stores. Except that one who had given her a piece of glass and tried to pass it off as an emerald. Foolish dragon.

  And then Gabe unlocked yet another secured doorway and flipped on the light. “Gods above,” she exclaimed.

  The contents of her safe were a pittance compared to what was in Gabe’s basement.

  So. Much. Treasure.

  Gold, gold, everywhere gold. And silver. And bronze. Even copper. And the jewels. Every imaginable color, all winking in the light. She’d bet her left wing it was all real, too. No colored glass here.

  The diamonds. For all their clarity, they sparkled and shimmered more brightly than the rest. Talia had to bite her lip and fist her hands to resist diving in headfirst. She wanted to swim in the sea of sparkles.

  Her dragon roared her approval, and Talia had to admit, she felt a little tingly too.

  “Wow,” was all she could manage after a long bout of silence, during which Gabe watched her, his eyes sparkling like, well, diamo
nds, while he rocked on his feet and acted impatient to hear her opinion.

  He laughed and pulled her into the room. “That’s one way to describe it.”

  He lifted his arm and twisted, spinning her in a circle while she continued to gape at this little secret he’d let her in on.

  “Why are you showing me this?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, frowning while he abruptly stopped twirling her. “It just seemed like…” He shrugged. “My dragon wanted to share it with you.”

  Talk about powerful statements. Dragons weren’t keen on sharing, generally speaking. They usually only ever shared with … their mates.

  “Oh.” She lifted her hand to cover her mouth while her gaze continued to dart around, admiring the utter beauty of his hoard. “Thank you,” she murmured, tears shimmering in her eyes. She tried to blink them away.

  Gabe wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close, his erection pressing against her ass. He dipped his head, and his hot breath fluttered her hair. “I want to have almost-sex with you down here,” he whispered.

  She laughed. “Almost-sex?”

  “No condoms,” he said, and she felt him shrug.

  Oh, right. Good thing he was still at least partially thinking with the head on his shoulders, because if left to her own devices, Talia might have stripped him naked and climbed his body and fucked him into next week, protection be damned.

  Dragon treasures were a bit of an aphrodisiac.

  Before she could turn around and shove her tongue down his throat, the doorbell rang. Since the housekeeper didn’t usually arrive until after nine and Noah had already left, Talia and Gabe were the only people home at the moment.

  Gabe sighed and released his hold on her waist.

  “Sure you don’t want to ignore it?” she suggested.

  “If I weren’t reeve, I would,” he replied, and then he did something completely unexpected.

  He offered to let her stay in his basement, alone. With all of his treasure.

  “Let me go get rid of them and I’ll be right back,” he said, walking backward toward the door.

  “Are you serious?” She looked around at the shiny object surrounding her.

  “I trust you,” he said, and his eyes widened, as though he was surprised he’d uttered the words. But then he shook it off and added, “And I really want to mess around with you down here.” He lifted one finger even as he began ascending the stairs. “Just a few minutes.”

  And then he was gone, leaving her staring dumbly after him, while all around her, beauty and riches beckoned.

  I trust you, I trust you, I trust you.

  His words whispered through her head, over and over, until she pressed her hands to her ears to try to stop the broken record. “I get it,” she said. “He trusts me. Probably more than any other dragon in his world. I’d bet all my treasure and then some that he’s never, ever let anyone else down here before.”

  Okay, so Gabe’s trust wasn’t new. He’d always trusted her. She kept him out of trouble—or smoothed it over if he did create havoc with his drunken debauchery. She kept up with colony business, let him know what he needed to do or needed to avoid doing. She told him exactly how to run his meetings with the Elders. Like she’d told him countless times, she basically ran his life.

  And he trusted her to do it.

  But never over the course of their five-year partnership had he ever invited her into his basement. He’d never even mentioned his treasures to her before today.

  And now he left her alone with his prized possessions. This went well beyond simple trust. This was a big step in their relationship.

  Relationship?

  She’d admittedly been nervous last night by the way he’d reacted to the condoms she’d bought, but he hadn’t let his allergy issue interfere in their night of passion. And now he’d let her see his treasures, had left her alone with them.

  Was she more than a fling to Gabe? And was she okay with this?

  It would undoubtedly make it easier to raise Ruby if they were together. But was she ready to delve into those murky, deep waters with her reeve? Because dating—or whatever it was they were doing—would certainly complicate their working relationship.

  Hell, did the man even know how to date? They’d already done it back ass-ward. They’d moved in together, started sleeping together—sort of—and now he’d left her to ruminate, surrounded by his dragon’s cache.

  Maybe she should stop reading so much into this small—no, huge—gesture. Maybe she should just take it as it went. Let their association play out.

  Maybe…

  With a sigh, Talia flung herself onto the nearest pile of gems and gold. She rolled around in it, wrapping herself in pearls and strands of gold and silver, piling thick bracelets on her arms, and loading up her fingers with as many rings as would fit.

  But it wasn’t long before she pushed herself up on her hands and looked around. Gabe had been gone for a lot more than a few minutes. Furrowing her brow, Talia divested herself of each and every gem and bit of gold, leaving it all where she’d gotten it from, and then, feeling somewhat naked, she headed toward the door.

  He’d been gone a long time.

  The door opened easily enough—thank the gods he hadn’t locked her inside—and made a number of clicking noises when she pulled it closed behind her. His cache was once again safe and secure.

  When she pushed open the door at the top of the stairs, she saw Gabe, his back to her, talking to a woman who looked to be in her fifties, maybe a little older. It was hard to tell with dragons. Once they hit the mid-century mark, the aging process slowed markedly.

  The woman had dark hair styled into an elegant chignon. She wore a linen pantsuit and lipstick that was the perfect shade of mauve and matched her manicured nails.

  “He’s my father,” the woman said. “Of course he told me about your conversation.”

  Gabe scrubbed his hand over his face. “I didn’t tell him I was willing to investigate the curse, Morna. That wasn’t what our conversation was about.”

  The fated mates curse? Morna. Who was Morna’s father?

  Adelbern. One of the Elders. Gabe talked to Adelbern about the fated mate curse? Why would he do that?

  “It doesn’t matter what the conversation was about, Gabe,” Mona said. “The fact is, this curse has gone on far too long. And if you have any ability to try to break it, as our reeve—hell, as a dragon—you need to try.”

  “I don’t have that ability. I don’t know what Adelbern told you, but—”

  “He said you believe you found your fated mate.”

  Talia abruptly took a step back, so that the door was barely cracked open.

  “I thought our conversation was private.” There was a growl in Gabe’s voice, one Talia recognized. He was furious. And frustrated.

  Morna flapped her hand. “I assure you, he hasn’t told anyone else. And, normally, I hardly pay attention when he tells me about your talks. But this—this is important, Gabe. You need to do something. This curse isn’t fair to the young ones, who have never had the opportunity to experience the sheer bliss that comes from finding your one true mate. And it’s really unjust to those of us who had it once and lost it. I want that feeling back.”

  She stabbed at her own chest. “My mate and I nearly broke up when that curse overcame us. Before that, we were almost nauseating with how lovey-dovey we were. All the time. We never fought; we never disagreed. We were euphoric. It’s taken thirty years to get back half of what we had before, and unless this curse is lifted, I know we’ll never get to that point again. And we aren’t the only ones. If there is a remote possibility you can make it happen, you need to try.”

  Gabe slashed his hand through the air. A shimmer of magic accompanied the action, like he was fighting the desire to shift into dragon form. Which meant he was well and truly angry.

  “There is no possibility, Morna,” he snapped. “I don’t know anything about the curse. I have nothing to d
o with it. And frankly, I couldn’t care less if it’s ever lifted.”

  Morna gasped, and if she were wearing pearls, she’d surely be clutching them at this moment. After a few moments of heavy silence, she thrust her nose in the air, muttered, “Thanks for nothing,” and stormed from the house, slamming the door closed behind her.

  Talia scurried backward, stumbling and damn near tripping down the stairs, trying to get back to where she was supposed to be before Gabe realized she’d overheard his conversation, but she didn’t move fast enough. He tugged the door open and froze when he spotted her, standing halfway down the stairs.

  “Um, hey. I was coming to see what was taking you so long,” she said, trying to reverse her momentum so it looked like she was heading up instead of down.

  His body was vibrating. Literally, shaking. He narrowed his eyes and said, “What did you hear?”

  “I… You look like you could use a little time in the sky.” Dragons didn’t normally take flight during daylight hours, preferring night when they couldn’t be seen. When, if a human did notice the silhouettes in the sky, they’d convince themself it was something else. A bat. A really big bird. An alien, which, of course, no one would believe. Anything but the reality that dragons lived among them.

  He turned away from her and stalked across the foyer, heading toward the kitchen. She scurried up the stairs and chased after him. When he reached the counter, he flattened his palms on the cool granite and said, “It’s the middle of the day.”

  She waved at the window. “But it’s overcast. A storm is obviously coming. Look how dark it is. If we’re quick, we can get above the clouds before anyone notices.”

  “No,” he said, flinging himself around to face her. “Not with you. I’ll go alone.”

  “But…”

  “I said no.” He headed for the door, pausing with his hand on the handle. “Don’t follow me.” And then he was gone, leaving her alone in the kitchen.

  She sank onto the nearest barstool and stared at her laptop, open on the counter, the screen long gone black.

  “He said you believe you found your fated mate.”

  What was Morna talking about? How was that possible? No one in their colony had found their fated mate in thirty years. They were cursed.