by Becca Van
“Th–That’s not possible,” she muttered to herself.
“I assure you it is, honey. How can you refuse to believe what is right in front of your eyes?”
“I’m not…I don’t…” She licked her dry lips and snatched her glass up before draining the contents. “I do believe. I’m just in shock.”
Erwin made a chuffing sound, and when she looked back at him, he stretched his long neck out until his snout was within reaching distance. Her trepidation eased, and before she knew what she was about, she was reaching out to touch him. His breath was so warm it was nearly hot, but she was so fascinated she didn’t stop until her hand rested on the top of his nose. He made a purring sound in the back of his throat and as she moved her fingers and hand over the hard glass-like scales, his eyes closed.
When he retreated, she stood up and limped closer. Erwin squatted down on all four legs and watched her as she approached. The claws at the end of his long toes looked razor-sharp and they were nearly as long as her whole foot, or longer. She pressed both hands on the side of his neck and caressed down toward his body. The purring sound became a continuous noise and she guessed his dragon liked to be petted. His wings were folded against his body and the tips had another sharp-looking claw.
“Can I touch your wing?” She didn’t know how sensitive the rubber like webbing was or if she would hurt him by touching it.
“You can touch him anywhere you’d like to, mate,” Eli said and came up behind her. He pressed his front against her back and she shivered at the amazing heat coming off of his body. But that wasn’t the only reason she shivered. The more time she spent with these three men, the more her body hungered for them. It was really hard to remain still with her hands on the top of Erwin’s leg when all she wanted to do was turn around and find out if Eli tasted as good as he smelled. All three men smelled really good to her, even Erwin when he was in his animal form.
It was like they were emitting pheromones to entice her to them, and the more she tried to resist, the stronger their scents became. Her pussy was wet and aching as if begging to be filled. Her nipples were hard points poking against her bra and shirt. Every time she moved, the lace on her bra abraded the throbbing peaks until she was sure she was going to go crazy if they didn’t appease her desire for the three men.
She pushed her lust aside and touched the tips of her fingers to Erwin’s wings. The membrane skin was velvety soft but felt tougher than a thick leather hide.
“Oh, this is amazing. I can’t believe how soft his wings are.”
“They might feel soft, baby, but I can assure you they are tougher than steel armor.”
Bid nodded and moved down his large frame toward his tail. She wanted to see if the scales on it were as hard as the ones on his body but didn’t want to touch such a private area and give him the wrong idea. She wasn’t sure whether she wanted to start a relationship with these men yet, but her body definitely did. But she wasn’t the sort of person to rush in where fools feared to tread, but she also wasn’t sure if she could stay with them and continue to keep them at an arm’s length.
And that was the crux of her dilemma. She was a confused as hell. Normally she knew her own mind and made decisions quickly, but these three men had thrown her for a loop. One she wasn’t sure she wanted to get off.
She made her way back to Erwin’s dragon head, and when she looked into his glowing brown eyes she felt like she was drowning in his gaze. It was like she was being mesmerized, and even though she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she could break the connection if she really wanted to, she didn’t want to. She felt so connected to him in that moment and her heart filled with what could have been close to love, but she certainly wasn’t ready to say that word out loud. Nor was she prepared to offer her body to him and his two friends no matter how much her body might want her to. Erwin nuzzled his nose into her stomach and she found herself winding her arms around his large head. Well, as much as she could anyway.
All of a sudden she felt the air stir and then she was the one being held. She hadn’t even realized she’d closed her eyes, and when she lifted her lids she was staring into Erwin’s brown gaze once more. His eyes didn’t glow anywhere near as much in human form as they did when he was in his dragon shape, and she wondered if that was so they could be incognito to the human race, but those thoughts flittered away when he slowly lowered his head and kissed her lightly on the lips. It took all of her self-control not to grab onto his shirt and pull him back down so she could kiss him some more, but she was very aware of the silence in the room as all the other men watched her interact with one of their own. She’d never been the type of person for public displays of affection, not that she been with a man before, but she had been kissed a couple of times. But never when she knew there were other people watching. Even when her parents were alive, she kept her love for them hidden from others, never kissing her mom on the cheek as she’d dropped her off at school.
But if she were going to break those rules she’d made about keeping her affection private, it would be easy to break them with Erwin, Edrick, and Elijah.
“Let the girl go so she can eat her dinner before it gets cold,” Lance piped up.
Erwin sighed, and after kissing her on the forehead, reluctantly drew his arms from around her. When she turned and headed back to her seat, she noticed that Eli was already sitting down. She’d been so enthralled by Erwin she hadn’t even noticed when he’d moved away from her.
The men began to talk quietly amongst themselves as they handed around the food. She didn’t know how Lance did it, but there was enough food to feed at least thirty people. When she glanced at the mountains on each of the men’s plates, she guessed they had huge appetites. Maybe being shifters made their metabolisms much faster than the average guy. The sliced roast beef was on the biggest plate she’d ever seen and looked like it was cooked to perfection. There were two varieties of baked potatoes, normal white and sweet, as well as cauliflower, broccoli, honeyed carrots, corn on the cob, peas, and beans, and that was without the bread rolls. Two huge jugs of gravy graced each side of the table and the plates the guys laden with portions from each platter and bowl were nearly as big as some of the serving dishes.
Bid took a slice of beef, a sweet and white roasted potato and some peas and carrots and passed the rest along since she was more than satisfied with what she had. When she passed the beans to Eli who was sitting on her left, he frowned at her.
“That’s not enough.”
“Yes it is.” She glared right back. “This is way more than I usually eat.”
“Baby, you…”
“Eli, leave it,” Ed said from his seat at the end of the table. “Our mate isn’t as big as we are.”
Eli sighed and scooped out a large helping of beans before passing them to Ed. He nudged her shoulder to get her attention. “Sorry, baby, I didn’t mean to sound like an ass.”
“Okay. How come you all live in a cave?”
“We were all born here and didn’t want to go anywhere else. Plus being away from urban areas with lots of humans helps to keep our existence a secret,” Erwin replied.
“Why?” Ed asked in a cold voice. “Don’t you like it?”
Her hackles rose instantly at his attitude but when she met his gaze she saw a vulnerability in his eyes. That surprised her since he and his friends were all so big and manly and full of confidence. She fell a little more in like with him—there was no way she was using the other L word after knowing them for such a short amount of time—and when she glanced at Erwin and Eli, she saw that they were staring at her, intently awaiting her answer. And they were both tense. The muscle in the side of Eli’s jaw was jumping and Erwin’s forehead was creased with worry.
“What’s not to like?” she answered, hoping to put them at ease. “This place is amazing with all the modern conveniences any home would want.” She turned to meet Ed’s gaze. “Do you have a computer? If you do I can pull up a photo of Wally and you will
know if it was him at my house.”
“Sure, but eat your food first.”
Bid nodded and took another bite of roast beef and moaned. “This is amazing, Lance. So succulent and tender.”
Lance winked at her. “I’m glad you like it, love.”
Erwin growled and when Belinda looked at him, he was glaring at Lance angrily.
She slapped him on the shoulder, giving him the meanest stare she could muster, which was saying something because she’d never been mean to anyone in her life. “What is your problem?”
“Don’t worry about it, love,” Lance smirked at her. “Your mate is just feeling a might jealous and possessive.”
“He’s not my mate,” Bid replied and cringed inside when she heard the doubt in her voice.
Ed reached over and took her chin between his finger and thumb. “Yes, I am. You can deny the attraction you feel for me, Eli and Erwin all you like, but that won't change the fact that we're your mates.” He bent over and kissed her lightly on the lips. And just like that her body lit up again. It was really hard for her not to reach over and drag his head back down to hers so she could kiss him the way her body was clamoring for. Instead she huffed and went back to eating.
Once they were done, Eli stood and offered her his hand. She took it and rose to her feet, waiting for him to lead her to a computer. She gasped with surprise when he bent down and swept her up into his arms.
“What are you doing? Put me down.”
“No. You are supposed to be staying off that foot. My flight brothers and I are going to make sure you do as you were told.”
“Arrogant ass,” she muttered, but didn’t protest any further. She actually liked the way they could carry her about as if she weighed nothing. Plus, the heat of his body was so amazing and the scent wafting from his skin was enticing. She had the urge to lick the skin of his neck and was already leaning forward to do just that when he sat down in a chair and plonked her ass in his lap.
When she shifted to get comfortable, she felt something hard poking into her ass and hip and froze. Did he have a boner? Was she turning him on?
God, I hope so.
Chapter Seven
Eli was as hard as the fucking rock that made up their lair. His cock was aching and leaking pre-cum and the more he inhaled, the hornier he got. He could smell Bid’s arousal and wanted to strip her down, set her over the desk, and plunge his hard dick into her wet depths.
He took a deep breath, trying to get his desire under control, and almost groaned with frustration as her feminine musk and light honeysuckle scent assailed his nostrils. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep his hands off of her, but sighed in relief when Ed and Erwin entered the large office.
This was the command center of their lair, well the smaller one anyway. Until Bid agreed to become their mate, he wasn’t going to show her the bigger control room where they did all of their work. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her, because he did, but he and his flight pod brothers needed to keep some things back until she agreed to be with them. There were five desks strategically placed about the room with the latest computers gracing them. The security system panel was also in this room, but unless you knew where to look, it was completely hidden. There were secret compartments which were made to blend in with the wall and wouldn’t be detectable by the human eye. Not that he was worried about his mate knowing about it, not really, but if the hunters ever managed to infiltrate their lair, they wouldn’t be able to destroy it. At least he hoped they wouldn’t. Maybe with their enhanced senses they would be able to see the anomaly in the wall, but they’d have to get into the lair first and he couldn’t see that happening.
They had motion detectors set up approximately a mile from the lair entrance and all the way up to the hidden doorway. If anyone tripped those indicators, an alert would sound and he and his dragon shifter comrades would head them off before they got too close.
“Eli?” Bid turned to look at him over her shoulder.
“What?”
“Can I use the computer?”
“Of course. That’s why I brought you in here.”
“You were sitting there staring off into space,” Ed said, clapping him on the shoulder, and smirking.
“Sorry, was just thinking. Go ahead, baby.” He kissed her cheek and then watched as her fingers maneuvered the mouse and flew across the keyboard as she typed.
He felt her draw in a deep breath before moving the mouse and clicking.
Ed sucked in a breath and Erwin moved closer to the screen beside the chair he and Bid were sitting in.
“That’s him,” Ed said. “He was the guy at your house.”
“Shit!” Bid covered her mouth with her hand.
“That’s it.” Erwin squatted and cupped Bid’s cheek to get her attention. “There is no way in hell you’re going back home. It isn’t safe.”
Eli expected Belinda to put up a fuss, but she just nodded instead. He studied her face and saw how pale she was. He brought his dragon closer to the surface and heard her heart pounding with fear.
“Don’t be scared, baby. We’ll do everything we can to keep you safe.”
She drew in a deep breath, licked her lips, and then nodded again.
Seeing her pink tongue gliding along her plump lower lip was Eli’s undoing. Before he knew he was going to move, his lips were pressed against hers.
Eli licked along the seam of her mouth asking for entrance and when she opened up to him without any hesitation, he moaned with hunger. He pushed his tongue in and groaned at his first sweet taste of his mate. His cock twitched and throbbed in his pants. More pre-cum leaked from the tip and for a moment he was sure he was going to come like an adolescent dragonling.
When she mewled and sighed into his mouth, he cupped her face in his hands and angled her head so he could delve deeper. She moaned and seemed to melt right into him, her body leaning into his, and he was the one moaning when he felt the hard points of her material covered breasts pressing into his cotton-covered chest.
His whole body was on fire and he wondered if his dragon was too close to the surface, but when he heard his beast chuff, he knew it was all because of his mate. She was delectable and he couldn’t get enough of her. He had no idea when he’d moved his hands from her face, but when he kneaded one of her large breasts in his hand his balls pulled up closer to his body. Her tongue danced and dueled with his and he thrust his in and out, sliding along hers as he tasted all she had to give. But it still wasn’t enough. He needed to taste that delicious cream he could smell as the aroma of her desire grew stronger and wafted up to his nose.
She was the one to break the kiss, and if she hadn’t been gulping air into her depleted lungs, he would have pulled her back down so he could ravage her mouth over and over again. Her face was flushed, her lips were rosy red and swollen, and her eyes were glazed with passion. His heart filled with warmth and joy and he knew that he’d never be able to touch another woman as long as he lived. He and his friends needed to convince her to be their mate, or they were going to spend hundreds of years without the companionship of another woman, and according to Lance go mad. Not that he wanted to be near another female now that they’d found the woman fated to be their mate. The thought was repugnant and made his stomach churn with nausea.
“You are so beautiful, baby.” He pressed his forehead to hers and tried to get his lust under control. He removed his hand from her breast and pulled her in tighter against his chest. He was so starving for her, his fucking hands were shaking.
She closed her eyes for a moment and then sat up straighter. He immediately missed the warmth of her body pressed against his, and goose bumps formed over his skin at the loss of her heat.
“That was so fucking hot,” Erwin said in a raspy voice.
Belinda turned to look at Erwin and then Ed. Her cheeks flamed with pink and the scent of her pussy juices grew stronger still. Eli hoped it was because she was turned on knowing that his friends had watch
ed him kiss her, and wasn’t because she was embarrassed.
Erwin stepped back and then held his hand out to Bid. She looked at his friend and then reached out and placed her hand in his. He helped her to her feet and slowly drew her closer to his body. “I need to kiss you, too, sweetheart. Will you let me?”
Bid glanced at him and he nodded, trying to let her know that he wasn’t jealous and that she should let Erwin and Ed have their first taste of her, too. Hopefully by the time they had all kissed her, she would want more.
Eli’s dragon was becoming aggressive pushing at him to claim her here and now. His eye teeth began to ache and he hoped they didn’t elongate and scare Belinda if she saw them, but then he thought of how well she’d taken to seeing Erwin in his beast form and guessed she wouldn’t freak out.
From the tidbits Lance had told them about mating, for them to make Bid theirs, he and his flight pod brothers needed to bite into her flesh to mark her as theirs. If she allowed them to mark and claim her, a chemical from their beasts would be released into her blood stream which would enhance her senses as well as aid her in healing faster if she were injured. Plus, there was the added benefit of them all being able to communicate with her in their minds. She would also be gifted with longevity and live as long as they did. Apparently mated dragons lived up to two to three thousand years. He would love to spend the next 1700 years or more loving his mate.
He pushed his thoughts aside when he heard Bid moan and adjusted his throbbing dick in the tight confines of his jeans when he saw them kissing rapaciously. She was leaning on Erwin as if she didn’t have the strength to stand on her own and he hoped that was a sign of how much she wanted them, too.
