She was halfway down the driveway when she saw the estate’s looming gates through her tears. She was trapped.
Ana’s steps were slowing – she needed to figure out what to do next, and also to catch her breath. Her sister Julia had always been the athletic one – when an enormous fucking storm dragon landed heavily in front of her, the ground cratering beneath his feet. Gravel flew in every direction, some of it hitting her. Not that Ana felt it. She was too busy staring at the tiny bolts of lightning that were crackling around his glowing eyes.
A gust of wind, damp with the promise of rain, lashed past Ana. It whipped her long, dark hair into her eyes. Using both hands, Ana shoved her hair away from her face.
When she could see past her hair again, Ana saw that standing in front of her was Grissom Hale, now in his human body.
And he looked furious.
Chapter 16 – Grissom
Stunned, Grissom stared after Ana as she ran away from him. He’d had sudden blows to the head that were less shocking.
Most humans couldn’t see dragons. Fated soul mates or not, when he had first transformed, Grissom hadn’t been certain that Ana would be able to see him at all. But she had been able to see him, something that had overjoyed Grissom. The part that came after that part, however, was shaping up to be a miserable disaster.
Of all the ways that he had imagined Ana reacting to his other form, Grissom hadn’t imagined that. And it wasn’t true at all! She brought lots of things – important if intangible things – to the relationship.
He had to go after her – mostly because the idea of sitting around and waiting for Ana to come back to him was intolerable. If she needed time to cool down, he could wait. After he finished yelling at her, because how dare she say things like that about herself – about his mate! He wouldn’t let anyone talk about his mate like that!
The wind picked up, and overhead the sky darkened. Grissom launched himself into the air, a dragon once more. He flew after Ana, getting angrier at her with every flap of his wings.
He couldn’t be out of her league. They were soul mates! By definition, she was his league.
Dipping lower, Grissom landed dramatically in front of Ana in a shower of flying gravel. Wind whipped around him, thunder rolling in the distance, as Grissom transformed back to his human form.
“You can’t just say something like that and run away! And how dare you say that I’m out of your league! I decide who’s in my league, and I’ve decided that you are my league!”
Grissom had never cared that his fated mate was human. And looking at her miserable face now, he realized that he didn’t care about a lot of other things either. He didn’t care if humans could feel soul bonds – or even if they could be bound by them. He didn’t care that, of the two of them, he was the only one who felt the pull of the bond between them.
Ana was his soul mate, his perfect match.
And he just wanted her, not anyone else. He loved her. Grissom loved Ana better than he could love any other woman, and he wanted to keep her forever. Even if their bond remained one-sided in effect – and even if Ana never felt the tug of the mating bond that lay between them – he would be lucky to have her. It would just be part and parcel of being lucky enough to be in love with her and loved by her in return. If Ana chose to stay with him forever, that would be enough for him.
But first, he needed to persuade her to stay. At that moment, her heart was so far from his that it made him ache.
Striding forward – and ignoring the bite of gravel against the sensitive soles of his feet – Grissom grabbed Ana’s shoulders. Her stormy eyes were very wide and shining with tears. The sight – and the sound – of Ana crying made that hot, fierce ball of emotions in Grissom’s chest ratchet so tight that he could barely breathe around it.
“You’re beautiful and resilient and strong, Ana. You never give up! And there’s nothing two-bit about you. Your art is amazing! It’s light and bright and looking at it makes me happy. I can see your soul in it. You make me happy!”
“You deserve someone better!” said Ana, her voice wet with her tears. “Someone who matches you – a lady storm dragon. Are there lady dragons?”
“Of course there are dragonesses! I just don’t want any of them! I want you! You match me! You’re the one that I want to build a life with!”
Still angry, Grissom pulled Ana into a fierce kiss. For a heartbeat, Ana stood stiff and unyielding, and then she melted against him. Her mouth became pliant and yielding underneath his, and she clutched at his forearms with her smaller hands.
Between kisses, Grissom snarled, “It doesn’t matter to me where you work or what you do, so long as you’re happy too. If you need something, tell me and I’ll get it for you. Promise I will. Just tell me.”
The force of his kisses pushed Ana several steps backwards, and then off the path entirely. She ended up with her back pressed against the smooth bark of one of the trees that lined the drive. There, he pinned Ana in place and ravaged her mouth with his.
His hands followed the lines of her sides, stroking the dip of her waist and briefly gripping her hips before reaching down to undo her jeans. Shoving his hand down Ana’s pants, Grissom palmed her sex through her panties, the heel of his hand pressing firmly against Ana’s clit as he stroked her folds.
Under him, Ana made a strangled noise and wriggled, her legs moving further apart for him.
Maybe she couldn’t feel their mating bond, but by the time that he was done, she was damn well going to know that she was his, and he was hers. And nothing was ever going to come between them.
Grissom traced his fingers back and forth along Ana’s labia, his palm pressing rhythmically against her clit. He gloried in Ana’s whimpers and the way that her hips restlessly rolled up against his hand. Her hands slid around Grissom’s sides to clutch at his back, her head falling backwards when Grissom began to rub at and roll her hardened nipple between his thumb and forefinger.
Leaning over her, Grissom caught Ana’s mouth with his again. While he kissed her, Grissom rubbed his hardening cock against the curve of Ana’s belly.
At the same time, he pressed his fingers against Ana’s entrance. Her panties wouldn’t let him push his fingers inside of her, but he could rub the sensitive flesh around her entrance through the damp fabric, something that made Ana moan and buck up harder against him.
Ana slid her hand down his side. Reaching between them, she closed her hand around his cock. She pulled her hand along the length of his erection, her rhythm matching the rhythm of his fingers against her folds. Ana’s grip was tight and her hand firm, just the way that Grissom liked it best.
Moaning, Grissom helplessly bucked up into her hand. He mouthed at the delicate skin of her neck, nipping at the place where her neck met her shoulder and then sucked it. Her sweat was salty against his tongue.
Ana made a high whimpery noise then, her entire body shuddering against his as she came, soaking her panties.
He fingered Ana through her release, and then pulled away from her. Squatting, Grissom yanked Ana’s jeans down the length of her legs, dragging her panties along with them. He pulled off her shoe, sock, and one pant leg, leaving Ana with one leg that was completely bare.
Grissom stood then and grabbed Ana around the waist. Her knee hitched up against his hip, Grissom thrust into Ana in one smooth movement.
Ana gasped, and Grissom groaned as her body enveloped him in her slick heat. Helpless against how good she felt, Grissom pulled back and then drove into her again, hard.
His hand under her other thigh, Grissom lifted Ana off of her feet. She brought her legs around Grissom’s waist, hooking her heels together behind his back. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, Ana held on tight as Grissom thrust into her again.
Another hard thrust and this time Ana clenched around his length, wrenching another groan out of Grissom. He fucked Ana hard and fast and deep, driving little cries from her on his every thrust. Ana got her own back though. She clench
ed around his length, her heel digging into the top of his ass and her nails digging into the skin on his shoulders.
Ana’s head was tipped back, her swollen mouth gasping for breaths, and Grissom skimmed his lips down the column of her throat to the mark that he had left at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. He mouthed and sucked at the skin there, making Ana whine and strain against him.
Grissom’s hand – the one that wasn’t currently gripping and squeezing one of Ana’s lovely butt cheeks – found Ana’s. He was holding her hand as his strokes sped up, as he fucked Ana into another orgasm.
She came, keening and straining against him. Her nails raked lines of sensation across his shoulder as she spasmed around him, her body milking Grissom’s pleasure from him.
Grissom had no choice but to come with her, his voice the thunder to the lightening of his orgasm.
Afterwards, he slumped against Ana, his forehead pressed to the smooth bark of the tree behind Ana’s back. They were both panting and gasping for breath.
“You’re the only one that I want,” he said into the silence. “Never leave me again, okay?”
Ana’s fingers flexed against his, and her hand tightened on his. She nodded against Grissom’s shoulder.
“All right,” said Ana breathlessly. Then, after a brief pause, “Sorry I lost my head.”
Huffing a laugh, Grissom pressed a soft kiss into the side of said head.
“It’s all right,” he said. “It was worth it in the end.”
It wasn’t sweeping Ana off of her feet, declaring them soul mates, and living happily ever after, but it was a start.
Chapter 17 – Ana
Ana loved Grissom, but she couldn’t help thinking that he was making a mistake by loving her too.
As a kid, Ana had loved the television show Bewitched. There was one plot in particular that Ana found herself thinking about more and more often lately. In that episode, a witch named Samantha had gotten to see what her human husband’s, Darren’s, life would have been like if he had never met her. Truthfully, it had been pretty great.
All of the things in life that he had wanted but been unable to reach as Darren Stevens, husband to Samantha Stevens, had been laid out at his feet as Darren Stevens, bachelor engaged to marry a rich but spoiled girl. The upshot of the episode had been that Darren loved Samantha more than anything and was willing to upend his life for her, giving up everything else to have her instead.
As the woman that couldn’t confer riches or honors or connections on her beloved, Ana didn’t want Grissom to give anything up for her.
Grissom was amazing, and he had an amazing life doing a job that he loved. He was by far the best boyfriend that Ana had ever had. She wouldn’t change a thing about him.
Ana never wanted to be the thing holding Grissom back or dragging him down. She didn’t want Grissom to have to give up on any of his dreams – or lose out on any opportunities – because of her. For Grissom’s sake – and for her own – she should let him go.
But when she was in Grissom’s arms, Ana’s will weakened. When he was near, Ana forgot all about what was probably best for him and instead leaned into him, thinking, What if I could keep him? What if we stayed together forever?
In her happiest daydreams she was a semi-famous artist, Grissom was still a police detective, and they had a few kids and a couple dogs to chase around his enormous house.
It was when they were apart that Ana had her doubts about how long this whole thing could last.
Rich, well-connected people married other rich and well-connected people so that they – and their children – could be even richer and even better connected. They didn’t marry poor girls without honors or connections, no matter how nimble their fingers or brilliant their art was. Grissom may not have wanted more money or connections for himself, but when he thought about it, he would want them for his children, if not now then eventually.
And when that day came, he was going to dump her. He had asked her to move in with him, after all, not marry him. The writing was already on the wall. If she was smart, she would get out while there was still any piece of her heart left intact.
Ana sometimes worried that it was too late for that.
Grissom must have been worried too, because it had been raining steadily ever since they had argued in Grissom’s backyard and made up on his driveway, and that had been three days ago.
It never rained hard. It just never stopped raining either. For three days, the city had been shrouded in a steady drizzling rain. It was boring to watch, annoying to walk through, and wonderful to listen to while falling asleep. Thanks to all the rain, the streets’ gutters had become little fast-flowing rivers. In some places, the storm drains were so full that they were overflowing.
Ana loved the rain, but even she had her limits. And all that rain worried her just a tiny bit – and sometimes quite a bit more than that. Grissom was a storm dragon, after all.
When she asked him if anything was wrong, though, Grissom had merely looked at her intently for several seconds before shaking his head.
“I’ll tell you about it later,” he said.
“Are you sure?” asked Ana. “We have time now.”
“No, I think later will be better.” Taking her hand, he said, “But what about you? You’ve seemed… sad, lately.”
Ana shook her head.
“It’s nothing,” she lied.
She couldn’t tell him that she was sad that she was the one that he was with, not the one that he was going to end up with. It was silly to be sad over things that hadn’t happened yet. And that sort of honesty usually made men run screaming. She didn’t want Grissom to run away from her, even if she sometimes thought that she should run away from him.
And that was how it went between them, both of them asking why the other was sad, and neither of them answering the other’s questions, no matter how they were phrased.
It was a mess – a horrible, unhappy mess – so when Malory asked her to cover an extra shift, Ana was quick to accept. It must have given the managers the wrong impression though, because when one of the other baristas abruptly quit, Ana suddenly found herself stuck with a half dozen extra shifts and more on the horizon. Just thinking about it was exhausting.
It won’t be so bad, Ana decided, trying to cheer herself up. It’ll keep me too busy to worry and I’ll make a little extra cash. Win-win!
Except for the part where she’d see a lot less of Grissom. Ana hated that part. But what was there to do about it? She needed this job. And working more would definitely take her mind off of her worries; mostly, because she would be too tired to worry about anything that hadn’t happened yet.
She didn’t expect her worries to follow her to work.
“Good morning!” chirped Ana, still writing the previous customer’s name on his cup. “I’ll be right with you.”
Passing the cup off to Lainey, Ana smiled up at her next customer. And then she blinked. Ana blinked again, but he was still there.
Across the cash register, Grissom Hale grinned back at her.
Silly as it was, Ana could have been knocked over with a feather. She just hadn’t ever expected to see Grissom in her place of work. Until then, Ana’s personal life and her work life had been kept firmly separate.
“Good morning,” he said cheerfully. “I’d like a sausage and egg burrito and your largest coffee. Black, please.”
“Yes, of course,” said Ana by rote. She had worked cash register long enough to be able to put in his order without really having to think about it. “What are you doing here?”
“I missed you,” said Grissom, his look so warm and so telling that Ana could practically feel how much he had missed her. She flushed – happy and off-kilter and terribly pleased, because she had missed him too. It was nice to have extra money, but working all of these extra hours was the worst.
Grissom’s expression softened and, for a moment, Ana felt sure that he was going to lean across the cash register and kiss
her. Her lips were already tingling with anticipation.
Instead, Grissom offered her a credit card.
“Oh, no, we don’t take those here,” said Ana, feeling dreadfully disappointed. It might have been unprofessional, but she would have preferred the kiss. “Cash only.”
Surprise flickered across Grissom’s face.
“All right,” he said, as he took the credit card back. “Give me a moment?”
“Of course!” chirped Ana. While Grissom returned his card to his wallet, Ana scrawled his name and order across the side of a cup and passed it off to Lainey.
When she looked back to him, Grissom gave her a twenty. Ana made correct change, and then hesitated. She wanted to kiss her boyfriend.
But this was her place of business.
But she really wanted to kiss her boyfriend.
And she thought that he wanted her to kiss him too. She didn’t know how she knew it, but she did.
But she was at work. And she didn’t want anyone else thinking that they could ask her for kisses.
Splitting the difference, Ana scrawled a quick “Love you! XOXO” on a napkin and passed it to Grissom along with his hot breakfast burrito.
On seeing it, Grissom’s eyebrows arched and he grinned again, quick and boyish. Happiness –hers and maybe his – warmed Ana from the top of her head to the tips of her toes, and she grinned back at him.
Grissom moved down the counter, toward the place where the baristas were making drinks and calling names, and Ana took the next customer’s order.
After that, Grissom came in every morning for an egg burrito and a black coffee. Most mornings, Grissom even stayed long enough to eat his breakfast.
“Why are you suddenly working so many more hours?” he asked once. It had been about a week and a half since their fight, and the rain was finally beginning to let up.
Her Detective Dragon_A Paranormal Mystery Romance Page 10
