“I… Chelle, you’re torturing me.”
“Should I stop, then?” Her look was mischievous, and he shook his head quickly. “Good.”
Dmitri leaned back, letting her run her hands over him, move her hips against him. God, he could feel her wetness through the underwear she was wearing. She wanted him.
The dragon in him roared.
She moved both hands over him, marveling at how she couldn’t even cover his length. Then she released him, moving so she could stroke up against him, let his dick move over her wet center, teasing him to the brink of release.
He’d been craving his mate since he’d awakened, but until this moment, he hadn’t realized how hungry he could be.
He longed to return the favor. To reach up and pull her nightshirt off and hold her perfect breasts in his hands. To kiss all over her neck and shoulders, to hold her tight as he pumped deep inside.
But anytime he put his hand up, she put it down again, so he decided to be patient and just let her do as she pleased.
She moaned, moving down between his legs, positioning her sweet little mouth over his cock.
“Chelle, what—” He threw his head back as her lips closed over him. Warm, wet heaven. Not even close to enough.
Then he felt her moving, watching him with those sparkling, storm-colored eyes as her tongue swirled around his length. Her hand grasped beneath him, applying pressure as well.
He arched back as he felt a jerk of tension, his whole body tightening up at her touch. It felt so good. Nothing like this had ever been done to him, and it just made him want to pleasure her in return right now.
But she maintained her languid sucking, slowing the pace, smiling at him around his dick, blinking those long-lashed eyes that were full of lust for him.
Just when he thought he couldn’t hold on much longer, she pulled back, panting breathlessly, lips wet and swollen. She pulled her nightshirt over her head and tossed it aside. Then she stared pointedly at his shirt until he removed it as well.
Then she moved to the end of the bed and pulled his pants off, then his boxer briefs as well, leaving them both naked.
It was hard not to be excited by how close they were, how naked they were. How perfect her body looked, better than he’d ever even imagined.
Her breasts were the perfect size to fill his hands, her dusky nipples perfect for sucking. At the juncture of her legs, she had dark-blond curls, currently resting right by his erection.
His heart had never pounded like this before. He wanted to just proceed with no hesitation, but despite the ache inside him, the way the dragon in him wanted to barrel forward, he had to check on one thing. “Are you sure you want this?”
Chelle stared down at him, eyes glazed with lust tinged with a bit of surprise that he had asked that. She wrinkled her pointed nose and smiled down at him. “Abso-fucking-lutely.” She lifted on her knees and then sank over him, her hot, wet sheath sucking him inside.
Oh fuck, he was inside his mate. Inside Chelle. The best thing he’d ever felt. He stared up in concern as she closed her eyes, muttering a few curses before she finally was able to take all of him inside her, leaving her to rest on top of him, thigh to thigh.
She panted slightly as she adjusted herself, still looking a bit shocked by his length. Her body was shiny with sweat, and her skin just looked that much more tempting for it.
Dmitri had never wanted anything more in his life. Nor been more worried. “Are you okay? Should I pull out for a second?”
She shook her head urgently. “No. Don’t move.” She took a raspy breath and let it out again. “Oh God, that’s good. I’m not even moving.” She arched back, giving him a perfect view of her peaked nipples.
He wanted to touch them and reached both hands up. “Can I—”
She shook her head. “Stay there.”
Dmitri had only a split second of disappointment as he put his hands back down. After all, it was absolute heaven being joined with his mate. He could do it however she wanted to.
“So good,” she said, putting her hands up to her breasts, running them over herself as her eyes rolled back and she closed her eyelids. She slowly began to move on him, lifting so that he came partially out and then sliding herself back down.
He grunted at the friction as it sent lightning rocketing through him, making his whole body tight once again. He honestly wasn’t sure how long he could last.
Watching her move up and down on him, squeezing those beautiful breasts in her hands the way he wanted to, her face utterly lost in pleasure, it made everything stir inside him.
Made him feel like he was losing control. Something he wasn’t used to.
“Oh God, Dmitri, so good,” she said, beginning to move faster. He’d never had to be the one just sitting there, and it was an odd kind of tension, not being able do anything while feeling so much buildup inside you.
At one point, he couldn’t help thrusting with her slightly, and she smiled down at him, biting her lip. “Mm. That feels good. Do that more.”
So he did, keeping his hands on the sheets as he slowly thrust up to meet her, aching with unbearable pleasure each time she took him inside. Each time they came together, he could feel the dragon’s heart within him beating. Every time they were one, it was like he was home.
“Chelle,” he said desperately. “You’re everything.”
She looked down at him for a moment, shocked, but then arched back in release, finally going over the edge from all the friction. “Dmitri, Dmitri,” she called out, writhing as her sheath clenched around him rhythmically.
Though he tried to hold on, it pulled out his release, and he felt himself jerk inside her with the strongest orgasm of his life.
She stayed against him, screaming out her pleasure, and he couldn’t resist reaching up to at least grab her hips, both to hold her in place and to ground himself as pleasure overtook him, so strong that it felt hard to breathe.
It seemed to last forever, but when it was finally done, he looked up to see they were both panting, still joined, covered in sweat with the sunlight peeking in through the window.
He glanced down the hall. Had Luka heard? It was something that hadn’t occurred to him, not until passion was finally waning and he was realizing what they’d just done.
He looked up at Chelle guiltily, wondering if she would regret this. Wondering if she would think he should have said no.
Instead, she rested one hand on his chest reverently, then leaned forward to give him a kiss right between his pecs.
Then she came off of him and walked into the bathroom to grab a towel, which she brought over to clean up. He sat up, knowing nothing would be there.
“I should have mentioned this before, but dragons… We don’t work like humans sexually. There’s nothing to clean up.”
She looked at him curiously. “How does that work? I mean, I’m already on birth control, for other things, so I wasn’t worried about it.”
“We can only get our mates pregnant and only at specific times,” he said. The thought of her carrying his young was almost hypnotic, but he knew better than to bring that up.
“Mates?”
“When a dragon picks a partner, it’s for all time.”
“Well, that’s interesting, but it’s never going to be me.” She let out a light laugh, and Dmitri felt his heart sink.
He’d known she wasn’t ready, that what they were doing now was just because she’d been caught up in the moment. But hearing her saying right out that she didn’t want him was tough.
He sat up. “I can clean myself up.” He reached for the cloth, and she handed it over to him. “Or better yet, I can just hit the shower.” He moved to the edge of the bed to look for his clothes.
He was still raw from being inside her, from feeling his soul soaring close to the sun. Clearly, it wasn’t the same for her, and that hurt more than he wanted it to.
What, had he thought the sex would be so good she’d agree to date him? That she
would have to return his feelings in order to do what she’d done?
For a dragon who’d been alive for centuries, he was far too naive.
“You’re a romantic,” she said, studying him. “I should have known better.” She intertwined her fingers in her lap. “Listen, that was amazing. I wanted you and you wanted me, and I couldn’t resist getting caught up in the moment. I don’t regret it at all. But I thought it was clear that it wouldn’t change anything. For me, romance isn’t possible.” She smiled. “But with you, great sex is. That’s the most enjoyment I’ve had in a long while.”
Dmitri sighed, almost won over by the contented glow in her eyes. She had enjoyed him, and in his opinion, she liked him more than she thought.
The way she touched him, the tenderness in her eyes, that couldn’t just be about him being hot. There had to be more than that.
And there he went, acting like a maiden who’d been taken and discarded. He really needed to toughen up. Then he’d know how to make his next move.
He got up to dress and felt her hand on his hip. He turned to her curiously and saw her looking up at him with concern in her eyes.
“Look, I thought we both wanted this, and I thought—”
“I know,” he said shortly, pulling away from her. “But guess what? Men have feelings, too, and sometimes they are more than sexual.”
She sat back, looking disappointed. “I know.”
He pulled on his pants and his shirt, then realized he’d left his underwear and bent down to grab it, growling in frustration. He was about ready to leave the room to go think when he heard a small sniffle from the bed.
He looked over at Chelle, and his heart sank. Her eyes had welled with tears, and she was tucking her legs in again.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” she said. “I just wanted a moment together. Wanted to see if I could just feel something good.”
He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. No matter how much he was irritated that she didn’t want him, he couldn’t hold anything they’d just done against her. He went over to place a kiss on the top of her head, vowing to be more patient with his mate.
She might not be ready to move forward, but they had made huge progress.
“It’s okay,” he said, rubbing her shoulder until she nodded up at him, looking reassured. “I’m glad we did that. It felt amazing. I just… need some time on my own.”
She nodded, finally giving him a smile.
But as he left the room, he knew as long as he lived, his body would never forget how amazing it was when they came together. Nothing could ever feel as good as that felt. They were made to be together. To find rapture in each other’s arms.
To give love to one another.
Hopefully, if he could just be patient, she could begin to see that as well.
Chapter 9
I just had sex with Dmitri.
Chelle couldn’t think of anything else the entire time she showered. Her body still ached from having him inside her. When she’d woken that morning, she’d been overwhelmed just looking over at him.
His handsome face looked so much gentler when he was sleeping, long lashes fanned over his high cheekbones, stubble on his perfect jaw. She’d wanted to run a hand over his short hair, see if it was as scratchy as it looked.
It had been a long time since she’d been able to enjoy herself like that. Perhaps his agreement to sleeping in her bed had emboldened her. Or perhaps her hormones had just taken over when he’d woken up to see her touching him and she’d seen that he was hard.
Perhaps she thought it would help out the both of them.
Or maybe she was being selfish all over again.
She fought back the pangs of guilt that tried to haunt her, telling herself that she still deserved to live in some ways.
As she was combing her hair after getting out of the shower, she heard her phone ding in the bedroom. As she picked it up, she saw the text was from Talia.
Her heart skipped a beat as she opened it up.
Oh my gosh! You know about the dragons! I need to come over like right now!
Chelle pulled her robe a little tighter as she sat on the bed to type her response. How did you know?
Dmitri is over here with Luka, talking to Alek. Are you okay? I know it’s shocking.
Chelle put a hand to her head. Of course her friend had been keeping this secret all along, not that Chelle blamed her. It wasn’t her secret to tell. But with all the excitement of yesterday, Chelle hadn’t even thought about it.
Sure, come on over. We can chat.
Amazing! I’ll be right there.
Chelle yawned as she changed into a comfy black tracksuit and put her hair back into a ponytail. After all the excitement yesterday, she just wanted to relax.
As she made hot chocolate, a disturbing thought hit her. What if Dmitri told his friends other things when he was over there?
She nearly burned her finger on the cup but then thought of Dmitri’s scolding and plopped an ice cube in the mug to cool it down before she drank.
If nothing else, maybe he would help her learn to think before she did things.
But she hadn’t been able to think much that morning. She’d never been that carried away before, just because someone was hot.
Or was it more than that? Was it also their friendship, the fact that she trusted him, that made it the perfect escape? She could feel everything she wanted to and not worry about getting hurt.
But once they’d finished and she’d said what she had about never mating him, she’d realized she should have thought a little harder about whether it would hurt him.
She’d been naive to think because he liked her, he would be happy with just a quickie. That he would be going along with it like she was for just the sensation with no promise of anything serious after.
She still needed to talk to him about that, make sure she hadn’t ruined anything.
Because despite all the complications, she still really wanted to know him. Wanted to learn more about him as a dragon. Wanted to continue to be his friend.
She couldn’t afford to ask herself why it meant so much to her, but it did.
Luckily, she was saved from her thoughts by someone knocking, and she opened the door to see Talia.
When Talia saw her, she jumped up and down excitedly and then grabbed Chelle in a hug. “I’m so glad I have someone I can talk to about this. No one else knows.”
Chelle smiled as she extricated herself, heading over to the couch with her hot chocolate to talk to her friend. “How long have you known? Since you found him?”
Talia shook her head. “No, I fell in love with him first. I’m not sure if that made it easier or harder to accept him. You know when the two of us disappeared for a day?”
Chelle nodded. “When Henrick was going to take him to a museum?”
“Yes, well, long story short, Henrick was a pretty bad person, and Alek ended up going into dragon form to punish him.”
Chelle thought about the sheer size of Luka the night before. “Did he kill him?”
“No,” Talia said. “But I’m sure he’ll think twice before ever coming back.”
“Good,” Chelle said, letting out a sigh. “I can’t stand anyone who would hurt my friends.”
“Speaking of which, did something happen between you and Dmitri? He was acting a little odd when he came over.”
“Like how?” Chelle tried not to squirm nervously, knowing it would give something away.
“He just seemed… out of it, I guess. Then again, the two of you were robbed and almost shot.”
“It still doesn’t seem real.” Chelle sipped her hot chocolate. “Wait, does Iris know? Didn’t she do a blood test?”
“Iris knows something is up, but not what. She knows Alek is practically immortal. But you know she’s too busy trying to catch that tenured position to pay attention to anything else right now.”
“Right,” Chelle said. “Oh man, I don’t know how I’m going to focus on m
y class. Dragons exist. I mean, it’s like the whole world turned upside down.”
“Well, I think they are mainly trying to live as humans, so life should probably just go on as usual,” Talia said. “The best thing we can do is keep things as normal as we can.”
Chelle sighed. “Have you gone flying yet?”
The twinkle in Talia’s dark eyes confirmed everything Chelle needed to know.
“I knew it,” Chelle said. “God, I want to go.”
“I’m sure Dmitri would take you sometimes. Honestly, Chelle, I wasn’t sure if I should say anything, but—”
“He has feelings for me.” Chelle finished for her.
Talia nodded. “Is that okay?”
Chelle set her mug on the side table and threw her hands in the air. “Does it matter? People feel how they feel. I haven’t done anything to encourage him.” Until this morning. Guilt waved through her.
“He’s a good guy,” Talia said eagerly. “Chelle, I think you’d be great with him. I know he comes off all alpha and stuff, but he’s actually really sweet.”
Chelle thought of his hurt eyes when she’d said she would never mate him. “Yeah, I get that now.” She stood and walked over to the window, looking out at the snow. Then she looked back at Talia, who remained on the couch, looking puzzled. “But he and I aren’t ever going to date.”
“Why not?”
“Have you seen me be serious with anyone?”
“No. I mean, I’ve seen you bring guys home,” Talia said. “But—”
“Usually, I can’t even get with them,” Chelle said, staring out the window, wishing the snow flurries would just take her away. “Usually, it hurts too much. Sometimes they are enough of a distraction that I try for a little while. If they are jerks, I don’t feel bad stringing them along. But usually, it goes nowhere.”
“I see,” Talia said, looking confused. “I mean, I always thought you were having fun out there on the dating scene. You’re practically always at the club.”
Chelle walked over to sit on the couch with her friend, though she left as much distance as possible between them. “That’s because I need to distract myself. I hate being alone.”
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