“You’re going to need that.”
Her heart rocketed like a fireworks display. Casey tilted her hips for easy entry. They fit together like two pieces of the same whole. In no time, her body adjusted to the length of Casey, and he began a gentle stroking rhythm. Pleasure unlike any she’d known before blossomed in her core and radiated outward, to her heart.
Before long, Casey’s strokes became faster. He thrust into her harder, rocking the bed. Evangeline wanted it. She wanted to become one with him and knew the only way was through this.
She grabbed his wrists and held on as she arched her spine. The pleasure was almost too much. With a whine on her lips, she uttered his name.
“Say it again,” he demanded.
Not one to disappoint, she screamed, “Casey!”
His eyes flashed gold. The sensation that exploded through her was not fear. It was something else. It was a kind of magic.
Only one word entered her mind: Mine.
It couldn’t make its way past her lips because barely a second later, Casey’s thrust broke the dam her pleasure had been caught behind and it flooded her body and soul. She wailed her release as it overwhelmed her. He bucked into her, sending shock waves through her climax.
Casey bent over her, growling as he dragged his teeth over her shoulder. After a shudder shook him, he pulled away. She missed the feel of him inside her the moment he pulled out. In the blink of an eye, she went from feeling whole to being empty once more.
The emptiness was purely physical, though, because Casey didn’t go far. He scooped her up and carried her to the bathroom where they both cleaned up. Casey vanished, but only for a moment. He returned carrying a set of clothes for her.
She finished up and found a pair of sweats and a soft t-shirt in the pile Casey had brought to her. He’d even found a pair of comfortable panties for her, something no guy had ever wanted her to wear before.
“You know the sex is good when I forget what I’m supposed to be doing,” Casey said as he ran a finger along her bare waist.
Evangeline looked up at him, surprised. “You think I’m good in bed?”
His eyes opened wide, back to their normal blue once again. “Don’t tell me no one has ever told you that before.”
She avoided his gaze as she hesitated. Casey playfully tugged the tips of her pink hair, like he couldn’t get enough of her yet.
“I have never had my mind blown on a level quite like that before,” he said. “You are everything I never expected to find in this world.”
After donning her shirt and sweats, she threw her arms around his neck. “Carry me back to bed.”
“Your wish is my command,” he mumbled into her hair after lifting her from the floor.
Neither of them mentioned Casey spending the night, but he lay down beside her and his hands snuck under her shirt once more. Before long, she heard his soft snore and knew she made him so comfortable he couldn’t help but fall asleep.
Everything about what they had seemed to be moving too fast, but she wasn’t yet ready to let go. She felt like she was on the back of a mechanical bull, waiting for it to throw her off. Devastation could be around the corner. But she could also find triumph.
Which would it be?
If she woke and the bed was empty, she would know that it was all a con to get into her pants.
8
Evangeline stretched to peer through the bedroom door, still amazed that Casey had not disappeared in the middle of the night. She’d expected to wake and find the other side of the bed empty. Instead, she’d had to carefully crawl over him in order to get free of the bed. Halfway to freedom, Casey had rolled over and pulled her into his body.
They’d spooned until he’d returned to snoring. Then she slipped out and started making breakfast. Even now, an hour later, her chest still radiated with joyous warmth. She clutched her mug and grinned like a fool.
Maybe she was a fool, but everything about Casey seemed different. What they had wasn’t like any of her previous relationships. She couldn’t point out one big thing that made this relationship stand apart. Instead, it was in the details. From his unexpected gift to the tire theft to the spooning. All those moments added up and made this feel so much larger than anything she’d ever known.
Was this love? Was she stumbling into it for the first time in her life? She was in her late twenties. By now, she should have known love, but she realized what she felt for Trevor and the men that came before him wasn’t love. With them, she’d searched for approval, which meant she often had to put on an act.
She didn’t have to do anything other than be herself to make Casey look at her with pride. Which was the exact look he wore as he joined her in the kitchen. He didn’t take a seat on the other side of the breakfast counter, but instead sidled up behind her and pressed his nose to her shoulder before breathing deep.
“I can’t get enough of your scent,” he said against her skin.
“Unfortunately for you, you can’t hover over me while I work,” Evangeline said. She wished she could take him, but he was too damned distracting.
She spun in his arms and raised her chin for a kiss, which he gladly delivered. Each stroke of his tongue explored a part of her that had never been found by a man before. She groaned and pressed harder into him.
Casey moaned. He lifted her from the floor and set her on the counter where she could wrap her legs around him. She felt like she might shatter if she didn’t get more of him. More of his skin, his scent, his affection.
Never before had she ever felt so brittle, yet so whole. She thought that if she finally broke, then she wouldn’t fall into nothing but become a whole new woman. Exhilarated by the change in her life, she broke the kiss and bit the soft skin of his exposed throat.
Casey shuddered.
“Don’t do that unless you have serious intentions,” he warned her.
She did it again, reaching for his cock at the same time. “Does this count as serious intentions?”
He growled and braced himself against the counter. She watched his shoulders heave as his breath quickened. Shaking, he set his forehead on her shoulder, and Evangeline realized she might have started more than she’d bargained for.
“What you’re doing means something to people like me. I couldn’t handle it if you made promises you couldn’t keep.”
Evangeline wanted to argue, but Casey continued.
“If you find out what I am and decide you can’t live with that, then I’m not going to handle it well. Don’t promise me anything yet. Wait until you figure it out.”
Evangeline was tempted to protest that she wouldn’t just run for the hills, but she recalled the way his friend had flung the table at the bar. The guy had tossed it like it’d been made of paper. Then, he’d wrecked his friend’s face. Casey had promised her that both guys would be fine, but she’d seen the damage.
There was no way either would be able to see today. They should both have swollen black eyes.
“Fine,” she said before pushing his arm away and hopping off the counter. “What’s my time frame? How long do I have to figure this out?”
Casey sucked his teeth. She wanted those lips on other things, but this conversation was too important to interrupt with her lust.
“I’m here until October,” he said, finally.
Three months. She grinned. That was more than enough time to figure out his secret, get Casey to fall for her, and deal with Nellie’s fears.
“If you don’t want me doing things I shouldn’t be doing, then we should probably stop doing…this. Before you’re disappointed, you should know that I’m not going to disappear. If anything, you’re going to start seeing more of me. I’m going to need to spend more time with you and your friends if I’m going to figure out what you’re hiding from me.”
Everything in her wanted to go back to Casey’s arms, but she would show him that she could listen. She would figure out his secret, digest it, and return to tell him that she wanted no
other man. Her confidence was resolute and unwavering.
She’d thought he would appreciate her confidence, but he seemed stricken.
“You are not spending time with the others. I’m not letting you anywhere near them.” He stood straight, his upper lip curling.
“They’re your friends, right? And they’re like you? Why can’t I get to know them?”
She had work in two hours. She should have been in the shower, so she had time to put her make-up on. Instead, this useless argument ate up her time. As the owner of her own shop, she could show up late, but she’d never done it before, and she wasn’t about to start now. Not when this argument could be so easily resolved.
“You saw what they did at the bar last night!” Casey said.
“Yeah, and you kept me safe. Besides, I’m not asking you to take them out into public again. I want to go where they are. Maybe share a few beers with them. That’s all.”
“Why are you so hung up on this?” he asked, exasperated.
“Because I’m in this for the long haul. I like you, and I want to get this right. Meeting your friends is like getting to know another part of you. If you want, I’ll introduce you to Isabella. I doubt I could get Nellie to talk to you or your friends, but that’s another story.” She’d forgotten about Nellie’s warnings. Evangeline had been so wrapped up in her growing feelings for Casey that Nellie’s fear had slipped from her mind.
Thankfully, Casey didn’t dig. Her desire to meet his friends clearly had him riled up.
Evangeline paused. “Are you trying to avoid this part because you don’t want anything more than what we had last night?”
She couldn’t bear the idea of not keeping Casey. For once in her life, she’d found a man who seemed genuinely nice. She’d assumed he was trying to protect her by not allowing her near his friends, but that could have been a diversion. If he didn’t want her…
“Evy,” he said, voice soft as he stepped closer. His knuckles brushed hers and sent her butterflies into a panic again. “That’s not it at all. I don’t know what I’m doing here. I didn’t expect to find anything like what we have and now I’m afraid one wrong step will ruin it.”
She let out a breath and grinned up at him. “This is like a fairytale challenge, right? If I can guess your true identity, then I get the prince?”
“Now you’re just making shit up. I don’t recall any fairytales like that.”
Though Casey still didn’t look convinced, Evangeline bounded toward the bathroom with a renewed purpose. At the bathroom door she paused and shouted back at Casey, “Tomorrow. You’re bringing me to meet your friends. We’ll bring burgers or something.”
* * *
Casey sat on the edge of her couch. His beast preened, but his heart had clenched. He didn’t want Evangeline anywhere near Erik or Gavin. Maybe he could trust Dillon, but Dillon was hardly good company.
He could have told Evangeline that he wouldn’t be with the others for much longer, but her enthusiasm had taken hold of him. She’d declared those idiots his friends, and now, a part of him had claimed them as such. Gavin had betrayed him, and Casey barely knew the other two, but they belonged to him now.
The point in coming here had not been to find a mate and bed down. With Gavin taking claim of this mountain and Evangeline coming into Casey’s life, it became more and more obvious that they were not leaving.
Casey should have warned Evangeline what she was getting into, that an elder dragon would come in three months to eradicate Casey and his friends. He held onto hope that his assumption was wrong. Maybe Zander would be happy that his son had found a mountain of his own. The Zander he knew would not be happy, though. Casey could dream all he wanted, but his life would become messy come October.
By then, Evangeline might have left him anyway. He wanted her to figure out what he was on her own because then she would be able to accept it. If she came to the conclusion, then the idea would be more cemented in her mind. She wouldn’t try to deny it if it was her own idea. At least, that was what Casey thought.
She could still run. If she saw him for what he was, a beast made of fangs and claws, she might forget how to love him. Then he would be in the same boat as Gavin.
At least then they could commiserate with one another.
Casey listened to Evangeline sing to herself in the shower while he wondered what he could do to make this group of misfits into a clan. Perhaps Evangeline had the right idea. They needed to bond, and what better way to do that than a cookout?
Evangeline stepped out of the bathroom, and his breath caught in his throat. Her pink hair had paled, making her even more fey-like. She’d left her freckles uncovered but swiped a line of black over each eye so when she batted her lashes at him his heart did backflips.
He didn’t know how she managed to take him by surprise every time, but he would never tire of it.
“Let me walk you to work, at least.”
She rose on her toes and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. “I would like that very much.”
Casey hung back, watching her descend the stairs and wondering what it would be like to have this view every day for the rest of his life. He couldn’t allow himself to have too much hope. Humans would always run away from shifters. It would take a miracle to make her want to stay with a dragon for the rest of her life.
Casey was lost in thought, but Trevor’s scent brought his beast to the forefront. At first, Casey thought he’d caught the smell from the tire left in the stairwell. From the tightness of Evangeline’s shoulders when she stepped outside, he knew Trevor had returned.
9
Trevor was the last person Evangeline wanted to see. Upon seeing him storming toward her, she backed up and reached for the ring hanging around her neck. Her back hit a solid surface, and Casey’s warmth filtered through her, easing some of the fear that’d gripped her tight.
Casey put a comforting hand on her shoulder, perhaps to let her know he was there for her.
“You were at my house last night!” Trevor shouted, pointing a finger at her. “You took a tire off my car!”
She would have laughed had Trevor’s attention not moved to Casey.
“Oh, I see how it is,” Trevor said with a sneer. “You kicked me out so you can bring home every guy you meet. Are you really that easy, Evangeline? Or can you not stand being alone?”
Her stomach hit the concrete sidewalk.
Things with Casey had moved incredibly fast. She’d barely known him a week.
Trevor wasn’t finished. “You just couldn’t wait to let someone else inside you.”
Tears burned her eyes. Evangeline wanted to run and hide, but there was no hiding from the confusion prickling her mind. All of a sudden, she questioned everything from Casey to how she thought she felt about him.
Casey stepped around her and placed himself between her and Trevor. “Listen here, just because you have a little prick doesn’t mean you get to act like one. No one here messed with your car, and if you want to keep throwing around accusations, I’m going to break every finger you think about pointing.”
Trevor took a step back from Casey, then seemed to realize that he needed to stand his ground or else he’d look weak. Yet, when Casey moved an inch, Trevor flinched. Trevor dared to look past Casey, at Evangeline. Immediately, Trevor saw the ring now hanging around her neck and his eyes widened.
He opened his mouth, but Evangeline didn’t give him time.
“You were right,” she said. “I found it between the bed and the wall. That’s where it was all along.”
Trapped now, Trevor couldn’t point out that she was lying without revealing that he’d also lied to her. All she wanted was for him to go away and leave her alone. She doubted he felt anything for her now. Trevor only entered her life so he could make jabs at her and bring her low. It must have made him feel powerful.
The only thing she knew for sure was that she felt weak. Weak for ever dealing with him, weak for sleeping with Casey already. Why cou
ldn’t she just wait? She hated to think that she was so desperate for attention that she would throw herself at the first man who looked her way, but…that’s what it felt like now.
Casey stared Trevor down until the man turned and fled, but the damage had already been done. Evangeline hated herself. She walked beside Casey in silence. Shame obscured every good feeling she’d had earlier that morning, weighing down each step until she trudged along.
When she got to the shop, Nellie stopped what she was doing.
“Where’s your morning cold brew? You never go a morning without it.”
Casey raised a brow, asking a silent question.
“I didn’t think to stop at the café on my way,” Evangeline said.
She’d been wrapped up in Trevor’s accusations on the way to the shop and had missed the café. Coffee was the furthest thing from her mind, but the craving rose the moment she realized she didn’t have it. While it wouldn’t solve anything, she wanted the comfort of the simple pleasure.
That and a hug would be nice, but she didn’t dare ask for one from Casey. They’d agreed to not rush things and put distance between them until she knew what he was. Perhaps that was for the best because she couldn’t seem to keep herself from making awful decisions.
Casey kissed the top of her head, cast a wary glance in the direction Nellie had vanished, and left her. She wanted to call him back and ask him to hold her for a moment, but she stopped herself.
“Is he gone?” Nellie asked from the back room.
“Am I a whore?”
Nellie burst out of the back room, eyes ablaze. “Who called you that? I’m going to hex them!”
Evangeline snorted, her mood slightly lifted.
“Did you…you know? Sleep with Big and Broody?” Nellie asked.
Evangeline gave her friend a tight smile.
Nellie held up both hands. “I know I don’t like his kind, but he made you really happy. From my run in with Trevor earlier, it sounds like Big and Broody even helped you get your necklace back. There’s nothing wrong with having a mutually good time with someone who makes you happy.”
Rogue Dragons Series: Box Set Books 1-5 Page 9
