Dragons For Hire: A Dragon Shifter Romance

by Sadie Sears

  She slid off the couch, pressing me back onto the rug and tugging my pants off. I propped myself up on my elbows and watched her crawl toward me. My dick twitched in anticipation, and the movement caught her eye. She wanted me, but now she wanted to taste me as I had her. I read her emotions as clearly as I could read my team’s minds.

  If she put her tongue anywhere near me, I didn’t think I’d last. I was ready to explode just from the ecstasy of bringing her to orgasm. My hips jerked as she gave an experimental tug.

  “Damn, Sophie, I don’t think I can—”

  Wet heat surrounded me so fully that my mind blanked. Her hand wrapped around the base and twisted with each pump, and I needed a distraction to keep from blowing too soon. I sat up suddenly and grabbed her waist, dragging her lower half toward me and twisting her around. She yelped in surprise, but as soon as I settled her knees around my head, she went back to it.

  Shit. Distraction, right. I pulled her lower and my tongue delved back in. She moaned around my cock, and I moaned into her clit. We fed off of each other’s euphoria, building it up and up, taking it to new heights. We were all hands and desperate need after what we’d just been through. The way our tongues moved, one would think we were in a race to see who could get the other to orgasm first.

  I wasn’t entirely confident I could win that one. So I cheated.

  I slid two fingers into her passage and her hand tightened around me in response. We moaned around each other again, and this time I wasn’t sure who did it first, but we both sped up. She pulled back just a bit, running her tongue across my slit and around my head while her hand kept pumping.

  “Damn, Sophie,” I groaned. “You might want to stop.”

  In response, she took me into her mouth again. The distraction of her delicious pussy wouldn’t work that time, I was too close, but I kept on anyway, licking and sucking while my fingers slid in and out. When she grabbed my sac and massaged, it was game over for me. I pulled my fingers free of her, clamping down on her ass as my hips jerked. I tried to keep my tongue going, but I felt so good, like I was on an emotional high, that I couldn’t even think straight.

  Her ass moved out of my vision, and I sat up in time to see her straddle my waist. She smoothed her hands across my chest, pushing me back down. When she smiled, it lit up the room. Literally, candles and incense burners just lit up all around, on the fireplace mantel, the side tables, the shelves.

  We both gasped and looked around in wonder. “I think I’m going to have to talk to Glenda about controlling that,” she said.

  I pulled her down with me and brushed my nose against hers. “I love you.”

  “I love you, Cameron Charles.”

  No hesitation, no doubt, just me and Sophie. That was how it should be. And I thanked my dragon biology when she slid down on me without warning. She kissed me one more time, then sat back and pulled her knees up for more control. Watching her help herself to my body was a major turn-on. She knew what she wanted, what she liked, and she went for it.

  Sophie propped one hand on the floor behind her, letting her powerful legs do all the work, and the other slid down around her clit. I wanted to capture that image in my mind forever. My destined mate was something else. But I couldn’t let her have all the fun.

  I sat up, grabbed her, then rolled in an imitation of our first night together. Her eyes sparkled with amusement. I leaned down and kissed her gently, then sat back and lifted her hips. She propped herself up, and I slammed into her, one hand helping hold her steady, the other rubbing her furiously. Her cries increased in volume and our breaths grew ragged.

  “Love you, Sophie,” I groaned.

  “Cam!”

  I kept up the pressure and the almost brutal momentum until her cries were nothing more than breathless squeaks. Suddenly, her muscles clamped hard around me and she jolted. The unexpected pressure pushed me over the edge as well. Easing her hips down to the rug, I kept thrusting, slowing my momentum as we both came down from that one.

  For a few moments, we rested there in front of the fire just breathing each other’s air. The room was saturated with our happiness, and I knew she felt it too. What we had was nothing short of perfection.

  Sophie paused to text Glenda and Lila and make sure they knew we were safe and to check and make sure Shae could hang out with Zoe for a while.

  After a not-so-quick shower and another not-so-quick session, we collapsed on the couch. Sophie lay across my lap, and I brushed my fingers through her still-damp hair.

  “So you really do forgive me?” she asked. She turned her face up to meet my gaze.

  I grinned. “If that was your way of asking for forgiveness, then feel free to ask every day.” She laughed out loud and pinched my leg. “Yes, I forgive you. You were put in a very difficult decision, and I would never ask you to choose between me and your own daughter. You are an amazing mom, Sophie. I’ll go however slow you and Shae need me to.”

  She sat up and curled into my side. I wrapped my arm around her and kissed her head. “I feel like things will start moving a lot faster now. Do you think you can keep up?”

  “I will surely endeavor to try,” I replied.

  Sophie tucked her head under my chin. “Hey, Cam?”

  “Hm?”

  “Have there ever been witch dragons before?”

  My whole body froze as I processed the significance of those words. Witch. Dragons. I shivered as my dragon’s attention shifted to her fully. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

  “That I want you to claim me? Make me yours, and you mine?” She purred against my chest as her gaze met mine. I nodded, desperate for the answer. “I want to talk to Shae about it first, but the idea is thrilling.”

  Sophie wanted to be my mate, officially. She wanted me in her life forever. Something inside shifted and peace settled over me for the first time in a very long time. I held her to my side, and we watched the fire pop and crackle.

  “I would like that, Sophie,” I murmured in her hair. “I would like that very much.”

  21

  Sophie

  After I called to reassure her all was well, Shae spent the night with Lila and Zoe, and Lila had promised she’d make sure the girls got to school on time. I knew Shae was excited to get back to school now that our big threat was gone, but she’d been even more excited about spending the night with her best friend on a school night.

  Cam and I spent most of the day in the kitchen or in bed. It wasn’t a depressing place during the daytime anymore. We alternated between talking and making love.

  He told me more about his brother and his family, and also went into detail about what happened to him out in the woods. It had been horrific for him. We’d agreed that all of us were going to go to counseling—Shae and me to help us work through losing Riley, and Cam to help with his PTSD from losing his brother, plus whatever fallout might come after that horrifying stay in the woods.

  He left just before Lila came with Zoe and Shae after school. I wanted to double-check things with Shae before he spent the night with her there or anything like that. It would be a sudden change for her.

  “Hey,” I said as she bounded through the door and threw her backpack in the corner of the hall.

  I was worried about her mood, but she bolted to me and threw her arms around my waist.

  Her voice was muffled but her words warmed my heart. “I missed you, Mom. Is everything okay?”

  I bent and gave her a proper hug. “I missed you too, and it is more than okay.”

  Her mood put me at ease. As soon as Zoe and Lila went home, it would be a good time to talk about Cam.

  Zoe grabbed Shae. “Come on,” she said in that high-pitched tone of preteen girls. They ran toward the kitchen.

  “Back to best friends,” I mused as Lila and I watched them go.

  “Oh, yes.” She gave me a flat look. “I didn’t think I was ever going to get them to go to sleep last night. I almost made Zoe sleep on the couch.”


  Giggling, I walked into the living room. “I bet their teacher wanted to strangle them all day.”

  Lila burst out laughing. “I haven’t checked their backpacks yet. They’ve probably both got notes.”

  We chuckled, and Lila leaned over the couch, peering through the doorway that led from the living room to the kitchen. “They’re totally preoccupied making tea,” she whispered. Leaning close to me, my best friend arched one eyebrow. “You have the smell of dragon all over you. Dish.”

  I ducked my head but couldn’t stop the enormous grin from spreading across my face, or the blush.

  Lila gasped when she saw it. “You made up.”

  “Yeah. Things are back on. I’ve got to talk to Shae about it sometime today, but the plan is for us to split our time between the two houses until Shae is fully comfortable.” I looked around the living room. “I just can’t decide what to do with this place. It was my home with Riley, and though I love Cam, I know I do, I’m not ready to let this home go.”

  Lila followed my gaze around the room. “Leave it for now. Live in both places, there’s nothing saying you can’t. The right solution will come in time.”

  I hummed and smiled at my best friend. “You’re right. There’s no reason we have to make a decision right now. I know in time I’ll need to give the house up, but I don’t have to do it today.”

  Maybe, when I was ready, one of the dragons would take it. That way it would stay in the family, in a roundabout way. And they would be family after I took Cam’s bite. I would need to talk to Shae about that, too. But one thing at a time, and the living situation was the higher priority.

  “I’m so sorry.” Shae’s words from the other room stopped me in my tracks. I put my finger to my lips and tilted my ear to hear. It was a mother’s prerogative to eavesdrop every once in a while.

  “I understand,” Zoe replied. “Big changes are hard. My mom says we all struggle with how to handle them, and someone like you, who’s lost your dad, you’re going to have a hard time with change.”

  They were quiet for a few seconds. “You’re right. I don’t like the idea of it. But I know now that the dragons are here to help and they’re here to stay. And I want you to be happy, and your mom and my mom.” Shae sighed. “Dragons are scary. But we’ll be best friends forever, no matter what.”

  Zoe squealed. “I’m so happy to hear that because I’m going to have my claiming ceremony in just like a few weeks, at the end of November. And I need you to help me get ready. Plus, I really want to plan the party myself, and you totally have to help me.”

  “Of course, I’ll help,” Shae said. The sound of kitchen chairs scraping was next, then nothing.

  “They’re hugging,” Lila whispered. From her angle, she could probably just see the girls at the table through the doorway.

  The front door opened and shut, and Cam walked into the living room. “What did I miss?”

  I scowled at him. I’d wanted to have a talk with Shae before he came back, but a gasp from the kitchen doorway had me swinging my gaze to see Shae running through the living room toward Cam.

  My sweet girl flung her arms around my mate and words spilled from her mouth so quickly, I wasn’t sure he’d understand her. He was smart, sure, but did he speak preteen?

  “I’m so glad you’re here! I saw my dad in the woods that day, and that was why I didn’t want you or any of the other dragons near me or Mom. But I can also admit that I’ve talked to Mom, and she explained that my fear of change and of losing Zoe to becoming a dragon was picked up by Mary and Mary used that fear to make me see my dad, who told me that dragons were dangerous to keep us away from you so you couldn’t protect us.” She sucked in a breath, having said all that in only one.

  Cam looked at me helplessly, but I just shrugged. He had to get used to this. He hugged Shae tight and opened his mouth to speak, but she’d gotten another lungful.

  “I got a white feather and a message from my dad that I should accept you as someone that makes Mom happy. I’m so sorry that I was so mean to you, and from now on, you can be here all you want to and I’ll respect you as an adult and as a special friend, no, a boyfriend, of my mom’s, and I’ll be as nice to you as I can, but I can’t promise to always be nice because sometimes I just get upset, but that’s supposed to be normal, and I—”

  “Shae,” Cam said gently, but loud enough to interrupt her. “I’m glad you’re sorry, but you don’t need to be. It’s okay.”

  He dropped to his knees and looked her in the eye. “All I ask is that you be my friend. I’m not going to try to be your father. I won’t try to discipline you or anything like that. But if you want advice or help or anything from me, I’m here, okay?”

  She threw her arms around him again, and tears coursed down my cheeks. How had I gotten so lucky, so blessed, to find a man like this after having had a man like Riley?

  “Come on,” I told Lila. “Call Leath. We’ll make dinner and let these girls start planning.”

  Zoe squealed and Shae jumped up, already moving on from her sweet moment with Cam. He watched the girls thunder up the stairs, sounding like a herd of elephants running through the house.

  “They’re so loud,” he whispered.

  Lila and I exchanged a look and laughed and laughed.

  And laughed.

  22

  Cameron

  After we rinsed the chicken breasts, I showed Shae how to carefully cut into the meat with a sharp knife.

  “Be careful that you don’t cut all the way through,” I explained. “You want at least one side closed.”

  “Like a sub sandwich?”

  I grinned. “Sort of like that but make it more like a pocket that you can stuff your cheese inside.”

  The countertops were a mess of ingredients. A carton of eggs was still out, bowls of flour, panko, and beaten eggs were lined up, two other bowls of freshly grated parmesan and mozzarella cheese lay nearby, and pasta and marinara sauce sat over near the stove. There was a pot of water on the stove heating up to boil.

  “Do you use anything to keep it shut?” Shae asked.

  “You can use toothpicks if you cut it like a sub sandwich, but it usually stays closed with just the pocket.” I watched as she stuffed the mozzarella inside and showed her how to pinch it. “I’ll go ahead and start heating up the oil if you want to finish stuffing those.”

  She turned and grinned at me. “Mom is going to be so surprised.”

  I returned her excitement. “I hope so.”

  Shae and I had been spending a lot of time together, especially in the kitchen. When I’d mentioned the stuffed chicken parmigiana one day, she’d immediately latched onto it. So, while waiting for Sophie to finish up at work, she’d decided that’s what we were having. She even accompanied me to the grocery store after school to pick out the pasta noodles because string pasta was boring. We ended up getting bow ties because they were both formal and fun. Her idea.

  “Cam, do I put this in the egg first?” She held the piece of chicken hesitantly.

  “Flour first, then egg, then an even coating of the panko,” I told her. “Make sure the chicken doesn’t open back up or you’ll have cheese falling out in it.”

  After I got the oil heating up in the skillet, I dumped the noodles into the boiling water and set the timer. I had learned that Shae hated al dente, so I added a couple of extra minutes. Vince poked his head in once, only to have a dainty flour-coated hand shoo him back out. A minute later, Shae brought over the tray of properly dredged chicken breasts, the panko coating nice and even. The kid had real promise as a chef.

  “Shae, these look fantastic,” I told her.

  She smiled and ducked her head. “So what’s next?”

  “Oh, could you grab the tongs? They’ll be easier to flip with those.” I kept her right by my side, showing her how to flip the chicken and watch for oil splashes. She seemed to enjoy learning new dishes, and I was more than happy to show her all that I knew. When the timer rang from my ph
one, I reached over and turned the other eye off.

  “Okay, I’m going to let you do this part.” She nodded seriously. “Grab the pot by the handles with both hands, carry it to the sink, and dump everything slowly into the strainer. I’ve already got it set up. You’ll want to be slow when you pour, or the boiling water will splash back at you. And let me know if it’s too heavy for you.”

  She smirked and rolled her eyes. “I can carry it, Cam.”

  I lifted my eyebrows at her. “You’ve got all the right muscles? Let me see.” Shae rolled one sleeve up and patted a tiny bicep. I leaned over and pretended to inspect it, making her giggle. “Looks like it may work for this task. We might have to work on it later, though.”

  Grabbing the marinara sauce, I added it to the skillet around the chicken, then sprinkled the parmesan cheese on top.

  “Hey, guys!”

  Shae yelped and, moving as fast as I could, I snatched her up instinctively, lifting her high in my arms before the pot hit the floor, noodles and boiling water splashing over my feet. I hissed in pain and my back hit the counter, but I kept Shae off the floor.

  Sophie gasped. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” She stood in the kitchen doorway, her hand over her mouth, horrified. She backed up as the boiling water started trekking her way, but it would’ve been cooled enough by the time it got to her. Vince’s footsteps barreled down the stairs and into the kitchen from the other staircase. One quick look around had him grabbing dish towels and mopping up the water.

  “Cam, I’m sorry.” I peered at Shae, whose eyes were already reddening. “I didn’t mean to—” She looked at my legs in horror.

  I shushed her. “Hey, that was not your fault, okay? It’s still chicken parmigiana without the pasta. In fact, now it’s kind of low carb.” I shrugged. “Healthier.”