by Amelia Jade
“You know,” she started to say, before pausing to let her lungs recover a bit more. “I’ve heard the rumor that you should always sleep with older men because they’re better. But I gotta say, they never mentioned the part where it keeps getting better after the first century!”
Sid rolled his eyes. She assumed he was going to respond, but the sudden pressure between her legs was all the response he was willing to give. Hollie gasped as his cock slid inside her, pushing deep in one slow movement.
“Oh fuck,” she moaned. “Fuck yes.”
He kissed her again, timing it with the thrusts of his hips, so that he covered her mouth each time he was completely inside her. Hollie swiftly became lost in the moment with him, her mind drifting back to when she’d first met him, and how her feelings for the dragon shifter had morphed over time as more and more of his personality was revealed.
She wasn’t naïve enough to think they wouldn’t have problems. She was in her mid-thirties, and for all she knew, he was in the middle of his third millennium. But somehow Sid had managed to keep his ability to live in the here and now, as if he were much, much younger.
Pushing him off of her, Hollie rolled Sid onto his back so that she could mount him, grinding her hips into him as she arched her back, his hands doing their best to cover her breasts as she rode him, feeling his cock slide in and out of her.
Then there was the fact that she was going to age and die, and he would just keep living on. Oh, and kids, if that was even feasible. There were many questions to be answered before she could dream of a happily ever after. But right now, living in the present, she knew it could be good.
Powerful hands gripped her waist and lifted her several inches without warning. Once more Obsidian exerted control as his hips thrust up and into hers with a roughness she’d not experienced from him before. A deep growl formed in the back of his throat as she moaned and cried out his name, her brain assaulted by the sensations running through her.
Yes, there would problems, but she could see the changes in him already as he adjusted to a new age, a new way of thinking. His bloodthirstiness had calmed considerably, and she’d noted the way he was continually checking with both her and the internet to see what was appropriate and what was not. It was obvious he wished to fit in, and part of her entertained the hope that it was because of her.
He lowered her back down. “Spin around,” he commanded.
Hollie did as she was told, now astride him but facing away.
“Arch your back.”
Again, she followed his commands, enjoying being ordered around, finding his commanding presence extremely hot.
“Reach back and put your hands on my chest.”
She wasn’t sure what he had in mind, but she didn’t hesitate. Once more his hands closed around her body, gripping her ribcage as he leaned her back over the top of him. When his hips crashed into hers she felt her eyes go wide as it felt fantastic, fitting perfectly. He moved faster and faster against her this time, and she could sense that this was it. Their cries grew louder and twisted together as she was swept up in his pleasure, and he in hers.
His hands switched slightly until she was now resting the small of her back on only one palm. The other swept up over her hips and between her legs, rubbing in quick circles as he continued to move against her. Hollie threw back her head as he made her orgasm again, her insides clamping down around him as she was blasted with pleasure once more.
Moments later, while she was still recovering, he pulled out and used his free hand to jerk himself off as he shot rope after rope of molten-hot liquid over her stomach, some of it even splashing across her breasts, the warmth of it making her shiver. Throughout it all she gave him encouragement, telling him how much she wanted it and how good it felt as he covered her. It wasn’t her most enjoyable thing, but she would do it if she liked the guy enough.
“Wow.” The word came out as a gasp as he lowered her onto the bed on her back, rolling up on his side.
They kissed long and slow, both pulling away for air frequently until they started to recover, at which point their lips locked for longer and longer periods of time.
“I’m sorry,” he said after getting a towel and wiping her down.
“For what, making a mess?” she asked, giving him a skeptical look. “It’s all part of the act. I’m not bothered.”
“Ah, well, no, I actually can’t say I’m sorry about that.” He grinned at her. “It’s super hot. But no, I was apologizing for being a bit rusty after five hundred years of celibacy.”
Hollie started laughing so hard she began to snort, which set Sid off, and the two of them devolved into laughter that had tears streaming down their faces, cheeks red and lungs once again struggling to breathe.
It was some time before they recovered. At which point she found out that Obsidian was fully recovered.
Chapter Fifteen
Sid
He pulled on another shirt, admiring once again just how far textile manufacturing had come. Things didn’t itch all over anymore, which was a blessing of monumental proportions. Although silk clothing had been available, he hadn’t liked the smoothness of it against his skin. But cotton? Cotton products were fantastic. Between that and his choices of food, which seemed limitless, Sid would take a long time to miss the past.
Then of course there was Hollie. She alone was reason enough to be glad he had awoken when he had. He’d never encountered someone so vibrant and eager to live before. Admit it, she also has appetites that remind you much more of your years among the Romans and before them the Greeks.
He grinned to himself at the thought. It was absolutely true. She’d caught him off guard him with her eagerness in the bedroom, and it had blown his mind. He’d thought sex was fairly thought out long ago, but surprise surprise, they were still doing things differently. And the lack of hair! Oh, now that was a fun touch that he had quickly gotten used to.
“What are you grinning about?”
“Something very naughty.” He gave her a suggestive wink and then bounced his eyebrows numerous times.
Hollie giggled into her pillow, then stretched her arms up high and yawned, her cute round little face scrunching up into a tight ball while she did. He chose that moment to sneak a kiss onto her forehead. She smiled through her yawn and sighed a contented sigh.
“Do you promise?”
“Promise what?”
“That it’s naughty!” She laughed and kicked the covers off, revealing her naked form to his greedy eyes once more. “Hey! Breakfast is in the kitchen,” she told him. “So don’t go getting any ideas.”
He laughed heartily. This woman was absolutely perfect for him! Now if only she could see that too.
There was no doubt in his mind that she was coming around. Opening her house to him had been one thing, but now she had opened her bedroom and her body. That was a progressive sign for sure. But Sid knew that unless he told her how things functioned once a dragon found his mate, she would never truly know. In time that was a path he would go down, but for now, he wanted her to come to him, to ask him about the feasibility of being together, of whether they could actually make this work.
Then, and only then, would he tell her the full truth of what she was in for. By that point he hoped she would be ready to hear it all. For now, things were still rocky, and he didn’t want to stir things up any further.
“Hey, let’s go!”
He turned to see Hollie already dressed and waving for him. Had he been daydreaming that long about his life with her and how he hoped it would go?
“Coming dear,” he replied, watching for a reaction of any sort on her face.
To his relief she smiled happily. “Getting familiar already?” she teased. “Don’t you think you might be pushing it?”
“Perhaps,” he agreed. “But you haven’t told me to stop either.”
Hollie shrugged and turned away. “No, I haven’t, have I?”
She headed out into the hallway, a noti
ceable pep in her step.
Behind her Obsidian’s lips were pulled from ear to ear with happiness. Maybe things were moving along a little better than even he’d thought!
***
The big white building with well-manicured lawns was much busier than he remembered it being on Saturday.
“There are a lot of people here today,” he remarked as they passed through.
“It’s a business day. Many people come out here for meetings, breaks, to clear their heads, that sort of thing. It’s the only real adult sort of park in town. The rest usually have kids, lots of dogs, and much fewer benches.”
“Understood.”
They marched off the sidewalk and across one of the pathways that led to the reception area, the same place they’d gone on Saturday. This time the lights were on and there was a woman sitting at the front desk.
“Hi there,” she said cheerfully. “Where can I direct you to today?”
“The mayor,” he rumbled, his voice dropping an octave.
The receptionist’s friendly demeanor started to slip.
Hollie elbowed him in the side. Hard. “Ow, what was that for?” he grumbled.
“Be nice,” she snapped, then turned on a smile and walked up to the counter. “Hi, so this is rather odd, but you know the big Heartline Drilling project going on in the mountain west of town?”
“Of course! Everyone knows about that. I can’t wait to see what happens to Drake’s Crossing after it’s finished. So exciting!”
“Oddly enough, I agree,” Hollie said.
Obsidian just stood there with his arms crossed, irritated at being pushed right out of the conversation. This was his mountain, dammit! Why shouldn’t he be the one to present his case? Hollie studiously ignored him, however, continuing to chat glibly with the receptionist.
“Anyway, like I said, this is odd, but this gentleman, Sid, actually claims to have a land ownership of the mountain itself. He’s rather upset that my company has been boring through his mountain, and would like us to stop, obviously.”
He watched the receptionist turn to look at him once more. Not in the mood to be ogled he gave her his best glower, which earned him a satisfying moment where the receptionist turned away swiftly, not wanting to look at him. Sid had just started to smile when Hollie’s elbow landed in the same spot in his ribs. Again.
“Ow.” The blow wasn’t damaging in any way of course, but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel pain. And an elbow to the ribs, especially a pointy elbow like hers, was still an elbow to the ribs!
“Play nice.”
He turned away. This was taking too long. That was his mountain, and they needed to stop drilling through it before—
Sid shook his head. He mustn’t think of that possibility. There was still time to stop them, as long as they didn’t go too far.
“He’s very old-fashioned, and insists that he speak to the mayor about it,” Hollie finished apologetically. “But this could be a huge PR disaster if he goes to the news, which he has threatened to do several times. I’ve managed to keep him from that course of action so far, but he’s pretty irate, and I don’t blame him.”
The receptionist nodded, her eyes wide with fear at what such a report might do to the entire project if it was found out that they were drilling through private property without having asked the owner first.
“I’ll see if the mayor is available,” she said immediately, smiling tightly at Hollie and glancing furtively in his direction before picking up the phone.
Sid wanted to glare, but he was interrupted by Hollie. “Seriously?” she snapped as the receptionist spoke in low tones behind her. “You’re going to go all brooding dragon-man on the receptionist who doesn’t control anything?” She shook her head.
“What?” he growled.
“This is hopeless, you realize that, right? You aren’t going to go anywhere.”
Sid shook his head. “The mayor will be an honorable person. He will respect my claim to the land.”
Hollie hung her head. “It doesn’t work like that anymore! How many times do I have to tell you that before you get it through your thick skull?!”
He glared. “It is my mountain, and the drilling must not resume.”
“If you are polite about it, there’s a chance you can get them to stop drilling for a few days while they investigate your claim.” His mate sighed. “But Sid, you have to understand that they’re going to want—”
The receptionist spoke up, cutting off Hollie’s last words. “The mayor will be able to see you in five minutes.”
“Thank you,” Hollie said sweetly.
“Not a problem. I know what this project means to Drake’s Crossing. So take the elevators there to the fourth level, hang a right and walk to the desk. Mayor Mcallionn’s personal secretary will greet you there.” She nodded. “Best of luck.”
Sid just glared straight ahead as Hollie pulled on his arm. “Come on, we got you your meeting. Time to go make your case. Best to do so without any RBF.”
The elevator doors dinged and closed as she punched a button labeled 4 that lit up.
Obsidian hissed as the metal room they were in jerked into motion. “What is this contraption?” He looked around warily, his arms spread out wide.
“Oh, right. Elevator. Umm, it’s a powered lift. Instead of using ropes and weights, it uses metal cables to lift things up and down under power.”
The box rattled back and forth a little as it came to a halt.
“I see,” he replied warily, peering around as the doors slid open. “And what is RBF?”
Hollie snickered.
“What?”
“It’s what you have.”
He growled, the sound filling the corridor.
“It stands for Resting Bitch Face,” she supplied as they turned right. “It’s when you look like you’re pissed off, but your face is just in its natural position.”
Despite himself, and despite the fact she’d directed the insult his direction, Obsidian grinned.
“What’s so funny?”
“Just that I’ve never heard a term for that before, but I know exactly what you mean.” He surprised himself by laughing slightly. “Resting Bitch Face, excellent. If I ever see my sister again, you’ll understand why.” He looked thoughtful. “Though let us hope we never see her again.”
Hollie glanced up at him. “You have a family?”
He looked down at her as she pushed some of her short pixie-length hair up and to the side so it didn’t hang down her forehead.
“Yes. I had parents, no immaculate conception here. And I had a brother and a sister.”
“Hi there.”
They turned, the conversation going silent as the nearly emaciated-looking male behind the desk greeted them with what had to be false happiness. Nobody was ever that happy.
“Hello,” he replied.
“Are you Mr…ah,” he looked down at his sheet again. “Mr., um, Sid?”
“My name is—”
“That’s us,” Hollie interjected with an eyeroll directed at him. “We’re here to see the mayor.”
“Of course, Mayor Mcallionn is actually ready now, so head on in.”
Obsidian marched ahead, pulled the door open and held it for Hollie, ignoring the warning look she gave him as she passed. He stepped inside and let the heavy wooden door close behind him.
“Hello, my name is…” he stopped short as the person behind the desk rose to greet him.
His eyes bugged wide and he coughed heavily into one hand.
“Hi, I’m Mayor Mcallionn,” the tall brunette introduced herself. “But please, just call me Melina, it’s way easier.”
It was a woman! He shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that a woman was the mayor.
“What’s wrong with you?” Hollie hissed, hitting him hard in the side, again.
“I…” he stammered.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Hollie supplied, looking at him with fury in her eyes
.
“It’s nice to meet you,” he echoed, looking up, trying to keep his face neutral as he strode across the office and shook her hand.
Get ahold of yourself! You knew the times had changed. This shouldn’t be such a big deal for you. Imagine if it was Hollie that was in charge. Would you have any issues with that?
One thing people had always assumed about his kind was that they were unable to keep up with change. That they lived so long that they fell into their ways and were unable to adapt to the much faster changing landscape that was humanity. The truth was, however, that when you lived for thousands of years, you actually ended up becoming extremely adept at accepting change, and doing it yourself. Otherwise you were unable to fit in with the various differences in civilization as the world grew and aged. It forced you to learn to adapt over and over again, until it was a second habit.
While seeing a woman in power was utterly foreign to him, he had enough experience with change to learn to roll with the punches…eventually. This time around he had Hollie to guide him, and she seemed perfectly at ease with the situation, so he knew it wasn’t a big deal. Which meant if he wanted things to go his way, he needed to not act like it was a big deal.
“A pleasure to meet you too,” Melina replied. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t quite catch your full name. All I got was Sid.”
He nodded. “That is my name.”
She blinked twice, but he saw the politician in her take over. “Alrighty then. Please, have a seat.”
They swiftly occupied chairs.
“I hear you have an issue with the Heartline Drilling project,” she began.
“The mountain is mine, and the drilling must stop.” Sid kept his tone gentle, but firm, not wanting to waste any more time. It seemed like it had taken forever just to get into the mayor’s office. Now he wished to see some actual results, and quickly.
“The mountain is yours?” she asked in surprise. “I understand. I wasn’t aware that anyone claimed ownership over them.”
“Not them. Only the one that you are drilling through.”
