He tugged her closer with just the tiniest bit of pressure. Unlike the waltz, slow dancing did not require much thought. That left Ava free to catalog every little thing she was feeling.
They swayed together. He spoke to her, keeping his voice low. “I usually stay until the end. But if you need to go, I can take you home.”
“I want to stay,” she said. She understood why he wouldn’t leave. He wouldn’t want to insult any of the generous donors. Their money funded quite a few of the crucial projects they were working on at the lab.
Finally, the gala was over. They said their goodbyes, and before she knew it, they were back at her apartment. Once again, Eli came around to open her car door for her. The chilly evening air rushed in to greet her, and Eli helped her out of the car with care and then led her to the apartment entrance. Once they were inside the lobby, he took her hand in his. He held it in both of his hands. “Ava, I cannot thank you enough for tonight.”
“There’s no need to thank me. I’m glad we went together,” she said.
He let go with one hand and rubbed over his jaw. “No, I do need to thank you. These events are usually so tedious for me. I spend the entire evening counting down the minutes until they’re over. But not tonight. Your company was delightful.”
She grinned, basking in his compliment. Sometimes his language was so old-fashioned, but it just made him all the more endearing.
Your company was pretty pleasing as well.
He looked like he was going to kiss her. There was fire in his eyes, and she let hers slip closed, leaning in toward him.
7
Eli
This evening with Ava, it hadn’t taken much to turn him on. The sight of her, the way she smelled, the sound of her voice all had him spiraling.
And now, standing in front of her elevator with her small hand in his, he had reached his breaking point.
She was right there in front of him, with her pretty face turned up toward him and her eyes half-closed.
He was going to kiss her. He wanted it more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life, even his work. And she seemed to want it as well.
He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers, watching her, gauging her reaction.
A tiny sigh escaped her lips. Her eyes closed all the way.
She wanted this, too. It was clear.
His cock throbbed.
He kept his hips away from her. He might be a dragon inside, but he was a gentleman, and he wasn’t going to grind against her in the lobby of her apartment building.
He pressed his mouth to hers again, this time applying more pressure. Her full lips parted, letting him in. He began to kiss her in earnest, moving his lips against hers. Until that point, she’d stood there, accepting the kiss but still passive.
That ended. She flung her arms around his neck and held on. When he felt her small body fit itself against the length of his, his dragon roared.
The beast inside him took over. He swept her into his arms.
Without breaking the kiss, he pressed the button for the elevator and carried her in. On the ride to the third floor, he kept his mouth over hers. Inside the tiny elevator car, there was more to her usual scent of honey and vanilla—now he could smell her arousal, too.
God, she was just as turned on as he was. Inside his tux pants, his cock pulsed. He needed to be inside her body as soon as possible. But he had to slow down and take care. She was not his girlfriend. He wasn’t prepared to stop whatever this was between them, not if she wanted it, too. But he had to make sure she wanted this just as much as he did, and she wasn’t just caught up in the moment.
With a shaky breath, he pulled away, cradling her in his arms just as the elevator doors slid open.
“It’s number four,” she breathed right against his neck.
He carried her to her door, placing her feet on the floor. She pulled her key from her handbag and got the door open for them.
Once the door was firmly closed behind them, he put his hands on her delicate shoulders. “Ava, do you want me to go?”
She licked her lips. “No. Don’t go.”
He reached up and ran his fingers over her flushed cheek. “You’re sure?”
She tipped her chin up. “I’m sure.”
His dragon roared.
Mine.
She wasn’t his, but he wasn’t going to battle his dragon right then.
He briefly took in the interior of her apartment. With his enhanced vision, he could tell that it was a bright, open space decorated in gray and white.
He skimmed the room and found what he assumed was the door to her bedroom. He lifted her into his arms once again.
“You look exquisite in this gown,” he said, kissing her neck as he pushed the door open.
She writhed in his arms, moaning. She clutched at him, wrapping her arms around him.
Gone was the serious young woman who spent her days in the lab with him, researching intricate topics. In his arms was a woman who had fully embraced her arousal and was not holding anything back.
Her bedroom was sparse. She had only a large bed with a rough-hewn wooden headboard and a matching bedside table.
He lay her on the bed. He took a moment to look down at her with her jade dress and her red hair spilling out across her white bedspread.
She looked so gorgeous in her dress that he hated to take it off of her. But he didn’t want to ruin it, and there was a high probability of that happening. He crawled on top of her, careful to keep his weight off of her.
He brushed her hair back from her face and kissed her again. She opened her mouth, and he licked over her lips and then pushed his tongue into her mouth. Her cool mouth tasted like mint, and the feeling of her tongue against his sent a surge to his already rock-hard cock.
He relaxed against her a little, letting his erection rub against her hip.
He pulled back from the kiss, gritting his teeth as he fought to hold off his orgasm. He wasn’t going to come in his tux pants.
He kissed his way across her neck. “As much as I love seeing you in this dress, I need to get it off of you.”
“Please,” she said.
He helped her sit up on the edge of the bed and sat behind her, straddling her with her backside pulled right up against his cock. Gently, he unzipped the back, letting it fall away from her shoulders. As her smooth skin was revealed, he pulled her hair away from the nape of her neck, kissing down her spine. He inhaled. “You smell so good.”
He ran his palms over her bare shoulders.
She leaned her head back. “What do I smell like?” she whispered.
“Honey. Vanilla.” He buried his face in her hair and inhaled. “And mint.”
He rocked his hips once, surrendering to the need to thrust against her. He kept unzipping, revealing all of her back.
“Stand up,” he said, helping her up. He got to his feet with her, moving to stand in front of her, and he pushed the rest of the dress away from her body, revealing her bra and panties. He stepped back, taking her in from her hair down to her dainty ankles.
“I loved the dress, but I like this even more.” Her undergarments matched the dress. They were the same jade green and covered in lace.
She blushed all the way down. He pulled her into his arms again. He let one hand rest against her bottom, squeezing the firm globe in his hand. With his other hand, he unclasped her bra. He let it fall to the floor.
He stared at her naked breasts, letting his eyes rove over them and then his hands. He lifted her up once again and laid her down on the bed. He lay next to her and lowered his mouth to her breast. He licked her nipple until the little bud tightened, then he covered her breast with his mouth and sucked.
She thrashed against the mattress, moaning. She grabbed his hair and tugged. “Eli!”
He moved to the other breast. “You want me to keep going?”
“Yes! Please,” she begged.
He gave her other breast the same treatment and her hips lifted off
the bed, seeking friction. She was aroused, he could tell. Her hips shifted restlessly. He wanted to slot his cock between her legs, but he knew he’d come instantly.
He had to touch her. He moved his hand to the apex of her thighs, running his hand over the lace of her panties. He touched her mound, feeling how wet the fabric was. “Your panties are wet,” he said. He longed to taste her. He wanted to rip that thin fabric from her body and dip his tongue into her sweet pussy.
He sat back and peeled her damp panties away from her body.
Now she lay in front of him, completely bare. He pushed her knees apart, desperate to see her most secret place. As soon as he saw her glistening slit, his cock pulsed. He shoved his hand down into his tux pants, holding onto his cock so it didn’t erupt.
Her skin was mostly smooth. She’d waxed or shaved her pussy, so all of her pink folds were visible to him. He parted her folds with one hand, revealing even more of her.
Instead of hiding, she let her legs fall open even wider.
With his eyes on her face, he pushed one finger into her body.
Divine.
She was beyond tight, and her warm walls hugged his finger. He carefully pushed further in, seeking her g-spot. He was grateful to his past girlfriends, who’d taught him the specifics of the female anatomy. Before his first time, he’d spent hours reading and researching. He’d read everything from racy internet sites to medical textbooks, but there was nothing in the world that could come close to personal experience. Not where sex was involved.
With the pad of his finger, he reached her g-spot and began to put pressure on it, rubbing in circles.
Her muscles clenched up and she tried to squeeze her legs together. “Eli! Oh my God! More!”
He must be doing something right.
He gathered the moisture from her body, coating a second finger. Slowly, he added it to the inside of her body, watching closely as her walls accepted him into her pussy.
She felt even tighter now. “How does that feel?” he asked. “Too much?”
She picked up a handful of the bedspread in her hand and tugged on it. “No. Not enough. I’m so close!”
Her heart rate and pulse shot up. She was close to hitting her climax. She just needed a little more help getting there. He scooted closer to her and put his other hand on her clit. Using some more of her body’s own lubrication, he got his fingers wet. Then, he put them back on her clit and rubbed. He made quick circles around her swollen flesh, stopping every few seconds to pinch her clit.
Each time he pinched, her mouth fell open and she moaned his name. She was right on the edge of her orgasm now. He wanted to watch as her body reacted to his touch.
“Come for me now, Ava,” he said.
Her entire body seized up. She let go of the bedspread and grabbed his hair, tugging at him. Her eyes squeezed shut, and she bit down into her full bottom lip. “Eli!” she cried out, panting as her climax rolled through her body.
Eli watched the ecstasy on her face as her entire body shuddered. Finally, the waves of pleasure subsided. He moved to lie next to her, kissed her.
She blinked up at him. “That was incredible.” She grabbed his collar and pulled. “We’re not done, though. I still want to feel you.”
“Do you have any condoms?” He didn’t carry them when he didn’t have a girlfriend. He also thought the wear and tear of keeping them in his wallet would be detrimental to them, so he usually bought them when he was planning to stay over at his girlfriend’s house. He had never engaged in one-night stands.
But Ava wasn’t his girlfriend, and she wasn’t a typical one-night stand. The fact remained that he had not planned ahead for this.
“I have some in the dresser. I don’t need them often.”
His dragon growled, and Eli did his best to stifle it. The human part of him knew he had no right to feel jealousy toward any previous lover Ava may have entertained in her home, and yet his dragon was rigid with it. He would like to tear apart any male that had ever come near her.
“I’ll get them,” he said.
She pointed out the correct drawer, and he found them under her neatly-folded athletic clothing. He’d never seen her in anything but her nice work clothes and her scrubs, depending on the work they were doing. And then tonight, he’d seen her resplendent in her formal ball gown, but he’d never seen her in workout clothing. He took a moment to picture her firm backside in yoga pants and her pert breasts in a fitted sports bra.
He picked up the condom and went back to her. He didn’t need fantasies when he had the real thing right in front of him, ready and willing to take him into her body. She put her hand on his thigh. “You have to undress, too.”
He kissed her once more and stood up, stripping off his dress shirt and then his undershirt.
Once his shirt was off, she ran her hand over his pecs and then down over his abs. “You look amazing. So many muscles.”
“Not too bad for a science geek,” he said. She didn’t need to know that he was built like this thanks to his dragon shifter genes and he did very little to maintain it.
“Not bad at all. You’re gorgeous.” She yanked on his pants leg. “Now the rest. I want to see you, too.”
He ran his hand over her bare leg, kissing her thigh. “And you’re beautiful.”
He couldn’t help but be flattered that she wanted to see him naked. He pushed his pants off and his boxers, too, letting her look at him. Her eyes glinted as they roamed over his body, but he couldn’t wait any longer. He opened the condom and rolled it on quickly.
“I’m ready,” she said.
So was he. He crawled back on top of her and positioned his cock at her still-slick entrance. He pushed his hard cock inside, going slowly. Even after her orgasm, she was still so tight. He watched her face again, gauging her reaction. He paused as soon as he saw her wince.
He brushed her hair back from her face. He did not want to hurt her. “Are you okay?”
“Don’t stop,” she said through clenched teeth.
“You’re sure?”
She nodded. She sucked in a deep breath. “Absolutely.” She put her small hands on his shoulder. “I want this with you. So much.”
He didn’t pull out, but he kissed her neck and pushed his hand between her legs, rubbing over her clit again. He needed to get her aroused again; it would help her relax.
She smiled at him. “Your cock is big.”
He grinned back at her. He’d heard that before from women. “Is it too big?”
“No.” She wrapped her fingers around his biceps. “Keep going.”
He moved inside her, pushing his erection further into her body until her walls began to relax enough to accept his length.
Being inside her was heaven.
Mine.
His dragon was insistent, but Eli was used to ignoring him. Eli was a scientist and an academic. He could control himself. He could control his dragon. For Ava, he could act like a human, even while making love to her. She was the first human he’d ever connected with like this, and the thought of her intoxicated him.
But she was human. And there was nothing he could do to change that.
He would enjoy their time together and quit wishing things were different.
He lowered his body closer to hers and began to thrust. The grimace was gone from her face, and now she looked blissful as he kept up a steady pace, moving inside her. She lifted her legs, wrapping them around him.
Feeling her smooth skin against him set him off. “Ava,” he breathed, and then he went over the edge, too. His climax slammed into him, sending sparks throughout every nerve in his body.
8
Ava
She woke up suddenly, aware all at once that she wasn’t alone.
Next to her lay a gorgeous man.
Eli.
Her boss.
She’d slept with him.
He had his back to her, and she took a moment to just stare at him. His dark hair lay on the pillow. His tan sk
in glowed against her stark white bedsheets. He had slept bare-chested and, wow, the sheet was pooled at his waist, showing off his sculpted back.
She’d had no idea the chiseled body he’d been hiding under his lab coat every day.
Last night, she’d practically begged him to take off his clothes. And she’d been so brazen, giving herself over to him. She’d loved every second of it. She just couldn’t believe that she’d done it. Nothing she’d done the night before was like her. But she didn’t regret it, not at all.
Without warning, he turned to face her. “Good morning,” he said. He seemed to be fully awake.
“Um. Hi,” she responded. Dammit. She did not want to make this awkward. But she was often awkward, even when the situation didn’t call for it.
She had been so adventurous last night, at least for her. She’d been very vocal and had told Eli exactly what she wanted from him. But now, in the light of day, everything felt less certain.
She looked at her clock. If she got up right then, she’d barely have time to get ready for work. And she had to shower. She didn’t want to wash his scent off, but every part of her body smelled like Eli, and she could not go into the lab like that.
If she got up now, she’d have to walk to the bathroom naked. Unless she pulled the sheet off with her. Hadn’t she seen people do that in movies and television shows?
If Eli were her coworker or a friend, she’d just hop up and make a mad dash for the bathroom. But he was her boss. She didn’t want him to think she regretted the previous night. She also didn’t want to kick him out. What if he wanted to shower?
She supposed he was going to have to go home and change clothes himself. He couldn’t very well wear a rumpled tuxedo into the office. Lord, she hoped he didn’t tell anyone they’d slept together. Everyone in the lab would hate her. They wouldn’t bother to consider that maybe they’d both gotten carried away. They’d all blame Ava and think she was trying to win favor by sleeping with Eli. And they might hold it against him, too. Some of them might think he’d taken advantage of her, which wasn’t the case at all. And what if the other women started hitting on him, assuming he’d take them to bed, too?
Scientist Dragon's Assistant (Irish Dragon Shifter Brothers Book 9) Page 4