Lust and Other Drugs

by TJ Nichols

  “You wanted to know what it was like to fuck on Bliss,” he whispered in Jordan’s ear.

  “This is not… ooh… the same.”

  “What would you do, then?” He kept moving his hand and watched Jordan become completely unraveled. It was mesmerizing. Jordan’s heart quivered, and his words were breathy. His eyes were closed, his lashes long as they lay on his cheeks.

  Jordan’s tongue darted over his lip. “You could lie like you are, but naked.” He drew in a shaky breath. “And I’d spread you wide and fuck you. I wanted to when you were on the hood of my car.”

  Edra grinned. “What else have you thought about?”

  “Your tongue. I want your mouth….” He shivered.

  Edra’s fingers were slick. Jordan was close now. “Anything else?”

  “I want to know what you taste like.” He turned his head and licked Edra’s cheek as though he were another lesser dragon, not quite ready to kiss but wanting to taste.

  “I want to taste you too. You going to come for me?”

  “Mmm.” Jordan didn’t thrust, but he wiggled his hips as he ground against Edra. “You come too.” He was completely aware of what he was doing.

  Edra released Jordan’s hip and turned Jordan’s head so he could nip at his neck and taste his skin as he stroked him. Jordan’s cock thickened in his hand before his come splashed onto the red slip and over Edra’s fingers. Jordan groaned and went limp in his arms. After a few moments, he opened his eyes. His heartbeat hadn’t settled, but he watched as Edra lifted his hand to his lips. He shouldn’t, because they were supposed to be going slow, testing this thing out before it was irrevocable, walking the fine line between all and nothing. He couldn’t quite resist, so he licked his fingers.

  Salty and musky—not unpleasant at all.

  Jordan’s eyes widened. “That was hot.”

  That had been torture. It still was. Edra’s jeans were biting him in all the wrong places, but he didn’t want to push Jordan off him, not when he was making such a pretty picture with his dick out, his lingerie dirty, and a look on his face that suggested he wasn’t done.

  Jordan twisted until he was over Edra and straddling him. But this time Edra knew Jordan was thinking about fucking him. “Your turn.”

  “No.” He was doubly sure that he didn’t want to destroy what could be happening.

  Confusion flickered over Jordan’s face. “But?”

  “You can’t touch me.” If Jordan had been a lesser dragon, Edra wouldn’t have been able to do that either. The intimate contact and Jordan’s orgasm would be enough to break what was happening. Lust was dangerous. He just had to wait a little longer….

  “Then you can touch you.” Jordan rocked back on his heels, put his hands behind his back, and attempted to look innocent—a look completely at odds with his state of undress. “It’s fair.”

  “You’re still Blissing.”

  He smiled. “I am.” He leaned forward, put his hands on Edra’s chest, and brushed his cheek with his lips. “It’s more fun with someone. That was less Bliss than usual, though.”

  “The other half is at home.” Jordan’s hand was on the fly of his jeans, rubbing his length. “For next time.”

  “I think you should come this time.” He kissed just below Edra’s collarbone.

  Edra closed his eyes as Jordan worked his way lower, but he pulled him up before he could reach his jeans. “You sit over there and watch.”

  “You have no belly button.”

  “I hatched.”

  “Oh… but you have no belly button.”

  Edra cupped Jordan’s face. His eyes were dark, still swallowed by Bliss. “Elf, when you sober up, I’ll give you a biology lesson. Until then, sit back and don’t touch.” His self-control had evaporated, and all he wanted was to feel Jordan’s hands on him.

  “Not a tiny little stroke.” He traced Edra’s length, and he got the button undone.

  “Not if you want to do this again.” Or do more. Edra wanted to feel Jordan’s mouth around him. The need was rough and sharp in his blood and would only get worse before something changed within him and it was safe to act on that desire.

  He pulled his hand back as though burned and edged away. “Here?”

  “At the end of the bed.”

  Jordan knelt at the end and watched as Edra undid his fly and freed his dick. He gave it a stroke, and Jordan’s gaze tracked the movement like a starving puppy.

  Edra had no idea how long Jordan would remain still, and even though he watched through a Bliss haze, the effect was still the same. Edra hadn’t seen that kind of look in anyone’s eyes in a long time, and that was a drug all on its own.

  He was wanted for more than his sword.

  Edra fisted his length and stroked harder as need coiled tighter. He locked his gaze on Jordan’s. He wanted more than his own hand, but it didn’t matter. It was enough. Then he gritted his teeth as a growl lodged in his throat and he came hard with a gasp and come splashed on his belly.

  Jordan moved forward before the tremors of climax had subsided, and Edra tipped his head back against the headboard. Jordan could do what he wanted now, and when Jordan traced his tongue over Edra’s belly, it tickled and he laughed. Edra opened his eyes, and Jordan was watching him. He deliberately licked the come off Edra’s skin and then smiled.

  He really hoped Jordan didn’t regret this when the Bliss wore off. It was going to sting like getting run through with a sword if Jordan changed his mind about being his mate. He wasn’t going to change his mind.

  An alarm sounded.

  “The oven,” Jordan said as he moved closer.

  Edra turned his head before their lips could connect.

  “I forgot.”

  “That’s okay. Why don’t you get cleaned up, and I’ll sort out dinner.”

  “You need to clean up too.” There was nothing clean about the way Jordan said it.

  Edra pulled the slip up and off Jordan and used it to wipe his stomach and hand. “You don’t want dinner to burn.”

  For a moment it seemed as though Jordan was going to shrug, but something else was flickering in his gaze. The Bliss was wearing off, and Edra wanted to give him time to wake up. He kissed his cheek. “Have a shower.”

  Then he carefully moved off the bed and sorted out his jeans. At the door he glanced back. Jordan was sitting on the bed, running his fingers through his hair, gaze on the floor.

  Edra wanted to return to his side and reassure him, but this wasn’t Jordan’s first come down from Bliss. He’d always done it on his own before.

  He turned off the timer and pulled the roast out of the oven. It smelled excellent, and he was starving, so he opened drawers until he found utensils and plates.

  The shower was running, which he took as a good sign. By the time Jordan came out, Edra had dinner pretty much served, and he’d helped himself to another glass of wine, even though he’d regret it in the morning.

  “You’re supposed to use an oven glove so you don’t get burned.” Jordan stood in the doorway.

  Edra glanced at his hand on the roasting dish. It was warm, but it didn’t burn him. “How are you feeling?”

  “Crashing.” He slid onto a chair at the tiny dining table for two and cradled his head in his hands. “But different this time.”

  Edra put wine and a plate in front of him. “Different?”

  When Jordan looked up, his eyes were brown, not dark with Bliss, and his eyeliner was smudged, but he still looked like the best thing Edra had seen this side of the collapse.

  “The guilt is less. The emptiness….”

  Edra sat opposite him. He hadn’t expected Jordan to feel guilty about taking Bliss. “What emptiness?”

  “Like after a hookup. It’s done, and nothing has changed.” He picked up his glass of wine and took a large swallow. “Will you stay the night? If nothing happens, of course.”

  Edra watched him for several heartbeats. He shouldn’t even be staying for dinner. He was suppo
sed to just watch to make sure Jordan was safe. Instead, things had gone further than they should’ve, but he wasn’t sure he regretted any of it, not when he could almost taste the first strands of the bond forming between them, still fragile enough that it could be broken either accidentally by giving in too soon or by deliberately walking away.

  “Please?”

  “Yes.”

  Chapter 25

  SUNLIGHT CUT across the bed, but Jordan had been awake for a while. He hadn’t slept with someone else in his bed for several years, so he’d woken every time they touched. Edra was still asleep, and he looked peaceful with his dark hair falling over his forehead.

  He’d never forget the way Edra had looked as he’d jerked off. His blue eyes had been bright and his stare consuming, as though Jordan were the only person he wanted in the universe. Jordan bit his lip. He wanted to move closer, to see what it was like if he wasn’t on Bliss, but the brakes were on.

  What was the connection that Edra kept talking about? To him, sex was either casual or it meant something. What had last night been? Some kind of safe middle ground? He wasn’t completely sure what he wanted, and it would be a fuck with a lifetime of consequences. Jordan eased away to get up instead of torturing himself, but Edra snaked an arm around his waist and pulled him back.

  “Don’t rush.” His voice was soft with sleep.

  He wasn’t rushing; he was avoiding. This was the morning after, and he hadn’t exactly kept any secrets. The words of wanting, the things he’d imagined doing with Edra, tumbled off his tongue under the influence of Bliss and he hadn’t been able to stop them, but he curved against Edra—the small spoon. At least he didn’t have to look him in the eye.

  Edra was warm curled around him, and their legs were entwined. “You okay?”

  Some of the details were a little hazy, and Jordan wasn’t sure if some of it had happened, but he was fine… maybe better than fine. He wasn’t waking up alone, and Edra could’ve walked out. He’d said he’d watch and make sure Jordan was safe, but he hadn’t just watched. “You still….” It sounded so needy, but he had to know. “Want me?”

  Edra moved, and something hot and hard pressed against Jordan’s butt. “Yes, the lust is still there.”

  “How frustrating is that?” Jordan turned over to face him.

  “I kind of like it, most of the time.” He grinned.

  “At least we didn’t break it.” Jordan wanted to touch him, kiss him, but those things weren’t on the table. He had a vague memory of watching Edra come, and he was pretty sure it had happened. And then…. He let his fingers glide over Edra’s stomach. No belly button. That had happened too, but he couldn’t remember what he tasted like. He should remember something like that.

  “It was tempting.” Edra pulled Jordan closer. Unblinking, he held Jordan’s gaze. It was almost too intense, but he couldn’t look away. He wanted to drown in the crystalline depths. “But I’d rather have you as my mate…. You know that?”

  “Yeah.” He just couldn’t think that far ahead. What if it didn’t work? “I’m still trying to figure it all out.”

  “On Tariko even a non-dragon mate would start to feel the bond forming eventually.” Edra’s legs tangled with his.

  All he could feel was desire sluicing through his veins like liquor. If he slid in a little closer or pressed Edra onto his back or even just slid his hand between them, they could do more than talk. Edra was as hard as he was. “Like?”

  “I don’t know what it will be like here.” Edra’s fingers found his. “You still want to try this?”

  “Yes, which is why I’m going to get up, because there’s only so much I can take. I’m not a dragon.” He eased away, and Edra let him go. It stung that Edra didn’t drag him back to bed the way another lover might, but he understood. Halfway to the bathroom he turned. “I think you owe me a biology lesson.”

  “I wasn’t sure how much you’d remember.”

  “Enough to know I’m glad you kept half for another time.”

  WITH ONE day until the election, there was a crackle of tension in the SID building. Police had already been called to the ongoing protest at Mythological Services. Today the protesters were angry that a human had been arrested and charged for the murder of a satyr. Wonder how they’d feel when a human, one involved in the protests, was charged with murdering the two human students?

  Jordan didn’t even make it to his desk. The captain was waiting for him. “My office. Now.”

  Jordan followed. A few people glanced over, but most kept their heads down. They all knew that the captain was friendly with the mayor, and if Dr. Lew got in, things would get difficult. It was one thing to ignore a parking ticket or give a warning instead of a speeding ticket, and another to turn a blind eye to murder. Jordan couldn’t do that.

  “You charged a human with the murder of the satyr.” The captain stood in front of his desk. “A friend of the mayor’s son, to be precise.”

  “The evidence pointed to him, and he confessed when confronted. Forensics has found satyr blood and hair in his truck and are confirming that it belongs to the murdered satyr.”

  “The press is having a field day with the suspect’s Earth for Humans connections. They’re pointing to the ongoing protests and writing about the mayor’s son. You’ve asked Andrew to come in today to be interviewed.” The captain shook his head. “We don’t drag our friends down. This isn’t how we deal with mytho crimes. That’s twice now you’ve sided with the creatures.”

  Jordan pressed his lips together. He hadn’t just sided with the mythos, he’d spent the weekend with one. His boyfriend? Lover? Eventually his mate. He was never going to be able to say that in public.

  The captain scowled. “Well?”

  He should’ve known he’d get no thanks for working a case no one else wanted, or for solving it. “Murder of anyone is wrong.”

  “You can’t murder an animal. They’re animals, not people. The sooner that is made law, the better it will be.”

  Better for whom? While some mythos were animals, werewolves, ogres, elves, and lesser dragons were all very much people, if not human. But arguing for the mythos wouldn’t get him far with the captain, so he tried a different angle. “And the two students who were murdered? Most likely by Earth for Humans members? Can I finish those cases?”

  “You aren’t interviewing the mayor’s son today, or any of those people. I’ve already told the mayor this is a mistake. The students overdosed on mytho drugs, that’s all.”

  “They were murdered.” And he was close to finding out who did it. “We can’t leave a killer on the streets.”

  “I don’t care. They were mytho sympathizers who took mytho drugs by their own admission.” Damn. He’d read Jordan’s report on his talk with the pro-mytho group on campus. “Polls open tomorrow. I don’t want any more press about this.”

  “Sir, I’m close to breaking it.”

  “No. You’re on leave for the rest of the week. I want you to think about who you serve and what kind of future you have here. Put your badge on the desk.”

  “I’m on leave. I don’t have to turn it in.” His stomach hollowed as he left the office and stalked out of the building.

  Dr. Lew was behind, according to the media. If she didn’t get in, his career would be over. He’d be busted back to nuisance calls if he kept making a fuss. Maybe the captain had been looking for ways to get rid of him all along. Jordan wasn’t good at letting things slide, and he hated the way powerful people got things their way. Playground bullies didn’t grow out of it, they just became more powerful bullies.

  But he couldn’t walk away. He stood in the sun on the sidewalk, fists curled.

  What was he going to do for a week?

  He texted Edra. Don’t bother coming to the station.

  His phone rang less than a minute later. “What happened?”

  “I’m on forced leave.” He spat the words, still not sure what he could’ve done differently.

  “Why?�
�

  “Why do you think? Because I arrested a human for Darian’s murder.”

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  “It’ll be fine.” He forced out a breath. “I’ll go back next week, and the fuss will have died down.” And hopefully they’d have a new mayor. If not, he might be looking for a new job. He could always move to another city, one that was a bit more pro-mytho. New York was doing good things.

  But California had been hit hard, and LA had a massive vampire community that didn’t exactly endear mythos to the public. San Francisco was getting a name for its satyrs and mermaids, and that couldn’t be all bad. Eventually maybe they could draw tourists. As a country, the wheels were turning, but other parts of the world were even more progressive.

  The end of days hadn’t happened the way religions had predicted when the mytho world collapsed. His little corner of it hadn’t collapsed today—it was just on pause. He drew in a breath. He’d be fine.

  “And if it doesn’t? There have been protests outside my office for six months, and they’ve gotten bigger over the last two weeks.”

  There was a chance Edra wouldn’t even have a job if the current mayor was reelected. For months he’d been itching to get rid of the Mythological Services experiment, even though other cities had shown that it worked. “How is it down there?”

  “Rowdy.”

  “Are the cops doing anything?”

  “They made sure we could get into work.”

  That was something. “What do you want to do about the Earth for Humans members?” Edra asked.

  “There’s nothing I can do.”

  “Maybe there’s something I can do.”

  “No. Any confession you get will be inadmissible. We have to let this one go through.”

  Edra hissed his disapproval. “Howard would love to know you’ve been put on leave for going after a human.”

  “I’d have gone after any suspect… even if they were mytho.” But it was tempting to let Howard gloat about the fact that Jordan was on leave and publicize the reason why. It would point to the problems in the department without him saying a word. But it would also paint a target on his back that the anti-mytho groups would happily use. If Dr. Lew didn’t get in, he would have to leave the city and start over. He forced out a breath, trying to make the smart decision, not the fast one, but he burned with frustration at being hobbled. He was doing his job and doing it well. Let Howard and his cronies crow about the rot—they wouldn’t call it that, but others would recognize the smell of corruption. “Can you do it without it coming from me?”