Fire Breathing Cezar (Dragons of the Bayou Book 2)

by Candace Ayers

  After the flowers, there had been the giant stuffed animals. I appreciated those, too. They decorated the children’s corner nicely. Then, there were the treats. Boxes, baskets and bouquets of food covered the tops of the open surfaces—assorted chocolates, chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate truffles, fruit and nut baskets, fruit bouquets. The fruit and nuts fed Cameron, Marilyn and me during our shifts. Chyna also took a whole tray of chocolate covered strawberries. Every woman who saw them seemed to be beside herself, talking about how lucky I was and encouraging me to snatch Cezar up while I could.

  I wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but it did make me feel pretty special and I was rather flattered by all the attention. Never before in my life had anyone done anything like that for me. But, then, there was that niggling at the edge of my brain telling me it was way weird and stalkerish for a virtual stranger to spend hundreds of dollars plying me with gifts. Especially a hot looking stranger.

  The whole situation was getting a bit ridiculous. I had vowed to step outside my comfort zone a little where men and relationships were concerned, to turn a new page, but this shit was next level. It was a circus. A circus complete with a giant cake and a male singer dressed as a clown. Yep, more gifts. The last one had been the most unwelcome of all. I wasn’t a fan of clowns, or singing telegrams. And, to top it off, he threw glitter at me. Glitter! In the library. Did he know how hard glitter was to get rid of? There was a reason it was deemed the herpes of the craft world.

  When a box came with a diamond bracelet, it was the last straw. The one that broke the camel’s back. I tried to refuse delivery, but that only resulted in an argument with a huffy postal delivery service woman. So, I gave it to Chyna. There was no way I was keeping diamonds.

  By the end of the week I, and everyone around me, was sick to death of chocolate and the flowers were beginning to wilt. I was embarrassed and tired of trying to find spaces for the gifts. I was also starting to worry that Cezar might be dangerous. Although, he hadn’t shown up again to the library, he’d only just spent a small fortune in gifts. I would have liked to say that I couldn’t even remember the man’s face, but that would have been a lie. His handsome visage was scalded into my memory banks. Every time I shut my eyes, I saw those blazing green eyes staring back at me, along with all the hurt and disappointment they’d displayed when I’d turned him down flat, pushed him away and told him to “just go”.

  He probably hadn’t deserved that, but on the other hand, I was a little on edge at that point and wondering if I should consider filing charges against the man for stalking. Yet, it made no sense that a man as fine as him would be stalking me. People had started showing up in the library just to see what would be delivered next. It was chaos.

  Friday night book club started no differently than the previous one. Marilyn got ready to read the latest passage from the book we were sharing that week while I got wine ready for everyone. Instead of the small group of women we usually had, the group had more than quadrupled in size. Interestingly, Slayer and her small posse were still there, too.

  I could handle that. What I couldn’t handle was Cezar striding in all sexy and hot with a huge grin on his face and a delicious smelling takeout bag in his hand. I hadn’t seen him since that first day, and it somehow seemed that he’d gotten even handsomer over only a handful of days. In low slung jeans and a simple white T-shirt that stretched tightly over his chest and biceps, he had the swagger of James Dean. Only Cezar was much bigger. And better looking. His honey blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and just long enough to fit into one. His eyes seemed to glow a bright green as they searched me out and stopped when they found me.

  I was stunned stupid. As he came towards me, I wanted to run, but once again, I couldn’t make my legs cooperate.

  “Hello, Cherry.” He stopped right in front of me and smiled. “You look beautiful this evening. Your hair is especially lovely.”

  I reached up and touched it self-consciously. It was normal, pinned back out of my face. “What are you doing here?”

  “I wanted to bring dinner to share with you. And wine.”

  Marilyn appeared from behind me. “So, you’re the stud muffin who keeps sending these unbelievable gifts.”

  He kept his eyes on me and nodded. “I am attempting to display my affection for Cherry and hoping my gifts will convince her to allow me to court her.”

  I made a face. Who talked like that? “Look, this has to stop. These gifts are too much.”

  “Nonsense, Cherry.” Marilyn took the bottle of wine from him. “He saved the day. We needed another bottle.”

  “You are displeased with the gifts?” He looked genuinely confused—and hurt. Damn. “I thought females appreciated gifts to show affection.”

  “No. None of this is okay.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it’s loco. You sent me diamonds. You don’t even know me.”

  “I know enough to know you deserve diamonds.”

  “What could you possibly know about me that justifies diamonds?”

  “That you are my…uh…that I like you. Very much. Why is that not enough?”

  “What are trying to do? I don’t trust this. You don’t want a date with me. You want something else. I just don’t know what.”

  He stepped closer to me. “You. I only want you.”

  I wanted to argue more, but Marilyn came up and grabbed him by his enormous bicep leading him away. “Come on, big fella. Even though this is technically a woman’s book club, you brought wine so you’re an honored guest tonight. Sit right here by our lovely head librarian.” She waved to a folding chair that had magically appeared next to the one I had been sitting in before he showed up. “Sit. I’m about to start reading.”

  Oh, heaven help me! “No—”

  “I would love to. Thank you.” He smiled the biggest, broadest smile I’d ever seen, and nodded to the chair next to him, which, of course, I awkwardly plopped myself into. Leaning close to me, he whispered. “I do not understand why you think I would not want you, but I do. If you will only agree to a date, you will make me a very happy male, Cherry.”

  Marilyn cleared her throat and began reading.

  “As Darius slammed Bethany against the bedroom wall, her legs straddled him and his molten member begged entrance to her slick love canal.”

  My cheeks flamed. If ever the Earth could open a sinkhole and swallow me up, it would have been a stellar moment for it. As Marilyn was reading explicit erotica in front of the stranger who claimed to want to take me on a date, and who I thought was the sexiest man alive, I squirmed and wiggled in my folding chair. The other women in the group kept tossing heated looks over their shoulders at Cezar. Hussies. He noticed it, too, because he leaned closer to me to whisper in my ear.

  “Why are they all looking at me like that?”

  I shuddered in response to the deep timbre of his whisper, but also at the looks being thrown his way. What the hell? It was like feeding time in the lion’s den and Cezar was the fresh meat. I almost felt worried that it would be the end of something that hadn’t even started yet, and I found I didn’t like the idea. The women looked so ravenous, but the man was mine. I glared at them, every single one, feeling uncharacteristically possessive of him. Wait, what? I didn’t mean that he was mine. Did I?

  They should’ve been listening to Marilyn, anyway, who was doing a great job narrating an orgasm complete with alarmingly realistic moaning and grunting. I sat back in my seat and dug my balled up fists into my thighs.

  Cezar shifted in his chair and leaned closer to me. “You have quite an interesting pastime.”

  I turned to tell him to stop whispering to me because it was doing things to my insides—and my outsides—and found his face a mere inch from mine. His breath brushed over my lips and the smell of fresh mint teased me. He was so handsome and he had fresh breath. And, lord help me, he was staring at me the way the other women in the room were staring at him. Like he was ready to gobble me up.<
br />
  “…crying out in pleasure-fueled ecstasy that left her quivering as he continued to thrust inside of her until at last his passion juice filled her in warm bursts.”

  I blinked and leaned away. What the actual hell was happening?

  Cezar just sat back in his chair and cleared his throat. He tossed another look my way, but I quickly turned my head to face Marilyn. After she finished reading, it was time to discuss the book, but I didn’t think I could manage it. I was feeling like a lit stick of dynamite that at any second was going to explode.

  10

  Cezar

  I had been doing what the books advised regarding human courting rituals. I sent every gift suggested, until finally, I decided it was time to go to her myself. I tried to be clever and bring the dinner date to her. She had to eat. Besides, I could not bear to be away from her for another day. So, I’d brought food and ended up joining a group of females as one of them read a story to us about humans fucking. Many of the females stared at me as though I was dinner. It had felt a bit awkward and uncomfortable until I’d smelled the sweet, enticing aroma of Cherry’s arousal when I leaned in to whisper to her. Her scent was heavenly and it said to me that, despite her words, she desired me.

  I knew then that I just needed to continue to have patience. What the books advised was working. After the human female finished reading, Cherry stood quickly and rushed from the group. I followed. My dragon was fighting for dominance. I had an innate instinct to overpower her and take her, mark her with my seed and fangs, claim her so all would know she was mine. Yet, I battled the desire. She was not a dragoness and I knew I must proceed that way humans conducted mating rituals—for my mate’s sake. But first, I needed just a taste of her. Just a taste.

  She disappeared into another one of the aisles of bookshelves and I followed behind her. She spun and opened her mouth, appearing as though she was about to speak in anger, but I had inhaled the scent of her arousal and I would not be deterred. I closed the gap between us, grabbing her, pulling her against me while I leaned down and captured her sweet lips with mine. This time, just this time, I fed my desire. She stumbled backwards and I followed, walking us steadily back until we reached the solid wall. Holding her against the wall, pressing my body against hers, I deepened the kiss. Head tilted, I slid my tongue across her lips as I ran my hands down her waist to grasp her ample hips. Her mouth tasted sweet as honey as my tongue swept in—a taste that exploded behind my eyes. My brain struggled to process the situation above the immense pleasure I felt.

  The timid little librarian who acted as though she wanted nothing to do with me, threaded her fingers into my hair and gripped my head as though she was afraid I’d slip away. Her nails bit into my scalp and her tongue tangled with mine. She was a hot-blooded vixen. She wrapped one of her legs around mine using it to pull me closer as she rubbed against my hard length. Her soft curves were molded to me from her shoulder to her knees and I had never known a feeling of such excitement or bliss. When I cupped her plump bottom in my hands and raised her to stroke her core over my erect cock, her teeth bit down on my lip and she moaned into my mouth.

  My dragon roared to the surface. My body threatened to grow larger with the transformation. Scorching heat pulsated from me as the need to claim my mate overwhelmed me. It was bloodlust, a lust like no other, urging me to sink my teeth into her soft flesh. I wanted to. I needed to.

  “Cezar…Cezar, stop.” Cherry’s husky plea tore me from my haze. When I pulled back, she blinked up at me a few times and then shook her head. “There are people here. Patrons…”

  It took a moment to process what she was saying, but then, I gently put her down and backed away. “Yes. You are right.”

  She stumbled slightly, but put her hand out to stop me when I tried to steady her. “I need to clean up here. I have…I need to work.”

  I watched her ass sway inside the baggy pants she wore. Those big, loose clothes did not fool me. I knew she had a stunning body underneath. I was glad she was hiding it from other males, though. She was mine.

  That thought triggered something in my brain and I felt a bit ashamed. Yes, she was mine, and I had almost lost control. I needed to take better care of her. Humans didn’t work the same way as dragons. I couldn’t just tell her she was mine and watch her fall to her knees and beg me to mate her as dragon females of the old world would have done.

  Human females were much more confusing, but my mate was worth it and I would do whatever it took to make her accept me as her mate. I would find a way, and I would persevere. When she turned the corner and I lost sight of her, I followed. The need to keep her near me was overwhelming. I trailed behind, unable to take my eyes from the timid little female who’d just proven to me she held a scorching passion below her surface. I wanted her more than any treasure that had ever existed. She was my treasure to be horded and guarded, worth more than gold or the finest jewels.

  I waited for her as the other women left, one by one until I found myself alone in the library with Cherry again. She was in her office working at her computer, but it was not long before she returned.

  “Oh.” She seemed surprised when she spotted me leaning against the door. “You’re still here.”

  “I would not leave you alone. It is dark out. I will walk you home.” I saw her start to form a protest and I cleared my throat. “Please. Allow me. Please.”

  She hesitated for a moment and then shrugged. “Okay, fine. It’s not far, though.”

  I held the door open and then followed her through. “Tonight was…interesting.”

  “This whole week has been interesting, thanks to you. You’ve turned my world upside down. When I think that just one week ago, I walked home with a guy who…”

  I bit back a growl. “There is another male?! Another male is also vying for your attentions?”

  She snorted. “No. You didn’t let me finish. He walked me home so he could convince me to set him up with my sister. Chyna. You met her.”

  I shook my head. “I do not think so.”

  “You did. She’s my twin. Looks just like me only thinner and prettier. She stopped to help you the day you broke the mouse.”

  “I told you, I broke no mouse. There was no mouse.” I sighed. “I do remember there being other people there that day, but I could not remember anything about them. Not with you there.”

  Cherry stopped walking and stood with her arms crossed over her chest. “What do you want from me?”

  Was it a trick question? What did she mean what did I want? I rubbed my forehead. “Right this moment? Or do you mean later?”

  “Why are you saying all these incredible things and sending me all these amazing gifts? Why did you show up with food tonight…food that we left behind in the library, by the way.”

  “Because I wish to take you on a date. Am I not explaining myself correctly?”

  “And, why do you phrase things so oddly at times? And how do you not know what a mouse is?”

  I ran my hands through my hair, frustrated by the barrage of questions. “I do know what a mouse is. A small rodent. Bottom of the food chain.”

  “Oh, sweet baby Jesus!” She started walking again, faster. “This is all too weird. Men who look like you do not go for women like me. Women like my sister, maybe, but not me. Not to mention the fact that you met me on a day when my hair looked like I’d gone through the automated carwash and my glasses were held together with electrical tape. I don’t believe any of this. And, by the way, I’m not into kink, I don’t go clubbing and my idea of a great evening is staying home, curling up on the sofa and watching TV or reading a good book.”

  I gently took her arm and pulled her to a stop again. “While I like your hair the way it is this evening very much, it looked lovely before.”

  “Now I know you’re full of shit!”

  I did not know what I had said that time to anger her, but her temper seemed to be emerging once again. “Why do you say that?”

  “Why do you say th
at?” She mimicked me in a whiney tone that set my teeth on edge.

  “I do not sound like that.”

  “I do not sound like that.” She walked a few feet more and turned to go up the steps of a very small house sandwiched between two other very small houses. “Thank you for walking with me. Now, go home. We’re done here.”

  I stomped up the stairs after her, my own anger getting the best of me. “You mock me and now you are going to run from me and close the door in my face?”

  “Um, that’s the idea, yeah.”

  “Is there a reason you treat me so poorly? Is there a reason you do not like me?”

  She started to mock me again but I grabbed her face and kissed her, effectively shutting her up. I backed her against her door and kissed her until we both had to break apart, gasping for air.

  “T-That. You make me feel like…that...too much.” She licked her lips and stared up at me with her chest rising and falling in a quick rhythm. “I gotta go.”

  I slowly nodded and backed away. Her body was saying something completely different than her mouth, but the books all stated that I must listen to what her mouth said. Even if I did not want to, and even if she did not mean it. “Goodnight, then.”

  Cherry slipped into her house and I heard her panting on the other side of the door, but I forced myself to descend the stairs. There would be another chance. I would never give up. It would not come soon enough to comfort me—or my dragon, but it would come.

  I was turning to leave when I heard the sound of the door sliding open again. I jerked back around. Time seemed to stand still. Cherry was at the top of the stairs with her shoulders tensed, fists balled up at her sides and her lip caught between her teeth.