“Cezar… You’re glowing.” Her voice was breathy, her hands soft as she brushed them over my face.
I could feel my dragon at the surface, begging to take her. I knew my body looked different when I was so close to shifting, but I couldn’t pull away. “I want you so bad, Cherry. Every night, I have to stroke myself to relieve some of the tension. I think of you, kneeling in front of me, taking me into your hot mouth.”
She gasped and her thighs opened the slightest bit more. “You do?”
I kissed her inner thigh and looked up at her. “I do. I think about being in you, the way your sweet little body grips me and sucks me in deeper, about the way you look when you come. I can’t stop thinking about that.”
“I think about you, too.” The admission made cheeks turn a darker shade, and I loved the way her eyes hooded as she met my gaze.
I hooked my thumbs in the band of her panties and slowly pulled them down and off. I spread her even farther apart and took in the sight of her. She was stunning. With her dress hiked up and her sex on display to me, I felt like a god. I could see her arousal wetting her folds and I knew that I’d done that. She was as turned on by me as I was by her.
I lowered my face and ran my tongue over her folds, tasting her and growling for me. She trembled and braced herself on her hands behind her.
I wrapped my arms around her thighs and pulled her into my face, supporting her and controlling her at the same time. When I buried my mouth into her, she let out a naughty little yelp that told me she wasn’t far from coming already. I knew that would simply be the first of many that night and that I would not stop until she had multiple orgasms. I wanted her to be, what was the human phrase? Thoroughly fucked.
Cherry was not silent. She screamed her orgasm, encouraging me with her cries so much that I did not cease until she had come again and again and begged me to stop because she needed a rest. I could have feasted on my mate for days and not gotten tired of it. She was sweet and delicious and I’d never get enough of her.
As she worked to regain her breath, I stood and pulled her into my arms, cradling her. Pressing my lips to her ear, I told her how I felt. “This dragon should’ve been smart enough to tell you that you are his mate from the start. I am sorry I hurt you, but I will make it up to you. No matter how long it takes.”
We made love well into the night until Cherry was exhausted and fell sound asleep. There would be time to claim her, but despite the fact that I was no longer behaving the way I thought human males might, I would not do it before explaining to her what it meant. It had to be her choice. As she slumbered deeply, I snuggled her against me on my bed and spent the rest of the night watching her as she slept.
22
Cherry
It was dead quiet on that Saturday morning. The kids who’d come to audition for the Christmas play had gone and the library was empty. Cameron had called in sick and I didn’t think there was another person in the whole place. I walked around to make sure and found no one.
It was almost noon—closing time on Saturdays. I decided that I’d close up early and go home. Cezar had been hanging around all morning, so I figured he was outside somewhere. But, when I locked the front doors and looked around for him, I didn’t see him. I even stepped back and tried to see on the roof. Not there.
I shouldn’t have panicked. I knew he wouldn’t have gone far but I suppose old habits are hard to break and old insecurities rise up from time to time.
I know I’m sending this to all of you dragons, but just turn your hearing off, or something. I’m just trying to talk to Cezar. Where are you, my dragon?
Minutes passed and still didn’t see or hear from Cezar. I was getting annoyed, and worried. If Cezar didn’t show up soon, I was going to hide in my house and eat a half gallon of cookie dough ice cream.
I headed towards home with no pep in my step. Had I done something to push Cezar away?
The closer I got to my house, the more I didn’t want to be there. I considered calling out to him again, but I didn’t want all of the dragons around to know how desperate I was.
Defeated, I carted my sad self in and dropped my bag just inside the door. Heading towards the kitchen, I had a date with a bucket of ice cream. I’d barely made it into the kitchen when I was grabbed from behind. I screamed, but then a rough hand was over my mouth and a firm body was pressed up behind me. I knew instantly it was Cezar.
“Is this what you want, little mate? You want the dragon?” His voice was rough in my ear and his teeth weren’t any gentler as they scraped along my skin. “Do you know how dragons used to claim their dragon females?”
I shivered. “No.”
“They just took what they wanted. They’d come up to their mate and sink their teeth into her neck, marking her as their own before they even so much as said hello. Then, with their teeth still in her neck, they’d lift her skirt and thrust their cock inside of her. Is that what you want?”
I moaned, helpless to the eroticism of Cezar’s words and his husky voice. His cock was snuggly trapped against my ass and he rocked into me as she spoke.
“You want to see how badly I need you. To be taken and fucked while I mark you. Do you know what it’s like to mark your mate, Cherry?
“I sink my teeth into your neck and I let your blood flow into me. While I’m fucking you. That mark? It will bind us together forever. You will stop aging, you will be with me until the day we both die, hundreds of years from now. Do you understand that?”
I jerked my head roughly. Sky had explained it to me, and not only was I a hundred percent onboard, I found the whole thing erotic as hell.
“Is that what you want?”
I felt his hesitation to my very soul. He wasn’t sure I’d say yes. He actually thought I might reject him again. It struck me as odd that we were both self-conscious in that way. Him, a two-hundred-ton warrior dragon, and me, a bookish librarian with difficult hair.
I fought against his hold, but it was like trying to flick through concrete with a pinky finger. “Dammit, Cezar, yes!”
He froze against my back. “Yes?”
“Yes! Hell yes! That’s what I want. Wow, and you thought I needed to be cared for the way a human male would do it?”
“I…”
“Because I think I’m much more suited to be the mate of a dragon. Which is probably why fate matched us in the first place. Because I need a possessive beast like you.”
We were both breathing roughly against each other, the mood between us dangerous. Cezar growled lower. “You did not seem pleased when I tried to show my affection.”
I cleared my throat. “I didn’t think it was real. How could someone who looks like you be into someone like me?”
“How—you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. And, you could have just asked me.”
“And what would you have said?” I threw his words back at him.
“I would’ve said that I wanted you, human. You. No one else. Fate made you for me. The worlds knew what I would want and they gave me you.” He lightly pushed me away. “They knew that my perfect mate would be someone who needed me to fight for her, to work for the honor of claiming her. I don’t think I’ve earned it yet, Cherry.”
I licked my lips. “What do you mean?”
“You want a dragon.” He gave me a wicked grin. “You got a dragon.”
My pulse kicked into high gear. “What does that mean, Cezar?”
“It means you should run. When I catch you, there’s no stopping, little mate.”
The urge to run took over and I charged away from him. Up the stairs, two at a time, I fled into my bedroom and slammed the door shut. Then, into the bathroom. My heart raced. I could feel how aroused I was already. It made no sense, but nothing about being with Cezar did. He was a dragon, for god sakes.
“Where are you, little mate?” He came up the stairs slowly and so sure of himself.
A thrill shot through me and I decided to really make him work for me. I sh
oved open the bathroom window and climbed out of it. The roof was gently sloped, enough for me to move down it and shimmy down the drain pipe at the side of my house. What I was doing literally made no sense, but my body seemed to recognize the game I was playing with Cezar’s dragon. I somehow knew that the chase would make the catch even better.
As crazy as the whole thing sounded, it felt right. So, I ran. Down the street, around the library and up the fire escape in the back. By the time I got to the top, I was out of breath and bouncing on the balls of my feet. I knew he’d be there soon.
Ready or not, dragon, here I am.
23
Cezar
I’d never felt like so much of my dragon come through without actually changing forms. I lifted my nose to the night sky and inhaled. Following Cherry’s scent wasn’t hard. I knew where she was as soon as I hit the street. Still, I took my time getting there. I could smell her thrill and arousal in the air and I was becoming drunk on it. I walked calmly down the street and behind the library. When my hand connected with the metal ladder to climb to the roof, I heard clearly her intake of breath.
Don’t be scared now, little mate.
“I’m not scared! I’m bored. Sometime tonight, would you?”
I laughed and scaled the ladder in seconds. At the top, Cherry had been leaning over to see me. She jumped back and licked her lips. I prowled towards her, feeling the mate call through my entire body. Mate.
“How’d you do that?”
I grinned at her. “Magic. Want to see more magic?”
She laughed while backing away. “Is this the part where you pull down your pants to reveal your magic wand?”
“This is the part where I back you up until you’re sitting on the edge of this roof and then I fuck you like you desperately want to be fucked.” I stepped closer to her and watched as she naturally took a big step back. “Scared?”
“In your dreams.”
“Then why are you backing away?”
“I’m not.”
I raised an eyebrow and closed the gap between us. The back of her knees pressed into the brick ledge and she fell onto her butt.
Take off your dress, Cherry. I need to see you.
She stood up and met my gaze. Shoving her jacket off, she made quick work of the dress until she was standing in just her underwear and boots, she was the most exquisite beauty that ever lived. “Your turn.”
I ripped my clothes off and then extended a talon to easily cut through her bra and panties. I wanted her naked. Better.
“Tell me more about what you would’ve done differenty.”
“I’ll tell you what I should’ve done.” I pressed her body into mine and groaned at the feel of her puckered nipples raking over my chest. “When I saw you that first day, I should’ve followed you into that hallway of books you were hiding in. I should’ve grabbed you by the back of your neck and pulled you into me.
“I should’ve reached down your pants while kissing you and fucked you with my fingers until I knew you were ready for me.” I trailed my hand down her body and slipped my fingers into her wet folds. Two of my fingers easily slid into her. “Then, I should have held your head to the side to expose the tender skin of your neck and sank my teeth into you lovely mocha flesh.”
When I pretended to do just that, she gasped and her core pulsed around my fingers. As soon as she realized I hadn’t actually marked her, she slapped my arm. “Don’t tease.”
“You are nervous?”
“Sky told me it didn’t hurt.”
“I mean about being tethered to me forever.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck and moaned when I curled my fingers and hit that special spot inside of her. “No.”
I lifted her into my arms and pulled my fingers out of her, just to slid into her with my cock. I growled at the sensation of her tight sheath gripping me while she tossed her head back and moaned. Her neck was exposed and my dragon urged me to take her, claim her with my mark. As much as I wanted to, though, I wanted her to be so ready for it that she’d beg.
I turned us around and sat on the ledge. Cherry immediately settled in and rocked against my lap. I grabbed her ass and moved her body faster. I wanted her to lose control. I filled her hard and fast, my body stroking her clit as we moved back and forth.
Her nails scored my back, the way they always did, and her mouth came down to mine. She bit my lower lip and then sucked it into her mouth to soothe it. Kissing down to my neck, she bit me there, leaving her own mark. She gave just as rough as she was getting it.
I could feel my dragon rising to the surface and fought back the urge to let go. Rocking our bodies together, I felt her start to come apart. Her body tightened around me, her nails dug deeper. Her bites turned to sweet little nips as the pleasure she felt distracted her.
Come for me, little mate. I want to feel you shatter.
Cherry tossed her head back and let out a wild scream that only got louder when I sank into her once more before plunging my teeth into her neck and claiming her with my mark. I came harder than I’d ever come in my life, each jerk thrashing my body like it was coming from the deepest part of me. Cherry’s body squeezed mine hard as her voice broke and her scream cut short. She collapsed in my arms, my teeth still in her neck.
I held her tight against my chest and I slowly licked at the drops of blood spilled there. It was like a sweet elixir, luring me closer to her. Crushing her to me, I whispered in her ear what she meant to me. Everything.
Mate, sweet mate.
“Cezar…”
I stroked her back and waited to talk until we both came down from the high. Both of our bodies still trembled against each other, the magnitude of what we’d just done not lost on us.
“That was…insane.” She rested her forehead on my shoulder and blew out a breath. “What the hell just happened?”
Magic.
“You broke into my house like some kind of crazy person and then somehow we ended up on a roof… Is it always like this?”
“Sometimes, we’ll use a bed.”
She grinned. “I…we’re together now?”
“Yes.”
“So, you’re my boyfriend?”
I shifted. “I’m a little bit more than that.”
“My fiancé?”
“Um, did you not understand what—”
She laughed and kissed the end of my nose, jumpstarting my body again. “I’m teasing you. I know. We’re together forever.”
Not nice.
“Will you teach me how to not talk to everyone over the dragon phone line?”
“I could. But I kind of like it when everyone knows how pretty you think my cock looks.”
Oh, Cezar, don’t worry about not being able to get it up. It’s not a big deal.
“Hey!”
She laughed and wiggled on my lap. “I could get used to this.”
“You’re going to have to.” I caught her face in my hand and kissed her gently. “You’re stuck with me. Forever.”
“I need to ask a favor.
“Anything.”
“I want you to help me find my sister a dragon mate.”
I blinked. “What?”
“You heard me. If I’m living for thousands of years, so is she.”
Epilogue
Cherry
I was so busy with Cezar that I forgot all about my sister and worrying about finding her a mate. The sex drive that came along with having a dragon mate was unbelievable. I had never been all that interested in sex before, and I figured that whenever I did finally lose my virginity, my taste would be very vanilla. Turns out that it wasn’t just my soul that had been waiting for a connection. My body had also been waiting for a hunky dragon to come along before it flipped its libido switch. I could barely keep my hands off of Cezar long enough to get anything done. And, when I was able to resist, he wasn’t.
At work, I longed for him. At home, I indulged in him. During the night, I woke up tangled in him, sometimes with e
ach of us already halfway to orgasm. Like that Aretha Franklin song (You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman, he made me feel like a wanton seductress instead of a boring, plump, almost-but-not-quite-pretty librarian. Some days I was dead tired and running on fumes, but still I wanted sex with my dragon.
When I started feeling queasy in the mornings, it didn’t take me long to figure it out. Tender breasts. Nausea. Oodles of unprotected sex. One trip to the drugstore and eight dollars later, what I knew to be true was confirmed. I was knocked up.
Cezar and I hadn’t yet talked about children. I hadn’t even thought about whether or not our two species could even produce offspring. I guess that was a question that was answered before it was asked.
Whoa, Nelly. Was I pregnant with a dragon?
It was about that time that I started to seriously panic. Cezar wasn’t an alien per se, well, not the abducting and taking me back to his planet to be an enslaved breeder kind of alien, but he was a different type of creature. And he’d gotten me pregnant. How would I carry a dragon baby?
I had so many questions and the only dragons I knew were men. What good would they be? I’d have to have a home birth. I couldn’t exactly give birth to a dragon in a hospital. What if my baby was born in dragon form? Would it enter the world with wings? Oh, sweet baby Jesus, would I lay an egg?
Cezar walked in on me hyperventilating while also trying to Google anything I could on dragon births. Of course, there was nothing to find so I had to improvise but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out if dragons were reptiles or amphibians. Was Cezar more crocodile or alligator? Actually, neither, he was more like those giant prehistoric birds, the pterodactyls.
“What are you doing? Calm down, Cherry. What’s wrong?” He stroked my hair and back, obviously not aware that I had a damned good reason to panic.
“I never wanted a natural childbirth at home. I wanted a hospital, with lots of drugs and nurses and doctors. I don’t tolerate pain well, Cezar!”
Fire Breathing Cezar (Dragons of the Bayou Book 2) Page 11