“I brought two, sir,” the bartender set two bottles of water on the edge of the pool. “One for you and one for the lady.”
“Thanks, Ike.” Neo picked up the bottle, opened it, and took a long drink as he watched Gwen go to the stairs and walk into the water. As she approached, Neo picked up the second bottle and offered it to her.
“Thanks.” Gwen uncapped the bottle and brought it to her lips. Lips that made Neo want to lick and bite at them. She took a sip and recapped the bottle before setting it back on the edge of the pool beside him.
“You managed to lose your guards.” He noticed for the first time that neither Isla nor Ellis were on the roof.
“I did.” She smiled. “It wasn't easy to convince them, but we spoke with Sloan and he confirmed what you said about public areas being safe. Still, it took a call back to our alphas to get them to agree to let me off their tight watch. But it's only if I'm inside the MesoAmerican. If I'm leaving the hotel, even for another hotel, I'm to have at least one of them with me.” She glanced around the almost empty roof. “Do you often swim in the middle of the night?”
Neo shrugged. “I usually swim whenever I can't sleep.”
“Which is often enough he knows what you want without having to ask.” Gwen tilted her head toward the bar where Ike sat, his head bent over what looked like paperwork.
One corner of Neo's mouth lifted in a wry smile. “I don't sleep much.”
“I usually don't have a problem, but traveling disturbs all kinds of things.”
Neo couldn't relate. He'd done his share of traveling, but most of it had been when the only way to get somewhere was on foot. Jet lag was a new problem he'd not had to deal with much. “You hoping the exercise will help?”
“I'm hoping between another day and more exercise, I'll be able to sleep tonight.”
Neo finished his bottle of water and set the empty bottle aside before sliding back into the water. “Well, in the name of getting you some sleep tonight, I'll make a sacrifice. How about a race?”
“A race?”
“Yes, from here to the far side and back. Sound good?”
“Sure, why not.”
“Ready?”
Gwen nodded.
“Then on one. Three... two... one.” Neo dove forward into the water and poured every bit of energy he had into the contest. He hit the far side, flipped and gave the return trip just as much effort. When he touched the wall again, he surfaced to find Gwen already there. He knew he'd lost. “Congratulations. You're fast.” Neo smiled at the big grin on her face. Droplets of water in her lashes glittered as she leaned close.
“What's my prize?” her voice had gone deep and husky.
“I don't know. I guess it depends on what you want?”
“I think I have an idea.” She leaned in and pressed her lips against his.
The touch of her skin against his made all rational thought flee from his mind. His world narrowed until she was the only thing that mattered, the only thing that existed.
Ours. Neo wasn't sure his other half was right, but he knew better than to argue.
Gwen's lips moved over his and Neo couldn't help but respond. Their mouths opened and tongues tangled. Her arms wound around Neo's neck, and his wrapped around her waist as they moved into each other.
He had no idea how much time passed when the sound of footsteps nearby reminded Neo they weren't alone. This was a public pool.
“Let's get out of here,” he said against her lips, then looked around. While they'd been engrossed in each other, someone had arrived, a normal male in a tiny, skin-tight bathing suit was stretching at the far side of the pool.
“We can go to my room, but Isla and Ellis are there. How about your place?”
“My place is good, come on.” Neo reluctantly pulled away from her and lifted himself from the pool. He picked up her towel and held it for her. Gwen had gone to the steps to exit the water and now, as she arrived next to him, she turned so he could wrap the soft cloth around her shoulders.
“Thank you.” She took the edges and pulled the towel close as Neo fought the urge to pull her back into his arms.
Instead, he picked up his own towel and dried himself as much as he could before he wrapped it around his waist and secured it. Glancing over at Gwen, he couldn't help but admire her long legs as she ran the towel down each of them. His cock twitched and he knew if they didn't get out of there soon, even his long practice of self-control wouldn't prevent him from embarrassing himself.
6
Gwen's heart thundered in her chest. This wasn't what she had in mind when she'd come up to swim. She thought she would exhaust herself so she would be able to sleep the next night. Finding her mate already in the pool had been a surprise.
As much as she wanted to keep to business, she'd found it impossible once she'd given in to the whim to claim a kiss as her prize. Her dragon had roared inside her head as lightening and heat shot through her body. She dabbed the extra water from her hair before dropping her towel and slipping her cover-up on, then turned to find Neo watching her.
“You ready?”
“Whenever you are.”
“Come on.” Neo tilted his head then headed for the lift.
Gwen slipped her sandals on and followed. They were both quiet and Gwen wondered what he was thinking, but she didn’t want to ask. The lift stopped and Neo waited for Gwen to exit first. He set his hand on her lower back and walked beside her to his door where he pressed his thumb to the pad and opened the door.
Inside his apartment, Gwen looked around and found it not entirely unlike the room she had been given. The furniture was mostly the same, though arranged differently, and the floor plan seemed to mirror her rooms. It was the wall art that caught her attention. There were a couple of paintings, though not like what was on her walls, but it was a large metal sculpture of a man with a bowed back, and his long hair seemed to stand on end. She'd never seen anything like it and it called to her in a way she didn't understand. Her dragon growled, then purred inside her head, finally she went silent, refusing to elaborate.
“Do you like it.” Neo asked after a moment. Gwen glanced over and found him gazing up at the sculpture, a slight frown on his face she didn't know how to interpret.
“I'm not sure.” She stared at it a moment longer. “It calls to me, but for some reason it also makes me sad.”
“Sad?” Neo's tone changed. He turned, went to the sofa, and sat. “Why does it make you sad?” He sat on one end, one arm along the back as he rested an ankle on the other knee and watched her.
“I'm not sure exactly.” She sat next to him, close but not quite touching, and looked up at the piece again. “It's only a silhouette, so I have to be reading into it. I'm guessing that's some kind of instrument he's playing, and from the hair, I'd guess he's dancing. But he's all alone.” She fell quiet a moment. “I don't know. He just strikes me as lonely.”
“I take it you’re not familiar with the icon?”
Gwen shook her head. It was unique enough she would remember having seen it.
“That's kokopelli. He's also known as the flute player. He was a fertility deity to a number of Native American cultures in the region.”
“Fertility deity?” She turned to look Neo in the face.
“Yes. He was very lonely. He traveled from tribe to tribe, village to village, but was never welcome anywhere for long. Oh, and those are feathers, not hair.”
Gwen frowned, turned to look at the statue again. “How can you tell?”
“I remember what I wore.”
Gwen looked back to Neo. His mouth curved into a vague smile, but his eyes were sad.
“That's you.” She motioned to the sculpture on the wall. It wasn’t a question, somehow she knew, but it was still hard to believe.
“That's a representation of who I once was.” Neo told her about his past, how he'd been cursed and roamed the desert for centuries without a place to call home.
Gwen's heart ached for
what he'd gone through, but it only hurt worse when he ended his story.
“My dragon says you're ours, but I know it can't be. I was cursed to loneliness forever.”
Gwen wondered for a moment if maybe he was right, maybe he wasn't her mate after all. For some reason, the thought didn’t sit well. She reached over and laid her hand on top of his, trying to offer comfort.
The touch of her skin against his was electric. She watched him a moment then opened her mouth to ask how long since he'd been cursed, but the words never came. Instead, she met him half-way and his mouth covered hers in a searing kiss that sent bolts of heat all the way to her toes. Without breaking the kiss, Gwen moved until she faced him, her hands falling to his arms. Her fingers curled into the muscles of his upper arms, and she couldn't resist the urge to pull him closer. His arms wrapped around her, and Gwen knew she was home as Neo held her against him as carefully, as if she were made of spun glass.
Neo broke the kiss, they were both breathing hard. He pulled his t-shirt over his head. Gwen shrugged out of her cover up and leaned close. Once more the touch of his skin to hers sent fire through her. Gwen lowered her mouth to Neo's neck as she grabbed his wrists and placed his hands on her hips before reaching back and catching one of the ties securing her bathing suit top, tugging it until the knot pulled free.
7
Gwen kissed her way down Neo's neck until she reached the bend where it met his shoulder, then she bit lightly and growled. The low rumble sent prickles of need through him.
Neo groaned and slid his hands up her torso, stopping just below her breasts. He wanted to cup her breasts, but something stopped him. For some reason he didn’t understand, he needed her permission before he could touch her so intimately. Before he could open his mouth to ask, Gwen took his hands and lifted them to cup her chest. She cupped his fingers around her firm mounds and squeezed. Her head fell back and she let pleasure wash over her. After a moment, she straightened, her hands still covering his on her skin.
“As much as I'm enjoying this,” Gwen glanced around, “I’m sure there is somewhere else we would be more comfortable.” Neo took the hint.
Sliding his hands down, he moved them around to cup her ass. He pulled her hips against his as he scooted to the edge of the seat and stood, taking her with him. Neo carried Gwen into his bedroom and laid her on top of the bed, his blankets were rumpled from his tossing earlier, and leaned over her to kiss her. He stopped just short of his lips touching hers and noticed how she gazed up at him with half-lidded eyes.
We did that, his dragon's voice held a thread of satisfaction, but it wasn’t enough for Neo. He wanted to see her so satisfied she didn't have the energy to reach for him the way she was now. And he wanted to be the one to do it to her.
Their gazes locked. Neo kissed her once, twice, then pulled away. Their eyes met again and he kept his gaze locked on hers as he lowered his lips to her breast. Using the tip of his tongue, Neo circled the hard, tight bud of her nipple, making the tender skin draw tighter, before he released it and moved to give her other nipple the same attention. He went back and forth, careful to give both sensitive nubs attention as one hand slid down her smooth side, caressing her skin and playing with her senses. Neo continued to tease and torment Gwen until her back bowed and she gasped for every breath.
Neo trailed is mouth down her body, along the curve of her waist, to her hip where he took a small chunk of skin between his teeth and bit down until he heard her breath catch. Swirling his tongue over the spot to soothe the sting, he ran his tongue along the upper edge of her bikini bottoms. Glancing up, he found her watching him. His gaze still on her face, he dipped his tongue into the waistband of her swim suit.
Without a word, she reached down and hooked her thumbs in her bottoms, she lifted her hips off the bed as she shoved the thin fabric off her hips and down her legs, kicking it away. Before he had a chance to move lower, Gwen tugged at his arms, pulling him up her body until they were once again face to face. Before he could ask what she wanted, she fit her mouth against his and pulled him into a searing kiss, sending flames of heat and desire through him.
Gwen shifted her body beneath him and before Neo realized what she was doing, she’d flipped them both over until he lay on his back staring up at her kneeling astride him.
“As much fun as this is, I want to play some too.” She gave him a sultry smile as she ran one manicured nail lightly down his chest.
“I’m all yours.” He gazed up at her and wondered what she had in mind. He liked when women were aggressive in bed, but he’d avoided getting involved with any for a very long time, because when the time came to end things, it never ended well.
Gwen’s teeth scraping along his chest brought him back to the moment. Gazing down his body, he watched as she teased and bit her way along his torso, moving her whole body as she went. She reached the waistband of his swim trunks and glanced up at him before tugging them down over his hips and off. Her tongue appeared as she licked her lips in anticipation, the sight of the tiny pink muscle made Neo’s cock throb as she tossed his trunks aside.
The tip of her tongue flashed again as she licked up the length of him. Neo closed his eyes as a groan escaped him. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to erupt in fifteen seconds flat, embarrassing himself with his lack of control. He bit the inside of his lip as Gwen’s hand wrapped around the base of his dick and guided it to her mouth. The damp heat of her mouth as she took him as far as she could nearly drove him out of his mind.
Desperate, he reached for her. Pulling at her arm until she looked up. “Stop, please stop.”
“Is something wrong?” her smile was full of mischief.
“You’re too good at this for me to let it continue right now. I want this to last, and if I let you go on, it won’t. Come here.” He tugged her back up his body until she lay stretched out on top of him, not a single stitch between them.
“What now?” Gwen lifted one brow as she propped her chin on her hands where she had stacked them on his chest.
“I’m not saying we stop,” Neo skimmed one hand along her body from just under her arm down to her waist, over her hip, and as far as he could reach, “I just needed to slow down a little.” A shiver of delight ran through her body at his touch, making his dragon growl. Mine. Neo didn’t bother answering, instead, he focused on the woman in his arms.
Hands, lips, and tongues touched and caressed each other until there was a fine sheen of sweat coating them both and they were both breathing hard. “Come here.” Neo lifted her chin and lowered his mouth to hers in a kiss filled with need. Lips still locked, she moved over him, Neo steadied her as she straddled him and lowered herself down over him. His cock slid easily through her slick heat as her weight pushed him deep. His dragon roared in his head and something clicked inside him. Home.
She was perfect, but how could they be together with his curse?
8
Gwen woke slowly, confused at first about where she was and what the weight around her waist was. Then she remembered. The pool, the kiss, the sex. She had bitten Neo and he'd not stopped until she was a pool of satisfied dragon, unable to move or think. Oh god. She buried her face in the pillow and hid. The night had been wonderful and she had no regrets, but now she had to face the music.
She had to own up to what she'd done and see if her alphas, Rhiannon and Grigor, still wanted her to negotiate the tourism treaty. She had no doubt she could finish the negotiations to their satisfaction, but they may see her as no longer on their side and want someone else. If they fired her it would set her back some, but she'd realized the night before, while lying in bed trying to sleep, that you only find your mate once. Even if it sets her back, it's a one-time thing, and once she's mated she can be sure it will never happen again. She’d figured that out before giving up and going up to the pool.
Knowing she didn’t have time to put it off, Gwen took a deep breath and pushed herself out of bed. After a quick visit to the facilities, she star
ted looking for her clothes, not that she'd been wearing much to start with.
“Hey, what's up?” Neo stirred and watched as she searched for her swimsuit bottoms.
“I need to find my clothes.”
“What's the hurry? Our meeting's not for another two hours. Come back to bed and we can find a good way to pass that.”
“I'm not sure we'll be having that meeting. I have to go back to my room and call my alphas.”
“What? Why?”
Gwen stopped searching and looked at him. “I'm not sure they'll still want me on this job anymore.”
“But, why wouldn't they?”
“Because of this.” She waved one hand between them.
“Because you found your mate?” Neo looked confused, and it struck Gwen that he seemed to have accepted he was her mate and she was his. The lost look he'd worn the night before when he'd told her about his curse and how he would never have a mate had disappeared. It made her want to crawl back into bed and join him.
No.
She needed to contact her alphas and explain, she could come back to him while they made their decision.
“Because I found my mate and it may have changed my loyalties. Do you remember what happened to my swim suit?”
Without a word, Neo's eyes rolled up in his head, and once she realized he was looking at something, she followed his gaze to find her bottoms hooked on the ceiling fan.
“How on earth did they end up there?” She stepped up on the foot of the bed, so she could reach them, and snagged them. Shaking them a few times to make sure there was no dust in them, she stepped into the tiny, panty-like bottoms and pulled them up. “Now what about my top?”
“I'm pretty sure that's still in the living room, along with your cover-up. After you call them, are you coming back?”
The Dragon Chronicles_City of Sin Page 21