by A. C. Ryals
“So you help them see how their own people cause data breaches.”
“Exactly. People are often the weakest security link. A law firm had three breaches in one month. They swore it was the new hardware we’d installed, but there was no evidence of that. I proved it was their people. What do you do?”
“I manage the money I have. Keep any eye on the local shifters, that sort of thing.”
“By keeping an eye on local shifters you mean…”
“If they cause trouble with humans either me or one of my people will deal with it.”
“So local shifters might have reason to be afraid of you?”
“Yes. You may have met some of them. Someone has to police them and humans aren’t up to the task. Dragons are natural protectors. I protect shifters, but I also protect humans from shifters.”
They both drank from their glasses. Wrath nearly groaned aloud when she licked a drop of wine off her bottom lip.
Finally, she said, “I don’t know why I trust you, but I do.”
He didn’t know why she trusted him, either. At least one of them had working instincts. He realized he was wrong about her wanting to escape. If she was afraid of a snake, she certainly wouldn’t want to cross a basilisk.
“I’m glad you trust me,” he said.
“I’m not sleeping with you,” she said.
Taken aback by the suddenness of the statement Wrath said, “I don’t recall asking you to. Since you brought it up, I’m compelled to ask why not.”
“Because I’m a prisoner. I didn’t do anything wrong, but you’re not letting me leave.”
“Ah,” Wrath said, taking a sip of his whisky and leaning back into the couch. He put his feet up on the table and took a deeper drink of the amber liquid. “Well, you’ve been thinking about it, so that’s something. Then there’s the fact that you definitely want me. I wonder which one of us you’re punishing.”
Chapter 12
You definitely want me. The conceited man/dragon/whatever actually let those words leave his mouth.
“I just think it’s important to remember the true nature of our relationship,” Jess said.
It was hard to backtrack after flinging herself into his arms earlier. Then there was the way she didn’t want to stop touching him. Even now her arm was touching his. It had to be dragon induced temporary insanity.
“And what’s the true nature of our relationship?” Wrath asked.
“I’m your prisoner,” Jess said.
Was he just being difficult? Maybe she was the one being difficult, but she had to on principle. Yes, she wanted to learn more about dragons and magic, but he could have asked her to stay.
He could have said: Do you want to hang out here for a while and watch me breathe fire? I have to get naked first.
She would have said: Yes, please.
“You’re a guest until I figure some things out,” the daft dragon was saying. “If you’d rather play the prisoner, we have a dungeon. Or is this a role-playing thing? I wasn’t kidding about the handcuffs.”
She moved to take another drink of wine—while wondering what Wrath would look like naked and handcuffed to his bed—but found that her glass was empty. Without a word, Wrath took the glass from her hand and went to get her a refill. Only this time he came back with the bottle and set it on the table next to her refilled glass.
A knock on the door cut the tension in the room and Wrath called for the person to come in. A young woman who looked like an older version of Lily walked through the door. She was a little taller than Lily and lacked Lily’s cuteness. No, this one wasn’t cute. She was stunningly beautiful. Her blue eyes sparkled and her smile belonged in a toothpaste ad.
Jess felt a tinge of jealousy and then remembered that Iris was related to Wrath. What did she have to be jealous of, anyway? She’d already decided she didn’t want to sleep with him. Well, she wanted to, but she wouldn’t. On principle.
“Give Iris your keys,” Wrath said.
Jess got her purse from the floor and dug out her apartment keys. She handed them to Iris. She almost thanked the woman for going to get her things before she remembered that she wouldn’t be doing this if Wrath hadn’t taken her prisoner. Iris was doing it for Wrath, not Jess.
“Tomorrow's my laundry day so pretty much everything is dirty. You can just bring the hamper and stuff the rest in a suitcase. I didn’t bring a lot,” Jess said. She fought herself internally and then said, “Thank you,” as Iris turned to walk away.
“Don’t thank me,” Iris replied with a smirk. “It’s our fault you’re stuck here. If you need anything else, Po…Wrath can text me.”
Iris was about to call him “Poppy” as Lily had done earlier. Damn, Jess was lusting after a grandpa.
Iris stopped with the door still opened and turned back to Wrath.
“You be nice to her, Poppy. You’re a big scary dragon, remember?” Iris said.
“I’m always nice, baby girl. Be careful. Don’t go accidentally killing some poor deranged human.”
“I’m always good, Poppy. You know that,” Iris said with a grin that probably made grown men swoon.
As soon as Iris was gone, an uncomfortable silence settled over the room. Jess had to think of something to talk about other than sex. Only, trying to think of something other than sex made her think about it more. Stupid brain.
She kept getting flashbacks of Wrath’s naked body before he changed into a dragon and the way his cock rested against his thigh. Suddenly the room felt too warm. Must be the wine, right?
Who was she kidding? Her nipples were so hard they chafed against her bra.
Would it really be so bad to sleep with him? It was probably her only chance to ever have sex with a dragon man. It’s not like she’d be teaching him a lesson by not sleeping with him. She doubted she could teach the old dragon much of anything.
Damn but he didn’t look old. She loved the way his sweater hugged his broad shoulders. His dark eyes were haunted in a way that made her want to kiss him better. There was so much more to him than she’d seen, she could feel it. If only she could reach beneath the surface.
“You’re at war with yourself,” Wrath said. “What if I make it easier?”
She knew what he meant, but she couldn’t get up the courage to acknowledge that she knew. “Make what easier?”
He set his glass on the coffee table and stood. He held his hand out to help her up. She took it, if for no other reason than to have an excuse to touch him. She loved the feel of his skin on hers. Something inside her was saying that she should touch him, kiss him, make love to him, bite him.
Bite him? What the hell was in that wine?
Keeping a grip on her hand, he took her toward the stairs. She expected him to take her up to a bedroom, but he bypassed the stairs and went down a short hallway toward the bathroom she’d used while they were making dinner.
He led her into a spartan bedroom across the hall from the bathroom. She hadn’t expected there to be a bedroom on the first floor.
Once they were in the room, he closed the door. Then he was standing there, so close she could feel the heat radiating off his well-muscled body. She looked down and he lifted her chin with a touch of his finger until she was looking at him.
“I’m going to kiss you,” Wrath said, his eyes full of dragonfire. “I like what they call enthusiastic consent. If you’d rather not go farther, just walk away. Deal?”
Jess nodded.
“Say it,” he said.
“Deal,” she responded in a voice higher in pitch than she expected.
As he leaned down, her arms went up around his shoulders of their own accord. By the time his lips touched hers, his arms were around her waist pulling her close, and her lips were parted to grant him entry.
She had no self-control, apparently, but she was struggling to remember why she needed it.
His lips were warm and softer than she expected. His beard lightly scratched her cheek. His tongue darted deftly into he
r mouth. He tasted like scotch and something sweeter. It might as well have been ambrosia. Her tongue moved with his as he pulled her against him. She felt the proof of his genuine desire in his touch and in the way his rigid shaft pressed against her belly through their clothes.
The heat between her legs increased to an inferno. The man was magic in every way and she craved him.
Lost in the kiss, primal urges welled within her. Gone was the stubborn reasoning mind and in its place was a woman who wanted a man.
He pulled back from the kiss as though prepared to let her make her decision, but she pulled him back down to meet her lips again. Her hands left his powerful shoulders and moved down to the hem of his sweater. She let her hands glide up underneath it. He wasn’t wearing a shirt underneath, thank all that’s holy.
She felt the ridges of his flexed abs and then the velvet covered hardness of his pecs. Her fingertips swirled around his nipples, eliciting a growl.
In one movement, his sweater was off, and then he was removing her shirt.
Clothing was an annoyance now, getting in the way of their mutual atavistic needs. Wrath lifted her up and set her on the bed, pushing her gently in a silent plea for her to lay down. She obliged him and he removed her shoes while she unfastened her jeans.
He stood, letting her see the full glory of his ripped torso, and then rested with his palms on either side of her head. Her hands went to his chest again as though drawn by some magical magnetism.
“Tell me you want this,” he said.
“Fuck me,” she said. It wasn’t the most eloquent turn of phrase, but it was enough. Wrath lowered his body, and her legs parted for him. She felt the friction of his rigid shaft against her most sensitive flesh through the layers of unwanted fabric. His lips pressed to hers again and she let her hand roam the contours of his back and then down to the waistband of his jeans in the most unsubtle hint imaginable.
He pushed off the bed and stood, unfastening his jeans. She’d seen him naked earlier that day, but she found her heart pounding in anticipation as he unzipped his fly and then pulled his jeans and boxer briefs down.
Jess was transfixed by his cock. It was large when it was flaccid earlier, but now that it was hard it was massive.
Before she could even try to imagine how it would fit inside her he was pulling down her jeans and panties. She sat up and undid her bra as he watched and appreciated what he’d uncovered. On display, Jess had to force herself not to try to cover herself.
“Gods, you’re sexy,” he said.
Then he was on her, his narrow hips between her thighs, his weight supported on his forearms as he nibbled at her neck, his erection pressed against her mound. She was near sensory overload.
Despite all the incredible sensations, anxiety began to creep in. He was ancient and certainly not celibate. He’d probably been with thousands of women. What if she was too boring? She’d been with men before, of course, but she knew she didn’t have as much experience as he did.
The nibbling stopped and Wrath was looking down into her eyes.
“You’re nervous,” Wrath accused.
“A little,” Jess said. “Maybe a little more wine…”
“No,” he said with the most wicked grin. “I don’t want you tired, I want you begging me to fuck you.”
Jess gasped and felt a flush of heat in her cheeks. He really said that.
He rolled off her and reached into the nightstand. She expected to see a condom, so she said, “I have an IUD.”
“Good to know, but we aren’t there yet,” he said as he retrieved a pair of handcuffs. In a slow husky voice he added, “Being nervous means you were thinking too much. I don’t allow that in my bed so now you have to be punished.”
Punished? She wasn’t really into BDSM, but she had enjoyed imagining him handcuffed.
“You’re right-handed, correct?” he asked as he got to his knees beside her, his cock only inches from her arm.
“Yes.”
“That’s ‘yes, my lord,’ human,” Wrath growled. “Get it right. I’ll ask again. You’re right-handed, correct?”
His growly voice was scary and hot. She thought this was going to be a quick tumble, maybe oral if she was lucky. He clearly had something else in mind. She’d play along.
“Yes, my lord. I’m right-handed,” she said with a smile. This was weird, but it was fun.
“Good girl. Give me your left hand. If you don’t want to play anymore, say ‘elevator.’”
“Yes, my lord.”
She offered her left hand and he cuffed it and then attached the other cuff to a spindle on the headboard. She bit her lip, her heart pounding in her chest.
“You are not to touch me without permission, is that clear?” he asked.
That command made her ache with desire to touch him. He was so close she could feel his heat.
“Yes, my lord,” she said. “May I touch you, my lord?”
Wrath leaned in. “Noy yet,” he said.
He lifted her hand and softly kissed her palm and then her wrist. It was far more erotic than she expected. Then he kissed the inside of her elbow followed by her shoulder. Already, her skin was tingling.
She lifted her hand to touch his shoulder, but he grabbed it.
“No touching me,” he said, “but you can touch other things.”
He moved her hand to her breast. She watched his face as she gave it a gentle squeeze. A low growl vibrated through is chest and she knew she’d like this game.
Wrath took his time, exploring her body from her collar bone down to the sensitive underside of her knees. Jess was getting more tense by the minute. Why didn’t he pay attention to the part that needed it? He was driving her insane.
“Please, Wrath,” she whispered.
He moved up her body and then lied down on his side beside her, his body pressed to hers.
“Touch yourself,” he said.
“Yes, my lord.”
Jess had never touched herself in front of anyone. Now she was naked, handcuffed to a bed, and ready to do anything to ease the acute longing that permeated her flesh.
She watched Wrath’s eyes as she caressed her breast. He was laser focused on her hand. Even though she was the one handcuffed, she felt like she had all the power.
Jess ran her fingers down her body to her inner thigh and then back up, brushing her clit before going down along her slit and sliding a single finger into her silken wetness.
Wrath, propped up on one elbow, moved his free hand down and ran a finger over the front of his cock. Heat surged between her legs. She wanted to be the one touching him. Jess moaned softly and moved her finger to her clit rubbing in teasing little circles.
It was the most intimate thing she’d ever done with a man and he was barely touching her.
“I won’t let you touch me until you’re about to come,” Wrath said.
Her skin was getting cold, all her blood had been directed to the most vital area of the moment. She briefly considered asking for a blanket, but then Wrath blew lightly on her shoulder and her whole body seemed to warm. It was magic.
She began rubbing her clit in earnest. No longer teasing circles but long strokes. Wrath palmed his cock and slowly stroked as he watched.
She felt her orgasm building and picked up her pace. She closed her eyes and then Wrath’s hand gripped hers, stopping her from reaching her peak.
“I know what you need now,” he said.
Before she knew it, he was parting her legs and lowering his head down to her mound. His fingers delved into her and then his tongue made contact with the already sensitive bundle of nerves she’d been stroking. He started with a swirl of his tongue, fanning the embers of her desire. Then he began more forceful strokes up and down over her clit.
Jess writhed on the bed until Wrath pinned her hip with one hand. Damn, he was strong. She knew she was moaning and possibly speaking, but she had no idea what she was saying.
Her orgasm hit like a tidal wave, tossing her he
lplessly in its turbulent wake. Wrath slowed his pace as her body trembled with every flick of his tongue. When he’d wrung out every drop of pleasure, he wiped his face on the sheet and then nibbled and licked his way up her body until he reached her breasts.
Still panting from her orgasm, Jess groaned. “Please, my lord, fuck me.”
He left her breasts and moved up. She felt his erection pressed against her clit. He shifted his hips slightly eliciting a moan.
“Please,” she whimpered.
“Are you begging for my cock?”
“Yes,” she said. Her left arm was getting uncomfortable, so she tried to change position.
Wrath reached up and the handcuff came loose. It was the play kind with a button and didn’t require a key. He lowered her arm and kissed her shoulder.
Jess wrapped her arms and legs around his delightfully hard body as he slid inside her. One word came to mind: Complete.
Chapter 13
He was incomplete and it was maddening. He relied on the instincts of his dragon far more than he realized. It picked up on subtle hints and cues that he didn’t consciously notice. To make up for it, he had to consciously watch every move Jess made.
The little game of making her touch herself was no game at all. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to pleasure her correctly without the guidance of his instincts. He’d watched attentively so he could learn to pleasure her properly. Never had he been so alert to a woman as he was to Jess and he liked it.
Wrath was totally out of his depth but, more than anything, he wanted to give her the best night of her life.
He watched her eyes widen as he thrust into her tight welcoming warmth. She was heavenly. Every moan, every movement of her hips, every time her fingernails dug into his back was sublime.