by Sy Walker
“Would you like to dance?”
The voice sounded familiar, even before Laura turned to look at him. Cynthia gawked for a moment before a quick nod encouraging her to go, but that wasn’t going to happen.
“I don’t think so. Thanks for asking.”
“You’re mad at me.”
“I’m not mad. We just didn’t hit it off and you couldn’t just say that. You made an excuse and ran off, then never called,” she told him.
Sebastian looked at her and grinned, irritating her a little bit more. How smarmy he seemed, so unlike how he had come across in the coffee shop when they first met. She watched as he rolled up his sleeve and showed her a scar on his forearm.
“Four alarm fire in the Empress Hotel downtown. I got a bit of a flesh wound that had to be tended to, but was otherwise okay. I would have called you, but you never gave me your number and you closed your ComeShift account, so I couldn’t contact you through there. It doesn’t reveal the email address through their relay system. I didn’t know your address or your last name to even look you up. I tried.”
Laura looked at him blankly, not sure how to respond. It had never occurred to her that he really did have a work call, or that she hadn’t given him a way to get in contact with her after their first meeting. Now, she felt like a complete idiot.
“It’s okay, Laura. In your shoes, I would have probably thought the same thing. In fact, I did. I assumed that you didn’t give me a way to get in touch because you didn’t want me to do so. Then, I saw you here and just thought, what the hell? All you can say is no and confirm what I was thinking already.”
Laura was still speechless, but fortunately, Cynthia was not. She jumped right in and picked up the conversation in her own abrupt fashion, practically pushing Laura out of her chair and on top of Sebastian in the process.
“She is an idiot. She would love to dance.”
Sebastian flashed another broad smile at Cynthia and winked, taking Laura’s hand and leading her out onto the floor just as the music switched from an upbeat dance tune to something slow and almost erotic. Taking advantage of the opportunity to be close, they pressed against one another as they swayed back and forth to the music that surrounded them. One dance led to two and before she knew it, they were completely lost in one another.
“Oh, God. I forgot all about Cynthia. I guess I need to get back to the table.”
“I don’t think she really misses you that much,” he replied, nodding toward a nearby corner of the dance floor where Cynthia was practically wrapped around a very nice looking man.
“Looks that way,” Laura laughed.
“I do think I could use a drink though. I’m completely parched. I could spit fire.”
“Not really funny.”
“Sure it is. You are laughing.”
“Okay, maybe a bit.”
Sebastian smiled and kissed her softly on the lips before leading her off the floor and to the table. They ordered a couple of drinks and began talking as much as they could over the noise of the club around them. Laura had to admit that she was glad she had run into him here. Otherwise, she would have gone on thinking he just didn’t like her and ran off like a coward.
“Where is Katie?”
Laura smiled broadly, impressed that he had remembered her daughter’s name after all this time.
“She is spending the weekend with her grandparents.”
“Ah, giving Mommy a little time to let her hair down then.”
“Something like that. Cynthia dragged me out.”
“Yeah, I’m here at a stag party for one of my brothers, but I ditched them when I saw you across the room.”
“Oh no. You should get back. How often does a brother get married, after all?”
“Four times if they are this one,” he laughed.
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope. Not at all. The last one was the stripper from the second marriage. It lasted a week.”
“That’s horrible. I thought you shifter types were sort of one girl kind of dragons.”
“Stereotyping us?”
“Maybe.”
“It’s actually pretty accurate, but my brother isn’t a shifter. He’s adopted. Found him on our doorstep when he was a baby.”
“You did not.”
“I’m fucking serious. I was six years old and on my way out to play. Opened the door and there was a naked baby in a box full of newspapers. He looked like someone had just given birth and stuffed him in there, dropped him off.”
“That’s horrible.”
“Best day of his life. Look what a great brother the little bastard got.”
“If you do say so yourself. Do you have other siblings?”
“No. Some dragon shifters are cursed with an inability to have more than one child. I think that is why my parents didn’t hesitate to take him in. It was there chance to have more than one kid.”
“Are your parents still alive?”
“Yes. Still like a couple of teenagers in love. You will like them a lot.”
Laura was a little caught off guard by the statement, but felt good about the fact that he didn’t seem to have any qualms with introducing her to them at some point. It was a good sign that he was not like his brother and, more importantly, not like any of the other losers she had dated in recent months.
“Laura, you okay here?” Cynthia interjected, standing behind her with the same guy from earlier still wrapped around her waist.
“Grand.”
“Mind if I scoot out of here then?”
Laura looked from Cynthia to the guy behind her and nodded, understanding completely. If she asked her to stay, she could, but if she was content with the way things were panning out with Sebastian, it was time for her to head out for a more private party. Laura nodded her head and Cynthia smiled, leaning in and kissing her on the cheek.
“I’ll call you tomorrow. It was nice to meet you, Sebastian.”
“You too. Have fun,” he teased. She returned the wink he had given her earlier and disappeared among the crowd.
“Well, it is just us now then. What do you say we get out of here too? We can go for a nice walk along the boardwalk and talk without having to shout at one another.”
“Sounds very nice,” she said, a bit nervous about being alone with him, but feeling safe somehow.
“Come on. Let me say goodbye to the boys and we will go.”
Laura followed him up to the glass encased VIP room on an upper balcony and stood outside as he told his brother goodbye. He had invited her to come in and meet them, but one look at the strippers inside and she declined politely. She noted that Sebastian didn’t give either of them a second glance while he was inside and made a hasty exit.
“They look like they were having fun.”
“I’m sure they were. Not exactly my idea of a good time.”
“And what is your idea of a good time?”
“Honestly? I rush into burning buildings for a living and sometimes I have to shift to protect myself or others. When I’m not doing ridiculous stuff like that, it’s nice just to kick back and be a bit more serene.”
“Makes perfect sense.”
They walked and talked for hours. It wasn’t hard to see that not only was Sebastian gorgeous, but he was well read and intelligent, well spoken. He expressed an interest not only in her, but in what she did for a living and in Katie. He seemed far too perfect, which was the only thing that concerned her. How could someone be so right? Was it possible that it really could happen twice?
“I’d love to see some of your work sometimes.”
“How about now?” Laura found herself asking. It was almost three in the morning and she knew it was bold inviting him to her house, but she didn’t seem to be able to resist.
“Sure. Let’s grab a cab and head over,” he replied.
Laura felt nervous as the cab pulled up to the curb of her house. She had never brought a man here, and wasn’t sure why she was doing so today. P
lus, she hadn’t had sex in the three years since Josh had died. She had refused to get too involved with anyone until she had dated them a while and just hadn’t managed to maintain a relationship long enough for it to get to that point. Still, there was something about Sebastian that she couldn’t resist, and she found that she wanted him in a way she hadn’t desired anyone for a long time.
“These are amazing!” Sebastian said as they made their way into the house and to her work studio. He was looking through the portfolio she used to show new clients some of the work she had created for others and seemed genuinely impressed.
“It’s a living,” she replied, standing close enough to him that their arms brushed against one another.
“You are far too modest. It’s beautiful work.”
“Thank you.”
He leaned in and kissed her, nothing pushy or demanding, just a soft kiss. Pulling away, he looked at her softly and brushed a long lock of her blonde hair away from her face. It felt nice to be touched so intimately. It wasn’t like some of the dates she had gone on where they pawed roughly at her at the end of the night. This was gentle, but intense in a way that couldn’t be denied.
“You have the most amazing blue eyes. They are positively captivating,” he told her.
“Thank you, again.”
“I should go. It’s late and I’ve seen you home okay. I don’t want to overstay my welcome.”
“I don’t mind if you stay a while longer.”
“Are you sure?”
“Very sure.”
His hand cupped her face, pulling her to him again, drinking her in. He kissed her deeply, his tongue exploring her mouth lazily as if he was in no hurry in the world, just enjoying her. She returned his kiss eagerly, the passion between them rapidly growing until she felt nothing but a deep ache for him to be inside of her.
His body pushed forward against hers, pinning her petite frame to a nearby wall, lifting her until his mouth was even with her breasts. He held her there with his hips, tearing open her cotton shift with one hand and pushing her bra to kiss her breasts, alternately licking and biting at her hardened nipples. She could feel the moisture between her legs as her panties grew wet with her desire, and then he was ripping them free, exposing her to him.
Reaching around for her calves, he pulled her legs around him, wrapping her about his waist as he unbuttoned his jeans and let them fall to the floor. He entered her with one hard stroke, forcing a cry from her lips before she bit it, enjoying the way his hard cock felt inside of her. His lips fell on hers again, her breasts pressed against his chest as he fucked her slowly and deliberately against the wall. Her moans filled the room as he took her, giving her all of him as her legs quaked with a series of orgasms, each more explosive than the previous one.
“Don’t stop. I love how your pussy tightens around my cock when you cum. It feels amazing. I want you to cum until you can’t anymore,” he growled in her ear, his cock still plummeting into her center deeply, his pace increasing until she shuddered once again with another climax.
“Fuck me, Sebastian. Oh, God. I’m cumming again,” she managed to sputter as she exploded all around his cock again.
“That’s a good girl,” he said, ramming into her roughly. She cried out loudly as he pierced her center, his primal instincts taking hold as he fucked her unmercifully. It felt incredible to just be fucked without abandon, and she found herself cumming again before he finally joined her, his hips pushing heavily against hers as he detonated heavily. He leaned against her for a moment before pulling away and easing her now quite wobbly legs back down on the floor. She loved the way it felt having his juices drip down her thighs as she stood there in front of him.
“Well, you can go home now,” she told him nonchalantly, reaching for what was left of her dress and pulling it around her.
Sebastian looked shocked and almost offended, until she broke out in a wide grin and kissed him on the cheek.
“You know I’m kidding. How about we get some sleep?”
“I can’t believe you got me like that. You sure it is okay for me to stay? What about Katie?”
“Won’t be back until tomorrow night.”
“Oh, I should be tired of you by then anyway.”
“Ya think? We’ll see about that.”
Climbing into bed, Sebastian wrapped himself around her as she pressed her back against him. They fell asleep quickly, but awoke right as dawn was breaking for another round of amazing sex that left her both exhausted and wanting more. His effect on her was absolutely amazing.
After a shower, they made their way to the kitchen for a quick breakfast of bagels and eggs. Laura didn’t usually eat breakfast, but found that she was ravenous after the long night and morning of sex. It wasn’t all she was ravenous for, as the breakfast quickly ended in a return to bed to fuck like bunnies the rest of the morning and half of the afternoon, with short breaks to nap here and there.
“I’m going to have to get going soon. I have to run some errands and then pick up Katie at six. Can I take you home?”
“That would be great. I actually don’t live far, a little over a mile over in Crestview Estates.”
“Wow, that is really close.”
“Yes. I would ordinarily just walk it, but I seem to be a bit weak from the excessive loss of fluids recently.”
“You and me both. I’m still a bit weak. I actually feel a bit fuzzy headed still.”
“I must have done something right then. How about this time you give me your number so I can call you? Otherwise, I have to look like a stalker by just showing up here or wander to clubs until I run into you again.”
“Far enough. Let me grab you one of my cards from the studio. It has my number and email address on it.”
“Perfect, just like you.”
After a very heated parting kiss in my car as I pulled up to the curb of his house, I was ready to just go inside with him and forget all the errands. Spending more of our day naked in bed sounded like a better option in that moment, but as he got out of the car, a slight pain hit me and I struggled to recoup before he noticed my grimace. I didn’t want him to think I was some sort of medical disaster waiting to happen.
“I have a twenty-four-hour shift tomorrow, so I won’t be able to see you, but I will text you here and there to let you know I’m thinking about you.”
“I’m looking forward to it already.”
He smiled and blew me a fake kiss before turning and making his way up the walkway to the house. I pulled away just as another pain surged through my center. Perhaps it was just some sort of muscle spasm from the strenuous sexual workout over the weekend. I went about my errands and then to pick up Katie, just bearing the intermittent pains as they hit. Maybe I even pulled something. Despite the pain, the thought almost made me smile at the fact that it was completely worth the injury. Even if I never saw him again, I don’t think I would regret what a fantastic time I had experienced with him.
By the following morning, the pain had subsided a bit, but was replaced with an overwhelming sense of nausea. A virus was the last thing that I needed. I did my best to steer clear of kissing or hugging Katie as I got her ready for school. Bad enough that I had whatever this was without her getting it. I managed to drop her off at school and then rushed back home to lay down, feeling a bit like death warmed over. Not even the sweet messages from Sebastian could make me feel better. By noon, I was in agony and called my mother to pick up Katie from school so I could go to the doctor.
I sat looking at him with my mouth open once he had finished his examination and sat down to talk with me. The news was the last thing I expected and didn’t make sense.
“How can you even tell so soon?”
“Well, it’s really not that soon. From the looks of it, I’d say that you are at least three weeks along.”
“No. That is impossible. I can’t be three weeks pregnant.”
“Sometimes the tests can be unreliable, but even from the physical exam, I�
��d say that is an accurate estimate. I’ve been doing this a very long time, Laura. Still, I’m a general practitioner. Make an appointment with an obstetrician and let them confirm everything. They’ll do an ultrasound and give you a more accurate due date than I can.”
“Okay, Dr. Townsend. Thank you.”
She walked out of the office, stunned. No way could she be three weeks pregnant. Sebastian was the only one she had slept with in years and that was just yesterday. She dialed her OB/GYN’s office and made an appointment. Their first available was in a week. It would have to do. When Sebastian messaged again, she ignored it. Being lighthearted just wasn’t on the agenda for her right now. She asked her Mom to keep Katie for the night, dropping off some clothes for school tomorrow, turned off her cell phone and went to bed.
“What’s wrong?”
Laura had barely turned her phone back on when she received the text message from Sebastian. It wasn’t his fault that she didn’t feel well or was it? Could she really be pregnant and sick so fast? This was all just crazy.
“I’m just not feeling well. Some sort of virus, I’m sure.”
The phone rang and she looked at it, noting his number. She took a deep sigh and answered it. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk to him, she just wasn’t sure what she should say or not say right now. She answered it and tried to sound much more cheerful than she felt.
“I’m coming over. I’ll bring you some juice and some soup for later. What else do you need? Do you need me to take Katie to school for you? I just got off work, but I can be there in less than a half hour.”
“Wait, whoa. Slow down. I’m fine. I don’t need you to rush over or anything.”
“I want to, Laura. If you are sick, I’m coming to check on you. I’m an EMT. You might need mouth to mouth or something.”
“Tempting, but I’m afraid you wouldn’t want to do that today.”
“We’ll see. I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
He didn’t give her a chance to argue further before he said goodbye. She sighed heavily. What was she going to say to him about this? Probably best just not to say anything beyond thinking she had a virus. She would wait to see what the OBGYN had to say before she decided what to do.