Hakona: Dragon Warrior (Scifi Alien Dragon Romance)

by Jamie Phoenix

But Artemis wasn’t like any of the other shifters she had ever met before. He was fiercely his own person and did what he wanted to do instead of what people expected of him, and it just made Holly like him more. She couldn’t help herself, and ever since that night two weeks before when she’d nearly pounced on him after work and sucked him off, the two of them had been mostly inseparable.

  Artemis didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he seemed to be highly enjoying it. Every time she greeted him with a kiss or touched him, he responded eagerly and with reciprocation, and more often than not, Holly ended the night and started the next day in Artemis’ large, comfortable bed.

  He still left the couch bed folded out for her, just in case, making it more than clear that while he wanted to be with her, and welcomed her into his bed, she had options.

  It was more than she’d ever had before, and it made her feel wonderful.

  Of course right on the heels of that good feeling was the sick, hot guilt that she couldn’t shake. And there was a lot to be guilty about here, really. Since she was technically still dating Dante, she was cheating on him with Artemis, and more than that, she hadn’t even told Artemis about Dante yet. She was sure that he’d guessed a few things about her past already, but he never said anything, instead seeming to want to wait and respect her privacy and right to keep it to herself.

  There was also the matter of her ulterior motive. Honestly that made her feel worse than anything else did. Because while she definitely did like Artemis, Holly couldn’t deny that there was another reason she was in his bed.

  The way he looked at her, and what she knew about dragon shifters and their need to keep their loved ones sage, had led her to believe that if Artemis cared about her, he’d defend her if Dante ever came to try and haul her back.

  Dante was powerful in his own right, of course, but Holly didn’t believe for a second that he could stand up to a dragon shifter on a mission.

  Being friends with Artemis was one thing, but if they were involved then he’d be more fierce in his protection of her, wouldn’t he? The logic made sense in her head, and even though the thought of how she was using him turned her stomach, she kept doing it. It had to be better than the alternative, and for once she wanted to do something for herself.

  She looked up when the bathroom door opened and Artemis came in, a towel wrapped around his waist and hair damp. In the dim light, Holly could see the definition of his muscled body, and the way lingering drops of water rolled down the slope of his his shoulders, the expanse of his chest, the planes of his stomach.

  Her mouth went dry at the sight, and Holly consoled herself with the thought that even if she was kind of using Artemis, she wasn’t really lying to him. She did find him absurdly attractive, after all.

  “You’re awake,” Artemis said with a warm little smile. “I’m sorry.”

  She shook her head. “Don’t be. It’s sort of worth it.”

  Artemis’ smile only grew as he removed the towel from around his waist and used it to dry his hair more thoroughly and then the rest of his body, leaving Holly to take in the sight of his cock, still impressive, even flaccid, and his strong thighs.

  “Is it?” he asked, voice all innocence. “Why is that?”

  Holly snorted and sat up in the bed, leaning on her elbows. “Well, the view, for one.”

  “Ah, yes. The sunrise is something to behold, isn’t it?”

  He was teasing her, and it made her feel warm inside. Never before had she had this easy repartee with someone, not even at the beginning when Dante had been different, better. Even then, it had been all about him.

  “Yes,” she replied. “The sunrise. Gorgeous.”

  His eyes were bright with amusement as he looked at her, and then he took two large steps over to the bed and cupped her face in one hand before leaning down to kiss her.

  It was an unhurried kiss, the slow meeting and melding of lips and tongues, and it seemed to go on for long minutes.

  When Artemis pulled back, Holly was breathless. “Not fair,” she panted softly.

  “Hm?”

  “It’s not fair. You can’t kiss me like that and then go down there to work. It’s not fair at all.”

  Now his smile was definitely teasing, and he shrugged, pulling back. “Life isn’t fair, I’m afraid,” he said with a shrug as he moved to get dressed. “But consider this. Now that the anticipation is there, tonight should be very interesting, shouldn’t it?”

  Holly threw a pillow at him. “It had better be.”

  The thing about it was it was so easy to pretend that this was just normal. That she and Artemis were together and there was nothing else to it. That Dante had never happened and there was nothing to be afraid of. Sometimes when she got swept up in her work and the hustle and bustle of the diner and all the customer and her coworkers, it was like none of that had ever happened. Like she’d been here her whole life.

  But then she’d catch sight of someone who looked a little too much like Dante or one of his packmates or someone would look at her for too long, and then the aura of calm would be shattered, and she’d remember.

  Guilt aside, it was a good day.

  The diner was bustling, as per usual, and Holly barely had time to think. Artemis was manning the griddle today, making pancakes and eggs at breakfast time and then turning out burgers and sandwiches for lunch.

  Holly and the rest of her coworkers kept coffee cups and water glasses full, moving from table to table with smiles on their faces.

  There were no strange faces in the diner, so it was filled with the lively chatter of the regulars who knew all of them, even Holly, by name at this point. They had kind words and thanks for her as she brought them their food and asked after them, and she couldn’t help thinking that this was exactly the kind of place she’d like to settle down if she had the chance.

  Her hometown was sort of like Honey Ridge in that it was small and closed in, but the people there weren’t anything like this smiling, lively bunch. Her home was full of hard-faced older people who had struggled for most of their lives and were still bitter about it. They rejected anything new and different, and made things hard for the younger people among them just because they didn’t believe anything should be easy.

  It had been a bleak place to grow up, which was one of the reasons that Holly had leapt at the opportunity to get away when Dante had asked her to come with him.

  He’d known it, too, known that she wanted out, and he’d used that to his advantage.

  Holly sighed and shook herself, not wanting to end up on some stroll down bad memory lane. Not when it was a beautiful day out and everyone was in good spirits.

  She smiled at Mrs. Florence and refilled her coffee, asking after her kids and her dogs before moving on. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Artemis watching her from where he was taking a couple’s money behind the counter.

  When she looked up and met his eyes, he raised his eyebrows. “You okay?” he mouthed, concern written all over that handsome face.

  Holly nodded quickly and turned her smile on him, blushing slightly when Tammy, one of the other waitresses, caught them looking at each other and grinned, eyes darting back and forth between the two of them.

  Artemis shook his head and went back to work, and Holly managed to avoid Tammy for a couple of hours before she was being cornered by the sinks some time later when she was drying dishes and stacking them on the shelves.

  “So,” Tammy said, smug grin on her face. “You and the boss, huh?”

  “What are you talking about?” Holly asked, nervous. She was sure there was some kind of rule about bosses and employees being involved, but this was Artemis’ diner, and surely he made the rules. Anyway, that wasn’t what she was worried about at all. In fact, when it came down to it, that was the least wrong thing going on here.

  “I’m talking about how you live with him and how you two are always making eyes at each other from across the diner,” Tammy replied. “I’ve seen it. We’ve all seen
it.”

  She blushed again, dipping her head as she rubbed a dish towel over the plate in her hands. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Yes, you do!” Tammy insisted. “I mean, I’m not judging you or anything. He’s older, and a little bit scary sometimes, but Art’s really hot. I get it. And we all want him to be happy, you know? It’s been a long time since any of us have seen him smile like that. That’s gotta be down to you.”

  And that just made her feel worse. She didn’t know what Artemis was like before she’d come along, but the idea that her presence had somehow made things better for him wasn’t good. He was going to be hurt when it came out what she was doing, because she wasn’t naive enough to think that it wouldn’t, and there was the guilt again, clawing at her throat and nearly choking her. She made a soft, helpless noise in the back of her throat.

  “Hey,” Tammy said softly, misinterpreting her distress. “It’s okay. If it’s a secret or whatever, no one’s going to tell. We know how it is, believe me. Can’t keep anything quiet in this town, especially when it comes to Art, and yeah, he’s open about some things, but he’s really private about his personal life and the people he care about. So one one’s going to say anything. You don’t have to worry.”

  She very much did have to worry, but she smiled weakly nonetheless. “Thanks, Tammy,” Holly said. “I appreciate it.”

  “No problem. Just keep making the boss smile all nice, and it’s all good.”

  Before Holly could respond, the kitchen door was swinging open, and both women turned to look. Artemis came walking in, arms full of a tray loaded down with dishes. When he saw them standing there, he stopped and tipped his head to the side. “Why do I get the feeling I don’t want to know what you two are talking about?” he asked, looking between them.

  “Probably because you don’t,” Tammy replied cheerfully. “Anyway, I’m off now. See you guys tomorrow.” She waved and took off her apron before heading out the back door into the afternoon sunshine.

  Artemis watched her go and then looked back at Holly, that concern still on his face. “Everything alright?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” Holly said, forcing her voice to be bright and warm. “Everything’s perfect. Here, come put that down before you drop it.”

  The ensuing rant about how ‘dragon’s have excellent reflexes, thank you very much’ was enough to take her mind off of the gnawing feeling in her stomach, but only just barely.

  Later that night as they were cleaning up after closing, Holly remembered her words from that morning about anticipation. There’d been a lot on her mind during the day, especially after her conversation with Tammy, but now that it was just her and Artemis alone in the dim light of the diner, she was thinking that sex and lots of it was a much better distraction than work.

  Artemis was wiping down the counter, shirt sleeves rolled up to expose muscular forearms that made Holly positively itch to touch him.

  When he caught her staring, she didn’t look away, instead holding his gaze and letting him read the heat in her eyes.

  “See something you like?” he asked her with a smirk.

  “Maybe,” she teased back. “Needs more unwrapping, though.”

  He laughed, and it was a warm, rich sound that washed over her pleasantly and made her want to wrap this up so they could go upstairs already.

  As if completely committed to teasing her and driving her insane, Artemis seemed to take twice as long with cleaning everything up before they could leave. When Holly made an impatient sound, he just laughed again and then ushered her up the stairs.

  “Come on,” he said. “Before you explode.”

  “It’s your fault,” she complained, pushing the door to the apartment open. “You and all your teasing. It’s like you want me to be worked up and-” he breath caught as Artemis loomed in closer, pressing her against the now closed apartment door with one arm on either side of her head, hands pressed flat to the door, keeping her where she was. “desperate,” she finished, sounding breathless already, and he hadn’t even touched her yet.

  “Maybe I do,” Artemis breathed and then he was skimming his nose over her jawline before pressing soft kisses to her throat. “Would that be such a bad thing? After all, you’re beautiful when you’re worked up. Lovely flush on your skin, the way you cling to me. I quite like it.”

  Holly blushed darkly and her breathing hitched as she arched against him, making a soft sound of pleasure at the way his mouth felt on her neck. His teeth scraped her pulse point gently and then his tongue followed, soothing away the sting.

  Her hands came up to fist in the back of his shirt, and she could feel his chuckle against her skin.

  “Tell me what you want,” he whispered in her ear before taking her lobe between his teeth and nibbling on it. “Tell me.”

  There was no way she could disobey that deep, compelling voice, and Holly trembled, swallowing hard as she tried to remember how to make her mouth work and words come out.

  “I...I want you,” she gasped, writhing a bit when he bit down on her neck. “Oh my god, please.”

  “You’re going to have to be more specific, I’m afraid,” Artemis teased her kissing the indentations left by his teeth. “How do you want me? There’s so many things I could do to you.”

  He was right about that, and honestly, Holly was at the point where she just wanted him to pick one and do it already. The teasing wasn’t doing anything to help her be less horny, less wanting, and she could already feel herself getting damp in her underwear just from his mouth on her neck and the way he was so close to her.

  “Artemis,” she moaned, fingers tightening in the soft fabric of his shirt. “Please.” She didn’t have any better words than that, and she hoped that he would pick up on the fact that she just needed him, and she didn’t care what they did as long as he was there with her through it.

  “Alright, baby,” Artemis whispered. “I’ll take care of you.”

  And she believed him implicitly.

  Only minutes later, they were both naked and kissing feverishly while shower water soaked into their hair and slid down their skin. Artemis was big on killing two birds with one stone, apparently, and since they’d need to shower after they had sex anyway, he’d apparently decided that showering and sex should be rolled into one very pleasurable activity.

  Holly had absolutely no complaints about that.

  Her back was pressed against the warm tiles of the shower wall, her legs wrapped around Artemis’ waist, heels digging into his back as she writhed.

  He hadn’t even touched her yet, beyond a few stray caresses when they’d been undressing, but she was already wet and grinding herself against him, responding eagerly to the way he kissed her like he wanted to devour her whole.

  It was different from kisses with Dante. Dante had been all about power, showing Holly that he could conquer her with his lips and teeth and tongue, and that there was very little she could do about it but take it.

  Artemis was about power in a different way. He didn’t seek to conquer her, but sweep her up in the pleasure of it along with him. He wanted her to tremble and gasp and buck against him, but he wanted to coax her into it, rather than force her.

  It made her pleasure into a slow, consuming burn, rather than the flash fire it had been with Dante, and the difference was startling.

  Artemis broke away from her mouth to pant for breath and then moaned as he allowed her fasten her mouth to his neck and nibble and stake her own claim there.

  “Holly,” he groaned, water slick hands gripping her hips as he pressed his forehead to her shoulder. “Want you.”

  She laughed breathlessly with delight. “Oh how the tables have turned,” she teased. “Maybe I should drive you crazy instead.”

  He snorted and shook his head, lifting it so she could see those bright eyes, darkened some with his pleasure, but no less beautiful. “You could,” he said. “Or you could let me have you.”

  Of the two options, that one sounde
d like the one that would result in both of them getting what they wanted.

  The thing about being with Artemis was that he made her feel brave in ways Dante never had before. He made her feel like she could be in control of her desires because they weren’t going to be used against her. So when she got an idea, she decided to go with it, instead of ignoring it.

  Pushing at Artemis’ broad, slick chest, she made him move back enough that she could slide to her feet. Once she had her balance sorted out, she turned around, braving her hands on the shower wall and pushing her butt out enticingly. Holly rolled her hips in a slow circle and then spread her legs, feet planted on the porcelain bottom of the shower.

  There was no way to misconstrue what she wanted, and Artemis’ sudden intake of breath was more than gratifying. He made her feel sexy and desirable, and she pushed her butt out more, looking at him over her shoulder. “Well?”

  “Good lord,” Artemis said, and those eyes were hot on her body as he dragged them over her like a physical thing. His hands reached out and grabbed her hips, pulling her back so that she could feel the rub of that large cock against her wet center. He ground his hips against her, letting her feel how much he wanted her, and making her groan with anticipation.

  Just like always, he started with his fingers, working them inside of her so she’d be prepared to the girth of him when he entered her.

  Holly squirmed and shook as he fingered her, two thick digits inside her slick, hot sex, thrusting and scissoring as he opened her up. He rubbed at her clit between thrusts, making her gasp and press back until she was nearly dripping down her thighs with how wet she was.

  “It’s enough,” she groaned. “Please, Artemis. Need you.”

  “Are you sure?” he rasped back, voice deep with his own need. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  And god, if ever there were a clear difference between Artemis and Dante, it was that. She remembered how he’d told her that shifters couldn’t do gentle. How they were primal and beastly and they had to claim and conquer when they had sex. Holly had just accepted that as the truth, but now she knew better. Artemis had showed her that it was possible to sate the animal inside and still be gentle and kind.