I had no idea how the dragon would hear him, but he seemed to as he began slowly looping down back toward the tower top. When he landed, the whole house shook slightly, and as he moved closer, the dragon began to turn pale, the red of his scales turning to a light pink and then white as it sloughed off him, just as his human skin had done not so long ago.
Human Sebastian was standing right in front of me. Naked.
My heart was suddenly hammering in my chest, and my breath caught in my throat as his beautiful body moved in the sunlight. I tried my best to keep my eyes focused on his face, but the next thing I knew, I was checking out a firm backside as he bent to pick up his clothes, followed by the well-endowed front side as he turned toward me. My mouth went dry. He was my version of the perfect guy, at least in looks. Muscular, but not overly so, tall, broad, and he had a cock I wanted to see hard more than anything.
A low chuckle escaped him as he kissed me on the cheek before pulling his clothes on. His boxer briefs had disappeared at some point during his shift between dragon and human forms, and the knowledge that he was going commando in his jeans was enough to get my motor running.
“I’ll show you what I can do with it later,” Sebastian breathed as he moved to stand next to me.
My breath caught, and I had to cough a couple times to clear my throat, which just made him chuckle even more.
“I’m going next,” Grayson called out behind me before he strode forward, putting on a show as he tugged off his shirt, revealing an intricate tattoo covering his back. He turned and unbuttoned his pants, sliding them down over a pair of boxers covered in small crocodiles.
I had to stifle a giggle at the sight of them, but he didn’t seem to mind, especially when I got a better look at the rest of his body. A gasp almost escaped me as he stretched; unlike Sebastian’s barely hidden power, Grayson’s muscles were all on display as though he competed with his brother. He only showed off for a moment, though. A fiery-orange dragon erupted out of his skin. The dust of his human side blew away in the wind as massive wings unfurled behind him. The horns on his head were much larger, and he had a vicious-looking barb on his tail, which I was pretty sure Sebastian didn’t have.
After displaying his dragon form for me, he followed Sebastian’s lead and launched himself into the air. He didn’t just do pretty twirls and dips, though. Oh, no. Grayson climbed high into the air before spewing a stream of fire from his mouth with a bone-chilling roar. How the hell did they stay hidden from humans when they were the size of a football field, breathed fire, and sounded like a sonic boom?
I didn’t realize I was shaking until Sebastian’s arms joined Logan’s around me. Noah even stepped up on the other side, blocking me from the wind. He didn’t wrap his arms around me, but the gesture was appreciated nonetheless. The warmth coming off all three men was enough to take my shaking down to a small shiver. Still, I couldn’t help but want to go inside. I didn’t know if I could stand out on top of a mountain and watch the other two transform as well, not that I wasn’t insanely curious about their dragons.
Chapter Four
Ava
“Can we go inside? I’m freezing,” I said to Sebastian as I huddled closer to him. “Would it offend you guys if I saw your dragons later?” I turned to first Noah and then Logan.
“No offense, princess, but I wasn’t about to strip down in front of you, anyway,” Noah said before turning and heading back through the doors.
“I don’t mind, Ava. You’re probably getting tired, anyway.”
I nodded. He was right, of course. Waking up from a coma takes time, apparently. Who knew?
Before we could discuss anything further, Grayson landed on the roof, his proud orange dragon almost sashaying as he walked over to me. He leaned his head down and sniffed at me in a similar way to Sebastian’s dragon. I moved forward, reaching my hand out to touch him. Part of me expected him to be hot since he was just shooting flames out of his mouth, but as I approached, I couldn’t feel any additional heat. In fact, it got colder the closer I moved to him.
“Hey, Grayson.” I smiled and patted his nose. His mouth opened slightly, and I couldn’t help the nerves that flared through my body. He wouldn’t hurt me, would he?
Before I could even tell what was happening, a long tongue slipped out of his mouth and licked me from top to toe in one big swipe.
“Ugh, what the hell?” I exclaimed as I tried to shake some of the slobber off me.
The dragon in front of me wheezed a few times, and I got the feeling he was laughing at me.
“Karma’s a bitch, buddy. You just remember that.” I scowled at Grayson before turning to Sebastian and Logan, who were both clearly trying to suppress their smiles. “Are there any more clothes I can borrow? Also, could I use a phone to call my friend?”
“Clothes, yes. Phone, maybe,” Sebastian coughed out while still trying to hide his chuckles.
“Maybe?” I put my hands on my hips and stared him down, or would that be up considering how much taller than me he was? My glare and posture didn’t seem to make much of an impression, though.
“Depends on how much Grayson drool you track through the house,” Logan helpfully supplied.
A grunt of frustration escaped me as I threw a glare over my shoulder to the dragon. Except Grayson wasn’t a dragon anymore; he was back in his human form and oh so naked. I froze as if I had just been caught raiding the fridge at midnight. My eyes were glued to his impressive physique. My whole body throbbed with need as I saw his generous package. What was it with these brothers being handsome and, from what I had seen so far, well endowed?
Grayson straightened and caught my eye. The annoying, slightly churlish behavior he had been displaying around me was gone. Now when I looked into his eyes, all I saw was lust, white-hot desire that made me want to run to him, wrap my legs around his naked body, and ride him right there on the roof for all the mountains to see.
A throat cleared behind me, breaking the spell, and I turned away from one of the most gorgeous men I’d ever seen back to other equally gorgeous men. My body was going to spontaneously combust soon if I didn’t do something about this need growing inside me.
“Here, allow me,” Sebastian said as he scooped me up into his arms once more and carried me through the door back into the house. “Dragon slobber really is hell to clean up.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
“Not your fault, sweetheart. I’ll take you back to your room where you can shower, and while you’re doing that, I’ll find some more clothes.”
“If you have a washer, I can just clean these.”
“Those are going to have to go in the trash. Think of the saliva like cement. At this point, it’s mingled too much with the fabric to come out, and eventually, when the clothes dry, they will be stiff as a board. It’s also why you need to shower and get that stuff off you before it dries on your skin.”
“Why would he do that if it’s such a pain in the ass to get things clean afterward?”
“Grayson . . . is a man of mystery. None of us know why he does most of the things he does. We just deal with it and clean up his mess.”
“Sounds like a raw deal to me.” I pouted a little.
He grunted and set me down in the doorway to my room. “Clothes in the trash, and you in the shower,” he said, nodding toward the bathroom.
“Yes, boss,” I said with a pretend salute, and turned to leave.
A gentle spank landed on my behind, and a wave of desire rolled through me as I turned back to this strange man who elicited emotions within me that he had no right to.
My cheeks must have been flushed, because all he said was, “That’s my girl.”
Before I could say anything else, he was gone, and I was left standing with my mouth open like an idiot. The idea of following him flitted through my brain for a moment, and I hastily shut the door and went to the bathroom instead. I definitely should not be chasing after Sebastian. Nor should I be thinking about inviting him into m
y room so I could get to know his human side a little better.
I wanted to lash out. I was not only sexually frustrated, but I was just frustrated in general. Frustrated with myself and this whole weird situation. Frustrated with the brothers for being so annoyingly handsome. Frustrated with people who took advantage of me and left me owing Frankie.
I ripped off the clothes, making sure everything went in the trashcan just as Sebastian had asked, before I turned on the shower and jumped in. The water was still warm from my earlier shower, and the cold bite from first turning it on only lasted a moment before steam billowed around me. A sigh escaped me as I stood under the scalding-hot water and let all my worries wash away for a moment.
A knock at the door startled me.
“I’m still in the shower,” I called out.
“I’m just bringing you some clothes.” Sebastian’s voice was a low growl as I heard the door open. “I promise I’m not looking.”
“Sebastian?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“What if I want you to look?” My voice sounded breathy to my own ears. I knew it was my reaction to the heat of the shower, but I couldn’t help myself. I had been that way my whole life. When I got hot, I got reckless and wild. My mother hated summers, which was part of the reason she had moved us to Chicago. At least there were four seasons there and it wasn’t hot all year round as it had been in Arizona.
A growl filled the room. “Whatever my lady wishes.”
His shape loomed through the fog of the shower as he came toward me. When he was standing just by the opening of the door, his hungry eyes met mine. I knew I probably wasn’t the most attractive at that moment. There was a distinct possibility that I looked more like a wet cat than anything else, what with my blonde hair plastered to the side of my face and all, but the way he looked at me made me feel as if I were the most beautiful thing in the world.
“Ava . . .” He breathed my name like a prayer, and my whole body lit up for him.
“Sebastian, would you like to join me?” I asked. My voice was low and sultry even though that hadn’t been my intention. I was no spring chicken, and being with Sebastian wouldn’t be my first one-night stand, not that I was the town bicycle, but there was something about these brothers that put fire in my blood.
“It would be my pleasure,” he said as he bowed slightly to me. When he straightened, he whipped off his shirt and pants faster than I would have thought possible. I had forgotten that he was going commando, so when he was suddenly naked in front of me, I felt a flush rise on my cheeks.
He stalked toward me like a predator, and when the water hit his skin, it almost sizzled off and some steam rose around him. My eyes widened at the sight. He shrugged and simply said, “We run hot since we’re royal fire dragons.”
I wanted to ask what he meant. Did that mean there were other types? Was he a prince or a king or something? As he drew near, I backed up slightly until I was directly under the water. Our bodies were so close that I could feel the heat radiating off him. When I opened my mouth to speak, his head dipped and his lips brushed over mine. Every nerve in my body sparked with desire as it had in the hospital, and heat rushed through my body, pooling in my core.
His tongue swept into my mouth, tangling with my own as he pressed me against the wall, his rock-solid body completely aligned with mine. I squirmed against him and earned a low moan.
Sebastian briefly pulled away from my mouth and asked, “Can I touch you?”
“Please,” I said, my voice breathy again.
His hands came up and grasped my hips, not pulling, just firmly touching, as they slid up my waist to the bottom of my breasts. His fingers skated over the delicate skin there, and I gasped. Sebastian’s mouth went to my neck and kissed and nipped its way down to my collarbone. My hands circled his back and gently teased the top of his butt, caressing before grabbing, hard. He groaned again, and my blood was reaching a fever pitch of need I had never felt before.
My hands moved up his back to grip his broad shoulders. The heat from the water and him had me losing my mind, not to mention his scent was everywhere. Pinewoods and a little smoke, which made a lot more sense now that I knew he was a dragon, which still blew my mind.
Finally, his fingers came up and over my breasts so he was cupping one in each hand, and gently squeezed my nipples between his thumb and forefinger. I groaned shamelessly and pushed myself up, wrapping my legs around him until his thick, hard cock was pressing against my core.
The heat coming off him was beyond intense. Every part of my body that his hands touched, every kiss of his lips, it all scorched my skin, but nothing could prepare me for the heat of his cock pressed against me. I gasped as his hips began to rock, and I knew that if he didn’t put it inside me soon, I would lose my mind.
I rocked my hips against his as we started to find our rhythm, and he groaned low in his throat, hanging his head so it rested on my shoulder.
“By the elders, Ava. I don’t know how long I can last with you like this,” he whispered.
“We’ve got all day, don’t we?”
“True enough,” he growled, and nipped at my lower lip.
As he rocked against me once more, the tip of his cock started rubbing against my clit, and I gasped, digging my nails into his shoulders in desperation. A whine of need escaped me, and he looked down at me with a pained expression.
“Sweetheart, I need to be inside you.”
“I would like that very much,” I said, giggling at how formal we were being when we were both naked in the shower, humping each other like horny teenagers.
He leaned his head down, and his mouth claimed mine in a scorching, passionate kiss that left me breathless when he pulled away. At first, I was confused, since he had frozen in place, but then I heard it. Someone was knocking at my bedroom door.
We both waited for whoever it was to go away, but they didn’t. Instead, the knocking came from the bathroom door this time.
“Bas, you in there?” Logan’s voice called out.
Gently, he set me down and cleared his throat. “Yeah, what’s up?”
“Mom and Dad want us in the throne room in ten. They want to meet the human.”
“Fuck,” he cursed under his breath before adding, “I’ll be right out. Can you find something nice for Ava to wear?”
“On it,” his brother called back before retreating.
“Sorry, sweetheart. Duty calls.” He leaned down and ravished my mouth once more, leaving me panting and wet in more ways than one. “I’ll make sure we get a nice dress for you, but you better hurry up in here.”
He kissed me on the nose and then disappeared into the steam. I was left slightly confused and more than a little nervous. Their parents wanted to meet me? What the hell for?
Chapter Five
Ava
When I came out of the bathroom, I found a stunning floor-length gown hanging from the edge of the closet door. The gauzy material was red and orange at the same time. I wasn’t sure how the designer accomplished it, but every time I moved, the color changed slightly. I picked up the gossamer fabric and realized that it had some kind of sheen to it that changed how the red base layer looked when the light hit it in different ways.
It was an off-the-shoulder look from what I could see of it as I pulled the hanger down. The bodice appeared to have the fabric pulled in two different directions, and around the waist was a thick black sash with a row of glittering rhinestones in the middle.
I had never seen anything like it and hoped I didn’t mess it up somehow. Scarlett could attest that when it came to food, I was more likely to spill it on myself than get it in my mouth.
Once the dress was down, I noticed the lacy bra and panties that had been hiding behind it. They were a matching red color and sexy as hell, and I honestly wasn’t sure about wearing them around the boy’s parents, but it wasn’t as if I had much of a choice. Since the dragon slobber had seeped through the clothes I had been wearing to the previo
us bra and panties, they had to go in the trash along with the clothes.
I slid on the underwear and paraded around in it for just a moment. It wasn’t often I had treated myself to stuff like this before the fire. Now that it was all gone, I wasn’t sure when I was going to be able to wear anything like this again. It wasn’t as if I were rolling in cash and could replace everything that was lost.
It didn’t matter, though, not in that moment. I slid the silky dress on and was amazed by how well it fit. It was as if they already had all my measurements or something. I slipped on the black heels and went to the mirror to do my makeup. The products were top of the line, not my usual bargain bin kind of thing, and the difference was certainly noticeable. A few moments after I had applied my last coat of mascara, a knock came at my door.
“Come in,” I called as I took one last glance at my reflection in the mirror. For once, my hair had decided to cooperate and dry into nice waves instead of being a giant frizz ball going in all different directions.
Logan appeared in the doorway in a fancy suit that made him look very regal. “Ava, are you ready?”
“I think so.” I paused for a moment and then added, “Are you a prince?”
He nodded, his hands still clasped behind his back.
“What are you a prince of?”
“That is a little complicated. Would you mind if I explain it after we deal with my parents?” He looked genuinely remorseful as he spoke.
“Of course not. I don’t want to keep the king and queen waiting, after all.”
I stood from my small chair and walked over to him, giving him a small spin. “How do I look?”
“Stunning,” he said quietly and in such a way that I believed him.
“Thank you,” I said as I took his arm.
Slowly, we walked down the hallway, and then instead of going to the living room as I thought, we stopped in front of an elevator that I hadn’t even noticed before, not that I’d been given a tour of the place or anything. We got in, and he pressed a button at the very base of a long list of buttons, and I felt the elevator start to descend.
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