His nails slid down her spine, setting her skin alive with goose bumps. His tongue never stopped moving on her skin, kissing her lips, her neck, her breasts. Janae thought she might pass out from the pleasure, from the sheer overwhelming emotions that were covering her.
Then Emerson started jerking his hips upward into her, and she squealed.
“Holy dragons,” she murmured. Emerson chuckled.
“You feel so good, baby,” he said. “So tight, so wet.” He took her mouth, kissing her, draining her of any energy she had left as he continued to thrust inside of her.
Then Emerson reached between them and began palming her clit. Her body tightened, warmed, threatened to explode.
“Emerson,” she murmured. She was a little sore, but the pleasure overwhelmed her, drowning out any tenderness she was feeling. “I don’t know if I can come my first time.”
He chuckled.
“You really think I’ll be satisfied with that, baby? Come for me, Janae. Let me feel your pussy tighten around my cock.”
She melted.
He continued rubbing her, whispering sweet nothings in her ear, telling her how beautiful and sexy she was, and then her breathing quickened.
Maybe she would come her first time, after all.
Emerson read her body like a book, knowing exactly when he needed to speed things up to push her over the edge. He rubbed faster, then slower, then faster again, thrusting harder and deeper until Janae finally fell over the cliff of pleasure.
She shook as she came and he exploded at the same time. He had been holding back for her, she realized. How gentlemanly.
She leaned her head on his shoulder as the final waves of orgasm took over, gently dying out as she relaxed against him.
“How was that, little human?” Emerson whispered in her ear.
“Perfect, big dragon.”
He stroked her back, her hair, and her face. Then he just held her in silence as they relaxed in the candlelight.
Janae had never known, until that moment, just how complete another person could make her feel.
Or how dangerous it would be for her when things ended.
15
“How was sleeping with the dragon king?” Liam asked his sister cheerfully when she arrived home in the wee hours of the morning. Emerson had flown her home before dawn, then headed back to Dragon Isle. He did have to work, after all.
Liam didn’t seem to mind his sister’s absence or her disheveled appearance. She groaned and grabbed a sweatshirt from the hook by the front door to yank over her nightgown.
“Doesn’t matter,” Liam said, munching on a carrot. “I know what you did last night.”
“Do you now?” She slumped into a chair and looked at him. Liam was so relaxed, she realized suddenly. He looked how she felt: carefree. Shit. Was this how the rest of the world felt all the time?
Was that Janae’s problem?
She hadn’t gotten laid enough?
Liam rested his bad leg on the coffee table. An ice pack sat on it.
“How’s the leg feeling?” She asked him, changing the subject. She didn’t really want to discuss her sex life with anyone, much less Liam. She loved her brother, but they weren’t so close that she could tell him details.
It was bad enough that he knew who she’d slept with.
Or that she’d done it at all.
“Good,” he said slowly. He bit into another carrot and said, with his mouth full, “Might only need the crutches for two more weeks.”
Two more weeks?
“But you were supposed to be out for six.”
Janae regretted the words as soon as she’d left her mouth. Was she seriously wishing that her brother remained sick simply so she could spend more time with her dragon boyfriend?
Or was she wishing he’d remain sick so she wouldn’t have to decide between staying with Emerson and making a real commitment or leaving him and going back to her old life?
That was the question, wasn’t it?
Would Janae take the plunge and dive into a relationship with the dragonman who had captured her heart?
Or would she wimp out and go back to how things were before she met him?
She barely knew him. She got that. They had only known each other for a short time, yet they both felt connected.
“What is it?” Liam asked.
“What’s what?”
“You look like your head is about to explode,” Liam said thoughtfully. “You don’t want to go back, do you?”
“Not really,” she admitted. She could play coy and pretend she didn’t know what Liam was talking about, but it was useless. Besides, Janae had denied the obvious for years. It was time to start acting like an adult. It was time to start acting like she actually had some control over her life. It was time to start asking for help when she needed it.
“Because you like Emerson.”
“Yeah.”
“What do you like about him?”
“He’s strong and dependable,” Janae said instantly. Then, “And even though he’s tough when needs to be, he’s still gentle. And he’s funny.”
“Funny looking maybe.”
“Ha, ha.” Janae rolled her eyes at her brother’s lame joke.
“Wanna know what I think?” Liam grabbed another carrot. Seriously. How many of those things was he going to eat?
“You’re going to turn orange,” Janae warned him, but Liam continued.
“I think you’re afraid that you have no relationship experience to speak of and you’re going to fuck things up.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, that is so. You’re nervous about ruining things with Emerson. You like him and he’s obviously completely into you. You’re scared that you’re going to agree to date him, or you’re going to agree to stay in Nellenston, or whatever type of commitment the two of you work out, and then things are going to go south.”
He was right. He was completely right. She had always shied away from relationships because it was easier than getting close to someone and getting hurt.
But that hadn’t worked so well for her in the past, had it?
Maybe it was time to actually start moving forward and being an adult.
Maybe it was actually time to start taking chances with her life.
“How’d you get to be so smart?” She asked her brother.
Liam just shrugged.
“Years of practice. Besides, when you live around dragons long enough, you start to pick up their habits.”
“Do you secretly steal away young human women in the middle of the night and whisk them away to your cabin?”
“No, but I’m very good at growling now.”
**
When Mrs. Helsley walked into Emerson’s office with her crew in tow, he was ready for her suggestions. Though he wasn’t convinced she’d be able to offer much insight into ways to improve the island, he knew she was one of his most influential citizens.
The truth was that when Mrs. Helsley spoke, the dragons listened. She was old and crotchety, to be sure, but she had also raised several dragon children and helped them launch successful careers of their own.
“Good morning, Mrs. Helsley,” Emerson greeted the elderly woman. “I like your hat,” he added, motioning to the large purple sunhat she wore on her head.
“Don’t be a suck up, young dragon,” she clicked her tongue at him. Then she sat down in front of him and placed a stack of folders on his desk.
“What’s this?”
“Ideas.”
“That’s an awful lot of ideas for such a small issue.”
“The children might be small in body, Emerson, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t important.”
“Okay.” She was right, of course. “Help me out here. What am I looking at?”
Mrs. Helsley exchanged excited glances with her friends, then leaned forward, placing her hands on his desk.
“We want to open up a library.”
“A library?” Interesting
idea, he thought, and he knew just the little librarian he could ask to run it. He tried to push the idea from his head, though. Janae was perfect, he thought, but he couldn’t ask her to give up her life for him.
Not just yet.
“Yes,” one of the other dragonwomen butted in. “A library could be an inexpensive way for families to learn together. Children could do their homework there after school. Parents could help. There would be resources available there that the students might not otherwise have access to.”
“And how will we fund this?” Emerson looked skeptical. “Tax raise?” He eyed Mrs. Helsley, who met his gaze.
“Donations only,” she answered, ignoring his jab. “There will be no cost for the library. Citizens can volunteer their time, donate books, and donate services if they like.”
“What kind of services?”
“Tutoring, teaching classes, and reading to little children.”
“And what about the building?” Emerson was still unsure, but it seemed like Mrs. Helsley had done her research. Maybe the old dragon knew what she was doing, after all.
The women exchanged glances before Mrs. Thurman straightened up a bit. Despite her age, she was still tall. She still had the body of a dignified dragon. Emerson knew that long before he had been the leader of the Lostfallen Clan, she had worked hard to keep the dragons organized and working together.
“My husband left me a building when he died,” she said. “You may use it.”
Emerson was touched at the woman’s thoughtfulness. She must truly be taking this seriously if she was willing to give up a building for free simply because the dragons had use of it.
He looked down at the mountain of files, then from one woman to the next. Finally, Emerson folded his hands, leaned back in his chair, and spoke.
“Tell Penny to schedule a clan meeting,” he said. “And we’ll bring it to the group.”
17
“Tell me about your life before the clan,” Janae said. She was sitting on the beach with Emerson. They had no blanket or towels and were buck naked. He had flown them to one of the private beaches other dragons rarely visited.
They sat close to the water and let the waves wash over their feet.
“What do you want to know?” He asked.
“Well, for one, how did you become clan leader? You seem a bit young.”
He laughed.
“I’m old enough.” He wiggled his toes, then kissed her head. “But you’re right. I never thought I’d be able to get this far. I grew up thinking I was the runt of my family, that I’d never be strong enough or brave enough to be a leader.”
“That sounds difficult,” Janae said softly.
He shrugged.
“Many things in life are.” He stroked her hair and pulled her closer to him. “After awhile, I grew bored with feeling sorry for myself. I decided to make a change, to go after the things I wanted. I knew that I wanted to be stronger, so I started fighting.”
“Fighting? Like MMA?”
“Sort-of, but with dragons. I wasn’t very good at first. I got my ass kicked almost every fight,” he chuckled at the memory.
“But you got better.”
“I got better, stronger, faster. I spent all my free time training. Eventually, I became the best dragon fighter on the isle.”
“And that’s how you became the clan leader?” Janae asked.
“The old leader died. The young, eligible dragonhunks,” he winked as he said it, “had to fight for the position.”
“And you fought?”
“And won.”
“Is that why you have the tattoos?” She nodded toward his shoulders, which each had a star tattooed on them. Then she motioned toward his leg, where a black dragon looped around his calf.
“The stars are for the two dragons I defeated. The black dragon represents my commitment to Lostfallen.”
“What happened to the dragons you beat?”
His eyes looked sad.
“They are gone now.”
They sat together in silence for a few minutes, then Janae reached up and kissed Emerson, drawing him from his quiet reflections back to the present.
Their arms wrapped around each other and they whispered sweet nothings as they kissed on the beach. As the waves lapped at their toes, they melted together.
Janae had never felt anything as amazing as being close to Emerson. He was the strongest man she knew. He was brave. He was fearless. He was gentle.
She never wanted to let him go.
**
Evelyn called Janae before the sun came up, before the stars had even left the sky.
“Hello?” Janae answered her phone groggily.
“Janae!” The librarian squeaked. Her voice was unusually high-pitched, especially for a before-dawn phone call. “I need you! Right away!”
“What’s wrong?” Janae sat up when she heard the urgency in Evelyn’s voice.
“The presenter for the children’s program today didn’t show up!” Evelyn sounded confused and overwhelmed. Not for the first time, Janae wondered if it was time for the sweet librarian to retire and hand the reigns over to someone else.
Someone like Courtney.
No, Courtney wasn’t the world’s greatest librarian or the world’s smartest librarian, but she was enthusiastic and she was willing to learn from her mistakes.
In Janae’s book, that counted for something.
“Okay,” Janae tried to determine what steps Evelyn had already taken before calling her. “First of all, you need to calm down. Take a deep breath.”
The old woman breathed heavily on the phone.
“Now, what did Courtney say?”
To Janae’s surprise, Evelyn sputtered for a few moments. Had she even tried to call Courtney?
Before coming to Dragon Isle, Janae wouldn’t have thought twice about taking an early morning call from work.
Before Emerson, she wouldn’t have thought twice about dropping her plans for the day to help Evelyn – free of charge, of course – without expecting to be paid overtime, or at all.
But now, she was starting to see things from a different perspective.
“No…I…well, I don’t know what Courtney has to say about it. She asked me not to call her before 8:00.”
“So you called me.”
“Yes.”
Janae sighed. This was her fault. Really, it was. This was exactly what she got for not giving Evelyn strong boundaries. She had worked for her for several years without setting guidelines for how she dealt with work.
But Janae knew one thing: she couldn’t go on like this. Not after Emerson. Not after Dragon Isle. Not after feeling the wind on her face or meeting the people on the island.
Janae felt different. She felt freer. She had started to take chances in the world and she wasn’t so ready to give that up.
What did she have to go back to in Strathmore Falls? Nothing. She had a job that didn’t pay well. And at this point, Courtney had obviously taken over the planning aspect of the job, since Janae had no idea who the presenter for the day was or what he had planned.
Courtney was a good librarian.
She needed this more than Janae.
But Janae had to suck up the courage to tell Evelyn that things were over.
“I’m sorry, Evelyn,” Janae bit her lip nervously. She didn’t want to hurt the old woman’s feelings. “But I can’t do anything from Nellenston. I’m simply too far.”
“But-“
“I promise you, Evelyn, that everything will be okay. Here’s what I want you to do, okay?”
“Okay.”
“At 8:00, call Courtney. Explain what happened and find out what she wants to do to handle things.”
“All right, well, I suppose 8:00 isn’t so far off.”
“Nope, not really,” Janae’s eyes were still a little groggy. She couldn’t even read the time on the alarm clock.
“Thank you, Janae. You always know just what to do.”
And now
for the hard part.
“Listen, Evelyn, I shouldn’t do this over the phone, but I think you should take Courtney on full-time. I think you should give her my position. She’s good at it, she loves it, and I think she’ll be really good for the library.”
“Are you quitting on me, Janae?”
“Yeah,” her stomach felt like it might explode. She hadn’t been this nervous since the first time she and Emerson…well, since their first time.
“Janae?”
“Yes, Evelyn?”
“You met a man, didn’t you?”
“Evelyn!” The old woman was typically so reserved and quiet. She was nothing like the busybody old women on Dragon Isle, or so she thought.
“I knew it! Ha! I knew it!” Evelyn laughed loudly into the phone. When she finally calmed down, she continued talking. “Courtney and I had a bet going on. She bet me that you were going to come back after your leave of absence and continue to be ‘old reliable,’ as she said.”
“And what did you say?” Janae no longer felt embarrassed about quitting her job. Now she felt amused.
“I told her there was no chance you were coming back. I said it was time for you to get a real life, and that you were going to meet a man, and fall in love, and have lots of babies.”
Now it was Janae’s turn to laugh.
“How’d I do?” Evelyn pressed.
“Well, I met a man, and I think I’m in love.”
“Two out of three ain’t so bad, dear. Ain’t so bad at all.”
18
Janae had never felt so sure of herself.
She had done it.
She had quit her job.
She had set a boundary, she had made a decision, she had moved forward.
She felt like she was floating.
Liam was in the kitchen when she went downstairs.
“Hey,” she greeted him. “You’re up and about.”
“Yeah,” he leaned against the counter. He was standing without his crutches, but they were on the table. If he needed them, Liam would be able to quickly grab them. “Thought I’d try to move around today, see how I’m feeling.”
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