Alpha Devotion: Paranormal Romance Collection

by Lola Gabriel

  “Ready?” she asked when she was done.

  Draven nodded. He opened the door and let Morgan step through first. He couldn’t help checking out her ass and her tanned legs beneath the dress. Wow, he thought again. He caught himself and told himself to stop it. Morgan was his best friend, not a piece of meat to be stared at. He forced his eyes away from her and pulled the door shut. They went downstairs and found Draven’s parents waiting on the doorstep.

  “Another drink?” Draven asked Morgan when he saw her glass was almost empty.

  She smiled and nodded her head.

  “Yes, please,” she said.

  Draven flagged down their server and ordered another gin and tonic for Morgan and another vodka and Coke for himself. Dinner had been better than he had expected it to be. Not the food—he had known that would be good because his mom wouldn’t have booked the place if the food wasn’t good—but the atmosphere had been a lot better than he had expected. Everyone had been relaxed, chatting and laughing, and several times through the course of the meal, he had had to remind himself that what he and Morgan had wasn’t real, that they were just acting.

  It felt real, though. The lingering stares. The casual hand touches. The way their knees had touched beneath the table. None of that had felt at all like an act.

  Once dinner was over, Draven’s parents had excused themselves, telling Draven and Morgan they wanted an early night, but encouraging them to stay on and enjoy their evening. They had stayed, moving into the bar. And even out from under the watchful eyes of his parents, that closeness had remained. They still kept touching, flirting with each other. Draven knew it was a dangerous road, but he was tipsy enough not to care. He was enjoying himself and if Morgan wasn’t, then she was a far better actress than he had expected her to be when he had asked her to do this.

  Draven and Morgan had always had this kind of relationship, their conversations flowing easily, filled with laughter, gentle teasing, and yes, even a little flirting. But this felt different to Draven. It felt real, like the very air around them was charged with the sexual tension he felt inside of himself. Every time he looked at Morgan, he had to remind himself not to reach out and tuck her hair behind her ears. Not to push his hands into her hair and move her face closer to his. Not to kiss her deeply on her sensuous lips.

  “What are you thinking about?” Morgan asked after the server brought their drinks.

  How much I want to take you back to the cottage and make love to you, Draven thought.

  “Nothing much,” he said.

  “You lie,” Morgan said. “You were a million miles away there.”

  “I was just thinking that if I have many more of these, I’m going to snore tonight,” he smiled.

  Morgan laughed and shook her head.

  “You’d better not. If you do, it’ll be the downstairs couch for you,” she teased him.

  “Good luck with that,” Draven smiled. “Once I’m out, I’m dead to the world.”

  “I’m sure I can find a way to wake you up,” Morgan said with a smile that made Draven’s cock start to stiffen.

  He shifted in his chair and smiled back at Morgan.

  “If you wake me up the way you seem to be implying, I don’t think it’ll be to throw me out of the room,” he said.

  “Either way, it would stop you snoring,” Morgan said with a laugh.

  “True,” Draven conceded, laughing with her.

  A server approached their table.

  “Mr. Montgomery?” he said. Draven nodded his head. “Your cab is here.”

  “What? It can’t be,” Draven said. He checked his watch and his eyes widened in surprise when he saw it was one a.m. The night had flown by. “Yes, my apologies. We lost track of the time. Would you be so kind as to tell the driver we’ll be out in one minute?”

  The waiter nodded and moved away. Morgan was already downing the last of her drink and Draven did the same.

  “I can’t believe how quickly this night has flown by,” Morgan said as she stood up.

  “We were having so much fun, that’s why,” Draven said. “You go on ahead while I pay the bill.”

  He went up to the bar and paid the tab and then he stepped outside and found Morgan waiting on the front porch of the restaurant. The air was a little nippy now and when Morgan slipped her arm through his, he felt how cold her hand was.

  “You’re cold,” he commented.

  “I can’t feel a thing,” Morgan giggled.

  Draven led her to the waiting cab and opened the door for her. Once she was inside, he shut it and went around to the other side and got in beside her. He gave the cab driver the address of the cottage and they pulled away. He could feel Morgan’s eyes on him as they drove away and he glanced at her, but as soon as he did, she looked away from him quickly, turning her head to look out of the window.

  Whatever this weird chemistry Draven suddenly felt between the two of them was, he knew for sure then that Morgan felt it too.

  5

  Morgan finished brushing her teeth. She spat into the sink and rinsed it out, then stood looking at herself for a moment in the mirror above it. Her cheeks were flushed, partly from the alcohol and partly from having Draven’s attention on her all night.

  Even when his parents called it a night and they were alone together in the bar, he hadn’t stopped paying attention to her and she began to think that maybe it was possible that he felt the same way about her as she did about him. She had tried to tell herself she was setting herself up for a fall, but as the night went on and Draven’s attention continued, she decided to stop worrying about getting hurt and just go with the flow.

  She moved from the mirror and gathered up her clothes, folding her dress in a way that kept her underwear hidden. She was wearing a long t-shirt, something she often slept in. She wondered if she should put underwear on and then told herself she was overthinking things again. It wasn’t like Draven was about to lift her makeshift nightie up and check what she wearing beneath it.

  She went back to the bedroom. Draven smiled when she came into the room.

  “I’ll go and brush my teeth,” he said.

  Morgan smiled and nodded her head. She waited for Draven to leave the room and then she turned off the big light and put on a lamp beside the bed. It cast a nice glow over the room and she nodded to herself. She pulled the duvet back and slipped into the bed, sighing contentedly. It was lovely and soft and comfortable. She lay back against the pillows.

  Her gaze went to the couch that Draven would be sleeping on, and she knew instantly he would never be able to get comfortable on that thing. It was far too small. She had offered to take the couch when they were talking in the bar, but Draven wouldn’t hear of it.

  She was pulled from her thoughts when Draven came back into the room. Morgan felt herself getting wet as she looked at Draven, wearing nothing but a pair of black boxer shorts. His body was toned and he had a six-pack that Morgan ached to touch. She cleared her throat and smiled at Draven, hoping her expression hadn’t given away where her mind had gone when she had looked at his almost naked body. She watched as Draven moved to the couch and lay down, his legs hanging over the edge.

  “Well, good night, then,” he said.

  “Draven, this is ridiculous,” Morgan said with a sigh.

  He lifted his head and frowned at her.

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “This,” she said, gesturing to him lying on the couch. “That couch is far too little for you. Come and get into the bed. We can share a bed, surely?”

  She pulled the duvet back beside her, a clear invitation. But to do what? Morgan wasn’t sure. In that moment, she didn’t know if she wanted Draven to make a move on her or not. She wanted him so badly, but unless he wanted her for more than just this weekend, she didn’t want anything to happen between them. She didn’t want to get even more attached to Draven. As if that was even possible. She already ached for him in every part of her body.

  Draven sat
up and then he was on his feet and walking over to the bed. He slipped in beside Morgan and she clicked the lamp off and then turned to face Draven. She smiled at him.

  “See, that’s better, right?” she said.

  “Much better,” Draven said.

  Even as she said it, he was reaching for her and she found herself matching his outstretched arms, moving closer to him. Their lips touched and Morgan felt the tingling sensation moving through her skin and down her body, waking her up, making her want more. In that moment, she didn’t care what came next after tonight. She had to have Draven. Even if it could only be this once.

  She moved closer to Draven, pressing her body against his as her hands roamed over his skin. He pushed her onto her back and moved on top of her, still kissing her. He moved his lips from hers, kissing her neck, and then he moved back from her. She sat up long enough to pull her t-shirt over her head and then she lay back down and Draven came back down to her, licking his way down her body until his tongue found her clit.

  Morgan gasped as Draven’s tongue worked her swollen pink pearl, sparks flying through her body. She felt her dragon stirring inside of her, filling her with lust and need. She writhed beneath Draven’s expert tongue as he worked her into a frenzy, and when her orgasm washed over her, she dug her nails into the mattress as she gasped and moaned Draven’s name.

  He came up from between her legs, kissing her stomach, her breasts, her neck. His lips found hers again and he kissed her, his kiss hard and passionate. She could taste her juices on his tongue and she could feel his hard cock pressing against her through his boxer shorts.

  She reached down and pushed the shorts down his legs and Draven kicked them away. Morgan wrapped her fist around Draven’s cock, smiling with delight at the hugeness of it. She was so ready for Draven, her center aching for him to fill her up. She moved her fist up and down his length until he pulled his mouth from hers, his breath coming in a series of ragged pants.

  She pulled him closer to her, wrapping her legs around him and pressing his cock against her dripping wet opening. Draven knew exactly what she wanted and as she took her hand away, he thrust into her, filling her in one delicious movement. She felt herself opening up for him, stretching, taking his length inside of herself.

  Her pulse was racing as Draven began to thrust inside of her. Morgan’s hips moved with Draven’s seemingly of their own accord, her rhythm matching his without her even having to think about it. Their bodies were perfectly synchronized as their pleasure became one.

  Morgan felt like she was floating on a wave of intense pleasure as Draven kept moving inside of her. She moaned his name as another orgasm washed over her. She felt herself clench around Draven’s cock and then his face was pressed against her neck and he was whispering her name as he climaxed.

  Draven stayed in place, moaning as his climax went on. Morgan held him, coming down from her own orgasm, sated and happier than she could ever remember being. Draven finally slipped out of her and rolled over onto his side. Morgan rolled to face him and he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer to him.

  They didn’t speak. They didn’t need to. Their bodies had done the talking. And Morgan knew now that the attraction she felt for Draven wasn’t one-sided. And she thought that their act would no longer have to be an act at all.

  She fell asleep feeling content and safe and happy, with a half-smile still playing over her lips.

  Morgan woke up and found she was alone in the bed. She looked at the time. It wasn’t even seven a.m. yet, but she could hear the shower running from the bathroom next door. Although they’d had a late night last night, Morgan felt well rested and she found she was looking forward to going out and exploring the area with Draven today.

  She sat up and stretched and then she fished her t-shirt she had worn last night up off the floor and put it back on. She got up and began looking through her wardrobe, deciding what to wear for the day. She settled on a pair of jeans, a dark blue shirt, and a pair of black slip-on shoes. Once Draven came back in from the shower, she would go and take one. Or maybe, instead, they could dive back into bed for an hour or two.

  She smiled at the thought of them doing that, and she was still smiling when Draven came back into the room.

  “Morning,” she said.

  “You’re up early,” Draven commented.

  “Not as early as you, it seems,” Morgan smiled.

  Draven was already dressed, wearing jeans and a t-shirt that was tight enough to show off his amazing pecs. The clothes didn’t mean anything, though. Morgan knew she could take them off easily enough if the opportunity arose.

  “Morgan, can we talk for a moment?” Draven asked.

  “Sure. Just let me go and get ready first,” Morgan said.

  She left the room and quickly showered, washed her hair, and brushed her teeth. She put her makeup on and towel-dried her hair. She combed it through and scrunched it up, deciding to let it dry the rest of the way naturally. She didn’t want to make Draven wait for her for too long. It sounded like he wanted to talk to her about something serious. She thought maybe he was going to tell her he wanted them to make a real go of being together.

  She put her clothes on and went back through to the bedroom. Draven was sitting on the couch and she perched on the end of the bed.

  “So, what’s up?” she asked.

  “I just wanted to talk to you about last night,” Draven said. “Make sure you’re okay about what happened between us.”

  “Of course I’m okay,” Morgan said.

  “Good,” Draven replied. “I’m really sorry, Morgan. I never should have let it happen and I’m glad you’re okay about it all.”

  Morgan felt as though her heart was breaking. She had gotten it all wrong. Draven didn’t want to ask her if they could make this thing between them work. He was telling her what they’d done had been a mistake. It sure hadn’t felt that way to Morgan.

  “So, let me get this straight,” Morgan said. “You drag me out here and pretend you like me to get me into bed and then tell me it was all a mistake?”

  “What? No,” Draven said. “We were both acting, Morgan. And last night, we just got a bit carried away, that’s all. I thought you said you were okay about it.”

  “I was until you made me feel like booty call you just used,” Morgan snapped.

  “I’m sorry, Morgan. I never meant to make you feel that way. I thought…” Draven trailed off.

  “You thought what?” Morgan demanded.

  “I thought you enjoyed it,” he said.

  “That’s hardly the fucking point, is it, Draven? You know what? You were right. Last night was a mistake. This whole weekend is a mistake and this whole fake relationship is a mistake. I’m leaving,” Morgan said.

  Draven got to his feet as she did. He moved closer to her and touched her arm. She shrugged him off and he sighed.

  “Morgan, please don’t do this. Look, I’ve said I’m sorry. I never meant for that to happen last night and if I could go back and change it, I would, I swear,” Draven said.

  Morgan felt tears clogging her throat and she swallowed them back angrily. There was no way she was going to let Draven see her crying. Every time he tried to make her feel better, he only made her feel worse. She couldn’t bring herself to tell him she wasn’t upset because they had had sex, she was upset because it had meant a lot to her and for a time there, she had allowed herself to believe that it meant something to him too.

  “Say something, Morgan,” Draven said. “Please.”

  “There’s nothing left to say,” she sighed.

  She began to collect her things and started putting them in her suitcase, dumping them in any old way.

  “You’re really leaving?” Draven said.

  Morgan nodded.

  “Yes. You said when I agreed to this that if it got too much, we would end the charade. Well, it’s gotten to be too much, Draven.”

  “Okay,” Draven said. “I’m so sorry, Morgan. I really
didn’t want you to get hurt in all of this.”

  Morgan made a grunting sound, not trusting herself to reply to him.

  “I…I guess I’ll call you a cab?” Draven said. “I’ll tell my parents about this after you’ve gone.”

  “Thanks,” Morgan said stiffly.

  She exhaled loudly, a shaky sigh rather than a normal breath, as Draven left the room to go and call her a cab. She went back to the bathroom and collected the rest of her things and then she finished packing. Sitting down on the end of the bed for a moment, she ran her fingers over the duvet, wondering how things had gone so wrong. How had she allowed herself to believe that Draven actually wanted her?

  She shook her head and stood up and went down the stairs. Draven was waiting in the hallway for her.

  “They said it shouldn’t be too long,” he said. “Do you want some coffee or something to eat?”

  “No, thank you,” Morgan said.

  She pulled the front door open and stood on the step. Draven came to stand beside her and they stood that way in an awkward silence, something that had never fallen between them before. Even now, hurt and humiliated, Morgan’s dragon responded to the closeness of Draven’s body to hers. She stepped away from him, moving to stand outside, not wanting to feel anything anymore.

  After what felt like an age, but couldn’t have been more than about ten minutes, a yellow cab appeared along the road. It pulled up at the gate.

  “I’m sorry, Morgan,” Draven said again.

  “It’s okay,” Morgan lied.

  “Look, I’ll call you on Monday once we get back, okay?”

  “Whatever,” Morgan said.

  She hurried to get into the cab, throwing her suitcase into the back seat, not wanting to hang around there a minute longer than she had to.

  “To the nearest train station, please,” she said to the driver.

  He met her eye in the rearview mirror and nodded to her before pulling away. Morgan kept her eyes glued to the seat back in front of her, refusing to allow herself to turn around and catch one last glance of Draven. She managed to hold the tears in until the cab turned a corner and she was certain Draven wouldn’t be able to see her any longer, and then she finally let them come in a hot flood of pain.