“Xavier, can we please talk?” she called after him, just as he was about to enter his room.
He turned to face her and then held the door of his room open for her. He did it in silence and she didn’t know what to expect but stepped into his room and he followed her. She noticed how he gently shut the door but didn’t allow it to close completely. What was he hinting at?
Chapter 5
“You told Alicia about last night.” He said it as a statement rather than asked a question. Erin immediately felt the anger he was hurling toward her. The smile she had tried to plaster on her face had disappeared.
“She’s my best friend. And she would have found out,” she said. She remained standing near the door while he walked over to the bed but didn’t sit down.
“I can’t believe I was that foolish,” he said and ran his hands through his hair. He looked even more handsome in the morning, she thought, but immediately tried to snap herself out of admiring him.
“You weren’t the only foolish one. Evidently,” she said and he looked up at her. His eyes softened, but only for a few seconds.
“You think this was a mistake, because you’re some kind of a celebrity? That it has no effect on my life? Because I’m a lay, man?” she huffed as she spoke and crossed her arms in front of her.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said softly, but Erin could see that he was still worrying about himself, so she rolled her eyes.
He saw her do it and his expression darkened again.
“In fact, Erin, it is exactly like that. My face gets splashed across cheap tabloids because of things like this. I misjudged you,” his voice was still gruff and low pitched, although it was clear to her that he was very close to entirely losing his temper.
“Misjudged me how?” she dared to ask him.
“I thought you’d be able to keep it between us,” he answered, almost immediately.
“Treat it like my own dirty secret?” She was clenching her own arm, her nails were digging into her flesh as she spoke to him. She couldn’t stand to look at him anymore.
“I did not expect you to go gossiping about it with your girlfriend immediately after, that’s all.” He had become even quieter and his prolonged silence made her feel worse.
“I wasn’t gossiping. In fact, I misjudged you too. I didn’t think it was just about the sex,” she spat out the words and whipped away from him. She had spoken her mind, she didn’t care anymore. She didn’t care that he knew she had feelings for him in such a short while. How did it matter anyway? In his attempt to keep it a secret, he wouldn’t exactly go around discussing her with his buddies.
Xavier remained silent and it made Erin more furious.
“You can come off your high horse now, Mr. Xavier Cowen. You might be a celebrity, but you’re just like every other man out there.” She turned to look at him again and she could feel the tears prickling the back of her eyelids. This was such a huge mistake. She didn’t need another man to make her feel like a complete idiot.
“Stop comparing me to your lying cheating ex-boyfriend,” he suddenly thundered and took a few steps toward her. Erin inched away from him, he hadn’t raised his voice before and for a second, it frightened her. His towering frame loomed over her, even though he was still standing a good distance away from her.
“Not just him. You’re like every other man. You saw something you liked, but you only liked it for the night. Now you can’t take responsibility for your actions.” She tried to keep her voice low, tried to frighten him away from her with the ferocity in her eyes.
“Take what responsibility? Do you want a foot massage? A scented love letter? A marriage proposal?” Xavier said with a sarcastic laugh, even though he didn’t look like he had faith in his own joke.
“That’s really rich. Yeah, it makes me laugh.” Erin tried to laugh too. “You think that is what responsibility looks like? You’re so far out. No wonder stupid rom-coms are the only movies you get cast for.” She turned away from him again and made for the door.
But he had stopped her. His hand was gripping her arm now, his fingers embedded themselves in her flesh. She tried to ignore the force with which he was pulling her away and tried to push the door open.
“Come back here,” he said gruffly and pulled her to him. She landed with a thud on his chest, her back to him.
“You can’t just throw something like that at me and try to make a smooth exit,” he spoke through gritted teeth, but softly and into her ear.
“Why, you always get the last word, is that it?” she tried to laugh, but this time she couldn’t. His hands had now traveled up from her arms toward her neck.
“Something like that,” he whispered into her ear again and with one hand, pushed the door shut in front of her.
“Let me go now. Aren’t you afraid I’m going to gossip about this too?” She tried to wriggle herself free, but his grip on her only strengthened.
“You know what? I actually don’t care anymore,” he said and without giving her a second to react, he bent her over. In order to avoid tripping, she placed her hands firmly on the closed door in front of her.
She heard the sound of him flicking open the buckle of his belt and then unzipping. Just the sound of that made her go wet between her legs. She had no idea how he could have this effect on her. She felt his hands grab her butt and give it a squeeze before he reached over to unzip her pants.
He peeled down her pants and then wrapped his arms around her torso, pulling her closer to him. Erin closed her eyes and arched her back. She felt him slide into her as he held her tightly. She could hear him breathing raggedly behind her. His beard scratched against her cheek and ear.
It was the same feeling of being taken, of being owned by him, only this time it was without any restraint. He was pumping into her from behind as she tried to keep herself steady with the door. He was big and hard inside her, and she could feel the ferocity of his thrusts increasing with every passing second. His hands eventually found her breasts underneath the sweater and he squeezed them and played with her nipples. The combination of sensations was too much for her to deal with, she didn’t want to pass out again.
They were both moaning and he eventually let her go, placing his hands on her butt. She was completely bent over, her legs wide apart and he pushed inside her in a quick rhythmic motion. This time, he reached the edge even sooner and so did she. They both came together and she didn’t care how loud they were or that the door squeaked with his every thrust.
He groaned as he emptied himself inside her again and pulled out. Her thighs were still quivering from the intensity of the orgasm, and when he was out of her, she slumped to the carpeted floor.
“Erin,” Xavier said and she turned sleepy exhausted eyes to him. He was standing, naked from the waist down, in front of her and he had his hand stretched out toward her. She took his hand and he helped her up.
“Are you planning on tucking me into bed again?” she asked him with a shy smile. He pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“Into my bed, you mean?” he spoke softly into her ear and she couldn’t help but giggle. He led the way and directed her to lie down on his bed. It smelled of him, she pressed her eyes closed and took in a deep breath of his scent. She opened them when she felt the mattress slump, he was getting into bed with her.
“I don’t know how you did it, but you’ve got some kind of hold on me.” His breathing was ragged as he spoke into her ear. His hands had found their way underneath her sweater and she felt a sharp tug on her nipple.
“I thought we were having a nap?” she teased him, just as he started licking her earlobe.
They exchanged looks and broke into laughter.
Chapter 6
It had been three weeks. Three weeks of bliss. Alicia had left the cabin and gone back to the city nearly ten days ago. Erin and Xavier had walked to the lake and were throwing pebbles in, watching them skid over the portions that were still frozen in the
lake.
Erin watched Xavier as he laughed, collecting more pebbles from the bank. She had news to give him.
“What are you looking at?” he asked her when he caught her staring. He jiggled his butt in front of her to tease her into breaking into giggles. He came over to give her a hug, but when he started pulling away, he caught sight of a serious look on her face.
“Wanna tell me what’s going on?” he chucked one of the pebbles toward the lake but didn’t look to see where it had landed.
“I have to get back to work, Xavier. I can’t stay cooped up here with you forever.” Erin bit down on her lip as she spoke, already detecting annoyance in him. He had been trying to avoid this conversation for the past few days.
“You promised we won’t speak about it till the end of the week, Erin. Can we just enjoy the day?” Like a child, he was digging the ground with his shoes. She almost wanted to forget about the important decisions, hug him and stroke his head.
“I have to be back at work by the end of the week. I need to make arrangements now. I can’t keep postponing it.” She tried to remain as calm and collected as possible. He looked up at her sharply.
“You don’t need my permission, Erin. Leave if you want to leave. I can’t stop you.”
“It’s not a question of wanting to leave. I have to. For my work. Just like you should go back to Los Angeles and stop trying to run away. It’s time you took charge of what you want to do.” She reached for him and held onto his arm, but his muscles were tensed. Even though his voice remained steady, it was easy for her to tell that he was now upset.
“So what you’re saying is that we’ll never see each other again?” he spoke after several minutes of silence. He had turned away from her so that she could see him in profile now. His shaggy blue-black beard illuminated in outline by the orange light of the setting sun.
“What do you want, Xavier? You’re the celebrity here. I’m just a simple math teacher.” She let go of his arm and he turned to look at her. They held each other’s gaze for a few seconds till he looked away.
“I don’t want to go back to LA. I don’t want you to go back to Seattle and I most definitely don’t want us to be apart.” When he said it, she smiled. She would never have admitted it, but this is what she wanted to hear from him. Despite having spent three intimate weeks with him, Xavier Cowen was still an enigma to her. She knew he was fond of her, found her irresistible in bed, but she could never be sure what she meant to him, seriously. Now she was convinced. She could see it in his eyes, and the way he refused to look at him.
“I’m glad you say that because I have some news that I believe you should know about,” she said and he looked at her with a worried expression. Erin didn’t want too much time to elapse, to give him a chance to prepare himself. “I think I’m pregnant. In fact, I’m sure of it,” she said, keeping her gaze steady on him. She watched as his expression changed from surprise to disbelief to panic and then a struggle to calm himself.
“When did you realize?” Those were his first words. Erin wasn’t so sure if it was the right decision anymore.
“A few days ago?” She hung her head down as if embarrassed. He took a few seconds, and then came forward, hooking his forefinger under her chin. He lifted up her head gently and craned her neck backward so that she could look up at him.
“All the more reason to not go,” he said.
“What am I going to do then?” She was seriously asking him. She didn’t want a hypothetical answer.
“Quit your job. Move in with me in LA.” He was smiling now, a glimmer of excitement in his eyes.
“So you do want to go back? You don’t want to live in the wilderness alone forever?” she was only joking when she said it, but he answered in all seriousness.
“I’m going to be a father now. It’s time I called my agent and have him sign me up for a few casting calls.” He was serious but smiling now, almost speaking to himself.
“Are you serious? What kind of films are these?” She was excited too. She hadn’t seen him seriously consider or talk about his work.
“Some films that won’t pay much but are the kind that I’ve always wanted to do. If I’m going to be a dad, I might as well start building my legacy.”
THE END
A Dragon to Watch Over Me
Leela Ash
Copyright © 2016 by Leela Ash. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
CHAPTER ONE
“Krista, come over here and dance!” Marcia called to her best friend, who was doing the same thing she usually did, sitting in the corner with a bored look on her face.
Krista sighed. She wasn’t in the mood for being out at the bar; she had only gone to offer her best friend some moral support. A man Marcia had a crush on was celebrating his birthday and she had been invited, but she had been too afraid to go alone and so she had begged Krista to come along. Krista wasn’t sure why she should be there anyway; not when Marcia would simply end up hanging all over the guy and leaving to give him a private gift.
“I’ve really got to be going,” Krista called back, shaking her head and pointing toward the door in case Marcia didn’t get the hint. Marcia gave her an exaggerated frown but disappeared back into the crowd, and Krista sighed in relief. She was free.
Or so she thought.
“Hey baby,” a drunk man said with a slur, blocking her way to the exit. She’d been heading toward the back door where she could sneak through the alleyway and toward the parking lot without running into any more of her friends. She didn’t recognize the drunk man and tried to push her way past him. “Feel like getting lucky tonight? I love that ass!”
She rolled her eyes in disgust and finally made her way past him. Despite being a virgin, Krista was used to men leering at her, and although she would have loved to go a night without being pestered, it appeared that tonight just wasn’t going to be her lucky night.
“Hey!” he protested as he was shoved aside and the people around him tittered with laughter. Fortunately, there were enough people between them that it didn’t matter what he said. She was able to get safely past.
Krista finally made it out into the dark, cool night and inhaled a deep breath of delicious fresh air. Sneaking out through the alley had been a good idea.
Suddenly, she felt a searing pain on her head and saw a flash of white in front of her eyes.
“Got her, tie up her hands!”
“What the hell?” she mumbled, trying to push herself to her feet. But before she was able to regain her balance, another searing flash of pain brought spots before her eyes and she collapsed again.
“Don’t move!” an angry man shouted down to her. She was surrounded and terrified, but decided not to move. They had her outnumbered.
“Finally, we’ve been waiting so long for this!”
“What…” Krista brought her hand to her head, wincing in pain and confusion.
Suddenly, she heard a growl, unlike anything she had ever heard before, and cowered into the crook of her arm.
“Don’t touch her!” a man’s voice boomed. She tried to open her eyes, but what she saw just made her want to faint. A giant black dragon was standing at the end of the alleyway. At that point, she passed out cold.
CHAPTER TWO
Clayton scowled down at the woman passed out on the ground and cast a challenging glare to the group of men who had been trying to kidnap her. He knew exactly who they were, and the knowledge infuriated him.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he growled, furious that they had the nerve to come anywhere near the woman most sacred to his clan.
But Clayton knew exactly what they were doing. Krista had been the main focus of both the self-proclaimed Guardians and the Kersh clan – and for good reason. She was extremel
y valuable, and the last living heir young enough to guarantee the continuance of the Kersh dragon clan.
“The girl is ours!” the small group’s leader hissed, leaping at Clayton and drawing a weapon from his side. Clayton flinched and jumped away, slapping the large gun out of his hand. Only Clayton knew it wasn’t just any gun – it was fully loaded with ammunition that would bind his powers and make it impossible to shift into his dragon form. From there, he could be killed as easily as any other mortal human.
“I don’t think so,” he growled, allowing himself to shift all the way into his dragon form. He normally restrained himself when he was in human areas, only shifting enough to take advantage of his powers while unleashing his fury on his enemy. But when he was protecting the one woman alive who was capable of ensuring the continuation of his race, he couldn’t take any chances.
The men’s eyes grew large and they all fumbled for their guns as Clayton let out a mighty roar. It shook the ground they were walking on and made everybody cower in terror. The heat from his breath was enough to singe off their eyebrows and they scrambled away, worried they would not be able to survive his malice, as he began to inhale and a burst of flames flickered from his mouth.
Krista was lying on the ground between his massive legs, totally limp, and now that they were alone, Clayton returned to his human form. He put on his cape to conceal his nakedness and picked Krista up, jumping into the air and flying her back to her apartment a few blocks away. He couldn’t let anybody see them, and his cloak helped to hide them from the people who might be glancing up at the night sky. It was imbued with the powers of his own world, a place he missed dearly.
Kaldernon, his home planet, was deeply missed by everybody in the clan, in fact, but they had been unable to find their way back to their own world. After a life-altering earthquake, the world seemed to open up and several of the dragon-born members of the Kersh clan had toppled through an invisible portal, landing in a world full of commotion.
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