Dragons For Hire: A Dragon Shifter Romance
Page 37
I pushed his slacks down with my free hand and kissed my way down until I was kneeling in front of him, his black boxer briefs on a countdown to being a memory. I pulled them out of the way and touched my tongue to his hard cock, running it all the way to the tip. He threw his head back into the wall hard enough to crack the drywall.
“Lila.” My name was a breath, a sigh, a moan, and I’d always thought his voice was sexy; the husky rasp, the passion, the strength.
I took him into my mouth and wrapped my hand around the base. My tongue curved around him, adding extra pressure and a little flair on the sensitive area around his cockhead. He was thick and hard, and I worked up a rhythm with each pull into my throat. His knees bent, and I sucked deeper so that he threaded his hand into my hair, holding on while his hips bucked and thrust.
The taste of him was overwhelming, and I gave him everything I had. Knowing how much power I had over him, even in this position, made me so wet that I almost abandoned what I was doing and jumped on him. Every noise and groan I got out of him satisfied something primal inside me. I pressed him against the wall, restricting his movements so that I could have the pleasure of bringing him to his end by my own power. His fists clenched, but he stilled, his breath coming in pants laced with whispers of my name.
When I groaned, his body went tight, and I cupped his balls, giving a little squeeze as I sucked harder. He grunted and came while I greedily took every drop, moaning with pleasure. He jerked as the last of his orgasm receded, his breath shuddering, then his muscles relaxed, and I released him with one last, long pull. If I could’ve been the one to swing him into my arms, I would’ve. Instead, I took his hand and led him to the sofa. I pushed him down a little roughly, then straddled his lap as I pressed little kisses against his throat and jaw until I could wind around and capture his mouth.
I ground my hips into his lap, and he smiled against my mouth. “You are a vixen.”
Yes, I was, and he hadn’t seen anything yet. He was hard again, or still, and I lifted myself to slide onto his cock, but he wrapped both arms around me and took one of my pebbled nipples between his lips, sucking gently. I arched my back, pushing closer until gently turned to urgent, and I cried out, ready to feel him buried deep inside me.
Again, he grabbed me, thrusting my pussy toward his mouth. My knee landed firmly beside his head, and I had to grab the arm of the couch to keep from tipping over. His tongue swirled expertly, and I ground myself on his face, gasping for breath. His hands massaged my ass-cheeks and he smacked one lightly, the slight sting magnifying the pleasure his mouth was lavishing me.
Just as I reached the edge, he pushed his fingers inside. I cried out, my need for him making me dizzy. The noises I made could probably have been heard from the sidewalk, but I didn’t care. The only thing I cared about in that moment was the feeling that twisted in my core, tighter and tighter. Feeling that I was close, he curled his fingers and sucked hard, and fireworks exploded behind my eyes.
Without giving me a chance to recover, he pulled me down, and I thrust myself on him. Nothing was greater than the feeling of him pumping inside me. My insides were still extra sensitive, and I could feel him stoking another fire in me. A fine sheen of sweat coated his body, and I wanted to lick every inch of him as our skin slicked together.
One hand massaged my breast, and electricity danced across my skin. The other hand slipped down and swiped against my clit, circling, flicking. I gasped, whimpered, writhed, and rode his cock until the pressure built and my vision blurred. I wanted him, needed him, every day, just like this. I didn’t think I would ever get enough of this man. He kept up the attention on my clit, and my insides spasmed, dragging another orgasm from him with a loud groan.
I leaned forward and pressed my forehead to his as he pumped a few more times, spending all of himself again. I closed my eyes and tried to catch my breath. We panted like marathon runners, and he cupped my face in his hands and tilted it for a kiss.
And for the first time, it wasn’t as hard to put a little faith in the thought there was such a thing as destined mates.
13
Leath
Taurus handed me the level, and I held it against the board while he set the screws. Lila had a paintbrush in her hand and was working on the opposite side of the room with Theo, while Sophie and Ben taped the window and door frames with painter’s tape.
When the board slipped, Taurus nudged me and shook his head. “Hey, pay attention.”
“I am.” I was paying all the attention to Lila. The way her ponytail swung down her back and the way when she lifted the brush over her head to paint near the ceiling, her shirt slid up, and I got a glimpse of that little piece of skin just above the waistband of her shorts.
Taurus laughed and pulled the hammer from his toolbelt and used it to nudge the board so the little green light on the level came on. For a few minutes, I focused while we built the wall and raised it to build a partition beyond the two rooms that were already built in the back. Sophie had her eye on one of those for her psychic readings, and they would need the other for storage, so we were building rooms for massage on one side and yoga on the other.
Sacred Spaces was becoming a reality.
Lila stepped back from the wall and fanned herself with her hand. She winked when she turned and caught me staring then crooked her finger, and I walked over.
We were sweaty and hot, but I pulled her against me. “Does this look the way you dreamed it?”
She glanced around the room then pointed her gaze at me. “It’s better than I dreamed it because you’re here.” She lifted on her tiptoes to press a kiss against my mouth.
I grinned down at her, never before happier than I was at that moment. This was a woman who understood how to appreciate the efforts of others, and spending time with her was the best thing that ever happened to me.
“Do you think we’ll be able to open by the end of August if all the equipment and supplies get here on time?” She looked around again and must’ve seen all the work she still had to do because she frowned.
“It’s a month and a half.” I looked around, too. “Oh, yeah, we can get it done. No problem.”
And it wasn’t. There were eight dragons who had plenty of time to pitch in.
“It’s just that Zoe will be in school and busy with her theater group and…”
I didn’t know which way she was worrying. That she would be too busy to spend time with Zoe before school started, or that it was prime time to open after school started because Zoe would be busy and wouldn’t miss Lila being around. I smoothed my hand in small circles at her shoulders then massaged them because the knotted muscles meant stress and stress meant an MS flare-up, and we didn’t need another of those. Neither did I ask her about her worry. If it was one and I mentioned the other, she would worry about both.
“This is going to be great, Lila. I promise.” And I could promise that because there was nothing I wouldn’t do to make this the best yoga and holistic tarot and metaphysical massage studio in the country.
The bell above the door tinkled, and I looked up. Lila shot me a narrow-eyed glance I interpreted as a warning, then she walked forward and hugged the woman. Then Sophie hugged the strange woman. Taurus, Theo, and Ben all stood straighter to watch this slip of a female. She couldn’t have been more than five-two with blonde hair held back from her face with either a pair of magic wands or artful chopsticks bedazzled with some sort of glitter and fairy dust.
She held out her hand to me. “I’m Glenda, the good witch. And the name was mine long before the movie.” She had a wide smile lined with a deep mauve, and gray eyes colored with gray lids.
When she turned back to speak to Sophie, Lila poked me in the ribs.
“You behave yourself.”
I gave her my best confused look because I was, at that moment, confused. “Behave myself?”
She lowered her voice to a hushed whisper. “Yes. You keep your skeptical, snide remarks to yourself.”
“Bless this place and all who walk in.
In pain or discomfort, find peace within.
Bless every door, window, ceiling, and wall.
Bless the business and the owners, bless it all.”
She closed her eyes, and a chill settled over the room that turned to a delicious warmth against my skin. We all opened our eyes, and that was it. No flower of fairy dust or sprinkling of salts. Just the little sonnet and a couple hugs for Sophie and Lila before Sophie led Glenda out to the sidewalk to chat while Lila smiled at me.
“Thank you for everything and for not making a stink about that.” She motioned with her head toward the door.
“I don’t have anything against magic, Lila. Maybe some of the pseudoscience stuff—psychic hotlines, fortune tellers at the county fair, the guys on the street in New York foretelling the end of the world every single day—but not when it was tried and true and handed down from Salem.”
Instead of going back to work, she wrapped both arms around my waist and looked up at me. “I knew you’d come around. It’s all those hours of yoga we’ve been doing.”
Oh, man. I didn’t see Taurus lift his head or his shit-eating grin, but I didn’t really have to. “Hey, Leath, show me your downward dog.”
I planted a kiss on the tip of Lila’s nose. “Thanks for that.” Then I turned to face my earth dragon brother. “I’ll show you a downward dog.”
I wrapped my arm around his neck and dropped us both to the ground in an old-time wrestling move I’d seen on Sunday morning television back in the eighties. He countered by shifting his weight so we both toppled, a move he’d seen then, too. When we stopped tussling long enough to catch a breath, Theo helped us each up.
“Look, you clowns, we have to get this place done because I need a back massage in the worst way.” At 241, Theo was the oldest of our group, except for Mitias. As an ether dragon, Theo had iridescent eyes, and at six-three with a body shaped by workouts and gray hair turned by time, he’d broken up many fights between us, real and playful.
Taurus looked at Ben and Sophie. “Yeah. That’s right. Get back to work, you slackers.” He slung an arm around Theo. “My pal here needs a massage.”
We had drywall to hang, walls left to paint, floors to clean. And that was only today’s list of chores that Lila had handed me when I picked her up this morning, but in a tossup between picking up a paintbrush or swinging Lila into my arms for another kiss, there wasn’t a real question. I pulled her close and pressed my mouth against hers.
“Get a room.” Taurus whistled.
Ben took a piece of paper—the list—and used his finger to paint a one and zero on it then held it up like he was an Olympic judge, and Theo put his hand over Sophie’s eyes so she couldn’t see us.
Lila laughed. “You guys are hilarious.”
Sophie pushed Theo’s hand away. “What’d I miss?”
Taurus laughed. “Nothing good.”
There were plenty more laughs before we closed up for the day and went home, and I savored every single one.
By the weekend, we’d knocked out a few more of Lila’s lists, and the place was taking shape. There wasn’t much we could do until her equipment and furniture started arriving, so I planned a day of hiking for us. Maybe a little hanky-panky on a soft bed of pine needles and the blanket I had stuffed in the backseat with my gear. Definitely a picnic in a clearing.
I pulled my truck in front of the grocery store. So far, I hadn’t managed to come up with a dessert Lila loved. No easy task when she had a dairy issue, didn’t like chocolate and wasn’t a fan of strawberries—all of which were favorites of mine. I strolled the aisles. I’d already ordered fried chicken and the fixings from the deli at the back of the store, but I needed something tantalizing, something beguiling. Preferably something with non-dairy whipped cream that I could lick off her.
I turned away from the produce and moved toward the bakery, and I knew the beady little gaze as soon as I saw him. “Frank.”
He cleared his throat and backed up a step. “I’m just grocery shopping, man.” Fear heightened his already high-pitched tone another octave. And before I could tell him it was a free country, he could do his shopping at his leisure, he turned and dashed away. Without his cane or the shuffle I’d assumed necessitated the cane in the first place. Of course, Lila didn’t use hers all the time, so maybe he had episodes that were similar.
Because everything in the bakery had dairy products or gluten and sugar, I opted for a fresh fruit tray from the deli and put it in the cart, then picked up my chicken dinner for two and walked toward the front of the store. A feeling of contentment settled in my stomach. A day with Lila.
I heard the voices first. Then I saw a mop of black hair. Justin, Gretta’s BFF and a panther shifter I’d met a few times at Sam’s, with Gretta and my pal, Zoe.
Zoe loped toward me, arms out, hug coming in for a landing. When she stepped back, we slapped palms, the backs of our fingers, fist bumped, threw it back, did a three-finger wave and finished on a spirit fingers—the handshake she’d created for us as our top-secret greeting—and Gretta laughed.
“What are you doing here?” Zoe looked up at me.
“I’m picking up some food to take your mom hiking this afternoon. You want to go?” A picture of the three of us sitting on the blanket watching the sunset flashed through my mind and made warmth spread through my chest. I didn’t invest too heavily in what the vision meant. That was how hearts got broken.
“I can’t. I have to teach Justin how to make your world-famous southwestern ham omelet with weed cheese so that it doesn’t taste like shoes.”
Justin’s mouth fell open. “I’ll have you know, if my omelet tasted like shoes, they would be the tastiest shoes in all the land, little missy.” He faked a laugh in her direction then glanced at me and rolled his eyes. “She’s always comparing my food to yours. I seem to come up lacking.”
I figured I could help a guy out. “Use dill to season the cheese.”
“I knew it was dill. I told you, Zoe,” Gretta said, standing a step or so behind her niece.
The chicken in my basket was getting colder by the minute and my dragon’s urge to see Lila powered through me. Although, it might not have all been his urge.
I said my goodbyes, paid for the food, then headed straight to Lila’s. When I pulled in, there were still six cars in the circle driveway, which meant Lila hadn’t ended class yet, or she was standing around inside chatting. I loved seeing her in her element, vibrant and happy. So, I bounced up the porch steps.
The door was open and unlocked, and I smiled. Since I’d come to Spruce, Lila had been put under a sickness spell by the magical orbs the wizards had planted in her yard, and she’d been stalked. But this woman knew no danger. I put the groceries on her countertop beside the basket I needed to pack, then walked to the yoga studio on the other end of the first floor.
“Namaste.” She stood and spoke quietly to Phil and Donna, then to Sueann Hobbs and Diana Pope, and finally to Cal and Maura Poretti, all her regulars. When they were all gone, she smiled up at me. “Sorry. I know you wanted to leave by now, but class ran a little late.”
I pulled her close and kissed her deep and soft, enough to satisfy my dragon. I always went a little deeper, lingered a little longer before I pulled away since even the lightest kiss made my dick stand up for her. “We aren’t on a time clock.”
This time, she kissed me, let her tongue duel with mine until she finally pulled back at just the moment I was about to take control. “I have to take a shower.” Great. The vision of Lila, naked and soapy, running her hands over her skin was not at all helpful to the predicament in my cargo shorts.
“You do paint a word picture.” I stared at her. Leered, actually, until she swatted me with the towel she�
�d used to dry her face after class and then giggled as I chased her to the stairs.
“Yeah, run away, leave me down here with a hard-on. I’ll be fine,” I called up the stairs after her and listened for the tinkle of her laugh before I went to the kitchen to concentrate on something other than the strain of my cock against my zipper.
I’d been in here 110 times, cooked, washed dishes, and fantasized about having sex with Lila on the countertop, but never before had it felt more like home than it did with my woman upstairs showering and singing badly, while I made sandwiches for our day out. This was the life I’d always wanted, imagined I would have.
I made a third sandwich and added it to the pile on the plate in front of me as Lila called out. “Leath!”
Panic bubbled in my gut, and I ran for the stairs, a hundred different scenarios racing through my head. Oh, God. If something happened to her…
My heart pounded; my hands fisted as I rounded the corner to the bathroom. “Lila!” But she wasn’t lying on the floor in a puddle of water. She wasn’t sitting in the shower or collapsed against the wall the way I’d imagined. She stood with masses of white bubbles covering her nipples and mound. But if that was sexy, it was nothing compared to her smile, the way she’d pulled her lips between her teeth, the tilt of her head.
“I want you, Leath.”
There weren’t words in the world I loved more than those. “Yeah?” I pulled my shirt off.
“If you hurry, I’ll let you pop my bubbles.”
“Oh, yeah.” I shoved my shorts off and stepped into the shower with her.
She bit down on my nipple and wrapped her fingers around my already-hard cock to give it a couple of firm jerks while her teeth and tongue worked their magic, and I groaned. She took my hand and set it over hers on my dick, then lifted her head to look at me.