by Roxie Ray
I wanted to come with her, so I increased my speed again, rising onto my hands to get a different angle.
Harley liked it. Her eyes flew open and her hands clutched my arms, squeezing my muscles. “Stefan!” she yelled. “Yes!”
I lost it then. I tried valiantly not to enter her too hard, but my hips moved of their own accord as my orgasm took me. Her inner walls clenched so tight around my cock, milking me and coaxing me to finish. I came into the condom, spurting hot as I moaned. The orgasm stretched for a few seconds as I thrust slowly, relishing the sensations of being inside Harley.
When I finished, I dropped back onto my elbows and thrust a last couple of times with my lips pressed to her shoulder.
She sighed and wrapped her arms around me. “Wow,” she whispered.
I stayed in that position until my leg started to cramp, then pulled out of her—with an intense feeling of loss as I did so. I wanted to stay buried in her core forever—and lay beside her. She turned toward me and tucked her hands against my chest.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She looked at me with something in her eyes that I would’ve said was love if it hadn’t been so soon. Sure, Eros was head over heels in love with her with me not far behind, but I couldn’t assume she felt the same way.
“I’m perfect,” she whispered, then snuggled her head into my chest. “Thank you.”
Eros crowed his approval. We’d given her the perfect first time, and she’d even had an orgasm, something the internet said didn’t often happen when a girl lost her virginity.
It was an experience Eros and I wouldn’t ever forget, either.
19
Harley
“If I’d known sex was this amazing, I would’ve done it years ago,” I whispered.
Stefan snorted in the dark behind me. “How do you know it’s not just me? If you did it years ago, you might’ve been sorely disappointed.”
I laughed, but he was right. According to every women’s magazine ever, most men needed a lot of teaching and coaching to give their women lots of orgasms and amazing sex.
We’d spent most of our two days off in bed at his place or mine. We had to be near Nana at night, so we came to mine, but when her nurse was there, we went to his. The shop was built in a way we were sure nobody downstairs could hear us, but we didn’t have that surety at Nana’s.
The last thing I wanted was for my elderly grandmother to hear me have an orgasm.
“Well, I think I may be a sex addict now,” I said.
He pulled me closer with a low growl, and the evidence of his own addiction to me pressed against my ass. “Again?” I asked, amazed.
Grinding his dick against me, he hummed low in his throat, something he’d done a lot while turned on. I was pretty sure it was Eros’s doing. “The perks of being with a twenty-two-year-old dragon. We’re pretty virile.”
We’d had to stop for a box of condoms because he’d come close to running out. Rolling over, I wrapped my arms around him, and he sank into me again as soon as he slipped on another condom.
With a sigh, I held on and waited for the orgasms to build again. We were floating on a cloud, a bubble in time, loving each other’s bodies with abandon.
But reality set in too soon. The next morning, we both had to go to work, the first time we’d been apart in two-and-a-half days.
When my alarm went off, he couldn’t resist one more time, to my delight. We used my shower, awkward, but he was strong enough to hold me up against the shower wall. By the time we both came and actually washed ourselves, we were both running late. He dropped me at the salon on his way to the shop, and I was another few minutes late because I had to give him a proper goodbye kiss.
I unlocked the back door with an enormous grin on my face, then raced to the front to unlock it just in time for opening. Thank goodness we had no immediate appointments, so I was able to do my opening duties before my first client.
My smile stayed plastered on my face, prompting all my customers to ask about it. A few of them had seen us around town and teased me for it, but I didn’t care. I was pretty sure I was already head over heels in love. What did I care if the world knew it?
At lunch, I considered taking a sandwich to Stefan, but a woman walked in with a huge bouquet of roses from him.
My heart skipped more than one beat as I read the card.
Because I can’t be with you. See these and think of me.
What a wonderful man. Floating around the shop, I didn’t even bother eating. I was too full on love. A text from Abby reminded me I had more to worry about than me and Stefan. She asked if I’d considered meeting our father.
I hadn’t, not really. My mind had been preoccupied with Stefan. But I had a heart full of love, and it sounded like he’d had good intentions over the years. He still had a lot of questions to answer, but I wouldn’t get any of them unless I met him. I called and let her know I would.
She seemed surprised but relieved. “He’ll be happy to hear that,” she said. “I’m heading back home in a few days, so I’ll set up a time for us to all meet. I’ll let you know, okay?”
I thanked her and hung up to see my next appointment.
Knowing I had a shot at reconciling with my father made me feel even brighter. Laura came in not long after the flowers were delivered. After a few minutes of watching me smile, she snorted. “Ugh, young love is disgusting.”
I didn’t reply. It wasn’t my fault she was a miserable old witch. I was happy for the first time in a long time, and she wasn’t taking that from me.
With the developments in my love life, and knowing I was descended from dragons, I’d decided that opening my salon and spa in Black Claw was a better idea than moving out of town. Stefan and I were not likely to split apart, and he’d need to be near the Kingstons if he was going to be a permanent member of their clan. I knew that was what he wanted.
One day soon, I’d start looking at properties. I could focus on the spa portion more than the salon so as to not take too much business from this place. I wanted to bring a different aesthetic, not just a salon, anyway.
Laura didn’t stay long, and my next client was usually a regular of hers. “Are you planning to buy this place?” she asked casually as I soaked her fingers.
“Hmm?” I asked. My mind hadn’t been on her conversation, of course.
“When Laura sells it. Have you thought about buying it?” I knew she worked at the bank, maybe she was angling to get me a loan, and a commission for herself.
Wait. Laura was selling the salon? “I had no idea she was contemplating selling it,” I said, trying to sound uninterested until I got more information.
“Oh, yeah, she’s been talking to me about it for a few weeks. I guess she’s pretty determined.”
The good news was just falling in my lap today. “Interesting,” I mused. With some renovations, this salon would be the perfect place for the spa. There was a ton of room in the back to expand and put the spa back there. I had to try to get it. With a solid business plan, I had a shot.
As soon as my shift ended, I walked the few blocks to Todd’s shop to see Stefan. It felt like we’d been apart for days, not hours.
He must’ve heard me coming. Those dragon ears were pretty handy. He met me at the bay doors and swept me into his arms, kissing me like he had every right to do so.
Which, I guessed he did. After the things we’d done over the weekend, a kiss was the least of our worries. “It’s getting harder and harder not to claim you,” he whispered when he pulled away.
He hadn’t given me the full details of how it worked yet. Ava and Char had been pretty quiet about it too, saying it was intimate between mates, and he should be the one to tell me. Every time we’d started talking about it, he said the thought made him wild, and we ended up having sex again.
“I’ll go upstairs and start dinner,” I whispered back. “And you can explain it in a bit more detail.”
He nodded and kissed me again, reluctant to
let me go. “Be up soon.”
I skipped up the stairs on light feet. He’d given me a key as soon as we got back to his place after our first time making love up in the mountains. We needed to go grocery shopping, both for his place and mine.
As I threw together a meager meal of canned soup and peanut butter sandwiches, I dreamed of what it would be like to live in our own home. I couldn’t leave Nana while she was still so vulnerable, but it wouldn’t always be like this. I hoped to have her around for many more years, and we’d make do until then. Maybe we could get my salon off the ground and build a house with room for Nana to live with us. That would be awesome.
“I’m starved,” Stefan said, shocking me out of my musings. He’d come in the door without my even noticing.
Jumping, I sloshed the soup all over the stove. He laughed at me, which didn’t bother me when he did it. It helped that he then shooed me away and cleaned it up.
“Chicken noodle soup and peanut butter sandwiches?” he asked.
“Hey, you’re the one that needs to do a grocery shop, buddy,” I said as I dried my hands. “We’ll go together, I need to fill my pantry as well.”
He pressed a kiss to my lips and cradled my face, something he loved to do. “I love that idea. Shopping together.”
“Me too.” Smiling up at him, I puckered my lips for a kiss but blew a raspberry on his mouth when he pressed his lips to mine. “Go wash up,” I commanded.
When we were at the table, eating our odd dinner, I grilled him about the claiming.
“Well,” he said around his soup. “I bite you during an orgasm. It’s painful for a second, but then it makes the orgasm out of this world, so I’m told.”
My jaw dropped. “If they get any more intense, I’ll pass out.” Damn, but I was game to try.
He laughed at my reaction and shrugged. “I don’t know, it’s different for the men.”
“What will you feel?”
“I’m told it’s a sense of responsibility, of belonging. Like our world has a center and home. I think you get some of my sexual experience and I get some of yours. Women tend to view sex as an emotional experience, don’t they?”
I nodded. “Not always. Sometimes it’s just a good fuck.”
He snorted and dribbled soup. “It’s hot when you talk like that.”
Crude language wasn’t a constant in my vocabulary, but I was known to drop the F-bomb from time to time. I’d have to remember he liked it.
“For men, it’s usually more about pleasure,” he said. “I’ve never felt the emotional connection until you. In a way, I was a virgin, too.”
I gave him his first emotional sex. Making love. That was a nice sentiment. “And what happens after? Longer life?”
He nodded. “Yes, though as the daughter of a dragon, you would’ve had that anyway. That’s why everyone thinks you’re younger than you are. With my bite, it’ll be an extremely long life. Better health. You won’t get most common colds or flus. You’re much less likely to get cancer or other diseases.”
“Like heart failure?” I whispered, sad to think that my grandmother wouldn’t have it if my grandfather was alive.
He nodded. “Yes. Most mates die together, within a reasonably short time, if they live to an old age. If younger, it doesn’t always happen that way, but it isn’t unheard of. Your grandmother had something to fight for. You. She couldn’t let go until she knew you were safe.”
That was something I couldn’t think about right then. I was happy and still had my Nana. With modern medicine, I’d have her for a while. I considered the long-life aspect. Most people assumed I was fresh out of high school. “Would we have to move eventually? To keep people from realizing we’re not younger?”
He nodded. “Yes. Some clans have agreements with other clans to shift from one territory to another every thirty to forty years. I’d say the Kingston clan will need to in the next decade. James still looks the same age as all his sons.”
That would mean I’d have to move as well. I hated the thought. But I’d been given the chance of an extraordinary life. I couldn’t turn it down.
“Is marriage pointless because of the bite?” I asked. I couldn’t help but feel disappointed that I might not get to have a big fancy wedding.
“No,” Stefan said. “Marriage is important to some and not others. Maverick is planning his proposal right now for Ava.”
The news made me squeal. “I had no idea!”
He grinned and let me freak out without making me feel silly. “Now I know you like the idea of a proposal,” he muttered into his soup.
“Oh, you better believe it. I hope you’re not all anti-marriage, because that’s a problem.”
Stefan sighed and put his hand on his forehead. “I suppose I can suffer through it.” He laughed again, but then sobered up. “But you do need to take your time deciding about the bite. It’s a lifetime commitment, and you can’t just divorce a mate. It doesn’t work that way.” He sucked in a deep breath. “And, there’s a little bit more about my past I need to share, but I will only burden you with the knowledge of my history if you’re my bonded mate.”
My jaw dropped. “You have more?” I’d suspected he had, but since he hadn’t told me since we had sex, I figured it was my imagination.
He nodded. “It’s not that I want to keep it a secret, but the information is... Well, it’s a lot. I won’t put it on you until we’re all in.” He stiffened as if bracing himself for my response.
“I can’t think of anything you could tell me that would make me run,” I said. “I know you’re not a rapist or child predator.”
His eyes widened. “No, of course not!”
I couldn’t imagine anything else he might’ve done in his past that would scare me off. “Serial killer?” I asked.
He gave me a flat look. “No.”
“Then, you might as well tell me. I want you to give me the bite. I don’t know when the right time is. I’ll leave that up to you. But I’m in, with you, forever.” I’d never been surer of anything in my life.
“I hope you mean that,” he said. “Because if you’re ready to hear it, I’ve been feeling a strong pull to tell you.”
Moving around the table, I sat beside him and took his hand, prepared for whatever he might throw at me.
20
Stefan
I told her everything. About my father and how abusive he was. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “But, Stef, an abusive father is hardly something to make me run screaming.”
“I’m not done,” I said, sorry I had to tell the rest of it. “When I was sixteen, my father got very drunk and took things too far. He injured my mother, severely. I came in at the tail end of it, and that close to my first shift, I lost it.”
Harley squeezed my hand. “What did you do?”
I didn’t want to tell her this part. My heart pounded out a rhythm of denial. Except for Maverick, I’d never told another person what I’d done. This was harder. I cared more about Harley and her opinion of me. “I killed him.”
She didn’t react. When several seconds ticked by without her making a sound, I looked up at her. Her eyes were full of tears, but they weren’t scared or angry like I’d expected.
They were sympathetic. Sorrowful. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “Why didn’t your alpha do anything to help you and your mom?”
I couldn’t believe she wasn’t running from the room, screaming. I’d killed my own father. “Our alpha was my dad’s brother. People had told him many times about my father’s abuse, but he refused to believe it.”
“Oh, Stefan. What happened to your mother?”
“I got her to the hospital and managed to hide my dad’s body. I knew I had to run, but I couldn’t leave until I knew my mother would be okay. I had planned to take her with me.”
Realization dawned on Harley’s face. “What happened?”
“She didn’t make it. He’d caused too much damage to her organs. And he’d claimed her, against her wish
es, I think. So when he died, it was a blow to her already-injured system.”
Tears rolled down Harley’s face, and she gripped my hands harder. “I’m so sorry.”
“When she was gone, I left. I knew it was only a matter of time before they found my father’s body. I’ve been running ever since.”
“Do you think he’d still come after you? That was, what, six years ago?” She nuzzled her face into my neck, clinging to me. As stressed as the moment was, I loved the feel of her in my arms. “Do you think we’ll have to run?”
“We?” I asked.
She sat up and stared deep into my eyes. “I’ll run with you if we have to. I’d have to figure out what to do about Nana, but we’re together now, for the good and the bad.”
As she stared at me, more tears fell, and soon a sob burst from her throat. “I’m so sorry,” she said as the crying consumed her. I wrapped my arms around her and marveled at the fact that not only was she not running, she was crying real tears of sympathy for what I’d gone through.
She didn’t see me as a ruthless murderer, or a complete screw-up. Nor did she think me a coward for running away.
She finally calmed her tears and wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry. It was just too much, thinking about how scared you must’ve been. You were so young and all alone. I can’t imagine your alpha not helping you! It’s horrible, even more so considering he was your uncle.” Harley threw her arms around me. “I’m so sorry.”
I put my hands on her cheeks. They were soft and inviting. I’d been having a hard time not touching them constantly. “Maverick is the only other person I’ve ever told the whole story to,” I whispered.
Her reaction and acceptance invoked deep feelings inside me and Eros. Harley pressed a soft kiss to my lips, then pressed her nose to mine. “I’m on your side. Always.”