by Celeste Raye
Her confession made him feel almost immediately better. She wanted them just as badly as he did. If that was even possible.
“How long are you going to put me off?”
“I don’t see it as that, Neil. Why can't you see it as taking our time? Considering everything we went through together. Although I don't think it will be that hard. Time goes by quickly.”
“I, at least, want a kiss.”
The request threw her off for a moment but she finally agreed. It was just a kiss after all. It's not like she couldn't handle a kiss.
Audra was immediately regretting her thoughts. The kiss was more than just a kiss, more like everything else that he offered and was far more than she could handle.
His lips touched hers gently, and before long, she was floating. It made her feel so right inside. It was just like she had felt before and she would know those feelings forever. As much as she wanted to fight the way he made her feel, Audra knew that it was impossible. She had known from the beginning that if she let him touch her again, she was going to lose herself once and for all.
Now Audra was weak and laced her arms around his neck to hold on. She was already wavering back and forth from the way he made her feel.
“Are you a hundred percent positive that this is not what you want?”
She knew exactly what he was talking about, and it was exactly what she wanted, or more importantly, what she needed, but she also knew better. She knew she was going to lose herself completely, and she most likely would have in a few moments if he wouldn't have asked her. If he would have just kept on kissing her and not asked for permission, Audra knew exactly what would have happened.
“Well, on that observation, I am going to go before something else happens. I don't know how long I'm going to be able to wait, but for now, I can walk away. One day soon, that won't be an option.”
Audra trembled at his words and watched him leave. She wanted to tell him to come back and to do all of the things that he promised, but she knew that it wasn't a good idea. The only good idea that she could come up with at the moment was to lay down and get some rest. Audra had a feeling that she was going to need it.
The only problem with getting rest was the dreams that may accompany it. She dreamed of love with a man that she always dreamed about. But now things felt different, even in her dreams. It felt like maybe this time; they finally had a real chance to be together. They had waited long enough for it, and Audra tried to imagine what she always knew was impossible: a perfect little family with the three of them.
But then, what happened if Jamie was actually Ben’s?
Even in her dreams, Audra was pulled from high to low.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Audra almost regretted sending Neil away. She knew that it was the right thing to do, but her body was pissed off at her. She wanted the pleasure that he was able to give her. Audra had never felt anything like it before, and of course, she wanted to feel it again. Audra missed Neil, but the physical aspects of it pulled her back time and again. He had a way about him, and he had a way of pleasing her that had never been matched before.
When she woke up the next morning, she thought about what it would have been like if he would have been there next to her. Her brain easily went to the past, and she shivered, pulling herself out of it. Audra had a little bit of time before the nanny got there, and Jamie was still asleep, so she slipped into the shower. Her thoughts brought her to Neil, and her fingers brought her to an orgasm that was far from what she would have gotten from him.
The best thing that she could do to get her mind right was maybe take the day off and use the club facilities. Frank let her use the spa and all the other amenities as much as she wanted, but she usually did not partake. But for one reason or another, Audra liked the idea of it. She could get somebody to cover her shift for a couple of hours, and Audra was going to try not to feel bad about it. She felt guilty whenever she took time out for herself, but today she wasn't going to do that. With everything going on, Audra needed a little bit of time to herself.
The first thing she did was get a massage. It almost always made her feel better, and this day was no different than any other day. By the time the masseuse was done with her, she felt like she could melt right into the carpet. Next, she got into the sauna and sweated in there for a little while before getting out and getting wrapped in tight fabric. There was a name for it all, but Audra never remembered it.
It was when she was sat down in a tub of mud that she saw a familiar face. The last hour and a half had been rather nice for her: no work, no crying baby, just silence. That wasn’t going to last very long.
“I have been looking for you. I thought you were supposed to be working today.”
“Frank lets me use the spa sometimes when I'm feeling a little under the weather. You don't mind, do you?”
Neil agreed that he didn't mind at all. His mind was far too worried about the woman in front of him. She was naked underneath all of that mud. He just knew it.
He walked over to stand beside her tub. He squatted down after a moment and stuck a finger in the mud. “It’s warm.”
Audra agreed, though there wasn’t really a comment to be had for that. “It is. The spa is great here.”
She was nervous and he kneeled down, getting closer to Audra.
“Can I have a kiss?”
She agreed quickly, but there was a part of her that knew better. That part was raging loudly and had to stop everything that she was doing, but her head was already nodding. She wanted to feel his lips on hers again. She knew that it would lead to other things, but it was almost worth the risk. She wanted to kiss him again that badly.
Neil got closer and rubbed his lips against hers. He was so gentle with it, and before long, she was wanting more. The risk was there, staring at her in the face, taunting her.
Audra was the first to finally push away. “You’re dangerous, Neil. I can’t even give you a kiss without something else coming up. I knew I should have kept my distance from you.”
“You shouldn’t. You know you want this as much as I do.”
“I know. That’s what I am afraid of, Neil.”
He couldn’t believe that she was even talking about it like it was actually an option. To him, it wasn’t.
“Are you really going to push me away again? Do you want to keep denying yourself what I can do?”
“It’s good to see you’re still humble. We are at work, Neil. We should not be doing anything like this, and I don’t even want to think about what would happen if we got caught.”
“Nothing would happen. I own part of it, remember?”
She just shook her head, a little irked that he wasn’t getting it. She didn’t want to get caught in the arms of the boss.
“So, what is it that I’m doing, that we shouldn’t be doing?”
His hand was slipping into the mud that was covering her, and she was staring at his hand pointedly.
“Like that.”
Neil chuckled at her, but he dismissed her claims that he should stop. It was not what her eyes wanted, and Neil chose to listen to that part of her instead. That part of her was going to give him what he wanted, and there was no better answer for him than that.
“I think you just need a little more attention to loosen you up. You are so tense, Audra. You seem to forget how I can make you feel. It wouldn’t take me any time at all to get it all off your mind.”
His hand felt around on her thigh and then her stomach. It skipped the part of her that was ready for touch, and moved to her small globes, rolling the tips with his fingers until she made a sound of need. He wanted to go immediately where he was needed but knew that he had to take his time. Audra was unsure and just like when he was hunting, he knew that any quick movements could spook them. He didn’t want to spook Audra, not after going as far as they had come.
Neil teased her body for some time before he finally moved in between the thighs that were wide open, ready for him to
touch her. He had stayed away as long as he could, but Neil was no longer able to. He found her opening and she gasped as he pressed against her suddenly.
Audra shook her head and smiled.
“There is no way that I could have forgotten what you can do, Neil. Even if I wanted to.”
His hand moved silently underneath the mud, and Audra was trying her best to hold it together. Her body was quickly coming alive with his touch, and then she knew that she wouldn't be able to stop it. Another part of her, did not want to stop it at all. Neil always felt so good. Maybe too good.
As he touched and rubbed on her, his other hand slipped up to her breasts and rubbed them as well. The mixture of sensations had Audra squirming in the mud, so much so that some of it spilled onto the floor. Her eyes were squeezed closed with pleasure. She was making small sounds that she wished she were able to control better.
Audra had to pull herself together and remind them both where they were. She knew better, but she couldn’t help it.
“You have to stop, Neil.”
“Do you really want me to, Audra? You’re so close.”
Audra bit her lower lip and closed her eyes again. She didn’t see Neil coming, only when his lips were touching hers. The man's mouth and hers silenced all of the noises that threaten to come out. She wanted to scream out in pleasure, but Audra wasn't able to. There was no way that she could with what was going on; he made sure to swallow up every sound that wanted to come out. Audra was splashing about as she tried to get away from his hand, but he wasn't going to let her go anywhere.
After a few more convulsions, Neil finally moved away to look at her with a satisfied smirk on his face. He liked it when she looked that way, and it was something that he remembered fondly from their time together. “The expressions on your face and the way your body moves is almost as good as being inside of you.”
Audra blushed at his words. She was still so unclear as to how he had such control over her. It was like he was a conductor, and she the symphony. Everything she wanted to stop herself from doing, she was unable to, because the decision was, somehow, no longer her own.
“It looks like you need to go rinse off, Audra. Would you like some help?”
Audra had a feeling if she got up with him, she was going to lose everything. Audra was not going to be able to refuse Neil if she did that. Her body was tingling all over, and it was not from the mud. She wanted more of what he could give her, and now that there were fewer lies and secrets between them, Audra couldn't think of a reason why not.
“Only if you promise to be good.”
“I guess it depends on how you look at that, Audra. I can be very good to you, but this time, I'm going to have to be naughty.”
There was something in the way that he said it, and it made Audra shiver. It was like he knew exactly what she needed. All he had to do was ask for it, and Audra was unable to say no. She had said no many times the last few weeks, but she could not any longer. Audra needed Neil.
He helped her out of the tub and wrapped the towel around her before they went off to the showers together. Audra tried not to think about the fact that she passed two people that she worked with and she could see the expression on their faces. They knew where she was going.
Neil locked the door to the shower room and Audra protested, but he just waved her off.
“This is my club after all. I'm sure my brother won't mind if we take a few minutes to ourselves.”
Audra was trying to think of a reason for this not to happen, but she couldn't. There were no other reasons for her to decline this. She was afraid of what would happen next, but that wasn't enough. It was only going to be enough when she and Neil were together again. The only time she felt whole was when he was inside of her.
Neil pulled her close, and Audra closed her eyes when their lips met. It was perfection when the two of them were together. Her body was trembling as he let the towel drop between them. Audra knew that she was going back down the rabbit hole and there was no return. The truth was that her heart was still down there, and Audra wanted it back.
He turned on the showers and Audra washed off the mud. Her eyes were closed, and all she could do was feel. Audra’s senses were overloaded, and it wasn't long before the screams of Audra were bouncing off the tiled walls around them. Neil spent no time at all sliding inside of her, taking her how she liked to be taken. It was almost animalistic in the way that he entered and controlled her body.
“Don't get too loud, Audra; you are going to let the whole club hear you.”
Audra was trying her best to keep silent, but it was impossible. He felt too good, and Neil knew exactly how and where to touch her. She didn't stand a chance.
She never had stood a chance when it came to Neil. There was just something about him that had always driven her crazy. That moment in the shower was just more of the same.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“I hear that things have changed between you and one of the employees, Neil.”
Neil tried not to blush, but he could feel the heat in his face. He had slipped into the mud spa rooms to see Audra for only a moment, but things had taken a turn. He certainly wasn't upset about it at all. It was the turn that he wanted it to take, but that didn’t mean that he wanted to talk to Frank about it either.
“Yes, I guess you could say that.”
“And she told you about Jamie?”
Neil twisted around and looked at his older brother. “Are you telling me that you knew about her?”
“Yes, I did, but I promised her that I wouldn't say anything to anyone. She was always funny about it, so I told her that I would keep it to myself.”
Neil was shocked that Frank would keep such a thing from him.
“But I'm your brother!”
“You are. And I am actually quite shocked that you didn't notice it right off the bat. As soon as she came here to work, I knew that she was pregnant with a dragon child.”
“I don't know if it's mine, so it may not be.”
Frank waved him away like there was nothing to discuss. Neil wasn’t so sure, but his brother was convinced that he could tell right away. What Neil would have given for the same confidence.
“I don't know how you can’t tell. It's yours, unless her husband's a dragon as well.”
Neil shook his head that he wasn't. Ben was a lot of things, but he wasn't a shifter; he was just human, no matter what chaos he could bring around him.
“He's not. But she says that she doesn't know for sure. How can you know?”
“It is just a sense. I am almost a century older than you. Maybe it comes with time. I don't know, but I knew that she was carrying a dragon the first time I met her. It's yours, brother.”
Neil wanted to believe what his brother said, but at the same time, he wanted to know for sure. He wanted something telling him, without any chance of being wrong, that she was his. Neil had looked at the little girl and tried to find himself in her face but had not been able to. It was, of course, a lot to take on at once, but Neil had not been certain. He was not going to be able to stop wondering until he was.
“Well, I am not certain. We will test soon so that I will know for sure.”
“Once that baby starts walking around and starts getting powers, you won't have to have her tested. Have you not seen the glowing eyes?”
“No, I haven't.”
Frank waved him off. “You will see. Just trust me when I tell you that Jamie is yours, Neil. You need to wrap your head around it because she is going to need you to stand up for her. It’s hard to grow up dragon; you know this. You need to make sure that you’re there. I don’t know what’s going to happen with you and Audra, but that’s my niece and I want her to stay around.”
Neil wanted to speak on it more, but he knew better. He was a type of person that liked to keep his thoughts and emotions inside, bottled up as much as possible. It made things easier that way. He wasn’t as worried about everything when he wasn't thinking about it f
ull on. The issues with Jamie were something that he was going to reserve judgment until the time when he needed to figure it out. Soon, he would have his answer, and he would be able to go from there.
“I was hoping we could talk about something else, Frank.”
“Oh? Do I already hear wedding bells in the air?”
Neil frowned. “No, it’s about the business.”
“Okay, shoot, partner.”
“I have had a couple of people come here to do an assessment, and I think that we should add some more services. I was also wondering how you feel about opening it up to the general public.”
Frank was shaking his head before Neil could get it all out.
“No, I don't want to go that route, Neil. I want this club to be only for dragons.”
“But you have humans who work here. So, you're obviously not against it, and I see the way you feel about Audra.”
“This has nothing to do with how I feel about humans; you know that I have no problem with them at all. But many of our kind have a lot of problems with humans. You do not get to live as long as we do without having some altercations with them. When our kind mingles with humans too much, bad things happen. I want to give our kind a break where they can just be themselves.”
“We have to make exceptions. If not, we would have no children to continue on our species.”
“Of course. But the way it has always worked is when we take a human female, we bring her into our world. We cannot go and pretend to be human in their world. It never works out. With you and Audra, it will be different because she is already a part of our world.”
“She doesn't know it.”
“She will eventually and will do just fine with it. Audra is a lot stronger than you think she is, brother. She’s been on the run, pregnant, and a single mother while you were away. She will get through finding out.”
Neil tightened his lips together to form a straight line. It wasn't because what his brother said wasn't true, but because he knew it was true. He had missed so much time with Audra, and there was still so much he needed to learn about her. It wasn't going to help; the idea that she had left him only solidified the notion. They hadn’t had much time to get to know each other before she’d left.