Chapter 6 Meeting the Beast #2
I ran my hand up and down. No foreskin. No marks or scars from circumcision. The head was thicker than the rest of the shaft, a little pointed, shaped like an egg, a thin slit at the very tip. Oh God, those ridges. All in all, Ernest’s dick looked like a big fucking missile.
“This is not a human penis.” My cool tone didn’t match the terror I felt.
He sucked in a breath at my comment but didn’t say anything.
He’d fucked me with that thing, and I’d liked it; my body had been singing like a choir of angels.
I was pretty sure the ridges hadn’t been there last night, and the head must have been smaller.
For a split second, I wondered how it would feel now. Then I mentally slapped myself.
I let go of Ernest’s weird dick and met his gaze again.
The possessive look he was giving me… Another wave of nausea.
“I want to know everything,” I stated with a confidence I didn’t feel. “Immediately.”
He squeezed his eyes shut and blew out a breath.
“Come with me to the living room.”
Scrambling off the bed, I followed him like a lemming to a cliff. The strange sensation in my nipples persisted, and I rubbed them as I went. A sudden realization that I was still very much naked made me quake, but not with cold.
“Stay here.” Cupping my shoulders, he pinned me with his strange eyes. “Don’t move.”
God, he was creepy.
“Can’t you just say it?”
“You wouldn’t believe me,” he threw over his shoulder as he strode to the middle of the room. He stopped far from any furniture. Why did he need space? And why was there so much empty space in his apartment?
“I’m sorry, Lawrence. I swear I didn’t plan on any of this. But there is no good way to tell you. It’s probably for the best you find out as soon as possible.”
Then he closed his eyes, breathed in and out, and…
With a hiss and a growl, the world as I knew it cracked, then broke into pieces. Things that should have remained in a dreamland spilled out into the light of the day, and I wished I could have doubted my sanity—but my gut just went, I told you so.
Ernest seemed to grow in front of me, his skin darkening like ink seeping into paper until it was almost black, shimmering like coal.
His hands and feet lengthened, fingers and toes thickening, nails turning silver, extending and sharpening into claws.
He bent forward, getting on all fours. His face transformed too, the scariest thing, the sight sending bile into my throat as his nose and jaw grew into a huge muzzle.
His back popped, shoulder blades protruding, and the next second, a pair of black wings flexed in the room, sending a gust of wind into my face.
He couldn’t spread them without hitting the ceiling and walls.
When he opened his eyes, they were yellow with thin, oblong pupils. Pinned on me.
In front of me stood a dragon the size of a fucking bus, sleek black skin glistening, sharp thorns coming out of its head, and talons bigger than kitchen knives on each of its four legs.
Its long tail whooshed through the air once and thumped into the carpet between the sofas in the lounge area.
The thinning end lay folded against the entry door.
I opened my mouth and closed it.
A dragon.
Not a cute one from a children’s animated movie. Nope. This was that violent kind of beast you see in a fantasy horror saga, with mean, slanted eyes and snake-like nostrils. This monster ate virgins, burned cities, and dismembered medium-sized elephants for fun.
The dragon tilted his head to the side and blinked, the pupils in its yellow eyes widening and narrowing disconcertingly slow. A blood-red tongue and pearly white fangs peeked out of his muzzle.
“Lawrie, say something.” It spoke. Out loud. The deep, rumbling voice resonated in the room.
Hot breath fanned my face.
I didn’t blink. My eyes were wide open, but the image got dark, a few stars flickered, and someone turned off the main switch.
I woke up on the bed. Ernest combed through my hair, smiling down at me guiltily.
“I’m sorry, Lawrie.”
“What happened?”
Please, let it be a dream.
“You saw me and seemed to forget to breathe.”
Nope. Not a dream.
I’d fainted. Because Ernest can change into a giant reptile.
“For how long have I been out of it?”
“Less than a minute.” He cupped my cheek again, and this time, I let him. I must still be dizzy. “I should have known, but the pull was so strong. I didn’t pause to think and realize it was because it’s you. I’m so sorry. You must be terrified.”
“You’re a dragon,” I said, disbelieving my own words.
“Um. We call it a dragon shifter.”
“You are a huge, black dragon. You’re not supposed to exist outside of a computer game! And why are my nipples leaking!?”
I needed to calm down, or I was going to pass out again.
“Breathe, Lawrie.”
Lawrie?
“Are you going to hurt me?” I choked out. Because seriously, those claws?
Ernest’s face fell, looking so sad I almost felt bad for him. “No. No, Lawrie. I’ve never hurt anyone, I swear. And I could never hurt you. You’re the most important person in my life.”
“I don’t understand.”
He swallowed, still stroking my cheek. It was oddly comforting even though I shouldn’t want him touching me. “My kind… We mate for life.”
I shook my head. This wasn’t happening. I was drunk and high, passed out at the party, and none of this was real. Mr. Sullivan was probably calling an ambulance while writing his swirly signature on my notice with his other hand.
“When you and I had sex, our bodies became tied together. We’re bonding.”
He still wasn’t answering my initial question. “What’s happening with my stomach and nipples, Ernest?”
He stroked my hair, and because I was an idiot, I let him.
“You’re a dragon’s mate. Last night, my pheromones and seed set off a reaction in you, just like your scent and slick affected me, and your hormonal cycle has accelerated.
You’ll experience heat-like symptoms, I’ll feel an overwhelming desire for you, and the connection between us will grow stronger over the next few weeks.
My kind calls it bonding. Affected by each other, our bodies will keep changing, preparing us for breeding and pregnancy. ”
“Pregnancy?” I squeaked. Everything he’d said sounded freaking insane, but pregnancy?
“Due to our physical bond, your heat will come earlier. It’ll last only six days, but it’ll be extreme, and you’ll need me to breed you.” He paused, gazing at me with infuriating tenderness.
It was just a little kinky idea, for fuck’s sake! A fantasy! I didn’t mean breeding for real!
I giggled, sounding seriously unhinged. “I’m not having a kid. I’m twenty-two. I just met you, and you’re…” I waved my hand in front of his face. He obviously knew what he was, and… No. Just no.
“We can use contraceptives, but…”
I shoved at his chest with both hands, cutting him off, but he didn’t even have the courtesy to wince, let alone budge. “This is the stupidest pile of pickup lines I ever heard, and I’m not letting you touch me again.”
He hung his head and sighed. “I’m so sorry.
I don’t regret what happened, but I regret how.
” He caught my hand and squeezed it, then lifted his weird eyes to mine.
“We’re mated, Lawrie. We could have met some other time, somewhere else, but sooner or later, the pull would have brought us together.
We would have made love, and we would have become tied together.
It’s always been inevitable, and there’s nothing you or I can do to change that. ”
“Inevitable, huh? Nothing I can do?” I ripped my hand out of his grip, ignoring his kicked-puppy look. I was not getting knocked up by a delusional stranger at twenty-two, no matter how hot he was. Dragons or no dragons. I needed to get out of here. “Watch me!”
I pushed off the bed and strode to where I remembered the bathroom must have been.
My clothes were there, hanging over a towel rail.
My bladder protested, but that would have to wait.
I dragged on my briefs, wincing when I noticed they were crusty with dry cum.
Dragon cum. Pants went on next. They were a tight fit over my stomach now, but I managed to zip up.
Ernest stood in the doorway, freaking naked, watching me solemnly.
“You won’t be able to leave, Lawrie.”
“Don’t call me that. And if you try to stop me, I’m calling the police…or screaming for help. Something.”
He lifted his palms in a resigned gesture and stepped aside when I slipped through the bathroom door. I shrugged into my shirt and vest as I went. My phone and keys were on a shelf by the entrance. I pocketed them.
“Goodbye, Ernest,” I muttered, tore the main door open, and slammed it shut behind me.
The nerve of that man! Or dragon. Or whatever the fuck he was. I was going to have to process that I now knew dragons existed. Could someone blind me with a flashlight and erase my memory?
My nipples itched, and I rubbed them. I needed to go to a doctor and get some treatment.
Whatever he’d pumped me with, I needed to flush that stuff out somehow.
I pushed the call button on the elevator and fidgeted.
Why wasn’t he following me? Why wasn’t he trying to stop me?
Was he all big talk and no action? I should be glad.
I’d leave this place and forget any of this had ever happened.