Chapter 6 Meeting the Beast #3
I shuddered and jumped from foot to foot, suddenly cold.
I should have taken my jacket, but I’d left it in the back office at headquarters, and then I’d met Ernest and…
Another shudder. The elevator was taking ages.
I blew out a breath and tried to ignore my pounding heart.
Cold sweat covered my back and neck. My hands shook, so I fisted them.
My stupid brain brought up a memory of me lying on the lounge chair, Ernest lodged deep inside me, kissing me while I melted with pleasure.
He’d been so passionate. I’d never had a lover who’d been as focused on me as him.
As if bringing me pleasure was the only point, and he was just along for the ride.
The scent of our sex was sharp in my memory. I could almost taste him. My mouth filled with saliva, and I swallowed.
I folded my trembling arms over my chest. My nipples and hole ached.
The elevator dinged and opened.
My stomach turned, and my lungs seized. Tears prickled in my eyes.
Get in. Leave. He’s not stopping you. Leave.
I stared at the empty elevator, and the tears spilled, blurring out my vision.
Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t pull enough air into my lungs to move my legs one tiny step forward.
Ernest’s sad gaze was burned into my brain, hurting me like a knife in my gut, and the pain only got worse when I tried to push it away.
Gasping, I stumbled backward and slid down the wall. With a quiet swoosh, the doors to the elevator closed, and I stared at the light passing through the thin gap as the cart moved downward.
Head pounding, I sucked in deep breaths.
I can’t leave. I can’t.
How the hell was that possible? I didn’t know the man. I sure as hell didn’t love him! Another jolt of harsh pain struck my chest, and I choked out a sob.
My mind drifted back to last night. The unbridled lust. When he was in me, it felt so damn right.
I craved to just melt together with him.
The desire to feel him even deeper, the fantasies of getting impregnated by him, the glorious satisfaction his cum brought me…
That was me bonding with a dragon. Breeding kink my ass.
And the contentment I felt in his arms when I was falling asleep last night? The silly, unfounded happiness?
Wait a second. Did I believe what he’d said?
I pinned my eyes on the call button. I couldn’t move, let alone reach out and push it again. The image got blurred when more tears poured out of my burning eyes and down my cheeks.
Oh God, I need to go back to him. I need him to hold me.
I recalled the strange blend of excitement, tenderness, and sadness in his gaze this morning.
How he petted me and tried to soothe me.
Fierce longing squeezed my heart, turning into a scorching sensation along my ribs while my brain scrambled for purchase on reality.
I could see only one solution to my anguish, one course of action that would bring me any kind of relief—to run back to Ernest and throw myself into his arms.
Instead, I remained put and bawled like a baby.
When the door to Ernest’s apartment opened sometime later, I was still sitting in the hallway in front of the closed elevator door.
He wore tattered jeans and nothing else, and the sight of his impeccable torso annoyed me.
My sobs had subsided, but I hiccuped. I lifted my gaze to meet his, trying to infuse as much accusation into my expression as possible.
I truly couldn’t leave. It was all his fault. I sniffled and wiped my eyes.
Ernest looked positively grief-stricken. “Lawrie, my sweetheart.”
I shook my head. I wasn’t his sweetheart!
He knelt by me and scooped me up as if I weighed nothing. Against my better judgment, I wrapped my arms around his neck and breathed him in, hiding my tear-stained face in the crook of his neck and shoulder. Of course, his scent and closeness calmed me down immediately. Stupid fucking dragon.
“Can you at least fly?” I asked, feeling silly.
“Yes.”
He carried me back inside and settled on the living room sofa with me in his lap. He was warm and smelled like a meadow in the mountains, like wind and snow.
“When you’re feeling better, I can take you.”
“Where?”
“On a flight. You’ll need to dress warm.”
His lips skimmed my forehead.
“Why couldn’t I go away?”
More kisses along my hairline. Oh please, hold me tighter.
He ran his hand up and down my side and shoulder.
“The first few days of the bonding are the most intense. You belong to me now, and I belong to you, and our bodies need each other twenty-four seven. Our minds will catch up eventually, and it will get more manageable. Later, we should be able to leave for work as long as we’re together during the nights.
” His voice low and melodic, he spoke into my hair, and I closed my eyes. “Bonding is beautiful. You’ll see.”
For just a moment, I let myself forget about all the crazy stuff. I simply enjoyed being held.
“I’m going to love you, Lawrie. I’ll make you happy, I swear.”
“That’s not how love works,” I told him, even as I soaked up his gentle petting.
“You barely know me, and now I’m moving in?
” I burrowed into his embrace, resting my head on his naked shoulder.
My breathing and pulse were back to normal now that he was touching me.
I had a creeping feeling that he was right about at least one thing; my body needed him.
“Have you ever been in love before?” he asked.
“No.”
“Me neither. I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Slow down, fire breath. It’s the morning after our first date.”
He chuckled, his chest vibrating under me. “Fire breath?”
“It made me faint.”
“I don’t breathe fire.”
“Well, it wasn’t cold either.”
“You must be hungry.”
Now when he said it, I was ravenous. “Do you have eggs?”
Flashing the dimples, he nodded.
“And I really need to pee.”