Chapter 17 Gloom #2
A rumbling sigh came out of my throat. I couldn’t help it. Lawrie touching me in my dragon form did things to my heart. Scary, beautiful things.
He hugged my head, barely able to circle his arms around it, and massaged the softer spots between my thorns.
“You like this, hm?”
“Oh yes.”
“You purr when I do this. Except it sounds like an engine starting.”
“Sorry.”
He gave me another small kiss. “Purr away. We can stay for a few more minutes before we must go back.”
We still had to drive back to Ardaine.
“Just a little while longer.”
Lawrie hummed in agreement, his hands running all over my head and neck. The wind picked up, so I wrapped my wing tighter around him.
After we’d descended to the valley and I’d shifted back, Lawrie ordered me to remain naked. We fucked long and hard over the hood of the car in the deserted National Park parking place. My darling’s eyes shone in the dark, his uninhibited moans echoing in the valley.
When I came, he held me tight with his legs wrapped around my waist.
“You seem wild and dangerous just after you shift back,” he whispered. “It’s so hot.”
The black night around us seemed to allow and forgive anything.
“You like getting fucked by a dangerous monster?”
“My own, private, dangerous monster. A beautiful, terrifying dragon.”
“All yours, Lawrie.”
He hummed when I circled my hips, my cock still hard. We kissed until I softened. Then I turned Lawrie around, bent him over the hood, and licked his ass until he came once more. My own cum blended with his slick was now a familiar taste, arousing and deeply satisfying at the same time.
We arrived at my apartment after eleven.
Lounging on the sofa, we made out lazily, with next to no urgency in our movements.
Of course, I always wanted Lawrie. But for now, I was content just to feel his weight, taste him, and breathe him in.
My Lawrie straddled my lap, clothed in those diabolically sexy biking trousers.
Smiling, he brushed my lips with his. We should probably go to sleep, but neither of us seemed ready for the day to end.
It felt like only yesterday when we’d stumbled into my apartment on New Year’s Eve, lips locked and hands fumbling for belt buckles. At the same time, it was like he’d always been here with me, always been a part of my life, even before I met him.
“I have no idea how I’ll make it through the day without you tomorrow,” I admitted. I still couldn’t even visualize leaving his side.
He put a finger over my mouth. “Shh. Let’s not think about that.”
“What do you want to think about?” I mumbled against his finger and kissed it.
He shrugged one shoulder and bent down for another kiss.
“I’m thinking about how happy I am you’ve found me,” he whispered and licked my upper lip. “How I’m falling in love with you more every day and how wonderful it feels.”
“Mmm. Those are really good thoughts.”
“How I love waking up in the middle of the night with your tongue in my ass or your mouth on my nipples.”
“Brilliant thought process overall. Tell me more.”
“And how much I love your cock.”
He rocked his hips, pushing our erections together, making me groan. Then he softened the kiss again.
“I’ll miss you too, Ernest. But I think we’re ready. The thought of being separated from you doesn’t make me freak out anymore.” He stroked my jaw, smiling gently. “You’re a part of me now. Maybe I’ll feel like you’re always with me even when you’re on the other side of the city.”
The other side of the city. The dragon did not like that idea.
I’d been dealing with fear and insecurity just like everyone else.
But for the first time in my life, the dragon was afraid.
And his fear turned out to be way more difficult to handle.
I’d known about it in theory—I’d heard the stories—but experiencing it was something else completely.
“Hey.” Lawrie kissed the spot between my eyebrows. “No scowling.”
“Sorry. It’s just… I’ll worry.”
“I hate to remind you, but I’ve made it until now without a fierce dragon watching my every step.” He winked.
I winced. How was he so breezy about it? “It’s not exactly rational. It’s an instinct. Whenever I try to imagine leaving you, my brain gets stuck on ‘protect mate,’ and nothing else gets through. My father said they had to literally train to be apart after the bonding.”
“Train? Hm.” Lawrie squinted, looking out through the glass wall. “There’s the small shop open until midnight at the end of the block. I’ll go buy us ice cream, and you wait here.”
What? He was already rising, so I grabbed his hips. “Now?”
Lawrie gently removed my hands and stood. “Yes. We’re going to work tomorrow, so we need to try it now. It’s been more than seven days. You’ll be fine.”
My heart galloping, I hurried after Lawrie who strode determinedly through the living room.
“Wait!”
I grabbed his hand, and he turned to me with the most patient and understanding expression anyone had ever worn. It made me feel like a little kid.
“Lawrie…” I began but didn’t know what to say. He was right. We needed to try.
“Ernest. I love you. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes tops. We can eat ice cream naked. You can put some on my chest and lick it from my nipples.” He waggled his eyebrows, and I groaned. “Let go, Ernest. I’ll be right back.”
I obeyed and let go of his hand, but I couldn’t watch him leave. I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my fists. When the door clicked shut behind him, the apartment getting quiet, I let out a shaky breath.
Holy fuck. I was vibrating.
With a trembling hand, I set a timer on my phone. Fifteen minutes. If he wasn’t back here by then, I’d go find him.
The longest thirteen minutes of my life.
I spent most of them staring at the slowly ticking digital clock on my phone.
There was a small bubble under the screen protector, almost right in the middle of my screen.
It had never bothered me, but now it drove me nuts.
I poked at it, which of course paused the countdown.
Swearing, I started it again. I lost about three seconds.
When the timer showed one minute and a half left, the elevator outside dinged. I all but sprinted to the door. It opened before I got there, and Lawrie walked in, smiling.
“Ice cream,” he said.
I crushed my lips to his and hauled him to my chest.
My mate. Mine. All mine.
Warm, delicious, whimpering softly… My mate. My Lawrie.
He tugged on my hair, and I broke the kiss reluctantly. “Spoons?” he asked.
“How are you so calm about this?” I growled and bit his jaw.
“I’m not. It was hell. I almost chickened out at the main entrance and came back.”
That made me feel marginally better. “But you still left.”
“Yes. Because apparently, we have to train.”
“I hate this. Let’s call Sullivan and quit.”
“No,” Lawrie stated calmly. “We’re responsible adults.”
“Speak for yourself.”
I snatched the ice cream tub from his hand and hoisted him over my shoulder.
He squealed when I threw him onto the sofa and rucked up his T-shirt.
I took one nipple into my mouth and sucked, humming when the delicious milk trickled on my tongue.
I did paint his chest with the melting ice cream like he’d suggested.
He made the best sounds, surprise squeals from the cold and horny groans when I licked and sucked.
I rolled him onto his belly and dropped a dollop of ice cream on the top of his ass, watching it slowly melt and run down to his hole.
He spread his legs wide when I licked through his crease. It felt good having him spread out and helpless, trying to get me deeper. Mostly because I liked the reminder of how much he wanted and needed me.
I rimmed him for ages. The taste of ice cream long gone, I was gorging myself on Lawrie’s slick until he came, bowing his back, his hole fluttering around my tongue. I spilled into my hand, swallowing his juices.
Then I patted his ass cheek. “I’ll put the rest into the freezer.”
“Uh-huh.”
Later, when we lay naked in bed facing each other, I didn’t want to close my eyes. Lawrie’s face was softly illuminated by the glow of the city outside, orange and dark-blue highlights framing his features.
“You’re beautiful,” I whispered.
The words brought a smile to his lips, which made him look even more breathtaking.
“You’re biased, but I’ll take it. You make me feel beautiful.”
“I don’t want to sleep yet.”
“It’s long past midnight. We should.”
“I know.”
He lifted his hand and rubbed my eyebrows gently with his fingertips. Sighing, I let my eyelids fall shut.
“My dad used to do this for me when I was little and couldn’t sleep.”
I’d been careful not to touch on the subject of his omega dad. I didn’t want to upset him. “You must miss him.”
“Every day. I think he’d like you.”
My heart picked up. “Would he?”
“Yes. You’re clearly very intelligent but have an awkward sense of humor.”
I was about to protest, but Lawrie rubbed a circle between my eyebrows, so I simply exhaled. He was right. But since when was my social awkwardness likable?
“It’s cute. My dad distrusted people who were too charming because, according to him, they were used to getting away with stuff, gliding through life too easily. He said that a little bit of struggle is good for the soul.”
“He sounds like a wise man.”
“He was. And you look intimidating as hell, but then you open your mouth, and you’re just this big, clumsy teddy bear.”
“I resent the teddy bear comparison.” Except I was so content when Lawrie tenderly massaged my face, I didn’t sound like I resented anything.
“Okay. I’ll use it to pick the fight you’ve promised me.”
“Not now.”
“No. Definitely not now.”
“How did he die, Lawrie? Is it okay to ask?”
“Yes, it’s okay. He had an aneurysm. One day, he went to work, fell on the sidewalk, and was gone. It wasn’t painful for him, just awfully sudden.”
“That must have been so hard for you.”
“The grief never goes away, but it’s getting less overwhelming with time. I’m glad he knew how much I loved him. I’m grateful I don’t have any regrets, you know? Nothing like should have or shouldn’t have said or done this or that… He was a great dad, and I told him that many times.”
“I wish I could have met him.”
“Me too. He’d have been happy for me.”
Lawrie kissed my eyelids and snuggled closer to me, pressing his cheek against my forehead. I threw an arm over his side.
“Good night, Ernest.”
“I love you, Lawrie.”
“Mmm. Love you too.”