Chapter 11 The Last Drop
The Last Drop
Ansel
They meant the waiting to be part of the punishment. I was supposed to roam the estate listlessly, ponder my crime, and fear the consequences. Except all I could think about was Pascal.
I unpacked and sorted out what needed to be washed. I brought the remaining food to the kitchen for Jessup, our cook, who seemed confused by the staples but didn’t say anything. Then I put my camping gear back into the closet, except for the sleeping bag, which I left out to air.
When I was done, I stared around my bedroom as if seeing everything for the first time.
The astounding number of anxiety bouts I’d experienced here…
I used to do this exercise to avoid a panic attack—name five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two you can smell, and something you can taste.
I could always only smell lavender from the closet, which overpowered everything else.
Now, I smelled pine and the forest soil. Pascal.
It was only a memory, but it was strong enough to make me feel he was here with me. Maybe he was standing under the balcony, smiling and waiting.
I’d touched the dragon’s face, but the dragon was Pascal, and Pascal was the dragon.
One and the same. I’d touched his face and hugged his head to my chest. He’d smelled of the forest. Sitting on my bed with my eyes closed, I imagined stroking his cheeks.
His coarse stubble scraped the pad of my thumb.
He smiled as I brushed the upturned corner of his mouth with my fingertip.
His emerald and golden eyes glowed like jewels.
He kissed me.
Not like Valentin. When Pascal kissed me, it was soft as a feather and dry. His breath wafted over my lips.
I sank onto the bed with a sigh.
This time, his lips lingered. Nipped and nibbled. I opened my mouth, and his scent became a taste. He loomed above me and kissed me deeply, hungrily. I felt the dragon in him, the unlimited power and magic.
My eyes flew open, and I gasped.
I was hard. I was so painfully hard. My ass felt loose and wet, my balls ached.
Without thinking, I shucked my sweats and underwear and shuffled up the bed. Squeezing my eyes shut, I called the vision back. Pascal above me, kissing me.
He runs his hand down my chest and over my stomach, circling my belly button with a fingertip.
He grips my cock and squeezes it, strokes it up and down.
I moan, arching from the bed as I meet his touch.
I spread my legs shamelessly, lifting my knees, and he hums with approval.
Caressing my cockhead with one hand, he finds my opening with the other. He traces my rim with two fingers.
“You’re wet, Ansel.”
“Will you fuck me, please?”
Pascal thrusts his fingers into me and pumps in and out. I want to last. I want to come with his cock in me. He’s teasing me, going too slow and too shallow. I whine, frustrated.
“Fuck me. Fuck me,” I chant.
I rolled on the bed and fumbled for the nightstand drawer.
There, behind old books and boxes of tissues, I found a dark plastic tube.
I opened it and shook the dildo out. It was my only sex toy.
I’d bought it in secret on one of my solo vacations and had it delivered to the hotel.
If my parents had ever found out, they hadn’t said anything.
Now I clutched the toy and lay on my back, lifting my legs to my chest. I was too far gone to question anything. Rubbing the tip of the dildo against my opening, I thought of Pascal.
“You want me to be your first, Ansel?”
I nod, frantic. He presses on my hole, widening my rim with his cockhead.
“Please.”
I’m ashamed but not enough to stop begging. I roll my hips and writhe, trying to get him inside me.
Then it happens. My ass opens for him as his cock slides into me in one long thrust.
I cry out, the glorious fullness taking over all my senses.
He pumps in and out, faster and faster. I moan for him. Please, please, please.
He’s fucking me in earnest now, and it’s perfect. I’m leaking so much slick every thrust makes a lewd smacking sound.
I want to prolong it. I want to feel him come first, but I can’t last. The angle changes, and his cockhead drags along the front wall of my hole.
I explode.
Gasping for breath, I lay on my bed, twisting and jabbing the dildo inside me. I tried to wrangle more sensation out of the orgasm, but it was short and unsatisfying. The dildo was slim, a beginner’s toy that had seemed scary when I’d first tried it. Now it wasn’t enough.
Frustrated, I rolled to my side, and the dildo slid out of me on a gush of slick. My stomach was covered with my cum.
I’d just masturbated to the fantasy of Pascal taking my virginity. So that happened.
Not weird. Not weird at all.
Would he want me?
I scoffed, annoyed with myself. Pascal was twice my age, experienced, a college professor, and a freaking mythical creature. What if he had a unicorn or a fae boyfriend waiting for him at home? No, he would have mentioned someone. But did dragons even date people?
Alone with my thoughts, I showered and washed the toy. When it was back in the box in the nightstand drawer, I could pretend nothing had happened. Except it had.
I could still smell Pascal as if he were next to me.
The self-love session must have opened some secret drawer in my mind, and things kept spilling out.
I should be worrying about the inevitable row with my fathers, but instead, I daydreamed about running to Pascal and throwing myself at his feet. Naked.
The longing and desire only grew.
My parents never talked about anything personal in front of the staff.
If a dinner was quiet, there would be music to face later.
Tonight, we ate in deathly silence, with only the clanking of cutlery for a soundtrack.
My papa scrolled on his phone as he ate, while my father kept casting me murderous glances over the rim of his wine glass.
I was more nervous about messaging Pascal later than about what my parents would say. When Father was done eating, he pushed off the table and strode to the drawing room. I followed without a word.
As soon as the doors to the drawing room closed, Papa went to the bar. My father rounded on me without hesitation.
“What were you thinking?” he hissed. “We were about to alert the authorities when you finally called.”
“I apologize. I needed to clear my head, so I went to Granddad’s old cabin.”
“Alone? Have you lost your mind? Or was that man there with you?”
“Who?” They’d found out about Pascal. Of course, they’d only had to ask the guard at the gate.
“The alpha who drove you here. Is he your lover?”
“No. He’s a friend. He gave me a ride when my car died.”
“Who is he? Where do you know him from?”
“That’s not important right now. I want to talk to you about something else.”
“Not important? You were alone with a stranger. Do you have any idea how that looks? I think your papa and I have the right to know—”
“I’m not going to marry Valentin.” I had to raise my voice to interrupt him. I’d never done that before. I was surprised at how satisfying it felt to be loud for once.
“What?”
“I don’t want to marry him. I don’t love him.”
Father got purple in the face. His nostrils flared, but he said nothing.
My papa sighed, swirling a glass of bourbon in his hand. “Ansel, baby, of course you don’t. You barely know each other. But you will get to know him once you’re together.”
“What if I grow to hate him?”
Father opened his mouth to yell, but Papa stopped him with a hand in the air, the golden rings on his fingers flashing and bangles clinking. Father clenched his jaw and remained silent. Papa’s raised bejeweled hand worked better than a big red stop sign.
“Valentin Lyon is literally the best available alpha in the entire city,” Papa said. “I understand you have doubts, but you have to trust your father and me on this. You will be happy with him.”
“I won’t. He’s patronizing and boring. He looks down on me.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Father exclaimed. “That man worships the ground you walk on.”
“As long as I smile and keep my mouth shut, he does.”
“You will—”
“Bernard, let me handle this,” Papa said mildly and turned back to me. “Don’t be naive, Ansel. He’s an alpha. He needs to feel he’s the superior one in the relationship. You let him think that and do what you want when he’s not looking.”
Father threw Papa a confused look.
“In any case,” Papa continued, “saying no to Valentin would be the stupidest thing you’ve ever done. We can’t let you ruin your life, baby boy. That man is proud. If you say no to him once, he’s never coming back.”
Good. If my parents insisted, I now knew how to get rid of Valentin on my own.
“I’m not marrying him. There’s no way. When he kissed me, shoving his tongue into my mouth, I thought I was going to puke. You can’t make me.”
Papa slumped into the sofa with a theatrical roll of his eyes, which Father took as a sign it was his turn.
“That’s enough of this noise,” he boomed. “You’re grounded until you get your head on straight. Give me your phone.”
I stepped back. That was a new threat. What should I do? I flew on a dragon today. There’s nothing I can’t do. “No. I’m an adult,” I said, my voice shaking. “You can’t hold me here like a hostage.”
“Give me your phone!”
“No.”
“Ansel, I swear to God, I’m going to block all your cards and freeze your assets. Give me your phone right now and go to your room.”
It’s now or never. “Okay.”
“Good.” Father stretched out his hand expectantly.
“Okay, cut me off. I’m not marrying Valentin.”
With that, I spun around, walked out of the drawing room, through the main door, and down the stairs to the driveway.
I intercepted Howard in the parking lot by the family Mercedes. I must have been high on adrenaline because my brain worked a hundred miles per second.
“Hello, Howard, can you please take me to the headquarters downtown quickly? Papa forgot something personal at the office and asked me to retrieve it for him. It’s time sensitive, so we need to hurry.”
Howard looked puzzled by my request but did as he was told. I didn’t wait for him to open the door for me and got in.
Father appeared on the stairs just as we were leaving the property. My phone rang, but I silenced it.
Two minutes later, the car phone began blaring.
“Don’t answer,” I said.
“But, sir, it’s your papa.”
“Don’t answer.”
Howard looked at me through the mirror, then at the road and at me again. He liked me, I knew, more than my parents. But he had a job to keep. “I must answer. I’m sorry, sir.”
Papa didn’t wait for a hello. “Howard, bring Ansel back this instant.”
Howard slowed down. “Young Mr. Perrault says he has to retrieve something from your office, sir.”
A pause. “I don’t need it anymore. Come back.”
Howard glanced at me in the mirror. I nodded.
“Very well, sir. I’ll turn the car around at the nearest crossing.”
“Good.”
Papa ended the call.
“Howard, let me out by the traffic light.”
“But sir…”
“You can’t hold me here against my will, not even under my parents’ orders. Let me out.”
“You’re making my life difficult, sir. Your fathers will be very angry with me.”
“Tell them I jumped out at a red light. They’ll be angry with me, not you.”
He shook his head but stopped by the crossing.
“Thank you, Howard. Please, drive slowly.”
“Take care, sir.”
He drove off, visibly taking his time. He was a nice guy.
With nothing but my phone in my hand, I looked around. I was still in our neighborhood, surrounded by gated estates. I couldn’t stay for too long, or they’d find me here on the side of the road.
I chose one of the smaller streets randomly and began walking as I called a cab. I didn’t even have any money.
There was only one person I could ask for help.
He picked up on the second ring.
“Ansel, are you okay?” His voice, even distorted by the phone, made my heart beat faster.
“I’m fine, but I need help.”
“What can I do?”
I took a deep breath and plunged into the unknown. “Are you alone? Can I come to you? I argued with my parents and left the house in a hurry. I have nothing but my phone.”
He didn’t hesitate. “I’m at home. I’ll send you the address. Can you take a cab?”
“Yes, I already called one, but I can’t pay.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be waiting outside. Message me when you’re in the car.”
“I will. Thank you so much.” Was I smiling? Yep. I was grinning like a fool. I was going to Pascal. I’d see him in a few minutes.
“I’m glad you called me, Ansel.”
“Me too.”