13 #2
I needed to. I just needed her. She made everything better and I didn’t mean the sex. I… I needed her.
My boxer briefs were off and her boy shorts as well before I had us under the water. I’d learned she loved having her hair washed, but it pissed her off somehow too. I didn’t understand it, but right then wasn’t the time to tell her that I used to wash my mom’s hair when I was a boy.
I had demanded to when little after all the times she’d done mine because it was only fair.
She was the best mom ever and let me even if I’d probably done everything wrong and made her hair a tangled mess that had taken her hours to comb out.
Dad had found me the second time I’d followed Mom to her bath and showed me the right way to do it.
And when I saw how much she liked it better when Dad did it, I was a little shit and basically arranged it so he had to keep “teaching” me. I would start but then pretend to be bored and he would finish… And probably much more.
I understood that now that I was older. It was a good memory though. Those moments with my parents before I’d lost them.
I’d wanted to share that with Sagan, show her I cared for her like Dad had Mom. So why did it piss her off sometimes?
I wasn’t sure, but she enjoyed it, so I still did it.
Once we were clean and I’d finished her with my fingers and she’d jerked me off, I carried her to the bed. Her legs were spread when she landed after I dropped her. She gave me a look of retribution, but I just chuckled.
Yeah, please, bring it on, but I was also more focused on her wet pussy.
And not just from the shower.
I knelt on the bed and hooked my arm under her knee, freezing when she snorted. I glanced at her and frowned when she rolled her eyes. “What?”
“Don’t bother with that now.”
I couldn’t hide my confusion. “What?”
She went to pull her leg away and sighed when I held her there. “You haven’t eaten me out when we’re not drugged. Like, whatever, don’t bother. I get it.”
I felt small. Like really fucking small and a complete asshole. “I didn’t realize.” I mentally winced when she snorted. Yeah, that wasn’t better. “I want to.”
“Sure you do,” she drawled and tried to pull her leg away again.
I probably deserved her attitude and there was no way to convince her except by putting my mouth where it should have been all along. On her pussy. So I did. Repeatedly.
And from what I could tell, she didn’t have any complaints. Only that I was stupid and hadn’t done it sooner.
The sex was better. She was definitely more into it, but she still kept her eyes mostly closed and I could have been anyone. She wouldn’t focus on me, and while it felt good physically, it wasn’t anything like before.
“What can I do so you’ll stay over?” I asked when we were done and she was dressing. I hadn’t meant to say anything and swallowed loudly at how pathetic I probably sounded.
She didn’t even slow down or really react. “I doubt you have a time machine.” That was it. That was all she said.
Then I was just staring at my closed door, sitting in the empty guest room that still smelled like sex and her.
Don’t start.
I had the mental image of my dragon in third form holding his hands up in surrender but also giving me a look that I knew I deserved it. Yeah, probably, but no one likes to hear that.
The next morning, it seemed that Onyx had had enough of Sagan coming to my room because he cornered me after the updates run. I was pissed that he could drag me off and that made everything so much worse.
I was pissed about a lot, and some of it was completely my own fault, but Onyx’s bullshit? Nawwww, that wasn’t on me.
“You need to stay away from her,” he chuffed, shoving me against the wall when I went to leave. “Listen, asshole. Something happened and she’s—you cannot be so selfish to not see it.”
“I’m not blind,” I bit out. “But you’re way over the line. You’re not even dating her any more than anyone else here.”
He gave me a look of disappointment. “This isn’t my jealousy. I fully acknowledged that I am, but that’s not why I’m talking to you and risking her wrath, you fucking moron!” He growled when I rolled my eyes. “You’re not helping her! You have no future, and you’re a distraction from—”
“Yeah, apparently one she likes because she keeps coming back every night,” I interrupted.
The punch came faster than I could track and I’d been decked a lot by my uncle. Onyx was pretty fucking powerful and that annoyed me since I was supposed to be Alpha.
“You just ruined your chance if I tell her you did that,” I mocked.
He snorted. “Do you even like her?” He studied me when I froze. “You don’t seem to know her at all. You think that would lose me points with Sagan because you talked about bedding her as a jab?”
Shit, he was totally right.
“She’s going through something serious and you’re not helping.
You’re being selfish.” He bared his teeth and got in my face when I didn’t say anything.
“So focus on whatever you guys are doing to take down your uncle and leave her alone in ways that can hurt her. She’s been hurt enough, you piece of shit. ”
I grabbed his arm when he went to leave. “She told you? Seriously?”
He blinked at me like he couldn’t believe me and then disgust filled his eyes.
“No, you need to be serious, man. You have no idea who she is if you even just asked that. She would never.” He yanked his arm away from me and shoved me into the wall again.
“I’m not a fucking moron and pay attention.
Of course I know. I would bet Ayao and a few others know too. ”
I swallowed loudly.
He jabbed his finger in my chest. “Which is dangerous for her. All you care about is you. Your uncle is popular and powerful. You’re acting like a fucking child putting this on her, Thorn.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” I seethed and smacked his hand away.
“Pathetic.” He took a step back and was shaking like he really wanted to end me. “Your uncle isn’t stupid. He knows you would want to do this. So what would have stopped Sagan from helping right away? Think for a moment, asshole.”
“She didn’t have enough backing. She told me that,” I growled. “She’s only helping because he’s corrupt. I know that. It’s not about me.”
“Yeah, except now she’s got power and more backing.
And that means you’re both a risk to your uncle.
He sent you here to be locked in as her mate so you couldn’t come at him later when she had the power to get him out.
He’s immediately undermining her. He’s now her biggest threat and you’re doing nothing but taking advantage of whatever happened to her to get sex. ”
He turned on his heel and stormed off looking like he was having trouble not shifting.
I asked my dragon if that was why he’d been so mad at me. If he’d felt the same and had been trying to tell me. He said not like that and he didn’t know if Onyx was actually correct or just Uncle would always keep power away from Sagan, but he thought I ignored that part too much, yes.
I was too focused on the way I was wronged instead of the collateral damage for what I wanted—asked from and of others. And this was a huge gamble for her and I hadn’t appreciated that enough.
And that was something I was going to fix right away. I still thought the rest was Onyx’s jealousy or—he had piles of his own fucking issues and was projecting. If anyone should stay away from Sagan it was her abusive ex-boyfriend’s uncle.
Especially when she was suing their family. Like… I wasn’t the main problem candidate.
By. Far.
“Can I have a minute?” I asked when I found her building her breakfast.
“For?” she checked, not even sparing me a glance.
“To apologize,” I admitted, not caring who was around. “I realized some things and—”
“It won’t change things,” she said quietly and moved closer. “You waited too long and I would prefer to just leave it alone since the outcome is also the same.”
I leaned in even more. “We do need to talk about that still, but that wasn’t what I meant. I left it too long because you won’t talk to me. You would turn and walk the other way when—”
“This is actually cute even if I hate it reminds me how single I am,” Velle interrupted, looking at us from across the buffet. She was studying us closely and then focused on me. “I didn’t think it would work but—yeah, I guess I really don’t know dragons or relationships. Good job, bro.”
I swallowed a sigh. I actually didn’t hate Velle as much as others did, but she really needed to learn some fucking tact.
“What would work?” Sagan asked, her voice ice cold. She was staring at me with my death in her eyes, chuffing when I froze, completely just frozen at her reaction. Then she slowly looked to Velle. “What worked?”
She glanced between us and then squirmed a bit. “The card. The credit card in your name.”
We all jumped when the plate in Sagan’s hand broke, shattering loudly in the dining hall that was now completely focused on us.
“Are you fucking kidding right now?” Sagan breathed.
“Why are you surprised?” I asked, my heart beating in my ears. “You didn’t tell her?”
I swallowed a groan when I heard that question echoed… By Velle.
Sagan dropped whatever was left of the plate in her hands and walked out of the dining hall without a backwards glance. Oh fuck.
Just… Oh fuck.
And to top it off, I met Onyx’s gaze which made it clear that my ass was grass the minute he caught me alone again.
“Luckily, we heal fast,” my dragon drawled in my mind.