Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
EMBER
The cats pile onto the bed like they own the place, warm little weights purring against my legs as I tuck myself under the duvet. Fidget curls against my hip, Cupid sprawls across the pillow I’m not using, and Ghost is glaring from the dresser as if keeping watch.
My phone buzzes on the nightstand, making me jump.
Nikita McBossy: How did the date go?
Nikki McTrouble: Please tell me you didn’t drool into your soup.
Only a little. He held my hand, I short-circuited, my fork went rogue.
Nikita McBossy: Was this an official date or a “we just happen to be sitting next to each other” situation?
Unofficial. But we went to the park afterwards.
Raine McNosy: The park?
Nikki McTrouble: Did he push you on the swing?
Nikita McBossy: Bro knows how to woo a girl.
It was kinda romantic. His daughter wanted to play.
Raine McNosy: A walk in the park sounds very Bridgerton.
It was family friendly.
Nikita McBossy: Until you two end up making out behind a tree.
Raine McNosy: Just admit it. You’re already halfway to calling him daddy.
Goodnight. Muting this chat.
Nikita McBossy: You know it’s true. Daddy Drake.
Raine McNosy: She’s blushing.
Nikki McTrouble: Where did she go?
I let my phone slip from my hand onto the bed.
I should feel content. It’s late, I’m in clean pyjamas, my book balanced in my lap.
A perfect, quiet night. But as I lift my book, the words blur on the page.
Every sentence turns into a memory of Drake’s mouth on mine, his hands gripping my waist, the way he growled when I told him I was too wet.
I fan the book against my face like it’ll cool me down, but it only makes me smile like an idiot, my fingers absently trailing around the curve of my breast.
A buzz against my thigh has me reaching for my phone again. I thought I muted that chat already. But when I glance at the screen, Drake’s name is at the top of my notifications.
Mr. October: You in bed yet, pumpkin?
I bite my lip, pulse quickening. He’s supposed to be tucking Sienna in.
Yeah. With my book. Got to get my dragon fix somehow.
Three dots dance, vanish, then return.
Mr. October: If only I could fly over and finish what we started.
A laugh slips out of me, shaking my chest. He’s ridiculous. And yet, here I am, grinning at my phone like a teenager.
What’s Sienna doing?
Mr. October: Finally asleep.
…
Mr. October: Now let’s make your book a little more interesting
I hesitate, thumb hovering. My body answers before my brain can catch up, heat spreading low and insistent.
Define interesting.
My phone vibrates again, but this time it isn’t a text.
His name lights the screen. I stare at the video icon, nerves fizzing in my veins.
My finger hovers over the green button, wondering if I should answer or not, but he’s already seen me at my worst and he still stuck around, so before I overthink some more, I take in a lungful of air and swipe.
“Can’t let me read in peace?” My words come out like a breathy whisper as I take him in on screen. His gorgeous smile and… “Are you naked?”
A deep rumble sounds through the phone. He lifts one arm, his hand resting behind his head, scales rippling on his biceps.
“You caught me.” His lips curl into a grin.
He holds the phone away from him more, showing me the full dragon on his chest, scales wrapping around his waist, disappearing under a grey duvet.
“What’s up, can’t you sleep?” I bite my lip, studying the magnificent ink covering his body.
“There’s no way in hell I can sleep after tonight,” he says, his voice deep and rough in my ear. “Read to me.”
A shiver skates down my spine. Even through the phone, he’s in control. I swallow, glancing down at the open paperback in my lap. “Funny… this chapter’s in the hero’s POV. I think you need to read to me.”
A low laugh rumbles through the phone speaker. “Pumpkin, I don’t need your book. I’ve got plenty to say.” His voice drops low and husky, like molten running between my thighs. “But I like that you’re trying to boss me around. You’ll be a good little reader for me in a minute.”
Heat pools low in my belly. I press my thighs together, the duvet suddenly stifling.
“Go on then,” I whisper, breathless. “Say something worth underlining.”
The silence that follows crackles through the phone. When he finally speaks, each word curls through the speaker. “Are you still wet for me, Ember?”
My lungs seize. My fingers clutch the book tighter, knuckles white.
“Drake…” My voice cracks, half warning, half plea.
“Answer me.” The steel in his tone melts my resistance, coiling tight around my insides. “You told me you were dripping earlier. Did that change, pumpkin? Or are you lying in bed, squirming, wishing my tongue was between those thick thighs?”
I gasp, burying my face in the pillow, my free hand already sliding lower.
“Mm.” His growl vibrates through the phone. “That’s what I thought. Now, let me paint you a scene… my scene. You’re not reading tonight. You’re listening.”
I’m dreaming. I must be because holy smokes, this man. My panting breaths dampen my pillow. My thighs are clenched so tight, holding in the pool of heat weeping from my centre.
“Now position your phone somewhere so I can see you. I didn’t video call to stare at your sheets.”
I lift onto my elbow and place the phone on my bedside table with a trembling hand.
“That’s better.” He smiles at me, seeming satisfied with the landscape view I’ve given him of me lying on my bed.
“Spread your legs for me, pumpkin.” His order is low, steady, like he knows I’ll obey.
I whimper, shifting under the duvet, my pyjama shorts dragging against my flesh that’s suddenly too sensitive and hot to touch.
“That’s it,” he praises softly, like he can see what’s under the sheets. “Now slip your hand under. Don’t touch yourself yet—just rest your palm there. Feel how hot you are for me.”
My hand trembles as I obey, the heat of my body shocking against my fingers. “Drake…”
He groans, rough and hungry. “I can hear it in your voice. You’re soaked, aren’t you? All from one kiss and a phone call.”
“Yes.” The word slips out before I can stop it.
“Good girl.” The way he praises me like gravel wrapped in silk shoots straight to my core. “Now… circle with your fingers. Pretend it’s my tongue. I want to hear you, Ember. Don’t hold back from me.”
I bite my lip, arching against my own touch.
His breathing is heavy. “That’s it, Em. Let me make you come with nothing but my voice.”
My breath stutters, heat blooming, every nerve standing to attention.
“Now dip your fingers into your dripping pussy. I want you to show me how wet you are. I want to see all that sweetness.”
I obey, my fingers slipping inside with ease. It’s embarrassing, but I can’t think about that now. Not when this dragon of a man is controlling my every move, possessing me, demanding my orgasm.
“Show me.”
I’d forgotten his request, getting carried away with the sensations of touching myself. I lift my hand from under the duvet and show him the slickness coating my fingers.
He groans. “Undo your buttons, Em. Let me see you circle your nipple with those slippery fingers. Imagine it’s my tongue.”
I shock myself as I unbutton my pyjama top. Each pop of a button, I let out a ragged breath.
His eyes widen as he takes me in, his face close to the screen. “You’re fucking beautiful, Em. So beautiful.”
His words make me want to show him more, so I push the duvet down farther, and kick it to my knees.
“Imagine I’m there, running my hands over every curve of your body.”
I close my eyes for a moment and imagine it all, the rasp of his breath at the nape of my neck, the way his hands would know every hill and hollow of me. I run my slippery finger around my nipple where he asks, and a shiver rolls through me that’s all his.
“That’s it,” he groans. “Let go a little, Ember. Tonight, only for me. I want to hear your pleasure.” His hand disappears under his duvet and bobs under the sheets.
“Are you…” My mouth parts with short and ragged panting breaths.
“Yeah. You make me feel things I haven’t felt in a long time, Em.” His voice is raspy as if he’s as turned on as I am. “Slip your hand back into your shorts. I want to hear how wet you are. I want to see the pleasure on your face.”
He might not be here, but I feel his heat all around me. I whimper as my hand trails over my round stomach and slips under the waistband. The sounds I make are small and honest, and the phone catches them like a secret.
“Good girl. You’re my good little pumpkin.” His voice trembles, his movements under his duvet swifter.
“Show me, Drake. I want to see you.”
His lips lift at one corner. “Ladies first.”
“You—you want to see me?”
“You catch on fast.” His lips unfurl into a wicked grin. He still has the phone in his hand as he brings it closer to his face. “Take your shorts off, Em. I want to see your ginger pussy and not the one that’s curled up at the bottom of the bed.”
I didn’t think my cheeks could grow any hotter, but I’m about to set my pillow on fire. Sansa sits up on the bed, watching me as I lift my bottom to tug the shorts down.
“My cats are judging me.”
Drake laughs. “Sansa’s probably just waiting to see if you bend the knee.”
She meows as if in agreement. Ghost watches from the dressing table as if he’s part of the night’s watch, while Smokey prowls along my windowsill, restless, as if he’s waiting for the show.
“Hey, look at me.” His voice is deep and demanding. “I’m the only one you need to focus on, now kick off those shorts and spread your legs. I want to see you. All of you.”
My legs tremble as I pull them apart, exposing myself to Drake, though from the angle of the phone, my cats have a better view than him, but I’m so turned on now, I can’t stop touching myself as I slip my finger between my folds, the book at my side long forgotten.
“You’re delicious. I want to taste you. Would you like that, Em, my tongue inside you, my lips kissing your pussy?”
I whimper again, about to say yes when he pulls down the duvet, and I’m rendered speechless. My mouth parts as I take in the sight of him in all his glory. The way he’s holding the phone makes it seem enormous, his large hand looking small wrapped around his length.
“You like what you see, pumpkin?” He angles the phone so I can see his face in the background, a smug smirk etched on his face.
“It’s… monstrous.”
He chuckles deep through the handset. “Does it live up to the dragons in your books?”
I nod my head, practically drooling onto my pillow.
“I can’t wait to be inside you. Would you like that? My cock buried deep inside your pussy.”
His words cause another moan to leave my lips. It’s like I have my own personal audiobook. My world narrows to his voice as I play with my clit, slipping my fingers lower and circling back.
“Are you close? I want to watch you unravel.”
“So close.” I strum my sensitive spot faster and close my eyes.
“Look at me, Em. I want you to look at me when you come.”
Holy smokes. I lock onto him through the screen, his eyes, the ink on his body, every vein on his thick length, and the spark inside me ignites.
My hand moves faster, matching his rhythm until the fire catches and spreads.
Heat licks through me like dragon fire, wings unfurling in my chest, lifting me higher and higher.
I call out his name, pleasure tearing me apart in white-hot flames, like I’m burning alive and being reborn all at once.
“Fucking beautiful,” he says with a growl as he pumps out his own release.
Ropes of white cum spurt out of him, hot and uncontainable, striping the black scales inked across his stomach like molten treasure.
I want it to mark me, paint me, claim me, but for now I’ll relive the moment in my head until we can be together like this in person, without distractions.
Cersei stretches out on the bed and rolls over as if bored now the show’s over.
Ghost watches with a wide stare as if he’s frozen on the ice wall, but I’m too blissed out to care what they think.
I can’t remember the last time I came like that.
The Titanic GIF pops into my head, reminding me it’s been 84 years, and a smile pushes my cheeks up.
Drake disappears, then comes back into view, lying on his side with his face filling the screen. “How was that, pumpkin?”
I curl towards the pillow, tugging the duvet over me, feeling like a woman who’s been seen and wanted in what feels like the first time in 84 years. “It felt good.”
His smile reaches his hooded eyes. “Just good?”
I bite my lip and pull the phone onto the pillow so it’s like he’s here with me. “I’m never going to be able to look my cats in the eye again.”
He laughs. “They haven’t seen nothing yet.”
“Well, Cersei thinks you’re overhyped, but Sansa purred in approval.”
He doesn’t retort, just smiles at me through the screen.
“What?” I tug the duvet around my neck, snuggling against the pillow. What are you smiling at?”
“I’m just really fucking happy. I never thought I’d feel things again. Then I met you and…” His fingers brush the screen as if he’s touching my face. “…and now I feel everything all at once.”
Warmth swells in my chest. “I know what you mean.”
“Get some sleep, pumpkin,” he whispers. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I press my forehead to the phone like a ridiculous, soppy idiot and whisper back, “Night, dragon.”
He answers with a soft chuckle.
“Or is it Mr. October? Though we’re in November now.”
“Baby, I’m gonna be your man of the month, every month.”
I believe him and set the phone face-down on the nightstand, the glow of his smile still etched in my memory.
Around me, the cats rearrange themselves into a warm, purring barricade.
Ghost gives one solemn, almost disapproving blink before settling.
I close my eyes, fingers still tingling from where his voice ran across my skin.
Somewhere between the quiet and the purrs, I decide maybe fossils do carry embers, and there’s plenty more sparks left to be fanned.