Gold (Date-A-Dragon Book 1) Read online

  Twelve

  Ella stared at the mirror, barely recognizing herself. Her mom had helped her pick out a dress while shopping the other day, insisting Dante would love it, but Ella didn’t know if she had the guts to go down there looking like this.

  He’d just gotten back from helping set up the rehearsal dinner venue, and she could hear him laughing downstairs with the other guys.

  She fingered the deeply sloping neckline in a silky, loose V that revealed ample cleavage. The dress was tight everywhere else, curving down to hug her waist and ample hips, embellished with little black crystals that sparkled from any angle. The tiny cap sleeves could barely be called that, resting on the edge of her shoulders, revealing most of her décolletage.

  Her mother clucked approvingly as she gave Ella a reassuring rub of her shoulders. “You look beautiful. You have such a nice figure. Why don’t you show it off more?”

  Because someone told me I was ugly. And when they violated me, I believed it.

  She touched her own skin above her collarbone, marveling at how smooth it was. Why did she have to hide all the time? She wasn’t alone facing Cliff anymore. And she knew if she told Dante, he would believe in her.

  She was safe. Safe to be beautiful. Safe to not hide.

  She was wearing small, crystal-covered black heels, and hoped she wouldn’t trip in them.

  Her curls were styled and pulled up in a loose up-do, with several free around her face.

  “I know it’s your sister’s rehearsal dinner, but tonight should be fun for you, too,” her mother said, messing with her hair one more time.

  Ella nudged her hand away and turned to give her mom a hug. “Thank you. I’m sorry I stayed away.”

  “Was there something wrong?”

  “No,” Ella said. “I just… It doesn’t matter. From now on, I’m going to come home more.”

  Her mother’s face lit up. “I’m so glad. Now let’s go down and show that beautiful man what a gorgeous lady he’s got.”

  Ella took a deep breath. “Okay.”

  She followed her mom, who was wearing a similar dress in dark blue but with a small beaded jacket over it, to the top of the steps. As she looked down, she saw Dante, wearing a sharp, silvery suit with a light-blue shirt and a gray tie, looking tall and muscular and just unbearably handsome as he looked up at her.

  When he gaped, it was the best compliment she’d ever had.

  Dante was a lot of things, but caught off guard wasn’t usually one of them.

  She laughed to herself, hoping this was just the start of many times she made him look at her like that.

  He came to greet her at the bottom of the stairs, taking her hands in his as he looked her up and down. She snorted when he paused extra long on her breasts and cleared her throat until he looked up.

  She was going to make a snarky comment when she realized his face was bright red. He put a hand up to his mouth, closed in a fist, and sat there for a moment, as if he were thinking of something to say.

  She smoothed the dress nervously. “Do you like it?”

  “Like it?” he sputtered. “It’s beautiful. Amazing.” His golden eyes narrowed. “I want to tear it off you right now.”

  “All right,” her father boomed. “Whatever you two are talking about over there, I don’t want to hear it.”

  She giggled. “I guess we should head out.”

  “I guess so,” Dante said, still looking frozen in place.

  “All the blood went to your head?” she teased.

  “And other places,” he muttered.

  She laughed and swatted his arm, but he looked dead serious. She put her arm through his. “Come on. Let’s go dance the night away.”

  “I get to dance with you?” he asked, sounding flabbergasted. His suit was silky, and she loved the feel of his broad muscles underneath. She felt so safe with him.

  “Of course,” she said. “Unless you want to let someone else do it.”

  He let out a sound like the sort of feral growl a tiger might make, and she looked at him in shock. “I’m not letting anyone come near you in that dress. You’re all mine tonight.”

  As she felt blood rush into her cheeks, she realized something startling. Some part of her, when he said, “You’re all mine,” was okay if he meant forever.

  Oh damn, she was falling hard for this man.

  Dante loved the feel of Ella in his arms. Her scent, some kind of perfume that mingled perfectly with her natural floral, spicy fragrance, was an aphrodisiac.

  Her body in that dress was blowing his mind.

  When she looked up at him, smile sparkling, eyes glowing, he felt he’d never been happier in this world. In any moment of either of the times he’d lived in.

  He wanted to take her home and make love to her right now.

  He did another quick scan for Cliff, wanting at all times to see if he was around, but luckily, the other man seemed to have gotten the idea. Either from Dante’s fight with him or from Ella’s family booting him out of the house.

  He stayed away from the bridal party and mostly hung out with a group of male friends that Dante suspected might be shifters, too, based on the similar heights and builds between them.

  That explained why Cliff had been stronger than he’d expected when they fought.

  On the other hand, Dante didn’t know what would happen if he had to fight Cliff in shifter form while he himself wasn’t able to shift.

  So right now, all he could do was keep an eye on him.

  Which wasn’t easy when all his eyes wanted to do was stare at his mate.

  “Last song for me I think,” she said breathlessly. “You okay to do one more?”

  “I could do this forever,” he replied, meaning it with all his heart.

  A youngish-looking man came up beside them, tapping her on the shoulder, “Can I butt in?”

  “I will kill you,” Dante said flatly, and the man’s face paled as he turned and ran.

  “He’s joking,” Ella called after him, stifling a laugh.

  “I wasn’t,” Dante said. “He put his hand on you. He had no right.”

  “And you have the right?” she asked, looking up at him with those sweet eyes that were allowing themselves to be more and more vulnerable.

  “Of course I do,” he said. “You’re with me, right?” And as far as he was concerned, that was forever.

  She sighed and let him sweep her up in another spin. The dancing they did here was different than his time, but he’d quickly picked it up. It was more like moving while lightly hugging, and he loved it. She took his lead, looking into his eyes with admiration, and he got to admire her beautiful body as they moved around the floor.

  When they finished, everyone clapped for the musicians, who started another song.

  Ella looked over at the table where her parents were still eating, talking to relatives, and her sister was sitting next to her fiancé.

  “Do you want to get out of here?” he asked.

  She looked over. “I suppose we should stay a little longer. Just to be polite.”

  He didn’t want to, though. He wanted to get her home and put his hands on her. He couldn’t believe he’d even waited this long. He could already imagine peeling that dress off of her, all the things he wanted to do.

  All the ways he wanted to win her over, making her fall so hard for him that by the time she found out his secrets, she would be hopelessly won.

  So she would never leave.

  The thought of her not choosing him struck pure fear into his soul, because now that he’d found her, there was no way he could live without her.

  His eyes wandered over to Cliff again. Why did she want him to stay away from Cliff? Was she worried he’d kill the other man or that the other man would kill him? At first, he’d been offended, thinking she’d implied he was weak.

  But what if it was the other way and she was worried about him hurting Cliff?

  That was a dark thought, and he pushed it away. It was paranoi
d, and while that was normal for males in love, he wasn’t going to let it affect their time together.

  “Are you okay?” she asked. “You’re getting that shady look again.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “What?”

  “You know, sometimes tonight you’ve just been looking off in the distance and squinting and then scowling really hard. Is something bothering you?”

  Oops. “No.”

  “Good,” she said. “Let’s go eat some cake.”

  “Sounds good,” he said, leading her back to the table, making sure Cliff was nowhere in sight. Mine, his heart said. Mine.

  While she ate, he would sit there and think about all the things he would do when they got home together. All the ways to show her exactly how he felt.

  Thirteen

  Ella felt nervous as she sat in the bedroom later that night, just after getting home. They’d left before the rest of their family because she’d been tired, though not wanting to admit it.

  And also because she was a little worried about Dante starting something with Cliff, despite his promises not to.

  She’d often caught him scanning the room, and while he didn’t admit it, she knew what he was doing.

  And she was kind of flattered because she’d never been able to depend on anyone like that before. Never trusted them like that.

  Maybe she was ready to trust him in other ways, too.

  Or maybe not. She didn’t know.

  She wanted to try, though. All night, she’d felt sexier and more beautiful than she ever had in her life. That was thanks to him.

  She’d given up on trying to be beautiful. She’d satisfied herself with feeling competent. Smart. Good at her job. A good person.

  But there was something about seeing a handsome man’s eyes just melt when he looked at her that just made everything inside her light up.

  Like old circuits she hadn’t even known were there were suddenly working.

  And she liked it a lot.

  He’d told her to wait in the bedroom and take her shoes off, but nothing else. He’d said he had a surprise for her and disappeared into the bathroom.

  When she heard the water running, she guessed what. A smile crooked her lips, and she waited, listening to him move around.

  “Okay, I’m ready,” he said, opening the door so that steam wafted out.

  It smelled amazing. She stood and walked toward the door, seeing a bath drawn with scented bubbles and little flower petals poured in. “Where did you get this?” she asked, dipping her fingertips in the water.

  He shrugged. “Might have stopped somewhere on the way to help with the rehearsal dinner. I wondered if something like this existed, and the shop owner was able to help me.”

  How could he not know bubble bath existed? He was so funny sometimes. But as she put her hand up to cup his face, feel his hard jaw, watch his gold eyes soften tenderly at her, she knew she wouldn’t want him any other way.

  “Do you want me to take my dress off?”

  He shook his head. “No, because I’ve been wanting to all night, and I’m going to go crazy if you don’t let me.”

  She giggled as he reached around behind her and slowly began lowering the zipper. His fingers caressed her bare skin, skipping over her bra strap and continuing down until the dress was fully unzipped, falling around her shoulders.

  She gasped as he stepped back from her, taking a long, heated look before lifting the straps in his hands and sliding them off her shoulders.

  The strapless bra she was wearing could barely contain her boobs, and she smiled as he bit his lip in agony just looking at her cleavage all pushed up like that.

  He continued pushing the dress down until it got sort of stuck on her hips.

  “It’s tight there,” she said, amused by his intent expression. “If I wiggle, it might help.”

  He swallowed visibly as she moved her hips slightly back and forth, taunting him, as his hands slowly moved the dress over the curve of her butt and let it drop to the floor, revealing black panties she’d worn to match.

  He stepped back once more to take it in, then bit the top of his fist again. “My hell, you’re beautiful. Or should I say heaven. I—”

  She stepped forward, putting a finger to his lips. “Shh.” She reached for her bra, unhooking it and letting it fall, revealing her breasts to him.

  It was so different from the only other man who’d seen her breasts. In this moment, she felt safe and beautiful, so she let her hope wash all of that away.

  She was about to take off her panties when she realized she still needed to strip him. She stepped forward, running her hands over his powerful shoulders, his beautiful suit. Then she helped him shrug out of his jacket. She was eager now, and her hands fumbled with his shirt buttons, hurrying to get him free.

  She helped pull his shirt off and then struggled with the button of his pants. He smiled, gently moving her hands away, then undid the button and the zipper and stepped out, revealing tight boxer briefs and an absolutely enormous bulge.

  For a second, fear tripped over her, but she took a deep breath, looked into his warm, golden eyes, reminded herself she was here with Dante, who would only be gentle with her, and slowly calmed.

  He watched her, making sure she was okay, and when she smiled up at him mischievously, he knelt and grabbed the edge of her panties lightly with his teeth, slowly dragging them down to her knees, where he brought up his hand to take them the rest of the way so she could step out of them.

  So hot.

  “I’ll get in first,” he said, reaching for his underwear. “You ready?”

  She nodded eagerly. The thought of a dick had scared her before, but right now, she wanted to see it. More than she’d ever wanted anything.

  He nodded and pulled off the underwear, revealing something more beautiful than she’d ever expected. Silky skin, defined head, almost sculptural. She almost reached out to touch it, but then pulled back.

  She needed time to warm up first, and a bath was perfect for it.

  He stepped into the tub first, then put out a hand to help her. She stepped in cautiously, not wanting to slip. She was glad her parents had decided to put in a large Jacuzzi with plenty of room.

  When both her legs were in the water, Dante sat first, gently resting against the back of the tub. Then he reached up, cupping her hips and butt and gently pulling her down in the water to join him.

  Around her, the water was just the right temperature, almost unbearably hot but perfect once you got used to it. Kind of like Dante, whose golden eyes were watching her intently, as he had the other night when they’d first done things.

  But as hot as the water was, his hands were like liquid fire as they began to move over her, thoughtfully caressing every inch. The thick foam of the bubbles and the powerful aroma of lavender flowers permeated the air around her, adding to the ambience as his slick hands explored.

  It was as if he were memorizing the feel of her. A tiny shock of pleasure went through her as his hands found her breasts, squeezing them and making the water ripple around her, but not lingering as he moved to her hips, gently playing with her stomach and pressing a single finger into her belly button.

  After that, his hand made a trail to her back, making her spine tingle and arch as he ran the entire length down to her hips. She saw him grin a little as he squeezed, making her blush, but too overwhelmed by the raw, sensual heat of the moment to be able to care.

  Ella scooted closer, wanting to touch him while his hands moved down to her thighs, teasing the insides and making her ache for more deep within.

  His own body, surrounded by water, was just as tight as she remembered, his taut muscles slick and sensual and glistening.

  As his hand moved to her center, playing between her folds and around her clit, she felt hard muscle encased in velvet skin as she grabbed his arms, the sensation of it all almost overwhelming her.

  Dante’s other hand came around her back, pulling her closer and into his lap. She ha
d a second’s hesitation, but when he stopped all pressure, she relaxed, moving onto him of her own volition. Realizing how amazing this felt when it was her choice.

  He gave her a reassuring smile. “You all right?”

  “Better than all right,” she said. “Don’t stop. More.” She was hungry for him. For everything she’d been missing out on while hiding from romance and focusing on her job.

  He flicked his finger against her clit, pulling a moan from her mouth.

  “So beautiful,” Dante murmured, moving around softly.

  Ella closed her eyes, awash in a sea of pleasure and sensory stimulation so powerful she could focus on nothing else. Then she felt Dante’s lips on her breast, just above the water, the touch a sensual contrast to the feverish excitement he built within her between her legs.

  But Dante wasn’t rushing, which made it all the more sensual.

  With intentional, agonizing deliberateness, he stroked his finger over her clit again and again. She could feel every ridge, every accentuation of his digit, his fingerprint as it passed over her center. And as he did, he slowly licked and kissed at her breasts, making a circle around one nipple with his perfectly timed tongue, then moving to the other before she could get too heated.

  It was as if he were trying to make her come harder than she ever had before. The delay was erotic and frustrating, so hot it blew her mind yet so careful she wanted to go faster so the incredible fire burning within her could abate, if even for a second.

  “Can I feel inside you?” he asked.

  She thought about it. She’d never had anyone do that. But looking into his gorgeous golden eyes, she felt safe. “Yes.”

  She pressed her hips toward him and felt his finger gently slip inside. Somehow, that added a whole new level of want to the situation.

  Ella arched slightly, leaning against his hand on her back as she explored the intense sensation. It grew more powerful as he hooked his finger slightly, rubbing a specific spot that made lightning go up her spine. The hot water, the light feel of bubbles popping around her, his other hand holding her steady amidst it was all just so perfect it defied description.