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

  She felt Dante’s hair, wet from the tub, tickling her skin as he placed several deep, delicious kisses at the base of her neck. Instinctively, she brought a hand to the back of his head, running a hand between his thick, blond locks even as he continued to stroke inside her with one, then two fingers.

  When she felt something jolt through her as tension inside her began to reach an unbearable level, her hand gripped his hair, holding on for dear life.

  “That’s it. Hold on to me. Look at me. Only me, Ella,” Dante said possessively, his warm breath coursing over the heated, wet skin of her neck and shoulders.

  “Only for you, Dante. Only ever for you,” she replied, too caught up in the passion to care how intense that sounded. Right now, it matched how she felt.

  She’d never before experienced pleasure like this, and she was quite sure that nobody else would ever be able to make her feel the way he did.

  Ella didn’t know if it was the water or just her body’s response to such pleasure, but she felt she was getting warmer by the second. As if the tub water was getting even warmer from their lovemaking.

  His fingers went faster inside her, taking less time between strokes, and her entire body felt alight with fire, every nerve poised on the brink of complete release.

  She felt Dante’s lips on her breast again, suckling hard, just as his fingers thrust into her and touched that one spot that made her crazy with pleasure, and she tipped over.

  This time she arched, hard, and she was grateful for Dante’s firm hold on her as she cried out his name over and over. She threw both hands around his neck to hold on tight. White light and lavender flooded her consciousness as powerful waves of sensation crashed inside her again and again.

  In the back of her head, she was vaguely grateful for the fact that the guest bedroom was on the far side of the house and they’d come home long before anyone else should, so nobody should be able to hear her. Because she just couldn’t stop the sounds from coming out of her mouth.

  Dante didn’t help, though, still stroking inside her even while she orgasmed, pushing her further than she could have ever thought possible in a single release. Or was it two back to back? Either way, her whole body felt as if it could tear apart as her muscles clenched from the unrelenting pleasure he was giving her.

  When she finally calmed, she was aware of Dante’s gaze on her, watching her, apparently very satisfied, but not at all smug. Which was surprising. Instead, he just looked sublimely happy.

  Like how she felt inside.

  But as he pulled her up to hold her, her body meeting with his rock-hard abs and her legs feeling his taut thighs, she was aware of his thick erection beneath her, so hard it was as curious as it was arousing.

  Suddenly, she felt the sudden urge to do some exploring of her own.

  She wrapped a hand around it, feeling the thick ridge of the tip and then down the shaft, which was silky and hard at the same time.

  She squeezed lightly, and Dante jerked a bit in shock. Ella couldn’t resist the feeling of control, knowing he wasn’t the only one that could get a reaction out of their partner.

  “No need. I don’t expect anything from you,” he said. “We can just cuddle here in the water if you’d like.”

  His handsome face was flushed as he tried to redirect her focus.

  But as her other hand came down and she stroked along his length, his expression tightened in arousal, and Ella felt a thrill of anticipation go off inside her.

  For all of Dante’s perfect ability to pleasure her, he seemed a little uncomfortable being on the receiving end of things.

  And that was both fascinating and arousing.

  She began to stroke faster, her hands inexperienced but her mind focused on making him come so she could see the way his muscles tensed, the way his body looked as he went.

  At first, Dante tried to lean back against the edge of the tub, as if trying to escape the sensation. And for a split second, his deep golden eyes seemed to change color, going brighter like gold dust glittering with the reflection of the noonday sun.

  “Well, if you’re going to play it that way,” Dante said almost indiscernibly. A second later, he pushed himself toward her, bringing them both into the center of the water as his hands found her breasts and squeezed feverishly.

  Instantly, a tingle of sensation crawled up her shoulders. But as good as it felt, she was even more intrigued by the sense of control. Knowing such a tall, powerful man could be overtaken by something so simple as her two hands.

  He groaned as she moved faster on him, and without expecting it, she felt his fingers inside her again, this time stroking intensely.

  Was he trying to make her come before he went?

  Of course Dante would be like that. But in spite of everything inside her going haywire from the insane pleasure building at breakneck pace in her body, she focused herself on keeping the upper hand.

  But that was hard to do when you had the sexiest man alive squeezing a breast, kissing your neck, and stroking inside you all at the same time.

  But seeing the slight flinch of Dante’s body, the way his shoulders tensed as her hands went down him and then back up again, the rush of his breath against her as he tried to hold back himself, was almost as erotic as the things he did to her.

  Then Dante’s free hand left her breast and he flicked a finger against her clit at the same time his finger hooked inside her, and she felt her body brace for incredible release. Flustered, she rapidly thrust her hands down his length and squeezed, and a split second later, she felt his cock twitch in her hands even as her own body collided with the built-up arousal and exploded into an incredible release.

  Dante wrapped both arms around her, holding her tight as she orgasmed in tandem with the huge man that pleasured her as if his life depended on it. And as she moaned out his name between pulses of sensation, she could hear him, face buried in her shoulder, saying her name.

  For many long moments, they went together. And even as she relaxed and could feel him relax beside her, he still held her close. By now, the water in the tub was only a few degrees over lukewarm, but she still felt like a bed of hot coals inside.

  “That was…” Dante said, lacking for words for the first time since she’d known him.

  “Amazing? Wonderful? Incredible? Take your pick,” Ella replied, satisfied she was able to obtain her goal and, in the process, see the sexiest thing she’d ever seen in her entire life.

  “Beyond anything I ever imagined,” he said. “Though you didn’t need to do anything for me.”

  “I did,” she said, stroking wet hair out of his face. “Because I wanted to.”

  “Thank you,” he said. His stare on her was intense. What on earth was he thinking?

  “I know we haven’t gone all the way yet,” she said, running her finger down his chest. “And I appreciate you being patient with me.”

  “Of course,” he said. “I love you.”

  They both froze. She bit her lip. Had he really just meant to say that?

  He blinked, gold lashes tipped with tiny droplets of water. “Wait. I meant I love being patient with you.”

  She cocked her head. “Really?”

  He looked around for an escape or maybe a towel and then reluctantly lifted himself out of the tub. He grabbed a towel and rubbed it over himself quickly to dry off, then wrapped it around his waist and grabbed another for Ella.

  “Come here,” he said. “Let’s get you dried off.”

  What had just happened between them?

  Fourteen

  Great job, Dante. She thanks you for taking it slow and you confess your love for her.

  It wasn’t his fault. He blamed the dress and the tub and her hands and her mouth and her eyes and her wonderful personality and—dammit. It was his fault.

  Because he was in love with her, and he was no good at hiding his feelings.

  And for some reason, she looked terribly nervous as she dried off with the towel, avoiding his gaze.
She went ahead of him into the bedroom and began to change.

  He visually checked to make sure the door was locked and the window shut and then remembered he’d made sure of both before the bath.

  It had been even more amazing than he’d imagined it would be.

  But what was he going to do now? Everything had been going swimmingly, literally, and now he had to explain his weird statement.

  “Don’t you think that’s an odd thing to say?” she asked, now wearing soft flannel pajamas that matched top and bottom as she towel-dried her hair.

  “Not if I mean it,” he said, sitting beside her.

  “You barely know me,” she said, looking up at him. “I’m not… I told you I wasn’t looking for anything. That we were keeping this strictly business. And we should have, and now—”

  He took her shoulders gently. “Why are you freaking out on me? Why does it matter if I say that? I’m still willing to go slow with you.”

  “How?” she asked. “Don’t you know that puts pressure on me?” She put her head in her hands.

  “I’m… sorry?” he asked.

  “No, I’m sorry, Dante,” she said. “Look, I meant what I said before. I really had given up. I thought I didn’t need that in my life. Now we’re home for my family’s wedding, and I’m getting caught up in this make-believe romance with a guy that I hired.” She ran a hand through her hair and let out a sigh of aggravation. “I mean, what am I doing? Did lust make me totally lose my mind?”

  “Was it only lust?” he asked. “Haven’t we hung out together, played games with your family together? Haven’t I defended you, and haven’t we argued? If you ask me, we’re more than lust.”

  She nodded. “I know that. Mentally. But for some reason, it was easier for my brain to accept this whole thing when you weren’t claiming to love me.” She shook her head. “Love doesn’t happen in a week, Dante. It takes longer.”

  “Who says?” he asked. “You’ve had your whole life to fall in love, and you haven’t. So obviously, time isn’t the answer either. Are you going to say you don’t love me? Because I felt you did in my arms.”

  “I don’t know what love is,” she said, throwing her arms up. “I’m damaged, Dante. More than I should be. But after a life of bullying and name-calling and feeling ugly, plus things that made me feel ugly and made me want to close off and hide, it’s not easy for me to believe you could love me.”

  “Then why are you letting me make love to you?”

  “Because I don’t feel like your eyes could lie,” she said. “The more I looked into them, the more I believed you found me attractive. That’s why I said I could start by giving you my body, but not more.” She looked up at him. “Maybe my heart is too broken.”

  “Tell me how it’s broken and I’ll fix it,” he said, taking both her hands and warming them in his. He was still in his towel, but he didn’t even care. “At some point, you have to start telling me your secrets.”

  Her eyes opened and she gave him a frank stare. “And you have to start telling me yours. You work as a male escort, Dante. And you’re with me for a week and you tell me you’re in love with me? Tell me that doesn’t seem like a scam. Tell me it doesn’t seem like you’re trying to get something from me so when this job is over, you aren’t out of luck.”

  “I am trying to get something out of you,” he said, standing in frustration but keeping hold of her hands. “Love.”

  She scooted back. “Then you should have waited. Until it was believable.”

  “I don’t understand why you’re doing this. Pushing me away. I’m sorry for saying what I did. But it’s how I’ve been feeling, and I’m not backing away from it.”

  She stared at him blankly, then sighed in resignation. “Okay. Then I don’t know what to say.”

  He moved around, finding his pajamas to change into them. It was going to be odd sleeping in the same bed as her.

  Dante wasn’t good at facing rejection. He hadn’t ever dealt with much of it, and now he was finding it a foreign, awful concept.

  He’d never expected his mate to react like this to his love. The dragon in him was pacing, offended, wounded almost.

  But it was his fault. She’d told him what she could give him, what she could do, the pace she wanted. He was supposed to keep things as they were until she was back in town.

  Perhaps a part of him was worried he could lose her. That she would rethink things.

  In his time, he’d been a powerful dragon at the top of the social heap.

  Now he was just a good-looking man with a sketchy job, telling a woman he’d only recently met that he was in love with her.

  After he’d tried so hard to hold everything back.

  And what right did he have to tell her that when he hadn’t said anything about being a dragon? It was all too complicated to be believed.

  “I’m sorry, Dante,” she said. “But I need some time alone.” She got up and changed into jeans and a tee shirt, putting a jacket on over the top.

  “Where are you going?” he asked, a sudden chill in his heart. He was being abandoned. He didn’t want to be alone. He’d been alone for too long.

  “I’ll be back,” she said. “I need to think about this. Okay?” She smiled ruefully. “Without your handsome face to distract me.”

  He nodded. “Fine.”

  She went out the door, and he listened, hearing the sound of cars outside. So the rest of the family was finally getting home. Perhaps after some time with the others, she would come to her senses. Realize that having a man, or a dragon, like him in love with her was a very good thing.

  Not something to run from.

  He fingered his ring lightly, frustration running through him. If only he could make her understand.

  Ella walked down the stairs, feeling numb. She heard cars outside and realized dully that her family was just getting home.

  That was nice.

  She went to the fridge for a drink of water, wondering what it was about what Dante had said that made her mind spin.

  She should want to hear words of love from someone like him. He was thoughtful and kind, and even though he was a little mysterious, that gave him a sexy edge rather than deterring her from him.

  He was what any woman should want. Someone to stand up for her. Someone to adore her. Someone to hold her and make everything all right.

  Yet her heart was pounding. Her head racing. She couldn’t even figure out what she was thinking.

  Had she overheated in the tub? Gotten confused from too much pleasure?

  But it hadn’t simply been the tub. It had been the whole night. No, the whole trip.

  He’d been making her slowly fall for him, and she was trying to go along with it, trying to convince herself it wasn’t all a trap and she wasn’t being stupid.

  Because couldn’t every girl fall for her escort? Wasn’t that the point?

  Still, she could believe it up until he’d said he loved her. Then it hadn’t made sense, and she’d felt vulnerable. And scared.

  “Ella!” her mom exclaimed, rushing forward to give her a hug. “How are you doing, love?”

  The word burned, even hearing it from her mother.

  “Fine,” Ella replied. The entire wedding party was slightly tipsy, and she sat at the counter while they all talked in the living room about extremely stupid subjects.

  She would have loved to join in if she wasn’t extremely sober and caught up in thoughts of Dante.

  There was a soft knock on the already open door, and she saw Matt, a guy from high school that she hadn’t really had any reason to hate peeking his head in. He scanned the room until he saw her, then motioned for her to come over.

  Ella looked at the family, then realized none of them were going to do anything about the visitor, and walked over to the door to peek out.

  She saw Cliff standing there, surrounded by friends, as Matt moved back to join him.

  “What’s this about?” she asked, staying safely inside, the door hal
f open between them.

  “Come out and we’ll talk,” Cliff said.

  “No,” she said firmly. She’d promised Dante she would stay away from him. She wasn’t going to break her promise now.

  “Get out here now. Or do you want us to call and bring your pretty boy down?” Cliff growled. “We can settle this now.”

  She doubted it. He was pretty drunk, basically swaying on his feet.

  That also made him less dangerous to her. “Fine,” she said, stepping out and shutting the door quietly behind her. “Say what you want and leave.”

  Cliff walked forward, and she flinched as he reached for one of her wet curls. She jerked back, but he caught one anyway.

  “Remember our night together?” he asked as the guys behind him snickered.

  She slapped his hand away fiercely. “I’m not going to talk until you get rid of your cronies,” she snapped.

  “Fine.” He dismissed them with a wave, and they grumbled as they went to wait in the SUV.

  “So do you remember?” he asked,

  “I don’t care about our night together. Or about anything that happened. I let it hold me back for too long.” She raised her hand to slap him, anger surging through her at the position she was in, but fear held her back, and she dropped her hand. “If you weren’t a shifter, I… would have made sure you got what was coming to you.”

  “Why?” he asked in an oily voice, trying to get even closer as she took a step back toward the door. Toward safety. “All I did was try and ensure what was mine.”

  “By what?” she snapped. “Telling me you loved me? Telling me you were the only one who could? Trapping me, making me think a boy actually liked me, when I was young and vulnerable and bullied and—”

  He cut her off with a finger to her lips, shushing her. “Don’t remind me. Just thinking of you that night turns me on.”

  She raised her knee to try to hit him in the groin, but he dodged, blocking the blow with a laugh.

  “And then you wouldn’t even put out.”