Chapter Thirteen
Ezra was worried about Sam. Her entire body was trembling, and the expression in her eyes concerned him. It was a combination of disbelief and fear. Was she afraid of him? Or was it her own reaction she was afraid of? Either way, it wasn’t good.
Even a strong person had a breaking point.
She took one deep breath and then another, and before his very eyes, she pulled herself together. She amazed him with her physical and mental strength. He’d known many human men who hadn’t possessed half of her stamina or depth of character.
Was it any wonder he was crazy about her?
“Sorry about that.”
He lifted and positioned her so she was straddling his lap. He ran his hands up and down her back, wanting to soothe and comfort her. “It’s totally understandable.”
She gave a small laugh and rubbed her forehead. “It’s been a crazy—” She broke off and shuddered. “Has it only been twenty-four hours? It seems longer.”
“It feels like I’ve known you forever.” He didn’t know what else to say to help her. He and his brothers were more doers than talkers. Except maybe for Nic.
Sam planted her hands on his chest. “It’s strange, but it does feel that way. I’m more connected to you than I’ve ever been to another person.”
The way she said that gave him pause. “That worries you, doesn’t it?” His beast stirred inside him.
She closed her eyes and lowered her head. “It does.” She sounded tired. “Everyone I’ve cared about has died. My parents. Brian.” She shook her head and raised it, meeting his gaze. “I’ve never dated much, either. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m a little odd.” She laughed again, but it was filled with sadness, not happiness.
“You’re perfect.” He needed her to understand that.
“Far from it.” She rubbed her hands across his chest. “But I appreciate the sentiment.”
He growled, the deep sound rising in tone until the entire room vibrated. “You are perfect for me,” he corrected.
She blinked and then swallowed. “Thank you.” She ran her hands up to his shoulders. “I wish I could see you better.”
Ezra swore under his breath. Once again, he’d forgotten to adjust to the fact Sam was human. “I’m sorry.” He reached out and turned on the small desk lamp on the corner of his desk. It was a recent edition, something Darius had purchased while he and Sarah had been visiting so she could work at the desk in the evenings.
The ambient glow wasn’t overly bright, but it cast the room in a dim light. “Better?”
“Much.” She leaned down until their noses were almost touching. “I like being able to see you. All animals use visual cues in communication.”
He imagined she sounded like this when she was instructing her students at the university. It was hot as hell. Then he frowned. All those horny male college guys probably spent a lot of time ogling their professor.
Sam shivered. “What are you thinking about? It can’t be pleasant. Not with that ferocious scowl on your face.”
He caught her hips in his big hands and pulled her closer. The bulge in the front of his jeans pressed against her mound. “You don’t seem scared.”
She affected a serious mien. “I have it on great authority that I’m perfect.”
Her teasing delighted him. It also turned him on. “That so?” He lifted her slightly, rubbing her against his straining erection.
She gasped and gave a tiny moan. “That’s so.” She dug her fingers into his shoulders. “What are we doing, Ezra?”
He shuddered, his entire body vibrating with pleasure. He loved it when she said his name. “If you have to ask, I must not be doing it correctly.”
As he’d hoped, she laughed. “You have a one-track mind.”
“When you’re around,” he agreed. “I’ve been alone for so long.” He hadn’t meant to say that. It made him sound weak. Desperate, too.
Sam threaded her fingers through his hair, the tips massaging his scalp. He almost purred with pleasure. “You’re not alone any longer,” she said.
He stilled. Barely daring to breathe or to move. “Do you mean it?” If she didn’t, it might break him.
“I can’t stay and put you in danger, but for as long as I am here, you’re not alone.”
Ezra didn’t bother correcting her assumption that she was going anywhere. No way could he let her leave him. She’d have no protection from the Knights out in the world on her own.
“I can protect myself, protect us.” He nuzzled her temple and then her ear. “Promise me you’ll stay.” He slipped his hands under the oversize flannel shirt she wore and cupped her bare breasts.
She jerked and then groaned. “You don’t play fair.”
“I’m a drakon,” he reminded her. “A drakon never gives up its treasure.”
…
Sam meant to stay firm on her decision to leave, but she faltered when he once again called her his treasure. He was lonely, but she didn’t get the sense he would ask just anyone to stay. Women would flock to him wherever he went. No, he wasn’t lacking for female companionship if he wanted it.
And wow, thinking about all those unnamed women touching him, tempting him, made her feel more than a little violent.
“What’s wrong? Maybe I shouldn’t have said what I did, but I meant it.”
She loved her blunt drakon. Oh shit. She couldn’t love him. They’d only known one another for a day. But the heart didn’t always think, and it definitely didn’t abide by any rules of conduct.
She was in love with Ezra.
“Sam?”
“I hate the idea of you being with other women.”
He tilted his head to one side and studied her. “I can’t tell you I’ve never been with other women. That would be a lie.”
She knew that. She felt stupid for bringing up the whole subject.
He brushed his lips across hers. “I can guarantee from this moment forward, you’re the only woman in my life.”
She wanted to believe him, she truly did. Her own insecurities were creeping in. She’d only had two serious relationships in her life, and both had ended with the man complaining she loved her work more than she did him. The sad part was they’d both been right.
“I don’t do well at relationships,” she warned him.
“Me, either.” He smiled slowly, and her bones almost melted. “We can learn together.”
“I get obsessed by my work,” she cautioned. Was she seriously considering staying here and having a real relationship with Ezra? And why not? There was nothing waiting for her. She’d taken leave from her job and had no close friends, no family.
There was the tiny problem of the Knights of the Dragon searching for her because she’d stolen a precious artifact from them. There was no way they were ever going to stop.
He nipped at her chin before running his tongue over her bottom lip. “I get obsessed, too. We can get obsessed together.” He slid his tongue past her lips. She groaned and kissed him back. They could worry about the details later. She’d do whatever she thought was best for him. If he wouldn’t protect himself, she would.
“You’re thinking entirely too much.” He started undoing the shirt she wore, opening one button at a time. He gave a hum of pleasure and brushed the fabric down her shoulders, leaving her bare from the waist up. “Look at you.” He placed his palms over her breasts. “Lovely.” He winked at her. “And perfect.”
She laughed, unable to help herself. Ezra was stern and serious, but he could also be playful. She liked that. Considering his age and the vast amount of knowledge he must possess, he didn’t treat her as though she were inferior to him.
The light from the desk played across his chest, highlighting his tattoos. She placed her index finger on one and followed the curving design from the top of his shoulder to the waistband of his jeans. “Where did you get this?” It fascinated her.
“I was born with it.”
“Really?” No wonder the design was completely symmetrical. It was a birthmark of sorts. She wanted to ask him if all drakons had them, but this wasn’t the time. “It’s incredible. The outline color matches your eyes, but the main color is…” She paused and thought about it. “Blue, like the ocean.”
He circled his palms on her breasts, teasing the nipples into hard nubs. “I’m a water drakon.”
Sam no longer cared what he was as long as he didn’t stop what he was doing. It wasn’t until he chuckled that she realized she’d spoken her thoughts aloud. “I have no plans to stop,” he assured her.
He removed one of his hands, lowered his head, and closed his lips over her taut nipple. Sam’s head fell back as she moaned. God, that felt good. He flicked the tip with his tongue, sending pulses of sensation rocketing through her. Her entire body was alive as though his touch had electrified it.
She almost cried when he pulled his other hand away. She loved his hands. They were so big and strong, rough with calluses in places. He stroked them down her back and under the waistband of her pants. He found her bare bottom and squeezed.
Sam lurched upward and moaned, on fire with a need that kept growing and growing with each stroke of his fingers, each lick and suckle of his tongue and mouth.
His skin was almost hot beneath her palms. The muscles of his chest jumped beneath her touch. She marveled at the bands that delineated his abs.
Then she reached the button on his jeans blocking her from her ultimate destination. She undid it and slid down the zipper. Ezra groaned. “Careful, sweetheart,” he cautioned, but she was past all caution.
She reached into the opening and wrapped her fingers around his thick, warm shaft. It pulsed with life and started an answering throb deep inside her.
Ezra gripped the waistband of her track pants and ripped. The material gave beneath his immense strength. Then he was touching her, stroking her damp folds, lightly rubbing her clit.
She panted, her heart racing. Ezra shoved the tattered remains of her pants down to her knees. “I can’t wait,” he told her.
Neither could she. She had to have him. “Now.”
“Fuck,” he muttered. He yanked her close and lifted her until the tip of his shaft nudged her opening. “You sure?”
He needed to stop torturing her. “Yes,” she almost yelled. She tried to move, but there was no getting around his strength. He wasn’t going to allow her to move until he was good and ready. “Ezra.”
He swore again, driving his hips up at the same time he pulled her down onto his cock. Stars exploded and she cried out. He stretched her, filling her completely. They were joined as intimately as two people could be, and it still wasn’t enough.
She gripped his head and kissed him, needing to feel the heat of his mouth against hers. He tilted his head and deepened the exchanged. He stroked her tongue with his, ratcheting up the heat level to nuclear explosion.
He worked her up and down his shaft until they were both gasping and moaning. There was little finesse, only raw need on both their parts. She managed to open her eyes so she could watch his face. The intensity of need etched there made her heart ache.
He growled and banded one arm around her waist, urging her on. Placing her hands on his shoulders, she moved with him. Each time he left her, she felt bereft. And each time his shaft slid back inside, it stimulated every sensitive inch of her core in the most delicious way.
He slid his hand between them, stroked the tip of his thumb over her clit, and she cried out her release. The delicious constriction of every cell in her body was followed by an explosion of pleasure. It ripped through her until she didn’t think she could take any more. But she was mistaken. The pleasure went on and on.
Sam heard a great roar that shook everything in the room, felt the heat from Ezra’s body and the flood of his release. She fell against him, pillowing her head against his shoulder. When she placed her hand on his chest she felt the thundering of his heart. Her own was racing a mile a minute. She clung to him and concentrated on simply drawing one breath into her starving lungs and then another.
Ezra tilted his head back and closed his eyes, but his arms were still locked around her. She kissed his chin and sighed.
…
That was not what he’d meant to do. Talk about a quickie. He was still wearing his jeans, her pants were in tatters around her knees, and she was still wearing socks. At least he’d managed to get the damn shirt off.
He’d meant to talk and comfort her before taking her upstairs to bed, not nail her in a chair. It was a comfortable leather chair, but a chair nonetheless. For a man who had thousands of years’ experience at lovemaking, he was acting like a youth who’d just discovered the wonders of sex.
Still, he couldn’t argue with the outcome. Sam was all warm and snuggled against him, and he was relaxed and content. Maybe that wasn’t a word most people would use with exceptional lovemaking, but content was the right one for him.
Sam brought a sense of peace to both his human and dragon sides. He ran his fingers through her hair, loving the way the fiery locks tried to wrap around them. He adored her hair.
He mentally began to compose a list of things he needed to order. Clothes and grooming products were at the top. If he wanted Sam to stay with him, he had to provide for her.
His chest expanded at the thought of giving Sam whatever she needed to make her happy. It fed the primal male inside him.
She shifted her position slightly, and he groaned. He was still hard inside her. One of the benefits of being a drakon was that he didn’t need the same recovery time as a human.
Sam eased upright and smiled at him. “You look pleased with yourself.”
He wasn’t exactly sure how he should answer that. He was pleased, very pleased, but that might not be what she wanted to hear. Yup, he’d definitely learned a few things about women over the years.
She laughed. “Now you look worried.” She leaned forward and rubbed her nose against his. “You can be pleased. You knocked my socks off.” She glanced over her shoulder at her feet. “At least figuratively.”
Ezra threw back his head and laughed. Joy bubbled up inside him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d experienced joy at this level. Maybe never. He hugged her tightly and just held her. She was indeed his treasure.
Sam kissed his cheek and then shivered.
“Are you cold?” Stupid question, of course she was cold. The air had a slight chill. He spied the discarded flannel shirt on the floor, leaned over, and snagged it.
“A little.” She tried to make light of it, but he knew she could be worried about being human when he was much more.
He held the shirt so she could slide her arms inside and then pulled it closed. He hated not being able to see all of her. What he needed to do was turn on the heat in his bedroom and take her upstairs, lay her out on the bed, and make love to her all night long. Or maybe he could drag a mattress downstairs in front of the fireplace. That might be more romantic.
A fireplace in the bedroom wasn’t something he’d wanted or needed when he built his home. Now it was a necessity. Maybe an electric one would do. It would give off heat and provide ambiance.
But that would all come later. Right now, he had to leave Sam, something he wasn’t looking forward to.
“What are you thinking?” She fastened two of the buttons on the shirt but didn’t bother with the rest.
“I need to go out to the site.”
…
Sam’s body might still be vibrating from her orgasm, but none of her relaxed feelings remained. Tension invaded her body. “It’s too dangerous.” She gripped his shoulders and tried to shake him. It was like trying to move a small mountain.
“It’s necessary, and they’ll never know I was there. I want to take a look around. I’m a water drakon,” he reminded her. “I want to scout both the Integrity and the Reliant.”
“Why?” Even as she asked the question she knew the answer. “You’re looking for artifacts.”
“We can’t assume the book is the only one. If there was one artifact on the sunken vessel, there might be more.”
She knew he was right, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. “You’re not going alone.” On that point, she was adamant.
“You’re sure as hell not going with me.” Whatever it was he saw in her face, he immediately began to backpedal. “It’s not safe. I don’t have a boat for you to go in.”
“What happened to the dinghy?”
“I scuttled it and stashed it in a crevice deep in the ocean.” He gave an unapologetic shrug. “I didn’t want any evidence leading the Knights to you.”
It made sense, but— “We might have been able to use the dinghy to fake my death.”
Ezra lifted her, and she sucked in a breath as his shaft left her. He was still hard, but the mood had dramatically changed. He carefully zipped his jeans and dragged his fingers through his hair. “I didn’t think about that.”
“You did what you thought best. And maybe you were right.” She stood and tried to pull up her pants, but the waistband was shredded beyond repair and the garment fell around her knees.
Ezra gave a snort of laugher, but when she glared at him, his expression was stern. She knew he was trying not to let her see he was laughing. “I need my clothes. Was any of it salvageable?”
“Your jeans and underwear are in the laundry room. Your coat is, too. Your thermal shirt and sweater were a loss.”
“I need clothes. At this rate you won’t have any left.” She kicked aside the remains of the pants, thankful the shirt was long and covered her. She padded over to the patio door and stared out into the night. There was a click and the desk lamp was turned off, plunging them into darkness. There was no other sound, but she knew Ezra had joined her, could feel the heat from his body, sense the sheer power that surrounded him.
She had no idea how she’d missed the deadly aura he emoted when she’d first opened her eyes and found him watching her. He made her senses hum harder than any artifact ever had. She’d put it down to the trauma she’d been through. Now that she was on the mend, it was constant. But it wasn’t unpleasant. In fact, it made her skin tingle whenever he was around.
“It’s too dangerous.” She heard the finality in his voice, but she was adamant.
She shook her head. “I can’t let you go alone. I can’t.” She turned her back on the night and faced him. “Can’t you understand that?”
“Having you there will only endanger us both. I can dive deep if I’m spotted. No one on the salvage ship will even know I’m there.”
“The salvage ship. It’s your crew out there, not the Knights.” There was no reason she couldn’t go with him. They’d need a boat, of course, but Ezra had to have one somewhere.
Ezra snorted. “If you think for one second there aren’t Knights on board the Easton, you’re mistaken. I’d wager anything that the guy who shot you is on board.”
He was probably right. Aaron Dexter was nothing if not determined. She knew that firsthand. Maybe it was stupid, but something in her gut was screaming at her not to let him go alone.
“I’ll stay in the boat far away from the wreck site, but I’ll be close by in case you need me.” He started to shake his head. “I need to do this, Ezra. For myself and for Brian.”
He growled at the mention of another man’s name.
“Brian was my mentor. He was like a father to me,” she reminded him. Ezra rubbed his hand over his jaw. She knew he was weakening. “It’s important to me to be there for you. What happens if the Knights have some kind of artifact and use it on you? What if they have a book with some spell that can trap you?”
She didn’t believe in magic, but she hadn’t believed in dragons, either. And here she was with the son of one. So maybe magic was real. Maybe there were artifacts imbued with some kind of energy that could hurt Ezra. Maybe there were words that when spoken aloud could enslave him.
When she’d read from the book she’d stolen earlier, something had definitely happened. The air had stirred, and she’d almost been able to taste the power.
“And what will you do if they try to trap me?” She knew he was concerned about her. She understood that. But she wasn’t helpless just because she was human.
“I’ll shoot the bastards.”
Ezra shook his head. “You’re not going with me, and that’s final.”