Page 17 of Desired By the Dragon

Unbidden, the night in the bar flashed through my mind. His hands on my body, working me, his dark tattoos writhing against his taut muscles as he brought me to the edge and shoved me over and over and over⁠—

I cried out, whimpering as I ground down, imagining it was him beneath me, smirking up at me with those blue eyes twinkling, so smug, always so smug, even as he made me come.

The aftershocks shook me, goosebumps racing across my skin as I panted and trembled, my muscles turning into limp noodles.

Fuck. That was too good. Had he known that my body would take over like that when I’d seen the dragon dildo? I bet he had.

I surveyed the mess I’d made and sighed. I would have to pretend like this hadn’t happened, otherwise I’d never be able to look Max in the eye ever again without remembering how it was the thought of him that had got me off.

Professor Darkink would be the death of me, that much I was sure.

Chapter Eight

Kiernan

The Crow’s Nest wasn’t too busy when Taz and I had arrived an hour ago, but now that our coffees were drunk and the time crept closer to afternoon it was picking up.

We’d spent the past hour chitchatting and catching up while Taz told me about her night out the day before. I’d stopped her before she could get into too much detail about the two shifters she’d left the bar with — I was happy for her, but my dragon was antsy and I didn’t need to make it worse by hearing about my best friend’s sexcapades.

“Wait, buttoned-up hottie from the lunch the other day sent you a whole box of toys?” Eyes wide and shining, Taz leaned toward me, fresh cup of coffee clutched in her hands and steaming. “Never would have pegged him for anything more than vanilla.”

I winced. “So I may have forgotten to tell you, but you remember the hookup in the bar…” Taz listened raptly as I explained the encounter had actually been with Max, how I’d gone off on him inside this very same cafe, and how I’d sought him out to apologize only for things to go further off the rails.

Taz set her coffee down sharply, some of the warm liquid sloshing over the rim of the mug, but she didn’t notice as she folded her arms and glared at me. “I was prepared to tell you every sordid detail of my threesome last night, you know, to help a poor sister out so you could at least live vicariously through me. But the whole time, you’ve been holding all this out on me?”

“It’s been a busy few days,” I protested weakly and sighed when she glowered. “Okay, you’re right. I just didn’t want to tell you because I knew what you’d say.”

“Why haven’t you screwed him yet?”

“That,” I muttered, sipping my latte and wrinkling my nose at the taste — the barista had been a little heavy-handed with the vanilla syrup. “I’m trying to⁠—”

“Yeah, yeah, avoid temptation, make good choices, blah, blah. Excuses,” she declared and I scowled, knowing there was nothing I could say in response that would satisfy her. “If the universe really wanted you to swear off men forever, why would it keep thrusting this delicious little professor in your path?”

The use of delicious felt a little egregious, and it was that, not jealousy, that made my reply a little sharper than usual. “Because the universe enjoys fucking with me, Taz.”

Her eyes flicked behind me and her grin was full of mischief that made internal alarm bells ring. “Consider yourself about to be well-fucked then, friend.” Then she waved her hands in the air vigorously and I briefly shut my eyes, contemplating the merits of shifting into a dragon right then and there so I could escape what was almost certainly the delicious little professor himself. The wards would have to work overtime to convince any tourists they hadn’t just seen a large mythical creature in the middle of the cafe, but it might be worth it to avoid the stupid smug grin and accompanying dimple on Max’s face when he saw me.

“Is she meditating?” My eyes snapped open and I glared at the owner of the voice. Max smirked, his hair curling at the ends slightly from the misty rain falling outside. “It’s worth a try,” he continued, unbuttoning his long grey coat to reveal the smooth line of his dark slacks and a maroon sweater vest that was just the right amount of tight across his chest. “I bet you’re starting to feel a little… keyed up, right about now.”

Bastard. He’d known exactly what he was doing by sending me those toys, especially the dragon-shaped one.

“Keyed up? No.” I kept my face blank as I looked up at him from my armchair seat. “Mildly irritated that you’re here, stalking me again? Yes.”

He laughed and I hated that the sound was rich and warm, like you could curl up in the smooth rumble and drift away to sleep peacefully. “Sorry to disappoint, but Taylor was the one who decided the lunch spot.”

I hadn’t even noticed anyone else with him, and I certainly wasn’t relieved when I followed his nod to someone in the queue and confirmed that Taylor was a guy and not a girl. Because that would mean that I was interested, and I wasn’t, damn it.

“You should join us!” Taz slid down to the other end of the comfy sofa she was sat in and plopped her purse down, as if saving the seat for Taylor, and then nudged me until I moved my leather jacket and scarf so the seat next to me on the loveseat was free. “Kier was just telling me that you’re a professor at the college. What do you teach?”

Great. Now he knew we’d been talking about him. As if he needed his ego fed any further. Max grinned, that deep dimple popping out, and settled himself in the seat next to me, careful not to let the damp material of his coat get on me. Surprisingly thoughtful.

His heat hit me next, pouring out of him like he was a radiator, and I shivered, feeling cold in comparison. He smelled like the rain, pine, and paper, like he’d been curled up amongst the books in his office so long that their scent had permanently fused with his own, and when he looked up at me from under his sooty lashes, I swallowed hard.

“Sorry, what?”

Max blinked at me slowly, like I was a spooked cat, but I could hear the amusement in his voice when he repeated himself. “I was just saying to your friend here⁠—”

“Tazmin,” Taz supplied, shooting me a look like I was supposed to introduce her despite the fact that she’d been the one to wave over Max and his friend.