Dragon Keep Me

Chapter Eighteen

Natalie

This wasn’t going to be that easy for him. Mr. Arrogance. It was electric, though, lying beneath him. The way he smelled and felt, his lips sliding over my pulse point in my neck and making my heart hammer. If I didn’t find a way out from under him, he might make this the fastest battle I’d ever lost.

“I have a three-date rule before I sleep with a man,” I said, lacing my fingers in his hair and tightening until I knew it pulled.

He followed my yanking, taking his face out of my neck. His voice was strained when he answered, “We will see about that,” and the sharp promise in his words spun my core like a cotton-candy maker.

I was lucky today. Or so I thought. His phone started ringing and vibrating in his pocket. I thought he would answer, but he shifted his hips and pressed it against me, hitting the bullseye between my legs with immaculate accuracy. The vibration jolted a moan from me, and I knew my eyes bulged out of my head.

He studied my face, and made a delighted sound in his chest like, “Mm-hmm,”

“Cass,” I gasped, putting my hand on his chest.

He grinned. “What? Is something the matter, Natalie Norman?”

“You’re cruel,” I panted, as the vibrations rang through me, my toes curling in my tennis shoes.

The call stopped, and I sighed in relief, trying to catch my breath. I couldn’t. The way he looked down at me, our faces so close. I’d never been looked at like that by a man, but I wondered how many women had felt that way in his embrace.

“You’ve certainly honed your craft,” I mumbled.

He tilted his head. “As what?”

“A player—”

They called right back, and the vibrating in his pocket started anew. I cursed whoever this spam caller was. Cass was expecting it. I could tell by the smug smirk as he laid more of his weight into me, pressing the vibrations deeper.

“Mm,” was all I could muster. My cheeks burned hot at the idea of being held hostage by a vibrating phone.

He leaned down and took my earlobe between his teeth, asking, “What do you think? Should I answer that?”

His breath on my ear sent a shudder through me and I gasped, “Yes!”

The ringing stopped, and he trapped my lips with his. I tilted my head into the kiss, opening to allow the slide of his tongue over mine. His scent seemed stronger now than before as he mercilessly invaded all of my senses and made my head spin. He enveloped me, and I lost the rest of the world beyond him.

It wasn’t an automatic call back this time. There was a twenty-second pause involving the most shameless make-out session I’d ever been a part of. Then, sure enough, that ringtone started again. It was the generic one that every phone came programmed with. I was sure I’d never be able to hear it again without thinking of the time a dragon trapped me beneath him and used it as s****l weaponry.

Cue the vibrating. The ache in my core was twisting, begging for release, and I whimpered as my hips involuntarily arched upwards. Oh my god, is this man going to make me come with a cellphone? I felt mortified and impressed all at the same time.

“Should I answer?” he teased again, his voice husky.

“Yes…no. Yes! Mm.”

I was close. On the edge.

“Yes, no, yes? Which is it?”

I couldn’t let him win this round so easily.

“Please answer it! Please, please.”

He clicked his tongue, but reached into his pocket. His knuckles rubbed against me as he retrieved the phone, and I had to bite back another moan. He said, “Okay, fine, I will answer. I wanted to see you come, but I love to hear you beg.”

My face flushed, and I glared at him. “Figures you would need mechanical help to get me there.”

Surprise lit his features, but that cocky smirk didn’t leave his face as he answered the call.

I could hear Gideon’s annoyed voice on the other end. “We’re all here in my office. Waiting for you, to, you know, save your life.”

“You act like you don’t spend every moment of your life in that office, anyway,” Cass said.

“I’m sending the witches home,” Gideon started. “I don’t even know why I put in the effort—”

“Oh, calm down, drama wolf,” Cass said, snickering. “We’re on our way. Natalie was distracting me.”

My eyes widened as he hung up the phone. “Why would you tell him that?”

“You are distracting me,” he said, grinning. “I like it.”

“That doesn’t mean you tell other people!”

His brows came together. “It doesn’t matter if I do or not. They’ll know what we were doing.”

“How?”

“Oh, they can smell it. Your arousal.” He sighed. “Usually I can, too, but alas, without my dragon--”

“What do you mean, they can smell me?” I demanded, sure my face had bever been hotter.

He seemed surprised by my reaction. “They’re wolves. It’s okay, though. They don’t mind. Wolves are very accepting of sexuality.”

“Oh, my god! That’s… just, no.”

He snickered and touched my cheek. “You look like a little purple raspberry when you blush with this blue skin.”

I frowned. “I want to hit you.”

“Kinky,” he said, rolling his tongue with a little growl. He didn’t push it, though, and stood, pulling me up with him.

Cass

Yes, I was going to enjoy this. I hadn’t really had to pursue a woman in…well, ever. The hunt was more exciting than I could’ve imagined. She’d wanted to come, I could see it, but she was determined to hold out. I wasn’t a liar. She would eventually beg for more, but I could be patient. I wouldn’t be forgetting that mechanical help jab, either.

“I need a moment,” she said, and turned on her heel to the restroom.

“Of course. You can’t wash that arousal off, though. It’s seeping from your pores, darling.”

She glared over her shoulder at me, and I heard the water turn on and the cabinets of the vanity opening and closing. When she emerged, she smelled like obnoxious, musky perfume.

“Let’s go. I don’t enjoy being late,” she said, and I motioned for her to go ahead so I could follow her. Leggings were nice. Thank you to whoever normalized wearing them as pants. She fidgeted in the elevator, trying to smooth her wild curls into a purposeful shape.

I opened the door to Gideon’s office, and it was all eyes on us. Finn, of course, was the most obvious, giving us an eyebrow wiggle.

Poor Natalie, he was going to say something. He couldn’t resist. I knew he couldn’t.

“What were you guys up to?” he asked, grinning.

“None of your business,” I answered as I felt Natalie dying of embarrassment next to me.

Gideon arched an eyebrow and then cleared his throat. “Right then, let’s focus, people.”

The meeting went on. I knew I should focus, as it was my life being saved, but I was struggling. Watching Natalie. She put on her businesswoman face and was all seriousness.

I got the gist of the plan, though. Divide and conquer. We’ll go in teams and search the lakes systematically, starting at the Canadian border, until we find the correct one. The witches would be the head of each team, so they could transport us back and forth. Enid and Leo had even taken a leave from school, which made me feel shitty since it was their first semester, but I appreciated it.

When the meeting was over, I headed to the door and pulled Natalie out with me.

Turning to her, I said, “We’re going on a date. Tonight.”

She arched an eyebrow at me, maintaining her sass. “Oh, we are, Mr. Dragon? You think I just do what you tell me?”

“Yes, you do,” I said, leaning close to her face. Her brows lifted and her mouth fell open, but she didn’t have an answer, so I added, “It’s black tie.”

She held her hands out. “Oh, will black leggings work? Because I forgot all my evening gowns at home.”

I took out my phone and pulled open the wallet part, handing her the credit card Gideon had given me.

“That should work, right?” I asked, while she stared at it in her hand like it might come alive and bite her. “Get whatever you want. Take the other girls. They like shopping, especially Kat.”

“Cass, this is an Amex Black Card,” she said.

I stared at her, shrugging. “Is that bad?”

“These are like invite only? You have to be super rich to get one.”

“Oh, I am. But Gideon got that for me. He handles all of my money. It’s too confusing in the twenty-first century.”

“How much money do you have?”

I shrugged again. “I don’t know. A lot. I stole some treasure from another dragon after Eris killed him. There was, like, uh, this raw emerald. It was, I don’t know, six-hundred pounds or something, fine quality. It fetched like $90,000 per carat. I kept the rest the treasure. It’s at my house. I like gold.”

Her mouth had progressively dropped open until she was gaping at me, and she shoved the card back into my hand. “I can’t take this!”

“I’m inviting you on a date, and you need a dress,” I said, pushing it back. “So, you’re taking it.”

Everyone else was filing out behind us, and I turned. “Hey Kat! Natalie needs to go shopping.”

Kat’s head popped up out of the crowd with a grin. “Shopping?”

“It better be your credit card if you’re sending her,” Finn grumbled, looking at his wife. “She’s temporarily banned from mine.”

“Oh yes, sweet Kat, get whatever you like,” I said, winking.

Finn’s face darkened ten shades of red, while Kat fawned back, “Oh, thank you, Cass. I’m glad someone isn’t a total tightwad around here.”

I gave Finn a smug smile and then turned back to Natalie.

“I’ll see you later. Have fun. Eight o’ clock.”

“Maybe I don’t want to go,” she said, crossing her arms.

Stubborn, stubborn. I knew she was toying with me.

I grabbed her upper arm to lean down and whisper in her ear, “Trust me, you do. We both know you’ve got something you need to finish, no?”

She blushed again, and I clicked my tongue. The game continues.