A Destiny of Dragons (Tales From Verania #2)(46)

“Um,” he said, flustered enough that his grip on me loosened. “Would you believe me if I said I had no idea?”

I watched as a droplet of sweat trickled down his neck to the hair on his chest. “Not at all,” I said, though I might have squeaked it out just a little bit. I kept reminding myself that pretty much everyone in the castle was staring at us right now, including my parents, so it probably wasn’t a good idea for me to lick my boyfriend’s chest, no matter how much I wanted to. Even if it was right there. With nipples and everything.

“You sure about that?” he said, moving close enough that I could smell his skin. That swagger was back, that infuriating, sexy-as-hell swagger that made me want to punch him in the nuts as much as suck on them. Vadoma’s voice was echoing in the back of my mind, but this was Ryan. Not even her thinly veiled threats could wash the sight of him from me.

I glared at him, standing my ground as he tried to crowd me. “It looked to me like you trying to prove something you don’t even need to worry about.”

“Oh, I’m not worried.”

“No?”

He shook his head. “I’ve got it on good authority that you’re a sure thing.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Keep talking like that, Knight Commander, and you might find yourself with pull-ups as the only form of physical release you’ll get for a long, long time.”

He laughed at me openly. Gods, how I loved that sound so much. Because when I heard it, it wasn’t from a dashing and immaculate Knight Commander with a chip on his shoulder, but a green-eyed boy who I wanted everything with. “You sure about that?” he asked again, but it was soft and playful.

“Oh my gods,” Gary groaned from behind us. “Would you two just go fuck already? This is so godsdamned disturbing to watch. It’s like you’re face-fucking me with a dick made of sugar. Stop it. You stop it right now and go fornicate before the rest of us get sucked into your black hole of love.”

I pulled away from Ryan to find everyone in the gym staring at us with varying looks of lust and disgust on their faces. I was pretty sure the elderly man next to me had an erection that he kept trying to touch me with.

“I like you,” he whispered to me.

“Uhh,” I said. “That’s sweet. And also terrible. We’re gonna go somewhere else that’s not where you are.”

Ryan grabbed my hand and started pulling me toward the exit. I heard his knights hooting and hollering after us. “Get some, Knight Commander!” one of them yelled. “You’ve got that shit!” He didn’t even turn around but raised a fist in victory to acknowledge he’d heard.

Of course he tripped over his feet when my mother said, quite loudly, “Young man, no one has gotten that shit, because that shit is my son. Let me tell you a little bit about respecting your partner—”

I squeezed his hand as I laughed. I could see the blush on the back of his neck.

I stopped laughing when I saw Vadoma out of the corner of my eye, standing near the back of the crowd.

Soon, she said, mouthing the word.

It felt like things were starting to spiral.

Ryan glanced back at me. I smiled at him as best I could.

He believed me, though.

That’s what was important.




IT STARTED in the empty hallway near the top of the stairs. I’d been trailing behind him the whole way, barely taking my eyes off his ass in front of me. He wore low-slung trousers, the tip-top crack of his ass visible with every step he took. The muscles in his back rippled, and he didn’t let me go.

I almost crashed into his back when he came to a stop. “What are we—mmgh—”

His mouth was on mine as he pressed me up against the wall. Keeping in mind that sexy is as sexy does, I just sort of sagged against him as his tongue swiped over mine. He rolled his hips against me, a quick, practiced move that never failed to make my knees a little weak. His hands were on my hips, his sweat-slick chest bumping mine. He broke the kiss and trailed his lips along my jaw. I turned my head to give him better access to my neck.

“You know,” I said, slightly strangled, “I’m totally on board with this plan, but maybe we could—” And then he did that one thing he did so well involving his teeth and my ear. I jerked my head back, smacking it against the wall. “Ow. Motherfucking ow.”

He chuckled against my face, reaching up to put a big hand between my head and the wall. “You’ve got to be more careful,” he chided gently.

“Yeah, well, maybe you shouldn’t be so good at eating my ear.”

“Eating your ear. Gods, Sam, way to make that sound erotic.”

“I didn’t know we were going for erotic. I can do that if you like. I’ve been practicing. Oh, side of beef, put your mouth hole back on my hearing hole and eat it out. That’s the ticket.”

He leaned back, face twisted up in a grimace. “Mouth hole?”

I shrugged. “My erotic writings are intended for a specific audience.”

“A dead one?”

“Whoa,” I said. “Look who’s got jokes while I’ve got a boner. One of those things should stop. I’ll give you a hint. It’s not my boner.”

He reached between us and gripped me tight. I refused to let my eyes flutter shut, only because having him this close, sharing breaths, was a heady thing. “I’m going to take care of this,” he said, jerking me through my trousers once, then twice. “And you’re going to take care of me. And then we’re going to talk about how you’re deflecting again and how I won’t stand for it. Are we clear?”