Page 7

7

Elle

A n ornate gold chalice, one that looked so much like it belonged in a museum I expected Harrison Ford to show up with a whip and snatch it, sat on display in Az’zael’s massive living room. Paintings decorated every square inch of wall space. Those probably belonged in a museum, too.

No wonder he’d agreed to pay me twenty-five grand a month. That amount must seem like nothing for someone with his wealth. I should have asked for fifty .

Okay, keep it together. He’s paying for a service. Act like it. At least he’d sent me his test results before I arrived. Throwing around a little extra cash had expedited my results, and I assumed he’d done the same thing. We’d both come back negative for everything, so I had every expectation of condomless sex tonight.

“You have a lovely home.” My voice hitched on the last word.

His massive chest puffed out, and his wings extended several feet behind him before snapping back close to his body. I was pretty sure he was pleased.

I only wished I knew what he expected sexually. A few times since the dragons moved in, I’d searched for a little dragon porn—I’d been curious and horny—but all my searches had turned up little more than human actors in ridiculous costumes. I didn’t know what he might be working with below the belt.

It’s just sex , I reminded myself. Insert Tab A into Slot B .

“Thanks. Would you like a tour?” He spoke quickly. At coffee, he said he’d never done this before, but I’d been too anxious to absorb that at the time. Now, seeing the slight tremor in his extended arm, that little tidbit echoed in my head and put me a touch more at ease. This would be new and maybe a little awkward for both of us.

I slipped my hand into the crook of his elbow, disappointed that I couldn’t feel his scaled skin beneath the thick material of his no-doubt expensive suit, but his warmth seeped into me all the same, settling into my belly. I motioned for him to lead me forward, my shoulders relaxing a notch.

Az’zael ushered me through room upon room of treasure, keeping my hand trapped tight between his arm and chest in a move that felt almost proud, like having me touch him even so slightly was an impressive accomplishment.

He obviously wanted to show off a bit, and doing so seemed to relax him. His apartment occupied the entire top floor of the most expensive apartment building in the city, and it must have been modified to fit his proportions. His wings fit through the doorways, and the ceiling cleared his head by several feet.

Given all the apartment’s modifications, he must have owned it. Hell, he probably owned the whole building. I mean, he owned half the city. Sweat beaded on the back of my neck every time I thought about it.

The many and varied ways he could ruin my life if things went sideways were a lot scarier than anything we might get up to in the bedroom .

“I thought Niemrin was in charge of universities and libraries,” I asked when Az’zael showed me an entire room dedicated to books. “Library” seemed like a bit of a misnomer, since the room seemed more focused on display than functional reading. My own apartment had a single overstuffed shelf of used paperbacks that I constantly had to pare back.

He tilted his head. “He is.”

“Then why all the rare books?” Most were housed in standing, sealed display cases. Only a handful were on the bookshelf. They were probably centuries old. I felt a little dizzy.

“Oh. No.” His feet shuffled, and he squeezed my hand more tightly to his firm chest. “This is my personal library. It’s just this room.”

I blinked. An entire room , and he was shifting his weight like I’d caught him doing something wrong. “An entire room of books sounds amazing. I only have one bookshelf in my apartment, and it’s always stuffed to the brim.”

“So you like books, then.” It was an observation, not a question. Az held himself stiffly, his wings pinned to his back. Part of me wanted to pet him until they flared out again. He looked so insecure, but about what? I saw nothing to be ashamed of.

“Love ’em. What kinds do you have?” Maybe talking about his collection would put him at ease. He’d certainly enjoyed showing me every other room we’d been in so far.

He coughed, smoke puffing out of one nostril. “I choose them based more on, uh, artistic skill than content. That one has a treasure binding dating back to the tenth century.” He pointed to a book on prominent display in the center, the cover studded with gems and the edges gilded with gold.

“It’s also about…” His scales darkened to ruby. “The Bible? Yes. I think that’s what’s inside. ”

“Right. Of course.” I worried the neckline of my dress, suddenly as uncomfortable as he was. A jewel-studded book about humility can’t judge my choices , I reminded myself.

When we came to the last door, he opened it to reveal a dazzlingly lit room filled with sparkling jewelry. It was all I could do to keep my eyes from bugging out of my head. Pearl necklaces. Sapphire earrings. Diamond bracelets.

“Please, pick something.” Az’zael’s voice rumbled from beside me.

My whole body felt icy, and something unpleasant coated the inside of my mouth. One of these pieces of jewelry was years of rent, groceries, everything. Cash was a simple, straightforward transaction, but this felt far beyond what we’d discussed at coffee today.

We hadn’t even kissed yet, so it couldn’t possibly be a thank-you for services rendered, and he hadn’t attached it to a demand for more from me. But all the same, I felt a net closing around me. “It’s all very lovely, but I couldn’t possibly.”

“Take whatever you like, as much as you like.” Az’zael fixed his slit-pupiled eyes on me. His gaze was dark and hot, just like when we’d negotiated in the coffee shop and he’d asked me to count his money in front of him.

Holy shit. He was turned on. Answering heat slithered through my veins.

Maybe he had some kind of financial kink? It kind of made sense. What might a dragon find more taboo—and therefore alluringly erotic—than giving away their wealth?

I wanted to nod, to take the security of one of those necklaces, and I hated myself for my greediness.

I shook my head, my mouth dry.

His shoulders tensed. “I can afford to spoil you, Elle. ”

He could, couldn’t he? He’d shown me that much with his penthouse tour, and he wouldn’t offer me anything he couldn’t afford to give away.

But in exchange for what? That’s what this was, wasn’t it? An arrangement .

“Really, I can’t.”

The tips of Az’zael’s wings drooped, his eyes darting between me and the jewelry as if calculating where he’d misstepped.

Fuck. That was not the reaction I’d expected. He looked like I’d kicked his dog. If this was a fetish, maybe he’d been looking forward to acting it out? If someone turned me down flat for something I wanted in bed, I’d be pretty upset, too.

I opened my mouth to ask, then shut it with a snap. That question would probably end up mortifying both of us.

He didn’t want me to do anything scary or painful. He could afford to give me something. So I’d just take something small.

“Okay,” I said, half breath, half speech.

A grin split Az’s face, his fangs flashing, and he moved to cover my lower back, his body crowding close to mine and warming me from the inside out as he offered information about each piece.

I perused the jewelry, my attention split between the sparklies and Az’s reactions, waiting for him to guide me to a specific set. No way was he actually setting me loose on his jewelry collection, no matter how hot he might find the idea. This was just a little game, some dragon-style foreplay.

Because this was so surreal, so un real, I let myself pretend, for a moment, that I hadn’t sworn off relationships. That I was with a man who wanted to spoil me. Who enjoyed making me happy the same way I’d always wanted to make other people happy, before I’d learned that most people took whatever they could get .

What was the harm? It’d never really happen.

Az’s assertive hand on my body and my own fantasies in my head were intoxicating, loosening my limbs and reigniting my own desire.

“That one was once owned by Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia.” His hand flexed, his claws grazing the sensitive skin of my back and raising goosebumps on my flesh. Something about his touch directed my attention away from the empress’s necklace. Must be too expensive.

“What’s this one?” I pointed to the string of diamonds in the next case. While they were beautiful, nestled in one of the pedestal display cases, they lacked the glitz and intricacy of some of the other jewelry.

He opened the case and pulled out the necklace, his toothy grin letting me know I’d chosen well. My own heartbeat pulsed between my legs in response.

“Would you like to try it on?” His claws popped open the delicate clasp. Such sharp claws, and he used them so gently, so carefully. How would they feel when he touched me intimately?

I licked my lips. “Oh, I don’t know.” When would I ever get a chance to wear something so beautiful? My chest tightened, and I squeezed my eyes shut.

He stepped behind me, brushed aside my hair, and draped the necklace around my neck. Once he’d latched it, he turned me toward a full-length mirror.

My breath caught. It looked out of place against my cheap dress. This necklace needed class, and I’d never have that.

I moved to undo the clasp.

“Leave it.” Az’zael’s breath brushed my ear. In the mirror, his eyes fastened onto the diamonds resting against my collarbone, as if he was trying to memorize every atom.

He reached back into the case and removed the matching bracelet, then secured it around my wrist. The texture of his scales rasped against my sensitive skin, sending a small shiver through me. Unable to resist, I leaned into his wide chest, nestling under his chin.

“There.” His arm came around my waist, securing me against him.

Something huge and hard prodded my lower back, and my heart pounded in my ears.

“It’s a good start,” he rumbled in my ear.

“I can’t. It’s too much,” I whispered. I couldn’t stop looking at the way the necklace sparkled. Or how his arm was wrapped around my waist, pinning me to his larger body.

His dick jerked against my ass, and he pulled away enough that it no longer touched me.

“I insist. Take both. Actually, take this, too.” He leaned sideways and removed a pair of earrings from the case, holding them up to my ears. Simple diamond teardrops, no embellishments, just like the other pieces in the set.

“They’re lovely, but I can’t.” I started to remove the bracelet as well, but his other hand stopped me, his scales warm against my wrist, rasping against my skin.

“These are a set. They should stay together. And they look perfect on you.” His eyes went heavy-lidded at that last remark.

Knees trembling, I said, “Thank you. They’re beautiful.” My breath came in short pants, heat building in my blood from the intense way he watched me as I removed my cheap earrings and reached for the diamonds still clutched in his claws.

“Let me,” he said.

I licked my lips and nodded. He inserted them into my ears. Behind him, his wings spread, creating a little pocket so it was just us and our reflections in the mirror. His eyes blazed a trail from the necklace to the earrings to the bracelet .

Slowly, he ran his fingers along the line of the diamond necklace, where cool metal met the heated flesh of my collarbone. Heat followed the trail of his finger and into my blood.

I glanced up and met his eyes in the mirror. They were glowing gold. He leaned closer, one arm wrapping around my front, pressing me to him again. There was a question in his eyes, as if asking for permission for the full-body contact.

I tucked myself closer to him. His erection pressed tight against my ass.

Holy shit, I don’t know if that’s going to fit. Wetness gathered at my core. I was definitely down to try.

“They sparkle on you,” he murmured, heat blazing in his gaze.

I wiggled around to face him and pressed my body to his as heat pooled low in my belly.

Was it my imagination, or were two bulges pressed against my stomach? I licked my lips and opened my mouth to ask, because that seemed like important information—Tab A into Slot B? Maybe not so much.

His lips descended on mine, and all thought fled.

His mouth was wider than mine, but warm and cautious. The second I opened my lips beneath his, his tongue swept in, exploring. It was thick and long and oh god it was forked and it tickled every sensitive spot in my mouth and sent a flood of desire through me.

One muscled arm hitched me up until I could wrap my legs around his waist, underneath where his wings met his back. The delicate, leathery skin of his wings brushed my ankles and calves and sent shivers of sensation through the rest of my body.

I needed more . More of his large hands on my hips and his careful explorations and his strength holding me close. I wanted to live here forever .

Pressed against him like this, I knew for sure I’d been right—two distinct bulges jerked against me. Two large bulges. I shifted my hips to get closer, to rub them against my clit for some delicious friction. I couldn’t help it. His mouth devoured mine while he clutched me to him like one of his treasures, and oh god I just wanted to feel something good.

I rolled my hips against his erections again, and sparks shot through me. I swore I felt a ridge creating extra pressure on the sensitive folds of my pussy through our clothing.

Az groaned into my mouth, the tips of his claws pressing into my hips for a thrilling fraction of a second before releasing.

My hands gripped his shoulders as I fought for more leverage. I could get myself off like this, then I’d tackle whatever he was working with. I just needed a little more foreplay before I tried to take two huge—

Cool glass hit my exposed shoulders, and he pressed me into the mirror, running his hands through my hair, squeezing my ass, all while I kept grinding against his dicks, moaning into his mouth.

“That’s right, Elle. I’ll give you whatever you want,” he said before delving back into my mouth, his hands grasping my hips and taking over the rhythm.

I didn’t have time to think, couldn’t think. I could only feel his hands roaming my body, his mouth exploring mine with slow licks, his cocks pressed against my clit, a steady grind until prickles raced up my spine and exploded into stars behind my eyes and he swallowed my screams.

When I came down from my orgasm and my mind settled back into my skull, I pulled away from his mouth. One of his hands gripped my ass, the other my breast, but he wasn’t trying to tug me out of my clothes. He seemed content to continue his explorations .

I nudged at his arms, and he got the hint, setting me down before backing up a step. I reached for his belt. His hips shot forward, but he said, “You don’t have to.”

His dicks—both of them—jerked against the material of his pants, more honest than his mouth.

“Oh, but I want to.” I desperately wanted to see what I’d gotten myself off on. The size, the shape, the ridges . Why hadn’t I tried harder to find dragon dick pics?

His large hand wrapped around my wrist as I unbuckled his belt. “Elle.”

I glanced up.

He gave me a tentative smile. “I know it’s different for humans. We can go slow.”

Warmth spread through my chest. If he let me take him at my own pace, this would go much smoother. “Thank you.” I swallowed. “I just need to get familiar with them first.”

My hands pulled down the zipper, freeing his cocks.

Cocks. Two of them, stacked right on top of each other. Golden-hued like the skin on his palms and chest, with a series of ridges running down the undersides. Both heads were tapered, widening out to shafts as thick as my wrist.

Moisture flooded my pussy in anticipation. The practical part of me knew the shape would make insertion easier. The horny part of me couldn’t wait to feel them filling me up.

Mesmerized, I reached out to touch one. It jerked against my hand, hot and heavy. The other leaked pre-come onto my fingers. I should have been worrying about managing them, but all I could think about was tonguing them from base to tip, learning their taste, feeling them inside me .

Did he expect me to take both of them at once? I enjoyed anal on occasion, but I’d never taken anything near that large, and never in a double-penetration situation. Intrigued, I licked my lips.

I dropped to my knees and gave one cockhead an experimental lick. Az’zael drew in a sharp breath, his fingers digging into my hair. Pinpricks tickled my scalp and sent delicious shivers across my sensitized skin.

“Elle—”

BANG!

Az’zael’s wings snapped forward as if on instinct, trapping me against the mirror and blocking out all light. His head twisted toward the sound.

“Damnit.” He tucked both his wings and his dicks away, then wrapped his hand around my wrist and tugged me up. “Come on, that’s dinner.”

I followed him to the dining room in a daze, then sat at the sturdy, solid-wood dining table, which was far too large for just too two people, while he brought in the food. The bag read Le Pavillon in fancy script—one of the most expensive places in town. I’d applied there a few times and never got a call back, naturally.

Instead of leaving the food and insisting I go back to sucking his dicks, Az’zael fixed me a plate and set it across from me, then fastened his eyes on my fork.

I clutched the utensil and took a tentative bite, since that’s what he seemed to want.

“How is it?”

I swallowed. “Good.” The food could have been cardboard and I wouldn’t have noticed .

He dug into his own food, but he continued to watch me eat. I tried not to drop any food on myself or look like a total fool. Thank god working in restaurants meant I had a decent grasp on table etiquette.

Eating meant our mouths were too busy to talk. I didn’t know what to say, and anxiety filled my stomach, pushing out all the desire I’d felt moments ago.

I should make small talk, right? Right. “So how do you like Kilinis?” I sounded like a six-year-old learning how to talk to other people for the first time.

His thin lips curled up. “Very well.”

“Right, of course you do. That’s probably why you claimed it. You must have visited a lot first.”

“I claimed it because I saw its potential, but I only visited once before I signed the contract. Your parks won me over.” He relaxed, his face lighting up. “They looked like utter shit, but I could see how beautiful they’d be with a little care.”

I smiled. “I used to go to the park all the time.” Mama would take me when I was kid. It was one of the only things we could do that didn’t cost any money. “I always loved the one by Colonnades.” We’d lived in that neighborhood on and off when I was growing up.

“The one with the big willow oak in the middle?”

“Yeah, that one.” I’d always thought it was so pretty. But something else he’d said struck me as a little odd. “You said something about a contract?”

“Between Niemrin, myself, and Kilinis.”

“Right. That makes sense. I guess I never really thought y’all had a contract.”

He drew himself up, looking offended. “Of course we have one. How else would we ensure everyone’s protection? You must understand this; you negotiated ours very well. ”

I blinked, trying to assimilate that information. I knew he’d been pleased with me at coffee, but he made it sound like he’d have been disappointed if I hadn’t negotiated. Maybe he would have been. I hadn’t been able to learn shit about dragon culture, despite my frantic googling while getting ready.

“Sutton’s contract must be very different, then.” Their dragons had drastically changed city governance. It had brought in a lot of new opportunities, but I paid enough attention to the news to know that not everyone there was happy with how things had happened.

His lips pressed together. “Sutton didn’t negotiate theirs well, and their dragons are…cunning, but they’d never break a contract. Contracts are sacred.”

I wrinkled my nose. Given all the other stuff I’d seen from Az’zael in the last few days, the notion of literally sacred contracts tracked. A fist of anxiety that I hadn’t even realized had taken up residence in my chest loosened. We’d made an agreement this morning, and he wouldn’t go back on it.

He’d keep his promises.

Picking through the little I knew about him, I said, “I know you’re in charge of the treasury, but what else do you do for City Hall?”

“I secure funds for new projects.” He sat up straighter. “We’re working on one now. Perhaps you’d like to hear about it?”

I fiddled with a lock of hair. “Uh, sure.”

A satisfied smile curled his thin lips, showing hints of gold bleeding into the red of his skin. “More houses. And apartments.”

“More of the luxury ones that they’ve been building?” I smiled vacantly. “Sounds nice.” All those high-rise, high-rent buildings had gone up so quickly, I didn’t trust them to withstand the first hurricane season.

Then again, how much did I trust my piece of shit apartment? It’d been built decades ago and hadn’t seen a maintenance worker since.

“They’re…” He frowned. “Twenty percent affordable. With mixed-income neighborhoods.”

I blinked. “You’re building affordable housing?” I should have been pleased. If he’d asked me what I thought the city needed, that would have been at the top of my list.

Instead, I felt uncomfortably like I’d been stripped naked. Having Az’zael touch so close to one of the many worries that had driven me to agree to this “arrangement” was disconcerting. Did he know how close to the precipice I was, or was he just making conversation? Did he even care?

“Yes.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Or, rather, I want to. I’m trying to figure out how to pay for it. There are lots of houses and apartment buildings everywhere, but all the charts and graphs and statistics show it isn’t enough, somehow.” The way he talked, it almost sounded like he meant he wasn’t enough.

I’d thought he’d claimed Kilinis for dragon clout, but he seemed to genuinely care about what happened to it.

“Um, yeah, what with all the people moving in. Everyone’s getting their rent raised, too.”

“Did your rent get raised?”

“It will when my lease runs out.”

His lips thinned. “Right.” He placed a hand over mine where it rested on the table. “It’s a big problem, but it’s my job to fix it.”

His intense gaze made my skin feel too tight, but also like I was missing half of this conversation. Did he want to brag about how important he was? Only his tone wasn’t braggy. He sounded pleased with himself, sure, but with an edge. Like he wanted my approval .

“That sounds lovely,” I said. It would never come to fruition, of course. Cities were always making these kinds of bullshit promises, and then nothing ever happened.

But Az’zael settled back in his chair, a wide grin on his face.

After dinner, I expected him to steer the conversation back to his still-obvious erections, but instead he pulled me to an oversized couch, the back of which was only attached at the center so his wings could slot between the seat and the back. Then he suggested we “Netflix and chill.”

Apparently, Az was still content to let me set the pace tonight, and my shoulders relaxed another notch.

He claimed he’d been trying to watch more human media, so I suggested The Company . He put it on and stretched an arm across the back of the couch. The second I nestled my body against his side, his arm wrapped around me, anchoring me to him.

I was full, warm, and relaxed, and if he had been my boyfriend, I’d have been tempted to doze off against his wide chest.

He’s not my boyfriend. I don’t want a boyfriend. At least with mine and Az’s contract, what we got and what we gave were clearly laid out. No room for resentment or misunderstandings.

I mentally shook myself awake.

About twenty minutes into the first episode, I let my hand wander to his thigh. It tensed beneath my fingers, but he made no move to hurry me along. His lack of urgency both relaxed me and had heat building in my core all over again.

“Why does Kameela allow Richard to speak to her like that?”

I glanced at the television. “He’s her boss.”

Az’zael leaned forward. “He’s awful.”

“Yeah, that’s why it’s funny.”

His forehead wrinkled. “It’s funny that he told her she has to break the law or lose her job?”

“Maybe not funny ha ha, but funny, you know. Relatable.” I winced as soon as the words left my mouth. Dragons didn’t have bosses. He wouldn’t find a single goddamn thing relatable about this scenario. Why had I chosen a workplace comedy?

His face snapped toward me. “You had a boss ask you to steal someone else’s credit card information?”

“No.”

“But something similar?” Inhuman slit-pupiled eyes zeroed in on my face.

I’d worked customer service jobs for sixteen years, ever since I got my first work permit. I had a treasure trove of stories I could pull out any time someone wanted to bitch about bad bosses, but I doubted Az wanted the nitty-gritty details. “This kind of stuff is overblown for television. Usually it’s smaller things, like not paying overtime.”

“Someone didn’t compensate you for your time ? Who?” Smoke curled from Az’zael’s nose, and his chest went from warm to hot.

I edged away with the strange feeling that answering that question would not end well for whoever I named. I briefly considered it anyway.

“Lots. It doesn’t matter.” My face grew hot as embarrassment over all the times I’d let that kind of treatment go overpowered my petty revenge fantasies.

His lips pressed together. “Of course it matters. How could they be so rude?”

“Rude?” I snorted. I’d never quite equated their money-hungry douche-baggery to something as remote as etiquette. Mostly, I took it as a sign that I needed to find a new job. “I guess you could call it that. ”

Az waved a hand. “Yes, yes, you humans are always so coy, but refusing to thank someone for gifting you their time is unforgivable. Time is finite. You could never recoup the loss.”

“Gift? It’s a job .”

“Wherein you agree to exchange time for payment. They broke the contract. That alone would get someone shunned by dragon society. To be stingy on top of it…? Inexcusable.” His head jerked around to look at me. “I would never disrespect you by violating our contract.”

I glanced around at the literal hoard in Az’zael’s apartment. He didn’t get rich by giving everything away at the drop of a hat. “Dragons dislike stinginess?”

His eyes went to my hands, now folded in my lap. Taking the unspoken hint, I returned one to his thigh, assuming the conversation was over. Instead, he preened under the gesture but continued talking.

“It’s not just about stinginess, it’s…” He paused, like he was hunting for the right words. “It’s about taking our obligations seriously. If I went around breaking contracts and withholding proper gifts, why should I expect anyone to want to trust me or gift me their time? I’d be a frumser. ”

“A what?” was all I could manage.

He scrunched up his flat face. “A miser, a cheat, an asshole.”

“I see.” And I kind of did. If dragons were obsessed with money, wouldn’t their insults reflect that? “I wish some humans were as concerned about getting labeled misers and cheats as dragons are.”

Az’zael shrugged. “Some dragons don’t care, but they end up very lonely.”

I smiled. “Sounds like cosmic justice to me.”

He smiled back.

My stomach fluttered. I glanced around, desperate to change the subject, when my eyes caught the ornate clock mounted on the wall. “ Shi—oot.” Even if I left now, I’d only get a few hours of sleep before work tomorrow. “I have to go.”

Az’zael glanced at the clock. “So soon?”

I’d been here several hours already, and fuck , I hadn’t even had sex with him. Should I stay long enough for a quickie? He might not be pushy, he might even genuinely want me to enjoy myself, but no man would pay twenty-five thousand dollars just for the pleasure of my company.

He made the decision for me, standing and helping me off the couch. “Friday?”

“Yes. Five?” I offered to come over earlier than I had tonight. Because you enjoyed yourself.

No, so you could make sure you had time for everything he expected and then some . “I’ll wear something special for you,” I promised, heat sliding through me.

Jen accosted me the second I got to work the next morning. “How’d it go?”

“I did it.”

“You fucked him?”

“Keep your voice down!” I didn’t want the whole restaurant to know my business. “You were right; he wants a sugar baby. I took him up on his offer.”

“Is it true dragons have two dicks?” Jen’s eyes gleamed.

“Where did you hear that?” And why hadn’t I?

“It’s not true?” She deflated a bit.

“Oh, it is. But how the hell do you know that? ”

“I heard a rumor from a friend who lives in Franklinton.” She named a dragon-claimed city a few states away. Then she held up her hands about eight inches apart. “How big?”

I slapped her hands down. “That’s all you care about?”

“Come on, he’s hot, he’s rich, and he wants to share both of those things with you. What’s the problem? Oh no.” Jen pulled a face. “He’s into some weird shit, isn’t he? You totally called it!”

“No, he isn’t into anything weird.” Unless she counted showering me with gifts. Which, maybe? I’d never met someone who wanted to do that, but it wasn’t exactly weird .

“So he didn’t dress you up like a medieval peasant and have you bow before his mighty dragon cocks?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Girl, what have you been getting up to?” Not that the idea didn’t have a certain appeal, but she had that question locked and loaded.

“Nothing, sadly, so let me live vicariously through you.”

“There’s not a whole lot to tell. He was pretty chill, actually.” He hadn’t made any demands, hadn’t thrown our agreement in my face, hadn’t done any of the things I was braced for.

“Really? Looked like he wanted to leap across the table and devour you whenever he was in here.”

“Oh, come on, he wasn’t that—”

“He was.”

“Well, maybe he’s different behind closed doors.” Though he wasn’t exactly less intense, just more relaxed.

And he literally saw my time as a gift. Even if he was paying me for it. Even if this was a job. The glow of that still hadn’t worn off.

“The whole situation is just kind of weird, alright?” I’d kind of expected sex with Az’zael to be on the mechanical side, since there weren’t any feelings involved, but our brief encounter in front of the mirror had been shockingly hot, and I found myself disappointed that I’d gotten distracted talking to him instead of touching his dicks. I was looking forward to seeing him again and figuring out how to blow his mind.

“Are you seeing him tonight? If not, let’s get some drinks and you can tell me everything .”

When was the last time I’d had a night out? I’d been playing catch-up ever since Adrian, but I was caught up now, and I could even afford to treat Jen as a celebration of my good luck. “Yeah. Yes. I’d love to.”

Jen squealed.