Page 19 of Destined By Dragonblood (Blood Born #2)

Vanni

I studied my hand, remembering the feel of Ashley’s reddened ass cheeks. Satiny smooth. Hot and deliciously fleshy. My index finger had later grazed the top of her ear while I’d tucked back strands of her hair.

Tingles still raced up my arm whenever I relived those moments from Friday night.

Before dropping her off, which I hadn’t been comfortable doing, I requested she keep in touch with me over the weekend. She’d insisted on going home alone and had texted me as she’d climbed into bed later, safe and sound.

I hated her being by herself, believing someone— two someones according to her strange sixth sense—stalked her every move.

Ashley had only felt the good eyes after climbing from my car and as I’d walked her to her front door. She seemed pleased by the supposed presence. I had no say in her life, but if I’d had my way, Ashley would have been safe and sound in my bed where I could keep her close and protect her.

But her independence won out, and I felt as though a piece of my soul lay too far away with every night that passed.

Heaving a heavy exhale, I got up from my couch and went into the kitchen, needing another glass of water.

I’d worked my body hard in my home gym earlier in the day and had run five miles atop the weights I’d lifted.

Exhaustion should have put me down for the night, but my body vibrated with excess energy as it had since I’d first come into contact with Ashley’s skin.

I guzzled the water and looked down at my hand again.

How could one scene impact me so deeply that I couldn’t think about another female? Even memories of my ex didn’t rouse bitterness with how caught up I’d become in my desire for Ashley.

That other pea in the pod though—Dolyn…

Blood pushed toward my groin, and I cursed, pressing down on my swelling cock. That man. Infuriatingly sexy as fuck, enticing enough I practically had begged to touch him as I had Ashley.

His refusal had stung, and his inability to slip into subspace, even though I’d given him everything I had packed behind my whip, confused the hell out of me. What had caused such strength to build up that his natural submission gave way to stubbornness?

I lusted to peel back his layers, dive deep into his psyche. Break him down and rebuild him into the person he yearned to be.

Same as I wished for Ashley.

Shaking my head, I meandered back into my living room and slouched on my couch, head tipped back, legs spread, ignoring the ache growing inside me.

Dolyn was a stranger, a two-time scene and done guy.

Ashley held the possibility of a future, and even though I allowed myself vulnerability with her, I would attempt to make myself content with crumbs if that was all she offered.

My cell rang, and I leaned forward to grab it off the coffee table.

Ponder on my beautiful angel, and her name appeared on my screen.

“Hey,” I answered, hoping for the best. “Everything okay?”

“I met him.”

The stalker. I sat upright even though she sounded pleased, happy, even, rather than scared.

“What happened?” I asked, my tone barely regulated.

“He approached me in Dunkin’ Donuts,” she continued, her voice almost purr-like, twisting my guts up tight.

I frowned as she went on to describe how gorgeous he was, how the sight of him, his proximity, caused her heart to beat too fast. How his smile and steady gaze made her feel the same as when she’d felt his watchful gaze—aroused.

My muscles tightened, and spots flashed in my vision. I would rip him apart. Tear off his head?—

“He was a perfect gentleman, and yet something felt…off about him.”

I clung to her cautious tone, desperate to keep this man away from her. “You have to trust your instincts.”

“See, that’s what’s strange,” Ashley said, thoughtfully. “My instincts say yes, and my past trauma causes my head to say no.”

Her explanation made sense because of how I was torn between her and Dolyn but also sounded alarms in my head. The connection growing between her and I felt threatened by the introduction of a second man.

Fear over experiencing similar heartache to what my ex had caused demanded I protect myself and stay in the friend zone until Ashley decided what and who she wanted.

That encouragement I’d offered her to move forward had backfired, and the sense of floundering even worse than before learning more about Ashley returned tenfold.

“At therapy the other day, Doctor Hasslet suggested I meet him again in a safe place,” Ashley went on, and I could tell from her voice she had every intention of doing so.

A burn lit inside my chest, and I bit my tongue to keep from demanding otherwise. She might submit herself to me once a month, but Ashley was not mine.

Yet.

I appreciated the quiet thought in the back of my mind.

“He also asked how I felt about you now that this new man has come into my life,” she continued.

Of course Doc Haslett had. He knew everything about me and probably assumed correctly how I would respond to another man entering the picture. I’d only just become comfortable with the thought of opening up my heart again and had told him as such during our virtual chat a few nights earlier.

“What did you say?” I asked, my voice rasping with desperation even though I tried to hide my emotions.

“I’m drawn to the guy, but I…I feel the same way about you too, Vanni. Is it wrong to be interested in two men equally?”

My eyelids slid closed as I rubbed a hand through my hair, thrilled to finally have the truth of her feelings for me yet torn over her heart being divided in who she ought to pursue. “I have to tell you something, Ashley.”

“What?” Wariness bled over the line.

“I told you I’m divorced, but I never shared the reason behind our split.”

“Shit,” she whispered as though knowing where my tale went before I said a word.

“One of my ex-wife’s fantasies was a threesome, and I invited another man into our bed to give her a night to remember.”

“Oh no.”

I’d considered my gift the mistake of a lifetime but lately had been rethinking the entire event that had led to me meeting Ashley.

And Dolyn.

“She left me a short time later to pursue a future with him.”

“I wouldn’t ever play you like that, Vanni,” Ashley said.

“We aren’t in a relationship that you should feel the need to persuade my thoughts.”

“Ouch.” Her tone suggested she grimaced over my blunt words.

Swallowing hard, I forced myself to go on. “You are free to travel your path toward healing without interference on my end.”

“It sounds as if you’d like to interfere?” Her voice hinted at a question.

I held my breath for a moment before emptying my lungs and deciding on honesty, since she obviously needed reassurance. “More than anything, I desire a deeper connection with you, but I want what’s best for you , Ash, and if that’s him…” I couldn’t bring myself to finish.

“I’d like to get to know him better, but something inside me suggests you’re both equally important in my life.” She exhaled loudly as though as troubled over the entire affair as I was. “Are you available to meet with me this Friday night instead of waiting another three weeks?”

A low chuckle escaped me, and I rested against my couch, eyes wide and staring at the ceiling. “I closed my schedule down after you allowed me to touch your skin.”

“Oh.” I could imagine the flush on her cheeks. “That’s…wow. Okay.”

“Don’t ever question how I feel about you, Ashley, but I’m not telling you that because I’m one of those pick-me guys.”

“You definitely aren’t,” she laughed lightly. “So, um, Friday?”

“I’ll see you at seven,” I stated rather than asking if our usual time worked for her. She would obey like the good girl she always was for me.

Ashley requested to be showcased on the lounge dais again, her graceful body draped over the same bench we’d used the week before.

My heart thundered in my chest, my mouth drier than a damned desert while taking in the flush over her pale skin. “What is your safeword, Ash?”

A shiver rippled goose bumps over her arms and legs that were unrestrained. “ Red , Master.”

“Are you sure about this?” I checked in one last time while circling her bent form, appreciating every swell of her flesh I wished to mark.

“Yes, Master. Please use your hand like you did last week.”

Hissing quietly, I stood beside her backside and pulled back my right arm. My palm landed against her flesh with a loud crack.

Ashley jolted forward and moaned. “Again, Master.”

I allowed her to top me from the bottom, giving her everything she asked for.

My handprints littered her ass cheeks and thighs within minutes, and tears dripped off her chin to the floor. Tremors rippled through her, the scent of her arousal and the smearing between her thighs testament to her pleasure.

“Master!” She cried out when I paused for too long enjoying the sight of what I had done to her.

“Yes, sweet girl?” I crouched beside her lowered head, careful in brushing back her hair to better see her face.

Wet violet eyes met mine, and the level of her need slammed into me, stealing my breath.

“T-Touch me, Master,” she begged, another tear sliding down her cheek.

“Ash…”

“Please, Vanni—I need.” She swallowed hard and shuddered. “P-Please.”

“You’re asking me to push your limits while you’re high on endorphins and out here where everyone can see.”

“I’m green, Master Vanni. Promise.”

Cock hard and leaking inside my leathers, I reached around her body, gently trailing my fingertips over her heated backside.

Every part of me longed to touch, to caress, same as I’d been desperate for with Dolyn the last time I’d scened with him.

I’d lusted to nut on his back, paint his whip-lashed skin with my cum.

The drive to mark him, make him smell like me had been almost too much to withstand.

I wanted him then with as much longing as I did Ashley.

She shuddered and moaned beneath my gentle touch.

“Color, baby,” I whispered.

“The most glorious shade of green imaginable,” she said on a sigh.

I barked out a laugh, unable to help myself over the fact she wasn’t sold on this other guy and was gifting me the opportunity to touch her before he even got a chance. Still, the knowledge she felt drawn to him unsettled my soul. “Ash.”

“Put your hand on my pussy, Master.”

Fucking hell . How could I deny this woman what she desired and found the guts to voice?

My head swam, my breath coming in pants as I slid my fingertips over her plump ass cheeks.

She leaned into my touch rather than jerking away like she would have done a month prior. “Yes—there.”

I ghosted my touch between her thighs to her core, finding slippery arousal. She was waxed and smooth.

A pulse of pre-cum erupted through my shaft, and I bit my tongue to keep from taking more than she’d begged for.

“Inside me.” Ashley backed against my hand, and I dipped a single digit into her tight heat.

We both cursed, hers more of a moan to my bitten-off word.

I swallowed hard and pushed in a little farther, her body so damned responsive and silky soft.

“M-More, please, Master.” She writhed against the bench, trying to fuck herself on my finger.

I gave her another, gentle while sliding in deep until my knuckles rested against her wet flesh.

“Tell me what you want, Ashley,” I growled near her ear, hardly recognizing my own voice, my entire body tensed and trembling. “Use your words, sweet girl.”

She panted, trying to lick the dryness from her lips.

“This?” I asked, pulling from her tight grasp and easing back in, searching out the roughened patch of flesh inside her.

There—

A whine slipped from her mouth, causing my cock to throb against its leather prison.

I stroked over her G-spot then withdrew, sliding my finger up over her puckered hole.

“Oh, God.” Her breath caught as I circled my finger around her rim, smearing enough juices I could have fucked her ass without a single drop of extra lube.

“Fuck, Ash.” I tenderly cupped her entire sex, her heat singeing my hand.

Eyes still clenched shut, she arched her back like a sensual cat needing to be fucked until she screamed. “P-Please, Master.”

“Please what?”

“I need to come.”

I flicked my middle finger over her swollen clit, back and forth, my balls on the verge of explosion.

“M-More…”

I rubbed my thumb along her pussy while toying with her hardened nub. “This what you want?”

“Mmm,” she hummed, head jerking in a nod.

“Words, Ashley.”

“Put your fingers in me again.”

My dick bucked again, and I slowly pushed into her with my thumb.

She gasped, lifting her hips toward me.

“Like this?” I stroked her sensitive nerve bundles inside and out, and she groaned, her core fluttering.

“Yes. There. Oh, fuck, yes .”

The scent of her arousal and the sweetness of vanilla flooded my senses, and I stared at her panting mouth while fucking her with my fingers.

“You have my permission to come.” I said the words she always needed to let go, and Ashley bowed, shrieking her release, a rush of cum soaking my hand and dripping to the floor between her thighs.

I cursed and grabbed hold of my bulge to ward off my own climax. “Such a good girl for me, baby. So sweet and obedient. Look at you,” I crooned, so goddamned proud of her my chest swelled and eyes stung. “You’re absolutely stunning when you let go for me.”

I continued to coax every last pulse from her pussy until she lay spent, hair plastered to her damp forehead. She hadn’t fallen into subspace, but she rested, a smile on her lips as she attempted to catch her breath.

“My beautiful girl.” I reluctantly removed my hand from her body and eyed the cream smeared over my fingers. The musky scent of her cum flooded my nostrils, and a growl rumbled low in my chest. I shoved my thumb into my mouth, sucking her essence down my throat, eyes rolling back into my head.

Every part of me ached to thrust into her tight wetness, stroke myself against her cum-slickened walls. Shoot copious amounts of thick spunk against her womb—claim her.

Mine .

My skin on fire, I licked my other fingers clean while staring at her peaceful face. How far would she be willing to go? Could I rouse her need enough again that she would allow me to at least blow my load all over her reddened skin?

I reached out my hand to caress the prints on her ass—and, I hoped, bring her back to the state of need where she might beg for my cock.