Page 28 of Drawn by Dragonblood (Blood Born #1)

Dakota

I ’d felt Jon’s gaze on me while I stared at Elijah through my lens and finally captured images of him with my camera. Guilt swamped me even though we’d stepped beyond friendship, and I had no reason to feel that way. What had transpired had been Jon’s idea, after all.

We hadn’t spoken of what took place the night before, and Jon snored when I’d climbed out of bed and grabbed my camera. I’d hurried downstairs, intent on the veranda, only remembering at the last second to grab a throw from the couch to ward off the cold morning air.

I’d sensed Elijah before I’d seen him, and I once more questioned the magical air of his mountain. Fanciful I had always been, but something about his cavern home made me believe perhaps the paranormal world wasn’t as much fiction as humans believed.

How else would someone other than Jon catch my eye?

My breath had stalled out at the sight of Elijah—hair dampened by sweat and glinting in the rising sun.

Sweat slickened his bare torso and brow, and my tongue had tingled with the need to lick him from head to toes.

The memory of the sweetness of his pre-cum, the silken glide of his cock against the back of my throat had caused my too-empty pussy to clench.

Pulse thrumming in my neck, I’d bitten the inside of my lip and clicked away, focusing in on the light and shadows of his luscious body.

Elijah had lifted his head, and desire rolled over me at the need in his crystalline eyes.

My body had longed to go to him as though he’d made a verbal command, but the hairs on my neck stood on end.

I hadn’t needed to look above me to know Jon peered down at me.

I’d turned without attempting to meet my husband’s gaze in the one-way glass and walked inside, trying like hell to focus on the preparations Elijah had left out for our morning coffee and tea rather than the unease standing the hairs on my nape.

Would Jon be upset that I’d gone down to watch Elijah rather than waking him as I’d done the previous three days?

Every morning, I’d had my lips around his soft cock, sucking, licking, and nipping until he lost control and flipped me onto my belly, hand tangled in my hair, fucking me from behind until we both lay spent.

Lower lip between my teeth and hands shaking, I poured boiling water over the grounds in the French press and into my mug with the tea bag Elijah had placed in it.

“Morning, baby.” Jon’s sleepy and calm voice from the top of the stairs encouraged me to tip my head back.

His slow smirk warmed my belly.

I smiled back, the lack of anger or judgment in his eyes easing my anxiety. “Morning.”

Scratching his balls through the shorts he’d pulled on, same as every morning, he moved down the stairs, and I turned away, chuckling. Why had I worried myself? Jon was the love of my life, and he knew it.

He wrapped his arms around me from behind as he was fond of doing and kissed my neck, a slight scent of soap from our shower the evening before clinging to his skin and filling my greedy nose. “Missed your mouth this morning.”

I sighed and pressed my ass against him, a thrill of that newfound sexual prowess seeping into my blood and giving me the desire to be bolder than usual. “I’ll make up for it after coffee if you want.”

“Pretty sure I’m supposed to start work, but I can tell my boss I’ll be a little late.” He ground his hips against me, making me aware his cock was interested in what he’d said.

“Probably not the best way to start a new job, though.”

“Yeah,” he muttered beneath his breath.

I turned and draped my arms over his shoulders.

His eyes appeared troubled even though the usual chemistry between us had him staring at my mouth.

“It’s going to be okay, Jon,” I stated quietly, my heart starting to race at my boldness in bringing up one of many conversations we needed to have.

“I can feel it—somehow know this thing with Elijah is right.”

He nodded, but his eyes remained wary.

I waited for him to offer his thoughts or expand on his agreement, but he remained silent, simply holding me.

Perhaps it wasn’t time. At least I’d made an effort. If Jon couldn’t find the words just yet, I would be patient for him to settle his thoughts on what was transpiring between the three of us.

“Anyway.” I smiled, hoping to put him at ease. “Are you excited?”

One of his eyebrows rose, and a twinkle lit in his eyes.

I rolled mine. “Forget I asked, you horndog.” I leaned up on my tiptoes, raising Elijah’s shirt enough for Jon’s hands to cup my bare ass, and pressed my lips softly against my husband’s. “Love you,” I murmured, rubbing my nose across his.

“Love you more.” He squeezed my ass and pressed me against his semi but stepped back. “Coffee?”

Huffing on laughter, I turned and poured him a cup.

Jon cradled the mug and, eyes closed, breathed in the rising steam. “The man has exquisite taste in coffee, wine, and women.”

Heat flooded my face, but fortunately, Jon didn’t peer at me as though gauging my reaction to his declaration. He sat at the island, sipping, having simply stated a fact as he’d seen it.

Butterflies flitted in my stomach, bringing another smile to my face. Turning back around, I added a teaspoon of sugar as I had noted Elijah enjoyed to the second mug before lacing my tea with honey.

The luscious scent of Elijah and the tingling over my skin let me know he drew near. I glanced at Jon. He stared at the door leading downstairs from where I could feel Elijah approaching.

Surely , magic resided here.

Elijah stepped into the kitchen, his body dried of sweat and a T-shirt hiding his upper body, but my drool factory set to work regardless. Forcing myself to focus on the mugs in front of me was like peeling my eyelids from my body it burned so bad.

“Good morning.” His low rumble caressed against my ears.

My knees went weak.

“Hey,” Jon said at the same time I squeaked a “Morning.”

My body tuned in to every shift of Elijah’s energy as he sat at the island.

Breath held, I placed his coffee in front of him without glancing at his face.

I took up the third chair and held my mug in both hands, eyes closed as Jon had done, wishing I could smell the tea over the scent of fire and brimstone, soap and sex emanating from Elijah’s skin.

“What time did you want to get started this morning?” Jon asked.

Guess that means the elephant isn’t going to get discussed with Elijah either.

I peeked at Jon, unsurprised considering how he’d stayed close-lipped about it a minute earlier.

He lounged, seemingly relaxed on his stool, smirking as though he hadn’t a care in the world—or that the man beside him had his face buried between my thighs the night before.

I finally looked at Elijah. A flicker of something unnamed crossed his face as he glanced at me then back to Jon. Unease, maybe? Perhaps he’d been expecting us to regret our affair? Or he did?

My chest went tight at the thought, and I flitted my focus to my husband who stared at his new boss.

“I’ll meet you in ten?” Elijah’s deep voice pebbled my nipples and sent a pulse through my pussy.

“Sure.” Jon lifted his mug and sipped, holding Elijah’s stare until the man gave us his back.

Elijah climbed the stairs with sure steps, coffee in hand, and Jon kissed the top of my head before heading off to the shower.

Jon had set wheels in motion that I wanted to roll downhill—damn quick—but the thought he or Elijah had zero plans to continue pushing us forward had me chewing the inside of my lip to death.

I sat and stared at my steaming tea, relieved Jon wasn’t upset but beyond bummed one of them hadn’t initiated our picking up right where we’d left off a handful of hours earlier.

Perhaps I was the one meant to act. Take a step without direction or gentle prodding from the man I always looked to. Maybe the awakening creature inside me needed to grab the reins and steer us around the boulder blocking our forward motion.

The idea dried my mouth and left me shifting on my chair at the same time.

Wield my sexuality and get more fantasies fulfilled? Explore what I felt sure would lead to something more than sating lust? Elijah had wormed in between me and Jon—but not in a negative way.

Something about the man…

My camera in the middle of the island caught my eye, and I pulled it toward me.

Image after image on the screen caught Elijah paused in motion, muscles flexed, sweat dripping.

His beauty was other-worldly—as though generative AI had finally crafted perfection.

I focused in on his face, the memory of his full lips laying open-mouth kisses between my thighs causing my core to pulse with need.

“Damn,” I murmured, tempted to finger myself.

A whisper of sound reminded me of where I sat, and I glanced up to find him at the foot of the stairs. How he’d descended without my awareness proved I’d been caught up in fantasy.

My breath snagged, and the sexual energy between us caused my heartbeat to heighten and my belly to flutter. I sat frozen, ensnared by his unwavering gaze as he stalked toward me in near silence as though unable to bear the distance between us.

He pushed my hair over my shoulder, his fingertips brushing along my neck and sending a shiver of goose bumps down my body. “So beautiful,” he murmured, laying his warm palm against the side of my neck.

I breathed in the scent of fire and cinnamon and found myself leaning into his warmth, all thoughts but the rightness of his hand on me having fled my mind.

My lips tingled to touch his and assure him he wasn’t alone.

My nipples strained against his shirt, desires of the heat of his mouth or the tug of his fingers, accepting the pleasure he longed to give me.

Frozen in time took on a whole new meaning as I floated in an ocean of desire, of physical and emotional need so intense a soft whine escaped me.

“The memory of your mouth on me and the taste of you lingered on my tongue far into the night,” he whispered, his voice lower than usual while sweeping the pad of his thumb across my lower lip.

“I couldn’t sleep for want of you. To bury my cock in your slick heat.

Hold you in my arms while flooding your womb with my seed. ”

Arousal leaked from my core as his words captured and set me on fire with unquenchable flames.

I whimpered at the steady pulses in my pussy, the desperation to squeeze and milk his length until he did what he said.

“You long for the same.” Elijah’s words weren’t intoned with question, but I found myself needing to answer.

I swallowed, knowing it wasn’t the time to steer us toward fulfillment like I’d considered doing. “I— Jon’s w-working for you now…”

“That’s not a no.”

Silence hovered, and I stared into his swirling pupils, damn near lost in my desire to feel him inside me. Owning me. Claiming the part of my soul where he’d made himself at home.

I could be more open with my husband and push for what I lusted for, but interaction without him, however right it felt, wouldn’t be right.

“I-I’m not free to take what I want. It has to be Jon’s doing,” I whispered, hating I couldn’t fully grasp my inner fierceness, yet proud of myself for remaining faithful to the man who I’d committed my life to.

I would sacrifice my desires to prove he was enough, more than worthy of my affections all on his own.

Elijah’s shoulders fell as though my words disappointed him.

“The decision must be yours , Dakota.” His hand dropped to his side, and he stepped back, putting space between us when every part of me except for my brain demanded the opposite.

“But I…” I couldn’t voice the riotous mess in my head warring with that in my heart.

“You both must come to me of your own accord,” he stated quietly and with finality, reminding me of old men quoting scripture or ancient text. His tone also hinted of inner turmoil. Longing so intense I couldn’t breathe.

My throat swelled shut at the tightness in my chest.

“I don’t understand,” I whispered.

His pale eyes burned bright, as though some inner light wished to snake from his body and mark me.

Fantasy , I reminded myself.

Shaking my head, I slid off my stool and headed toward the stairs, every shuffled footstep away from Elijah like peeling skin from bone.

Assurance of my husband’s presence upstairs alone made my escape possible.