Page 40 of Drawn by Dragonblood (Blood Born #1)

“Love you more,” I said but couldn’t find it in myself to grin like usual.

She snuggled against me, her cheek on my chest as I drew circles on her arm with my fingertips and considered where the road we traveled might lead.

We were both deeply connected to Elijah in some strange way, falling in love with him it felt like, and I feared the pleasure of being with him wouldn’t be worth the pain in the end.

Fucking around and having an affair worked for a lot of people in the world, but actually having a poly relationship of equal status and shared…

everything? Especially when nothing about him and I were equal to anyone with eyes.

I’d been upbeat in trying to ease Dakota’s worries, but how would it actually work?

How could it? Dakota and I had been together since childhood.

What man wouldn’t become jealous over that bond no one could match?

What third party wouldn’t be filled with insecurities when trying to build a relationship of three atop one already cemented in place as firmly as ours regardless of my shortcomings?

I chewed on the inside of my lip before realizing it, released the tender flesh from between my teeth, and heaved a heavy exhale as the music overhead built into a crescendo.

I fucking hurt at the thought of being without Elijah at the end of our affair.

A knock sounded, and not sure what else to do, I called out for them to come on in.

“Sorry to intrude.”

Dakota stiffened in my arms at the young woman’s voice, and she sat up, her gaze whipping toward the door.

A petite, dark-haired young woman smiled and moved toward us, a tray with a carafe and mugs on it. “Mr. Tolzman thought you might like some refreshments.”

I studied Dakota while she watched the woman cross the room, that sixth sense of hers raising the hairs on my nape and causing a low growl to build in my chest. Swallowing it down, I attempted to dissect the difference between her draw to Elijah, which didn’t bother me in the slightest, to the female sharing the room with us, which sure as fuck did—almost as much as that blond douche all those years ago.

No pulse thrummed in Dakota’s neck, no hint of hardened nipples poking against her shirt, but the pull toward the woman was intense enough I could almost sense the tug on my own insides. Jealousy slithered through my veins, heating my blood and not in a good way.

It’d been a long time since I’d felt that green giant rear its ugly head so harshly inside my guts, and I hated it. Despised whatever it was that drew my wife to others without a care of how it would make her husband feel.

I exhaled loudly through my nostrils, attempting to calm myself the fuck down, but Dakota didn’t seem to notice with how intently she seemed captivated by the gorgeous woman.

“I’m sorry. Do I know you?” my wife asked.

The woman’s smile faltered as she glanced at Dakota, revealing purple-blue eyes so vivid I wondered if she wore contacts.

I hated her for her beauty all the more.

“I don’t believe so.” She set the tray on the table along the far wall and moved toward us while I fought to keep from clutching Dakota close and growling.

Mine .

That voice in my head—the fuck was going on with me? Not giving a shit about Elijah drawing my wife’s attention but feeling threatened over this sprite of a woman when I knew without doubt Dakota’s sexuality wasn’t nearly as fluid as mine was.

Then again, I hadn’t been into dick until Elijah.

“I’m Ashley, one of Mr. Tolzman’s secretaries.” The woman clasped her hands in front of her as though trying to curl in on herself rather than stare with blatant hunger at my wife as I’d expected. “He should be here shortly. Can I get you anything else?”

Dakota shook her head, her gaze glued to the woman who I wanted to hiss at like a pissed off iguana.

I bit my tongue until the woman turned away from us.

It wasn’t until the door snicked shut behind her that I could breathe again, and even then, I struggled to chill the fuck out.

“I—” Dakota huffed, her brow furrowing even further as she continued to study the shut door.

The woman was gone. No need to worry, no reason for my insides to be stewing.

I studied my wife, hating how her forehead dented, how troubled her eyes appeared, never mind the she totally missed how I’d been tense as fuck since Ashley had entered Elijah’s office.

“Jealous that gorgeous little woman has known him longer than you have?” I asked as the thought entered my head.

I hated that Ashley had access and enjoyed proximity to our Elijah before we had.

Were they involved? Had he fucked her over his desk? Had she wrapped her lips around his cock and swallowed down his sweet cum? Had he kissed her lips and cradled her face in his hands while tilting her world off its axis?

Dakota opened her mouth as if to agree with me, but she pursed her lips, her eyes darkening as they continued to stare at the door Ashley had disappeared behind.

I glanced that way, hairs rising along my arms and on my nape. “Elijah is?—”

He stepped into the office, cutting me off from telling Dakota he was outside the door.

Damn spidey senses. What was it about him that drew me into harmony with his every move when he was nearby?

His smile caused all my unrest to skitter away like cockroaches with the flip of a light switch. My stomach filled with goddamned butterflies, and Dakota’s wiggle on my lap made my dick think about a fuck fest right there in my boss’s office.

“You two are going to be the death of me,” I groaned, staring as Elijah leaned down to kiss my wife.

“I missed you,” he murmured against her mouth, resting his hand against the back of the chair beside my neck to kiss her again.

She sighed and relaxed against me but whimpered when he pulled away.

“Missed you too,” he said, his pale eyes peering deep into my soul and making everything about the city and his secretary just peachy in my mind. He brushed his lips across mine, the soft pillow and gentle caress like fucking kerosene to the flames licking at my skin thanks to his energy.

He made me want to burn with the same intensity as that jealousy from seconds earlier over his secretary.

Ashley.

Lingering insecurities of his tiring of us flitted through my brain again, scattering the breezy thoughts of happiness into the wind. My stomach clenched, and good old fear slithered along my spine, slamming walls back up into place that I hadn’t realized Elijah had turned to rubble.

I could trust Dakota with my heart, but him? Could I believe the emotions in his eyes, the window into his soul he seemed to leave wide open as he pulled back and smiled down at me when he had women like that violet-eyed secretary nearby and at his disposal?

Self-preservation said hell no even though I longed to say yes.

I would give him access to my body, hell, even my wife, but I had to be careful in sharing my heart—no matter how much the emotions he stirred in me felt like the kind of love that lasted a lifetime.