Page 6 of Omega Dragon Manny (Shifters For Hire #3)

CLARK

Back in my twenties, I’d spent many nights in strangers’ beds.

Sometimes by accident, and sometimes out of boredom, but rarely was I with anyone whose name I could recall after sunrise.

I had no regrets. I hadn’t been in a place to have someone permanent in my life, and it was better to be upfront and honest about that than it was to lead an omega on.

I was no longer that alpha. Partly because my needs and interests had both waned over the years.

Not because I didn’t want a partner or didn’t get horny.

That was a yes on both accounts, but when I was busy, I was busy busy.

I could go months before seeking out a hookup simply because I didn’t slow down enough to realize I could use an outlet.

But after just one day with Beau Draco in my house, my jaw was clenched and my heart racing like I just ran a marathon as I lay in my bed and tried to behave.

Behaving had never, never been easy for me, but this was on a whole new level.

I was attracted to him more than I’d ever been attracted to anyone.

I only needed to think his name and my body came alive.

And when we were alone in a room together, the kids sleeping peacefully in another room, it was a miracle I hadn’t reached out and touched the poor man.

He was here for a job. I was his boss. Nothing could happen between us, no matter how much I longed for it.

The first thing I did after kissing the babies good night and thanking Beau for jumping right into the mix was to shut my bedroom door and yank off my jeans to finally give my hard-on some space.

I felt guilty acting this way, but it couldn’t be helped.

When I was around him, my body reacted. It wasn’t like I was doing it on purpose.

My cock had been in varying states of hardness since I woke up from my nap.

Coming earlier had done little to alleviate my neediness.

If anything it only made it worse. I finally had a moment to take care of it, and I was taking advantage of it.

Just getting the jeans off was a huge relief. Literally and figuratively.

Once I was fully naked, I dropped onto my back and immediately started stroking myself, already close with just the image of Beau dancing in my mind.

I was going to be quiet this time. Or at least quieter.

I didn’t need to haunt the man with my masturbation audio.

He didn’t get paid enough for that. I wasn’t sure I was paying him enough for the job I hired him for.

I was going to have to ask around at work what the current rates were and not go by the agency’s recommendations alone.

Maybe ten hours total had passed since Beau stepped into my house, but I didn’t need more time than that to know he was different.

He was special.

The way he looked at me when I was holding the babies made me see just how desperate he was to have what I suddenly had. And made my mind wander just far enough to imagine we could have this thing together. This insta-family that he fell right into as if he always belonged. Each other.

Just as I felt my spine tense and my balls pull up, my phone buzzed on the nightstand. With the house quiet, I knew it wasn’t urgent, so I held my breath and relaxed into the climax that came fast and hard. Whoever was calling could wait.

Beau’s gorgeous face was like a billboard behind my eyelids as my body erupted with the pent-up tension that had been building for most of the day.

I slammed my mouth shut, not wanting so much as a moan to escape, but that wasn’t what was threatening to come from my lips.

No, that was his name. A random groan could mean I was getting off to porn.

Embarrassing, sure, but not personal. His name?

That would mean I was doing exactly what I was doing, and there was no way that was anything but personal.

For a few moments, I lay in my mess and just breathed in the content feeling in my body. When my phone buzzed again, I wiped my belly with my t-shirt before reaching for it.

I felt like a freaking teenager just discovering my dick.

It was late enough that I was fully expecting a spam text of some kind, but I was pleasantly surprised to see it was from Beau.

All’s quiet, so I’m gonna go to sleep. My door will be open, so I’ll get up if I hear anyone. I’ve got excellent hearing. He added a dragon emoji.

Did that excellent hearing comment mean what I thought it did? Probably, but there was no taking it back even if I wanted to.

And just like that, I was getting hard again. Sleep well, Dragon. I hovered over the send button and sighed. Seriously, though, thank you. You’re amazing.

His job wasn’t to get up in the middle of the night, and we’d have that conversation. But we weren’t having it by text message as I was covered in my own cum, cum that was there because I’d been fantasizing about him. Nope. That conversation could happen over coffee in the morning.

I watched the bubbles as he typed back, and I couldn’t help myself from imagining him in the guest room, maybe curled up under the microfleece throw I’d bought last Christmas and never used.

Did he wear pajamas or did he sleep in boxers…

or nothing at all? The visual was as distracting as it was immediate.

Amazing is a stretch, but I’m bendy, so I’ll take it. LMK if you need me later. G’night.

He was either extremely innocent or he knew exactly what he was doing.

I strongly suspected the latter. The man was a flirting expert, and for some reason, he was flirting with me.

It was official, I definitely needed him, but I couldn’t tell him that.

Instead, I didn’t respond at all. If I'd been reading into his comments correctly, it would be one thing, but I couldn’t be sure.

Losing a manny because I jumped to conclusions and was too forward wasn’t worth it.

I could be patient. Probably. Maybe. I hoped.

I let the phone rest on my chest as I took stock of my feelings.

If anyone had asked me to describe the sensation of “butterflies in my stomach” just twenty-four hours ago, I would have scoffed.

That was something that happened to teenagers or people in romcoms who spent their lives running through airports.

I was a grown-ass man who was thinking about riding the back of a dragon… and riding the ass of a sweet omega.

Beau was the first person in years who made me think about the future as anything other than deals and spreadsheets and power.

The question was, was it Beau himself or the combination of Beau and being a new father of three.

If it was because of the babies, how unfair would it be to Beau to pursue him?

That was something to figure out, but there was so much more I wanted to know than that.

I wanted to know what he liked for breakfast and if he preferred beaches or mountains. But more than anything, I wanted to wake up in the morning and see him looking at me as if he might be thinking the same things.

I was fucked.