Page 3 of The Dragon’s Stormwoven Bond (Dragon Flight Academy #2)

Pep

“I’m glad you two are having a good time, but it’s about time for me to close down for the night.”

I looked around the bar, and sure enough, we were the last two individuals there. I’d been so distracted by the sexy alpha that I’d missed the place clearing out. My focus had been soley on him, to the point the rest of the bar faded away.

The other waitstaff had even begun putting the chairs up and sweeping the floor already. Valen and I had managed to talk the entire night away. It had been such a long time since I met anyone I had a decent conversation with, and I’d never met anyone who I connected with so quickly and seamlessly.

Craig and his date had left soon after Valen came to my rescue. And the weird thing was, I didn’t care. Not that he was there or that he left. Once Valen stepped in, Craig lost all his power over me.

Rhythe and Drayden had left a while ago, according to the text messages I saw when I had to excuse myself for the restroom. I missed their departure entirely. I still wouldn’t have known they were gone if it hadn’t been for those messages.

I knew that my brother would cover for me as far as getting home. Not that I needed to be home at a certain hour, but my parents did like to know if we weren’t going to be there so they didn’t worry. I didn’t blame them, I felt the same way in regards to them. It was a respect thing.

I pulled out my phone. “Holy shit, it’s two thirty already,” I said. I texted my brother to let him know I was still at the bar and not dead in a ditch somewhere.

“We can go back to my hotel,” Valen offered, and it was that… an offer or possibly a promise.

I bit my lip. I didn’t want to walk away from this man. Something about him called to my dragon. Even if we exchanged numbers and planned to meet up later, my dragon was not going to accept that. Heck, I wasn’t sure he’d allow it.

“That sounded like a pick-up line,” Valen said, “but it’s more than that, Pep. I’m—” He laughed and ran a hand through his long hair that had begun to fall out of the bun it had been wrapped in all night.

He was right, it did sound like a pick-up line. But honestly, I wasn’t sure I was ready to be picked up. I had no idea what would happen from there, but for now, I wanted to get out of here and run my fingers through his gorgeous locks.

“Let’s go back to your hotel,” I said. “We can figure out the rest later.”

There was a connection here. Something real. Something rare. I was grabbing on with both talons and not letting go.

“Great.” He grabbed my hand, and the two of us went out into the night. The air was warm, and the streets were quiet.

“Thankfully, I’m not far,” he said. “I walked here.”

“That’s good.” The walking part was neither here nor there for me, but the close… that mattered, because I wanted the four walls of a room keeping his scent in, instead of it being taken away on the breeze.

“So, you mentioned you’re starting your job on Monday. Are you excited?” He’d paid attention to everything I’d told him and showed me over and over again how true that was during our conversation. This was just one example.

It was safe to say I probably liked this alpha too much for someone I just met. Oh well, not like I could change it.

I let out a long breath. “Yes. And nervous. I’ve never had a regular job before, so it feels a little weird. It’s at the academy, which is where I went to school a few years ago, so at least it’s familiar. That probably sounds weird to you, being nervous about a first day.”

I was a thousand percent giving away how young and naive I was, but also… I felt safe enough around this dragon that I didn’t want to filter what I did and didn’t share.

“Hey, I’m not so long-lived that I can’t remember what firsts are like. After all, I’m experiencing one right now.” Valen was older than my father, but that didn’t creep me out like it probably should’ve. Dragons lived a long time, age was not the same as it was for humans.

I rolled my eyes. “I doubt I’m your first anything.”

“Hey, no, don’t do that.” Valen stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and turned to look at me. His hands cupped my face, his thumbs ghosting over the skin of my cheeks.

“I might be old—way older than you—and more experienced in a lot of ways, but Pep, I’m not kidding or lying or feeding you any sort of line when I say that what I feel right now with you is a first.”

It was all I could do not to throw my arms around him. There was something so genuine, so sweet about his words.

“Something about you calls to my dragon. And if this was about me just taking you home to hook up, we would’ve left that bar hours ago.”

And I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t admit that I 100% would’ve gone with him, no question.

“In fact, we don’t have to go back to my hotel and do anything. If you tell me that you want to spend the rest of the night sitting outside under the stars talking, then I am fine with that. I just know that I do not want to leave your side. I cannot leave your side.”

My breath caught in my throat. We were on the same page. I wasn’t the only one feeling this.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, because it’s so far out of the realm of what I thought would happen today. But…” It was so hard to get the words out.

“We’re mates,” he finished my sentence for me.

“Is that… could that be… are we mates?”

“Yes,” he breathed. “You feel it too. Tell me you do.”

I nodded. “I do. I thought maybe I was imagining it at first. I mean, I’m young… really young. A lot of dragons don’t meet their mates until later. But is that what this is? Is it bad that I don’t know for sure?”

He moved closer until our bodies were flush against one another. I felt the hardness of his length through his jeans, digging into my hip. My own cock matched his in hardness, that was for sure.

“This is real, Pep. So real. But we can go as slow as you need to. I’m in no rush.”

I planted my lips on his. There was no way in hell I was going to get through this night without tasting him in some way, shape, or form. He growled against my lips and hauled me closer until my legs were wrapped around his waist.

My experience with kisses was limited to a few stolen ones at high school parties and Craig, the latter of which left much to be desired.

But kissing Valen… that was what dreams were made of.

His lips were soft against mine. The hold he had on me was firm, but not commanding.

He coaxed my lips open, and his tongue darted out to meet mine.

The taste of him flooded my senses. His heat surrounded me, and my cock ached.

We kissed for a long time, yet not long enough. Then he pulled away suddenly. For a split second, I feared I’d done something wrong, that my inexperience was ruining this. He put a stop to that right quick.

“Let’s go,” he said. “I can’t maul you on the street like this. You deserve so much more. Something better than just a hotel room.”

I put a hand over his mouth. “Shush. I only want you. That is it. That is all I’m looking for.”

I didn’t care where that took place. Behind the dumpster would work. His hotel room was plenty good enough.

“You have me.” He pressed a kiss to my lips.

He’d meant it to be a peck, nothing more, but as he pulled away, I grabbed his shoulders and yanked him back to me.

I nibbled on his bottom lip, and that was all it took for us to be back to making out in the streets.

I wanted him, needed this so badly that waiting until we reached his hotel room sounded way too far for me.

But then a horn honked and I realized just how public we were. It might’ve been an hour when most were sleeping, but most wasn’t all.

“You have me, omega,” he whispered close to my ear, “but maybe we can not show the rest of the town like this.” He nipped at my earlobe, and a shiver ran down my spine.

“You think that helps your cause?” I grabbed his hand and intertwined our fingers. “Because if you do, you have a lot to learn about me.”

“And I want a crash course tonight.”

Gods, yes.