“Are you this demanding with all your lovers?”
Shale lifted a brow.
“Sorry.” I winced. “I meant before. You know.”
“You mistake my expression. I'm trying to remind you of the request you made.”
I blinked. “Oh! Dominating. Yeah, I like that. But this isn't dominating.” I waved at him. “This is just being a royal prick.”
Shale burst out laughing, tossing his head back over the rim of the tub. And how glorious that was. My body came alive with the sight. His smile changed him from a king of the night to a god of the day. It spread across his face like sunshine, warming and awakening, turning his paleness into brightness. The water droplets on his chest became diamonds, set there to enhance the god's beauty, and his sprawl was that of a conqueror awaiting his war prize.
I was dumbstruck.
Usually, after I have a man, they lose some of their appeal for me. The newness wears off. The mystery. They become normal, someone attainable because I attained them. Not that I'm a bed-then-fled kind of guy. I don't discard lovers after I get them. I'm not that guy. They simply lose a bit of their shine.
Shaleros got shinier.
He had been right to warn me. I knew it even as he spoke the words. But now I felt it. Love had sunk its claws into me during the night. I felt physically different, not just mentally. I was a changed man. No explanation for it other than love. It was here. Not that I hadn't loved before. But it had never felt like this. I knew I would do anything for him. Fuck, I had just washed his fucking feet!
“My apologies,” the King finally said. “I was trying to be what you needed, since you are exactly what I need, Sebastian.”
Oh, yeah, there it went. My heart flew out of my chest and into his keeping even though it knew Shale didn't want it. He wouldn't even know he had it. I had to make sure of that or he'd discard me even faster.
“Thank you,” I whispered. “That's very considerate of you.”
“But it's not what you wanted.”
“Not like that.” I grimaced. “How about you forget about what I said and just be yourself with me? I mean your real self. Not the Dragon King, not the lover you think I want, just you.”
Shale's arms slid into the tub and his expression went serious. “What if I don't know who that is?”
“You don't have to know. Just be. Just feel what you feel and let yourself react to it. Don't think things through or put on a show for me. Relax and be with me. That's all I want.”
Shale let out a long sigh. “That's all I want too.” Then he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me across the tub to straddle his lap. “That and you riding my cock.”
I grinned and pushed off his lap. “Nope. Not happening in here.”
“What?” The Dragon King frowned at me. “Why not?”
“Fucking in water is a tricky business. It's not a good lubricant. And water gets up there. Then it comes out.” I widened my eyes at him. “We'd do better to keep that out of the bath. Now, the shower, that's fine. But not the tub.”
Shale blinked. Comprehension dawned. “Ah, I see. What if we drain some of the water and you bend over?”
I grabbed the bar of soap and plunged it underwater. As I stroked his thigh with it, working my way to his center, I said, “What if I continue washing you, and I make sure you're especially cleanhere?” I came to his cock and drew the soap along it with one hand while holding it still with the other.
Shale's head fell back with a groan. Then he lifted it, set a lusty stare on me, and said, “I like that plan. Proceed.”
Grinning, I proceeded.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Two days later, I stood in one of the arches that circled Shale's bedroom and stared across the city. I was naked, but it was night and even if a dragon flew by, I felt confident I wouldn't be seen before I could withdraw.
Shale stepped up behind me and wrapped his body around mine. I sighed as I leaned back into his embrace and laid my hands on his arms. Growling, he bent his head to nestle into my neck, and I felt the graze of his teeth. He had sipped from me a few times during sex but had been careful to only take a little. Barely anything. In return, his bite gave far more, sending me catapulting into rapture every time. It had gotten to the point where I craved it, and the feel of those teeth instantly hardened me.
The King chuckled when he saw my response. “I think you like me drinking from you as much as I enjoy your taste.”
“I think you're right.” I looked up at him over my shoulder. “Thank you for being careful with me.”
