STORY EXCERPT

He really needed to relax. It wasn’t the dragons he needed to worry about. It was the humans here. Humans who would swarm around any dragon with a kind heart, someone who would feed them every day, give them warm clothes and a nice bed.

Any human could pretend to love a dragon who provided those things for them.

But Addison worked hard. He deserved the real thing.

“What about you?” Mark asked. “How did you get to be here?”

Because he wasn’t invited.

He set the bags of flour on the floor in the huge, but mostly empty pantry, clapping his hands together.

“Addison helped me out. I owe him.” And he would protect him.

Mark didn’t ask for further details, apparently taking it to mean he wasn’t going to get anywhere else.

He would be correct.

Baxter didn’t wait for permission to head back to the truck for the rest of the supplies when something stopped him.

It was a human. Of course it was. Even if the height wasn’t a dead giveaway, Baxter could smell it all over him.

The guy looked to be about Baxter’s age, mid-twenties, though his auburn eyes were slightly haunted. His hair was the same color, that shade of brown and red that looked…amazing on him. Especially in this light.

He was shorter than Baxter, by a lot, and Baxter was nearly seven feet tall, so that was normal.

“Is…that for us?” he asked.

Baxter blinked, clearing his head, trying to piece together the words instead of what they just sounded like.

Like warm honey over his hot skin.

“Uh, they what?”

Mark gave him an odd look before addressing the human. “Yeah, these are presents. A guy Alexander knows came with some flour and other odds and ends for us.”

“Oh,” said the human, wetting his lips, and Baxter immediately wished he hadn’t done that because now he caught a glimpse of the man’s tongue.

And he wanted to taste it.

Their eyes met, and something punched Baxter in the guts. “Are you…a friend of Alexander’s?”

“No,” Baxter said, his voice coming out choked and rough. He had to clear his throat. “No, I’m…not here for a mate.”

His brain clearly wasn’t working all that well. He shouldn’t have said that. He shouldn’t. Even Mark hissed at him, and the handsome little human blinked, his curious expression turning to caution as he backed away.

Clearly not some human who was willing to jump all over him and beg to be taken.

Even if that was exactly what Baxter wanted to do to him.

“What’s your name?” He needed to know. It was important he know this human’s name.

The human, still staring at him with those wide eyes, backed off a step and then glanced at Mark as though searching for protection.

Which was irritating because Baxter was supposed to be the one giving him his protection. Not this other male standing next to him.

Mark spoke up anyway.

“Tom, why don’t you head back upstairs. You can check out the supplies and make cooking arrangements when my friend here is gone.”

Tom. Baxter had a name. It was Tom.

Nice name. Perfect name.

Baxter suddenly couldn’t think about anything else. He felt as if he’d had too much to drink, and everything was swirling around him, as if he was in one of those funny tunnels that spun around and around him, with only one clear way out.

And it was right in front of him, pointing at this one human.

“Tom!” Mark snapped, making Tom jump, and Baxter growl.

Mark ignored Baxter, keeping his eyes on Tom. “Go back upstairs, now please.”

Tom spared one more glance at Baxter but then quickly turned and did as he was told, leaving quickly.

Baxter watched him go, longing to chase after him, but knowing he had no reason to.

When Tom was around the corner and out of sight, he couldn’t keep his anger inside anymore. “You like yelling at the humans around here?”

Mark sneered back at him. “What I like is making sure no horny asshole gets the wrong idea.”

“What?”

“You said you weren’t here to mate with anyone. That doesn’t mean they’re for rent either, so get that thought out of your head.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Tom’s cock throbbed, and just the touches, the kisses alone made him feel like he could come.

He wanted to. He wanted to come so damn badly that he moaned and shivered when Baxter pressed his tongue against Tom’s lips.

Tom opened, his own tongue finding and stroking against Baxter’s and—oh! His knees melted. He had to hang on for dear life, or he was going to end up falling to his knees.

Which wouldn’t have been a bad thing. He could think of more than a few things he could be doing on his knees, but he didn’t want to take it there just yet.

He wanted more of this amazing kissing. He wanted to kiss and suck on Baxter’s tongue, his jaw, his throat, and then maybe his cock.

Tom wanted to enjoy this.

Baxter, on the other hand, laughed a little, which was enough to make Tom pull back.

“Wh-what’s the matter?” His first thought was he was doing something wrong. He wasn’t kissing right. Or he’d misread Baxter, and the dragon might start insulting him and making demands.

“I just didn’t think you were so eager. You looked so shy back there.”

Heat crawled into Tom’s face, but he couldn’t detect any venom in Baxter’s voice. “I don’t have to be shy.”

And he forced that feeling of shyness away because Baxter was right. Tom wasn’t always like this.

He tried to channel a whole other person. Someone confidant. Someone who knew what they were doing and wasn’t afraid to ask.

Someone who wasn’t a human.

“I want you to show me, to do to me, exactly what you were thinking of that entire time we were at the dinner table.”

Baxter blinked.

Tom kept going before he lost his nerve, his hands sliding against Baxter’s waist, then down to his pants and over the hard-on beneath his clothes.

“I saw you watching me. Come on, give it to me before I get bored.”

Baxter growled a little, and Tom thought he may have gone a little too far before the other man grabbed his wrists and pinned them above his head.

His face came in close, their noses touching, but once again, Tom wasn’t scared. He didn’t get the feeling this was going to be a bad thing, even as Baxter growled at him.

“You really want me to fuck you hard?”

Baxter’s warm breath against Tom’s face and neck only increased the lust he felt by tenfold. He’d been horny before, sometimes before being taken by Ian or one of his friends, but never like this.

Previously, that desire had been to scratch a building itch, the need for some small amount of pleasure so he could just enjoy something.

This was…this was a whole other level of horny. As if he would implode if he didn’t get what he wanted.

“Yeah,” he said quietly. Tom wet his lips, glancing down between them, his palm still stroking over Baxter’s hard cock through his pants.

Baxter’s nostrils flared.

He looked dangerous, but again, not in a way that left Tom fearful he would get hurt.

“I don’t want you biting me, though,” he said through a sudden moment of clarity.

Baxter paused.

Fuck. Tom had to clarify. “I mean, I would be honored to be your mate. Anyone would,” he said, hoping the compliment would stave off any insult he might have given. “But…I don’t…I don’t want another bite.”

Baxter frowned. “Don’t you hate being connected to Ian?”

Tom really didn’t want to be constantly reminded of what his life used to be like before they got down to business.

“I do. I fucking hate him, but I just…I don’t want someone else taking me like he did. I just want sex, and only if you make it good.” Tom swallowed. “You said you didn’t want any mate anyway, so I thought it was okay.”

Baxter blinked, and Tom could almost see the wheels whirring in his head before he seemed to decide on something.

And that dangerous expression came back. The look on his face that showed off how in control he was.

“You’re right,” Baxter said. “Smart little human. You just want a little harmless fun?”

“Yes,” Tom moaned, pressing himself against Baxter, feeling brave as he kissed and sucked on the side of his throat.

Ian wasn’t very affectionate in bed. Tom liked kissing, he liked being held, and he thought with Baxter, a dragon who respected humans enough to not want to hurt them, but with no desire for a mate…

Well, he was the best chance Tom had for getting what he wanted tonight.

“Please, take me,” Tom begged.