Dragon in the Rough (Elders Enterprises Book 1) (7 page)

              Katie did not know what else to say so she just kept quiet as they waited for the elevator. 

                    Chapter 11

              Paul spent most of the day trying to translate and understand some of the book. He had successfully translated another chapter but was having a hard time understanding what it meant. Finally, he gave up and paced his apartment, thoughts of Katie filling his mind. He had not wanted to let her go see the Elders but in some ways it could give him the advantage, which Paul was more than grateful to take.

              But that did not mean he had to like the idea of Katie being in a building full of male dragons. If they even thought that she might be one of them, they would be all over her in no time at all. Paul slammed his fist through the closest wall to him. “She is mine!” he yelled, scaring himself. When had he started think of Katie as his? He did not know the answer but it scared him.

              Paul did not know if he could even handle a relationship. Sure, he had slept around to take the edge off, but he never got to know them, let alone care about them. There was no point in doing so. He could not have a family with them. Even if he had married someone, she would grow old and die. He would never put himself in that situation.

              Paul had always held out hope that he would find his mate one day. Even after watching so many friends and family give up, he never lost faith that he would find her. Yet now that he might have found her, he was scared shitless. He was scared that he would screw this up. With a quick glance at his watch, Paul knew he had about two hours until Katie got off work. That gave him enough time to get to the store and back before Katie got home. Without another thought, he grabbed his wallet and keys and headed out the door, making sure he locked it on the way out.

***

              Katie was glad when she looked up from the paperwork that she was drowning in and saw that it was just about time to go home. It had been a very long day. After the meeting, Mark had walked her down to HR so she could get her I.D. and pay situated. Katie almost had a heart attack when she saw just how much she was getting paid. She had to ask Mark to look it up to make sure that it was right. He did so with a smile on his face the whole time. When he looked at her and told her that it was correct, Katie did a little happy dance before realizing that people were watching her. She would have everything she ever wanted with a paycheck like this.

              When she was done there, Mark had taken her to her office. She was working on the same floor as their other private investigators, which was just fine with her. Katie’s office was just about as big as her whole apartment. The walls were bare and painted white and a lone desk sat in front of a wall of windows. Mark had assured her that an interior decorator would be by in the next few days and that she had no limit on how much she could spend.

              Katie did not know how she felt about all of this. In a way, she was enjoying the fact that she now had money and freedom to do just about anything, but at the same time it was overwhelming. She had come from nothing and slowly made her way in life. A lot of kids that grew up like she did ended up losing their lives to drugs. Now looking around, Katie knew how close she had been to going down that road and she was happy that she had stayed strong even when everything was going against her.

              Shaking away her thoughts, Katie stood and grabbed her bag. When she stepped out onto the sidewalk, she stopped and released a sigh. She was glad that no one had tried to stop her and talk to her on the way out. She had not realized just how much tension had been running through her body until she stepped outside and it all just kind of rolled off of her. She just wanted to get home and relax again.

              While walking home, Katie remembered that Paul was coming over again tonight. She could not stop the smile that spread across her face at the thought. She did not think there could be a better way to unwind from the day than to lay down in Paul’s arms.

              Before Katie knew it, she was walking up the stairs to her apartment and unlocking the door. She sent up a quick prayer that Paul would be there sooner rather than later. As soon as she opened the door and stepped inside, she got the feeling that she was not alone anymore. She pushed the feeling aside and set her purse down on the table, turning and heading for the bedroom so that she could change her clothes before Paul got there.

              Katie stopped dead in her tracks. Paul was standing just inside her bedroom looking at her. She started looking around the room. Paul had set out lit candles on almost every surface, sprinkled rose petals all over the floor and bed, and there was a huge teddy bear sitting in front of her closet. Katie tried to hold back the tears but knew there was no winning the battle. No one had ever done anything like this for her before. Finally, her eyes came back to Paul. If she had any doubts about falling for him, they were washed away. He stood there with a smile on his face that melted Katie’s heart.

              “I thought we would celebrate your first day at a new job.” He walked over to Katie. “I also wanted you to know that I want to be with you, Katie. Not just because I need your help but because I really do like you.” He grabbed Katie and pulled her into his arms. She just melted. She did not know what to say so she wrapped her arms around him and held him close.

              “Thank you,” she finally squeaked out. “I really need this after the long day that I had.” Katie felt Paul go rigid.

              “What happened?” His voice was calm but Katie could feel that he was anything but.

              “Why did you contact Mark last night?” Paul looked down at Katie before he released her and went to sit down on her bed. Katie wanted to follow him but decided it was best if she stayed where she was until she got answers from him. He could have at least given her a heads up.

              Staring at his hands, Paul talked softly. “I have been around for a very long time. Mark may be my opposite but he is still a part of me. We talk to each other whenever something is bothering us. No matter how mad we might be at each other, he has always had my back. I needed to talk to him last night.” He paused to take a breath. “Last night when you broke down, I felt so helpless. I did not know what to do to make it better. So when I left here, I walked around aimlessly. When that did not help, I contacted him.” He looked up at her now. “I wish I had never contacted him. All it did was make me feel worse. But then you connected with me right after I talked to him and just seeing you made me feel a thousand times better. What are you doing to me, Katie? I have never felt this way before.”

              Katie did not know what to say. Paul looked so lonely, a feeling she knew all too well. So she did the only thing she could think of. Katie walked over and took Paul’s face into her hands, leaning down and kissing him softly. He responded to her immediately, pulling her down onto his lap so that she was straddling him. Running his hands down her back, he pulled her closer to him. It felt as if the kiss would never end, and Katie did not want it to. She was truly breathing for the first time in her life.

              Finally, Katie was able to gather enough strength to pull away. “I do not understand what is happening between us. It is all happening so quickly. It is intense, but I do know that I want to see where it is leading. You do not have to be alone anymore, Paul.” Katie sat there and waited for Paul to respond. She hoped that she had not been too straight forward. She had never done this before so it was all a learning experience.

              “Me, too,” Paul whispered. “I have never wanted anything this much in my whole life.” He leaned back in and covered Katie’s mouth with his again. This time the kiss was filled with raw need. Before Katie knew what was happening, Paul was pulling her shirt off, leaving her with only her bra standing between their chests. Paul broke the kiss then and started kissing her neck, down to the top of her breast. He slipped a finger under her bra and then with a SNAP, it fell away.

              Paul immediately bent down and took one nipple into his mouth while he covered the other with his rough hand. Katie threw her head back and moaned. Needing to touch him, she started pulling at his shirt. Paul stopped what he was doing to reach up and grab the collar of his shirt, ripping it open. Katie had never seen anything sexier. She would be willing to buy him shirts if he did that at least once a day.

              Another moan escaped Katie as she ran her fingers down Paul’s chest. He sucked in a breath as he shivered beneath her touch. He quickly flipped them over so that Katie was laying on her back with Paul on top of her. He stood and removed first his pants and then hers.

              Then he was back on top of her, kissing and running his tongue down her side slowly. When he reached her waist, he switched direction, slowly heading for her core. When one finger slid down, Katie moaned, arching her back to give him better access. “So wet,” Paul said in a husky voice as he slipped one finger inside of her. “Is that for me?”

              Katie did not think she could speak so instead, she nodded her head franticly. Paul slid his finger out and then back in. Katie did not know how long he continued with this, she finally screamed as an orgasm hit. Paul pulled his finger out and put it straight into his mouth, moaning in delight. He then straightened himself and positioned his cock at her entrance, slowly pushing himself into her. “This is where I want to be.” Paul pulled out so only the tip was inside of her.

              Then he slammed into her, picking up the pace with every thrust. When Katie thought she could not take it anymore, her world exploded. She grabbed onto Paul, digging her nails into his skin. She screamed out his name as another orgasm ripped through her but she was drowned out by Paul throwing his head back and screaming as he pumped his hot seed into her. He fell over, twisting as he came down. Katie figured it was so that his weight did not land on her. They laid there silently trying to catch their breaths.

              After a few moments, Paul looked over at Katie. “See, this is an example of what I was saying earlier. I have had sex with a lot of women in my life, but nothing has ever felt as amazing as this.”

              Katie laughed. “Yeah, I know what you mean.” Then she looked up at him. “Wait, how many women have you had sex with?”

              Paul smiled. “I am over five hundred years old. Let’s just say I am fairly experienced in the bedroom department.”

              Katie laughed. “Wow, so you really are robbing the cradle.” She laughed even harder when she looked over and saw the look of shock on Paul’s face. It was priceless.

              “Soooo, in other news, how was your day?” Paul asked as he ran his hand up Katie’s arm, causing her to shudder under his touch.

              “It was all right, just long. During the meeting this morning, I found it really hard not to react to some of the things they were saying.” Katie rolled over and laid her head on his chest, letting out a sigh. This just all felt so right. It was like the planets of Katie’s world were finally lining up. She honestly felt happy, which meant that something was sure to go wrong and mess everything up.

              “Like what?” Paul asked as he ran his fingers through her hair.

              “Like when they started talking about your conversation with Mark. They are now looking for me and they do not even know it.” Paul went still but his heart started to race under Katie’s head.

              “But they do not have any way to track you down. I never said anything that would give you away.” Katie could hear the fear in Paul’s voice as he spoke.

              “You may have not meant to give anything away, but you did. When you told Mark that I had only just learned that I was a dragon, they figured the only way that was possible was if I was raised in the human foster care system.” Katie paused, letting Paul absorb that before she continued. “So they are having me search through the database with a fine-tooth comb. I am looking for any kids who show any signs of being a dragon. I know my name will show up but I can make sure that it stays off of their lists.” Katie looked up at Paul. He looked to be in deep thought. Laying her head back down on his chest, she said, “This is a good thing, Paul. It means they cannot use me against you.”

              “What do you mean they cannot use you against me?” Paul sat them both up so that Katie was looking him in the eyes.

              “They are trying to find me because Mark got the feeling that you are falling for me. That I might be a potential mate for you. So they figure if they bring me in then it will force you to turn yourself and the book in to them.” Katie’s palms started to sweat, she felt like Paul was going to explode at any second now.

              “I will not let anything happen to you, Katie. I will do everything in my power to fix all of this.” Paul leaned over and gave her a quick kiss before standing up. He reached down and picked his pants up off the floor before slipping them over his legs.