The Dragon Billionaire's Secret Mate: BBW Dragon Shifter Paranormal Romance (10 page)

"He's your brother," Theresa said. "You're a better man than he is. You don't need to do this."

She stroked her hand over Samuel's face, the scales smooth and warm beneath her hands. "He's your brother," she said again.

Vivienne came running up to them. She threw herself over Severin as if she could shield him with her own body. "Please," she whispered. "Please."

"You've won. You're the alpha now. Things are going to change," Theresa said. "But you don't want to kill him."

"No. I don't," Samuel said. His voice was very tired. "Severin? Swear you won't try to hurt her again."

Severin twisted his head around with obvious effort. "I won't ever hurt your mate again. I give you my oath," he said. The words rang in the silent night air like a bell. Theresa could feel them resonating inside her chest.

This was magic, too, she was pretty sure; a dragon magic that she didn't yet understand. Somehow, with those words, Severin had bound himself. She'd be safe from him forever.

Samuel took a step back, taking his paw off Severin's side. Severin changed back. He seemed very small now, a slender young man in a blood-soaked tux, shivering from cold and blood loss.

Theresa knelt down next to him, reaching out one hand. Vivienne flinched, shifting in between them protectively.

Theresa shook her head. "I won't hurt him," she said. She caught Severin's hand in hers. There wasn't much left in her, but she forced out a last few trickles of that warm red light. Severin's wounds stopped bleeding.

Samuel caught her when the world started spinning around her. He was back in his human form, cradling her against his chest.

"He'll be okay," Theresa said.

Vivienne closed her eyes for a second. The cool facade was gone from her face. Theresa could see the naked relief in her eyes. "Thank you," Vivienne said. She pulled Severin's body into her lap, rocking him gently.

"Come on, let's get out of here" Samuel said quietly. He gathered her up in his arms and carried her to the car. It had deep scratches on every side, and the fender was crumpled and dented.

"What on earth did you do to that poor car?" Theresa asked.

Samuel shrugged. "I had to get here in time." He looked down at the ruined paintwork, the dented sides. "I'm going to have to buy Gregor a new car."

"Who's Gregor?"

Samuel laughed. "Tomorrow, he's going to be the richest, happiest chauffeur in the world."

He deposited her very gently in the front seat.

Theresa hardly remembered anything of the drive. She was tired down to her bones, and her eyes kept falling shut.

Samuel carried her up to the penthouse and laid her down on his bed. He helped her out of her torn, crumpled dress. Theresa could have done this for herself. The worst of the exhaustion had receded on the drive into town. But it was nice to lie here and feel taken care of. And she was pretty sure Samuel wanted to be taking care of her. He'd kept throwing concerned glances at her from the corner of his eyes during the whole drive, and bristled protectively when the doorman had gotten too close in the building's lobby.

Samuel peeled out of his own clothes when he'd finished undressing her, carelessly dropping his blood-stained, ruined tux on the floor. Theresa reached out to touch his chest. Only three thin pink lines remained of the gaping slashes on his chest. It was a miracle that he'd survived. Magic. Magic they'd created, together.

Theresa called up a few sparkles of that bright warm power and let it flow out through the tips of her fingers while she touched the lines of his scars; just making sure, feeling that he was safe and whole.

Samuel shivered. His cock gave an interested twitch, growing and filling.

"What does it feel like?" Theresa asked.

"Tingly," Samuel said with a low laugh. "Do it again?"

She slid her hands down his chest, leaving a faint glow everywhere she'd touched his skin. When she'd been healing him, it had felt like an almost physical pull, his body soaking up every bit of energy she could give, draining her strength out of her in a great rushing flow. But now, with him healthy and strong, there wasn't any draining energy. Just a feeling of connection, a faint, almost electrical tingle beneath her hands.

Samuel gave a startled groan when she wrapped her hand around his cock. "Oh, that feels—" He shook his head, his eyes dazed, as if he couldn't find a word to describe the feeling.

Theresa stroked him slow and easy, light spilling out between her fingers. She loved the feeling of his big cock in her hand, the eager way his body curled towards hers. She sat up on her knees, bending down to give his cock a curious lick. Samuel groaned. She liked the salty taste of him, the feeling of him in her mouth, and even better were the low, overwhelmed sounds of pleasure he made when she took him deeper inside her mouth.

Samuel stroked her hair, her cheek, his big hands tender and careful on the side of her face. Theresa closed her eyes and reveled in the feeling of it, the intimate way they were connected now. Her own arousal was growing along with his, burning hotly between her thighs. 

When Samuel came, it was almost as if she could feel his pleasure in her own body. It left her feeling dazed and languid. Samuel sat still for a long moment after, his hands braced on the bed, his sides heaving for breath. He looked overwhelmed, awed. He reached out to squeeze her hand, as if trying to say with the touch what he couldn't find the words for right then.

Finally, he shook himself. "What would you like?" he asked.

"Oh, um." Theresa stalled. For all that they'd done it before, she still found it hard to say it out loud. She let her thighs fall open. Samuel smiled and bent down to kiss the top of her thigh.

"Like this?" he asked.

"Mmm," Theresa said, spreading her legs wider so Samuel could lie down between them.

He kissed and licked her gently while Theresa floated on the pleasure of it. He was so amazing at this, and so patient; she didn't have to hurry to get off, she could just enjoy this, let the pleasure flood through her until her entire body tingled with it. Samuel stroked the sensitive insides of her thighs, and then slid his hands around, cupping her ass, squeezing gently while she groaned and arched into his mouth.

Her orgasm was a slow, cresting wave that left her sensitive and hungry for more.

Samuel curled around her. He was already hard again, she felt with surprise. But then she already knew that his stamina was amazing, and maybe some of her pleasure had communicated itself to him just the way she thought she'd been able to feel his, through that bond they now shared.

He pulled her back against his chest, stroking her clit with just the tips of his fingers, as if he could tell exactly how sensitive she was after her orgasm. Finally he slid inside her, slow and gentle and perfect.

They rocked together slowly, neither of them in any hurry to finish, just enjoying the closeness and the intimacy, pleasure sparking back and forth between them.

Samuel came when she did, his arms tightening around her as she cried out in pleasure.

He kissed the back of her neck. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too," Theresa said. The feeling was like a fire inside her chest, raw and overwhelming.

Samuel shifted until she could use one of his arms as a pillow, his other arm wrapped tightly around her. She fell asleep like that, Samuel curled around her, held safe and warm in her dragon's embrace.

***

"Theresa!" Carolyn cried, her face lighting up in surprised pleasure. She pulled Theresa into a tight hug. "Are you back from your conference? I know you said you were going to be busy, but you could have sent a text or something. I feel like I haven't heard from you in ages."

"I'm sorry," Theresa said, wincing. It was true, they hardly ever spent more than a few days without at least exchanging a few texts. Two weeks was a long time for radio silence between them."Things got… pretty crazy for a bit."

She'd never lied to her sister before, and she didn't much like doing it now. She'd told Carolyn she had to go to a conference when she'd been preparing for her ten days with Samuel, back when she'd still been dreading those days, bracing herself. It felt like an eternity had passed since then, instead of not even two weeks. So much had changed.

She'd had no idea, back then, what she was going to tell Carolyn about where the money was coming from; and now, with everything that happened, she knew even less what to say.

"How are you doing?" she asked.

Carolyn looked exhausted, her eyes tight with strain at the corners, even as she covered it up with a smile. "Oh, you know. Still working on figuring something out. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

The look in her eyes said she didn't believe her own words.

"Anyway, sit down, take your coat off. Pie's gonna be done in a couple minutes," Carolyn said.

Carolyn's warm, homey kitchen was filled with delicious smells, fresh-baked pie and a stew already simmering on the oven for dinner.

Carolyn put a big slice of apple pie on a plate for her, still steaming from the oven, a generous dollop of vanilla ice cream on top.

"Joey, pie! And your Auntie Theresa's here!" she yelled.

"Coming, mom!" Joey yelled back from upstairs.

"Wash your hands first!"

Carolyn put a slice of pie on her own plate.

"So how was your weirdo top-secret last-minute librarian conference? Don't think I haven't noticed you being all secretive, sis. What, did you all get taken over by the CIA and had to go into spy training or something?"

"Um," Theresa said. Great. Apparently she was even worse at lying than she'd realized. She'd thought the conference was a pretty believable excuse for her sudden absence. She had to tell Theresa
something
, she knew; but what?

"Well. I brought you something back," she said, stalling. She handed Carolyn the envelope with the check, the fifty thousand dollars Samuel had given her.

Once she'd told him what she needed the money for, Samuel had immediately offered to make all of Carolyn's debts go away, mortgage and all. "She won't accept that," Theresa had told him. She'd be lucky if Carolyn accepted the fifty thousand dollars she'd need to get the dangerous loan sharks off her back. She was pretty sure Samuel was already working on stealthily buying up Carolyn's mortgage, though, and wouldn't be surprised at all if a "clerical error" suddenly made the debts go away in some none-too-distant future.

Carolyn opened up the envelope and froze. "Holy—Theresa, what did you do? Where did you get this?"

"It's a gift," Theresa said vaguely, but she'd known Carolyn wouldn't let her get away with that.

"Resa, tell me you didn't do anything illegal. Or, or dangerous. If you get in trouble because of me…"

"I'm not in any trouble," Theresa said quickly.

"So tell me where this money's coming from, then," Carolyn said sharply. Theresa could hear the rising worry in her voice.

Steps thundering down the stairs interrupted them.

"Auntie Resa!" Joey came flying through the kitchen door and threw himself straight at Theresa without slowing down. Theresa laughed, gasping, all the breath knocked out of her. She just barely managed to save her slice of pie from imminent disaster.

"Missed you, Auntie Resa!" Joey said.

"I've missed you, too." Theresa hugged him firmly. She reached out with her new-found powers, red light spilling from her hands where the table hid them from view—looking, searching… But there wasn't a bit of illness left in Joey, none of the slow, creeping darkness of disease she'd learned to recognize with her new senses. The treatment really had worked. He was a strong, healthy kid.

Theresa let out a slow, shaky breath. He was going to be alright.

"Joey, I need you to go up to your room now, okay? Your Auntie Resa and me need to talk," Carolyn said tightly.

"Aww, mom!"

"I'll come up and play with you later, okay?" Theresa promised.

"I want pie now, though!"

"You can have a slice to take back to your room," Carolyn said. She reached for the cake knife and cut an uneven slice, distractedly; her hands were shaking faintly.

"Watch it!" There said; too late.

Carolyn snatched back her bleeding finger. "Dam—darn it!"

"Go wash that off, I'll take care of Joey," Theresa said. She prepared a plate of pie and ice cream while Joey watched Carolyn anxiously.

"Are you okay, mommy?"

Carolyn forced a smile. "It's just a little cut, kiddo. Don't worry about me. Go up to your room now, and Theresa will come up as soon as we're done talking, okay?"

"'kay. You promise, Auntie Resa?"

"Promise," Theresa said.

She waited until the door had closed behind Joey. Carolyn was still standing bent over the sink, running water over the cut in her hand. Theresa could feel the weight of her secret hovering in the air between them. It felt wrong. She'd never had any secrets from her big sister before.

Tell her if you want
, Samuel had said.
She's your sister. If you trust her, I trust her.