Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

Dragon

My God, she’s tempting.

I haven’t been this tempted by a woman in a long time.

And I know damned well I need to leave my hands off her.

But there she stands, her dark eyes blazing, glaring at me, daring me.

Fucking challenging me to take her. To take her to hell.

She has no idea what I can do.

Getting involved with me will only drag her down.

As much as I want her—and even though she’s basically offering herself up on a platter—I need to be the stronger person here. I need to think of her as a narcotic that I’m dying to get into my system.

And damn, I want her more than I’ve ever wanted any drug.

But I need to say no.

I need to be a better person.

I won’t drag her sweet sunlight into my spiral of darkness.

She may want it. Hell, she may need it.

But she’ll have to find it somewhere else.

I release my grip on her and take a step back. “Go to bed, Diana.”

Her gorgeous eyes widen. “You’re kidding, right?”

I shake my head. “I don’t kid. How often have you seen me smile, Diana? How often have you heard me offer thanks when I know I should? How often have you seen me express anything other than darkness and negativity?”

“Prove it,” she says.

“Prove what?”

She crosses her arms. “That you can take me to hell.”

“You don’t want me to prove that.”

She takes a step toward me. “Yeah, I do. Because I’m not going to deny it anymore, Dragon. I’m horny as hell for you right now. I want to feel your naked body next to mine. I want to feel you inside me. And my guess is it will be more like heaven than hell.”

My cock stretches farther.

Does she have a clue what she’s doing to me?

I could fuck her into next week, and yeah, I could give her orgasm after orgasm, take her to the highest peaks in Colorado.

None of that changes the fact that I am sin. That I’m hell. It all might feel good while it’s happening, but she’ll regret it soon afterward.

I turn away from her. “I’m not a robot, Diana. I’m a flesh and blood man. My cock is as hard as it’s ever been right now, so you need to shut the fuck up. You need to leave my room. I will pack up and be gone in the morning.”

“So that’s it?” She walks around me to face me. “You’re all talk and no action?”

I shove my hands into my pockets. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. No idea what you’re asking me to do to you.”

“Do you need me to spell it out for you?” She raises her hands to either side of her body. “I’m asking you to fuck me, Dragon. Do you want me to unzip my jeans and prove to you how wet I am for you?”

I lean against my wall. My legs are unsteady. She’s driving me to the brink of insanity, and if she doesn’t stop, I will take her. I’ll do what she’s allowing me to do, and we’ll both regret it.

I can’t let that happen.

This is Jesse’s sister-in-law. This is Diana Steel. A Steel heiress.

I grab her hand, lead her to the door, and then shove her through the doorframe. I close the door, locking it.

“Open back up!” She pounds on my door.

I throw my hands over my ears in an attempt to muffle her shouts. “Go to bed, Diana.”

“You’re a coward, Dragon. That’s what you are. You’re afraid of me.”

I can’t help a chuckle at that. “Diana, I’m not afraid of anything.”

“Yes, you are. You’re afraid I’m going to see through you. I’m going to see you’re not what you claim to be.”

“Go to bed. Use a vibrator on that wet pussy of yours. That’s all I can offer you tonight.”

She pounds again and again.

But eventually she stops, and I sit down on my bed, pull out my cock to ease the ache inside me.

I should get a fucking prize for this. She offered herself and her beautiful body, mine for the taking, and I let her go.

Maybe I’m not the ultimate darkness after all.

I sleep for a few hours, but by seven a.m. I’m awake and packing my things, which takes all of about ten minutes. Diana’s probably not up yet. At least I hope she’s not. I want to simply leave the keys on the counter and go. Spare us both an embarrassing goodbye.

Where? I have no idea.

Maybe I’ll call Jake and see if I can crash with him for a few days. I don’t have a car, but I have enough money to catch a bus back to the western slope.

Of course, if I go back west, I’ll no longer be close to my rehab facility, but I can call Tim anytime. He can talk me off any ledges I find myself on. I’ll be back soon for my arraignment anyway.

I grab my duffel bag and my backpack, open the door to my bedroom, and walk out.

Only to drop my jaw when I get to the living room.

Diana’s there, and fuck it all.

She’s wearing a bright-red lace nightie that leaves nothing to the imagination.

Already my cock is responding.

She looks up at me. “Where are you going?”

“I told you I’d be out by morning.”

She walks up to me and grabs my hand. Sparks shoot through my body.

“Dragon, don’t leave. We both know you need to be here.”

I look her up and down. “Why are you dressed like that?”

“This is what I sleep in.” Her cheeks turn pink. “You think I put this on for you?”

It was a little presumptuous of me, I suppose. Maybe she does sleep in lace nighties. I can see the outline of her nipples. At least she’s wearing panties. If I could see that bare pussy, God…

“I just want to apologize,” she says. “I…”

“You what?”

She lets out a forced chuckle. “I was going to apologize for throwing myself at you. But then I realized I’m not sorry. I mean, you started it with that kiss.”

“I kissed you to get you to shut up,” I say.

She cocks her head. “You did?”

“Yeah, I did. You were yammering on and on about how I got myself into trouble last night.” I cross my arms. “You don’t even believe me, do you? You think I was actually soliciting that poor girl?”

Her shoulders slump, and she doesn’t respond.

“Then why didn’t you believe me when I told you I was sin? That I would take you to hell? You clearly believe the worst of me, Diana, and there’s nothing I can do to change that.”

She takes a deep breath, tenting her fingers in front of her chest. “I thought a lot about it. We were both in a weird place last night, and it’s probably best that we didn’t…you know.”

I simply nod.

Jacking off got me the release I needed, but damn, standing here looking at her… I still want her more than anything.

“Agreed.” I take a step toward the door. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll get out of your hair.”

She stands then, walks to me, and my gaze falls to her beautiful legs.

“Stay. Please. We’ll make this work. I start my new job tomorrow anyway, and I won’t be home much. Besides, we need to find you a lawyer.”

“Last I checked, that’s my problem, not yours.”

She wrinkles her nose. “I have contacts. My brother’s on his honeymoon, of course, and my mother’s retired, but do you think they’re the only two lawyers I know?”

“I can’t imagine your mother or your brother would represent me anyway.”

“They would if I asked them to. But I don’t have to ask them. You need a criminal defense attorney, and neither of them practice that kind of law.”

“I suppose you know someone who does?”

“Not personally, but I know lawyers, and I can get you a referral.”

“I can’t afford any kind of lawyer that you recommend.”

She stomps her foot. “For God’s sake, Dragon, I’m not saying you’ll have to pay for it. There are people who owe me favors. Who owe my family favors. Why can’t you get that through your thick head?”

I sigh. “Because I’m done taking from your family, Diana. That’s why I can’t live here.”

“God, you sound just like Jesse.” She rolls her eyes. “Don’t take Steel money. Don’t you know by now that we have enough to last a hundred lifetimes?”

“Doesn’t mean I’m entitled to any of it.”

“No, it doesn’t mean that. And quite frankly, it doesn’t mean I’m entitled to any of it either. I just happened to be born into this family. You think I did anything to earn a penny of it?”

I stop a moment, gaze at her. The look on her face is serious. She believes what she’s saying. And she’s right, of course. Most of the Steel fortune was made before she was even born.

“It’ll be easier for me to help you if you’re here.” She steps in front of the door. “So don’t go. Accept my apology and stay here.”

I should apologize to her as well. I had no right to kiss her the way I did or say anything about the guy she was with—and she had every right to slap me.

“Do you think we’ll be able to resist these urges we both seem to have?” I ask her.

She chuckles nervously. “We’re adults. I think we can certainly exercise a modicum of self-control.”

Her nipples are hard. Poking through that lace.

And it’s not because it’s cold in here.

My dick is so hard, stretching my jeans.

When her gaze drops, I know she sees it too.

And that just makes it harder.

She walks toward me.

She touches my forearm.

And I burn.

How did it come to this?

I should’ve fucked her last night. Maybe I would’ve gotten it out of my system.

Maybe that’s what we both need.

So I grab her, pull her into me, and kiss her hard.

She opens for me, and her tongue twirls with mine. It’s not as frantic as it was last night, but it’s full of passion and desire.

She doesn’t back away.

She doesn’t fear what I can do to her.

She doesn’t fear hell.

My breath catches as she slides her warm fingers underneath my T-shirt. When she gets to my nipple, she jerks away.

“Never felt a pierced nipple before?” I ask after breaking the kiss.

She doesn’t reply. Instead, she shoves my jacket over my shoulders, and it falls to the floor. Then she pulls my T-shirt up, exposing my chest and pierced nipples.

She sucks in a breath. “Oh my God.”

I’m not sure what to say to that. I’ve had this tattoo for over ten years. It took five different sessions with the artist. Soaring across my chest is a glittering gold-and-green dragon, with touches of red on the tail and the eyes.

My nipple rings are simple silver bars.

She traces the dragon with her fingers, and when her fingernails scrape over my nipples, they harden further.

“Who did this?” she asks.

“A guy in Barrel Oaks.”

“Not Cy in Snow Creek?”

“Nope. A guy who works out of his home over in Barrel Oaks. I did some handyman work for him one time, and this is how he paid me.”

“Amazing.” She takes a step back and takes the whole thing in. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

My guess is she’s never seen any man with his entire chest tattooed.

But I don’t say that.

“How did I not know about this?” she asks.

I shrug. “It doesn’t really come up in conversation. Anybody ask you about your tattoos?”

She bites her lip. “I don’t have any.”

I smirk. “There you go.”

She takes a step forward and wraps her hands around my waist. “I guess I’ve never seen you without a shirt. Never at a pool or anything.”

“We don’t exactly run in the same circles, Diana.”

She twists her lips into a frown, and God, she’s still beautiful. “I didn’t mean to imply?—”

I shake my head. “Of course you didn’t. No offense taken. I haven’t exactly been invited to any Steel pool parties. The only time I’m at your place is when the band performs.”

“Do you have any other work?”

“No.”

It’s a lie, of course. I have a griffin on the back of my thigh, in a place I can’t see it. But I know it’s there.

She doesn’t ask about the meaning of the dragon. Why should she? It’s my name, so it’s pretty self-explanatory.

But if I tell her about the griffin, she’ll ask why. That’s not a story I’m ready to tell.

Especially not to Diana Steel.

I’m about ready to open my mouth and tell her I need to go now when?—

I groan when she flicks her tongue over one of my nipples.

“God,” I growl.

“I’ve never seen a man with pierced nipples before.” She slides her tongue over the other one. “In pictures, of course, but never in real life.”

I tremble at the touch of her tongue. “You need to stop that.”

She looks up, her eyebrows raised. “What if I don’t want to?”

“You think I want you to?”

“No, I don’t. It’s pretty clear how hard you are right now, Dragon.” She slides her hand down to my bulge and squeezes.

I gasp in a breath. “You need to stop that,” I say again.

“That’s not what you want.”

“How the hell would you ever know what I want?”

“This massive erection you have isn’t for your health, Dragon. You want me as much as I want you.”

I open my mouth to speak, but she slides two fingers over my lips.

“I’m not saying any of this makes sense. Do you think I thought for a minute I would end up wanting you like this? And I’m hardly your type either.”

“Yeah,” I scoff. “Beautiful, long legs, gorgeous tits, and red lace sure isn’t my type.”

She huffs. “You know what I mean. I imagine you’re attracted to those blue-haired women with tattoos all over their bodies.”

A lot she knows about me. I hate blue hair. I hate any unnatural color of hair. I mean, do what you want, but it’s not something I like. Diana has a cousin named Ava who has pink hair. She’s a beautiful woman, but the hair does nothing for me.

And as for tattoos? I like them when they’re tasteful. My whole chest may be covered with one, but I’d never cover my whole body. I don’t think it looks good when others do.

I slide her hand away from my crotch. “We’ve been through this.”

“I know. Doesn’t change the fact that I want you. And you clearly feel the same way.”

I swallow. “Sometimes what we want isn’t good for us.”

“Oh, I know.” She licks her bottom lip.

I grow even harder.

“I’m not just talking about you, Diana. I won’t be good for you, but you won’t be good for me either.”

She lifts her eyebrows.

“What? You never stopped to think about that? Every coin has two sides, Diana. I’ll ruin you, and you’ll ruin me right back.”

She blinks. “How could I possibly ruin anyone?” she asks, her voice dripping with innocence.

I chuckle. “People like you never see it. You live life with a silver spoon in your mouth. You don’t know what the real world is like.”

Her eyes narrow. “That’s where you’re wrong, Dragon. You know what my family’s been through.”

I nod slowly. “I know some of it. And finding out your family used to be involved in human trafficking is horrific, I won’t deny that. But you didn’t live it, Diana. It didn’t happen to you .”

She gulps then, audibly, and tears well in her eyes. “Not to me, but to my brothers and my father.”

This time I widen my eyes.

She turns her head away, wiping her eyes. “I can see that’s news to you.”

“Fuck,” is all I can say.

“It’s not something we talk about.” She grabs a tissue and dabs her eyes. “In fact, it’s not something I even knew until a year ago. But our family isn’t all riches and light, Dragon. We have our dark secrets too, and they might be just as dark as yours.”

“Maybe,” I say. “Maybe not. But you’ll never know because there are some things I never talk about.”

She takes a step toward me again. “Would you like to?”

“Hell no.”

“If you want to talk, I’ll be happy to listen. I will hold every word you say to me in confidence. And if you don’t want to talk?” She stands on her tiptoes and brushes her soft lips against mine. “I can help you with that, too.”