Chapter 3

T his dragon!

Sam had told him all about his Dimitri. How Dimitri was thoughtful, passionate, tender, and funny.

He'd said absolutely nothing about how tenacious, stubborn, annoying, and sneaky dragons were.

Salem thought he'd left Gregori behind in Brazil, but the dragon had shown up on the plane.

He'd thought he would leave him behind at the airport, but now Gregori would be sleeping in Salem's apartment.

If the overgrown lizard thought he could get into Salem's bed, he had another thing coming.

This was a whole lotta bullshit.

Dinner turned out to be nothing more than peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a handful of stale chips. Not that he thought a lack of hospitality would actually scare Gregori off. It was simply all the energy he had when it came to making a meal. The hours of travel had exhausted him, his body didn't know what season it was—let alone time zone—and tomorrow he had to go back to work.

And Gregori would be out on the street.

Salem wouldn't worry about the dragon at all. He came from a rich clan. No doubt Gregori would find a posh hotel to cater to all his whims and provide him with the level of comfort he was accustomed to.

After brushing his teeth and pulling on a pair of soft cotton sleep pants and a T-shirt, Salem grabbed a spare blanket out of the closet and tossed it on his tiny love seat. "You'll sleep there."

Gregori's eyebrows shot up to his hairline and he stared at Salem like he'd lost his mind. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope." Salem jerked the blankets back on his bed, preparing to slide in and sleep the sleep of the dead.

"But I won't fit. This sofa is tiny. What if I fall off it in the middle of the night?"

"Then I guess you'll continue sleeping on the floor." Salem stretched out on the soft mattress. It seemed to embrace him, welcoming him home at last. He pulled the blankets up and over his head. "Turn off the light when you're done getting changed."

Gregori said nothing. Salem lay frozen in bed, listening to the sounds of his unwanted houseguest sifting around in his bag, getting changed, brushing his teeth, and finally the click of the light, sending the entire apartment into darkness.

Was that really it? No more arguments from Gregori? The stubborn dragon had fought him on everything else since they'd left Brazil. Was he giving up so easily? He'd been positive Gregori would fight him tooth and nail to sleep with him. Especially after they'd already shared a bed once—quite spectacularly too.

More to the point, why hadn't he really gotten rid of Gregori yet? All Salem had to do was call his brother, get someone to issue orders, and Gregori would have no choice but to leave. He knew this. He had the power to make it happen. And yet he found himself unwilling to pick the phone up and make the call. He didn't understand why he hesitated. It was like some part of him wanted Gregori here. Which was ludicrous. Every time he'd let a man in, it had gone nuclear bad. Hadn't he learned his lesson by now?

Grumbling at himself, he scooched farther into his pillow. Some days, he wondered just how smart he really was, as when it came to men, he sure couldn't seem to learn from his mistakes.

The mattress shifted as if a new weight pressed on it near his feet. He shoved the blanket off his head and squinted, willing his eyes to adjust more quickly to the overwhelming darkness. A large shape poised like a tiger at the foot of his bed, ready to strike.

"What are you doing?" he snapped.

"Your bed is more than big enough to fit both of us," Gregori replied, inching farther up the mattress.

"No. You go sleep on the couch."

"But I won't fit." He inched closer. Salem was sure most of Gregori was now on the bed. "Plus, I need to think of you."

"Me?" he squawked. The dragon had lost his damn mind.

"Mmm." He moved up, but he didn't settle on the other half of the full-sized mattress. Instead, Gregori had crawled up to loom over him. Salem pushed backward into his pillow to put more distance between them. When Gregori spoke again, his voice had dipped into a low, rough whisper that caressed his entire body. "I need to make sure you're properly relaxed so you can sleep. You know I can help you relax."

Salem's traitorous mind instantly conjured up images. Gregori's hands moving over him, stroking him, while his thick cock?—

"No!" Salem burst out. He wasn't entirely sure if he was talking to himself or Gregori. Or both. Yes, both Gregori and his stupid libido needed to hear it.

"What are you afraid of?" Gregori taunted. He dipped his head, and Salem stubbornly turned his mouth away. He was not kissing this asshole. But this didn't deter Gregori. His wicked tongue licked a long stripe up the side of Salem's neck to his earlobe, which he sucked into his mouth. A moan of longing and desire rose in Salem's throat and his dick instantly hardened.

"Afraid you'll enjoy it too much?" Gregori's hot breath skimmed over his wet skin, sending goose bumps down his arms. Fuck, he could even feel his nipples hardening and Gregori had only licked him. His body betrayed him!

Gregori lowered his head again, and this time his teeth nibbled along Salem's collarbone before licking his tender flesh. "Afraid you'll beg me to fuck you harder, faster? Afraid you'll lose your mind while riding my cock?"

With a snarl, Salem placed his hands against Gregori's chest, only to find hot, silky skin waiting for him. He shoved with all he had, but the dragon was too fast for him. As Gregori rolled onto his back, he wrapped an arm around Salem's waist, pulling him along for the ride. Salem ended up straddling his hips, the blankets a tangled mess between them.

"Even if we were to have sex, that's all it would be," Salem said. "Just like in Brazil. No strings. Just sex. It doesn't mean anything else."

"Did I say it would mean anything else?" Gregori's smug tone had Salem itching to smack him. So, he did the next best thing. He kissed the shit out of him. The dragon couldn't talk if his mouth was otherwise occupied.

Salem shoved his tongue into Gregori's mouth, immediately tasting the mint of his toothpaste, but he quickly forgot it when those big hands cupped his ass and squeezed. He moaned, not caring about his earlier protests. His bone-deep exhaustion had evaporated, and he just wanted to get fucked. This wasn't about being mates or being in a relationship—only carnal pleasure and getting off.

At least Gregori seemed to be on the same page now as he clawed at Salem's clothes, breaking off their hungry kiss long enough to remove his shirt, pants, and briefs. Salem reached down to get rid of Gregori's pants, but he only encountered endless skin. The devious sneak had climbed into bed completely naked!

Gregori rolled them across the bed so Salem was on his back again and shoved all the blankets to the floor. His hot mouth left Salem's and kissed along his throat and down his chest. Salem spread his legs, fitting the dragon perfectly between them as Gregori paused to worry one nipple into a diamond-hard nub. As he moved to the other, Salem threaded his fingers in Gregori's silky soft hair—long enough to drag along his skin like a tease—and tried to shove him lower. His cock ached and needed some goddamn attention, but Gregori only chuckled and continued his painfully slow pace lower.

"So annoying," Salem said with a grunt while still managing to writhe as wave after wave of delicious pleasure washed through him.

"First you didn't want sex. Now you want to rush it," Gregori teased before licking Salem's hip, purposefully avoiding Salem's leaking dick like the bastard he was.

"Gregori!" he growled. "Fuck me already!"

"But your body isn't ready for me." Before Salem could argue, Gregori grabbed both of his legs and settled them on his shoulders. His breath grazed Salem's dick and he could feel his ass lift into the air as if Gregori was preparing to thrust deep inside of him. A whine of need slipped out before he could catch it. "Do you have some lube or should I just prepare you with my tongue?"

A shiver ran through Salem's entire body. It was so tempting to let Gregori fuck him mindless with his tongue. Their time in Brazil had been brain melting. But that would take all night, and it wasn't what he wanted. He wanted Gregori's thick, hard dragon cock stretching his ass and turning his brain to mush.

Without saying a word, Salem jerked open the drawer of his nightstand and dug inside. Useless things flew out to litter the floor as he searched. The entire time he worked, Gregori slowly licked up the side of his dick like he was licking an ice cream cone. He swirled his tongue around the head, lapping up the pre-cum to the point where Salem was a panting, frustrated mess who barely knew his own name.

A sob nearly broke from his throat when his fingers closed around the familiar tube and he thrust it at Gregori. "Here!"

The dragon plucked it from him as he finally took all of Salem's cock to the back of his throat, sucking hard enough to make Salem's eyes roll into the back of his head and his toes curl. The orgasm—which had been tightening like a stretched rubber band—came to the very edge of snapping, and Gregori allowed his cock to slip from his lips to slap loudly against Salem's stomach.

Salem sucked in a ragged breath and was opening his mouth to shout at him when two slick fingers shoved into his hole, removing all knowledge of words and speech. The burn and stretch were so fucking wonderful. Gregori worked them in for several hard thrusts and pulled out.

"E-enough," Salem stammered, lucky he even remembered the word. "Fuck me!"

Gregori moved, but not how Salem had expected. He thought the dragon would just push his cock inside in one smooth stroke, but he actually removed Salem's legs from his shoulders and flopped down in the empty space beside Salem. His brain was still trying to figure out what the man was doing when he grabbed Salem and pulled him across his body.

"Since you just want to use my cock," Gregori murmured, "I thought I'd let you ride me so you can run the show."

Rage and indignation bubbled up from the pit of Salem's stomach. He clenched his fists, ready to release a torrent of curses down on Gregori's head, when the evil dragon grabbed his hips and adjusted him so he could push his cock unerringly into Salem's waiting hole.

Oh God yes!

He tried to cling to those wisps of anger before they could blow away, but it was impossible now that he was so full again. Perfection. No one had ever felt this good to him. Sex had never been so amazing.

With his hands braced on Gregori's chest, he started to move. Slowly at first, treasuring the wet slide and intense feel of Gregori's girth rubbing against the walls of his channel. Even the way he was slightly leaned forward allowed his own dick to brush tantalizingly along Gregori's rock-hard abdomen.

More.

He needed more.

He sped his movements up, fucking himself on Gregori's cock harder and faster. Gregori's hands tightened on his hips, fingers digging into his ass, threatening to leave bruises, and he loved it. He would never say it out loud to this stubborn dragon, but he loved all the ways Gregori touched him. It was as if the dragon knew all his secret sexy buttons without ever being told.

Gregori used his insane strength to lift Salem up and slam him down faster and faster, while also thrusting upward. The slap of their skin and their broken pants for air filled the room. Salem whimpered, the edge of his orgasm seeming to cut through him. So close. He was so close, but he couldn't seem to topple over the edge no matter how good it felt.

Without needing to be told, Gregori lifted Salem up, removing his cock from him completely. Salem cried out, his brain trapped in a fog of need and desperation. He didn't know how it happened, but he found himself on his hands and knees on the bed. Just as it was registering, Gregori slammed his cock back into him from behind. The dragon wrapped one arm across Salem's chest, pinning his back against Gregori's front, while his other hand frantically stroked Salem's neglected dick.

At the same time, Gregori continued to thrust deep inside him, the angle just perfect to hit Salem's prostate again and again.

The world exploded in a heartbeat. His screams of pleasure coupled with the banging of his headboard against the wall were deafening. Somewhere, a neighbor's dog howled, and someone pounded on one of his walls and shouted, but he didn't care. The orgasm just kept going, leaving him spilling everything within him over Gregori's hand.

The world started to come into focus and he heard Gregori shout, his cock swelling as he came deep inside of him. Salem's own dick twitched, wanting to join in the fun one last time, but there was nothing left.

Sleep started to claim what little remained of his poor brain as Gregori gently laid him back down on the mattress and drew the blankets over him to keep his now sweaty skin from growing cold.

He wanted to say something to Gregori, but he couldn't remember what it was. Nothing seemed as important as sleep now.

Tomorrow.

He'd remember tomorrow.