Granite (4 page)

Chapter Seven

She was lying in bed, phone pressed against her ear since she and Granite had graduated from texts to phone calls, curled up in the time-honored way teenage girls did when they were speaking to their crushes. True, Frost might not be a teenager anymore, but she was feeling that way lately, the way her stomach swooped and her palms sweated anytime she was connected to Granite, even though they’d still had yet to meet since that day in Sophie’s tea shop.

“Let me take you to dinner,” he said, his voice low as it caressed her during their midnight call. “Give me a chance to spoil you.”

“And what exactly would this spoiling entail?” She tried to put a slight tease into her voice, to cover up the sudden nerves at his words, and then the flush of anger which ripped through her, that she was nervous at all.

He was suggesting meeting for dinner, something she’d done dozens of times. In fact, she knew him better – liked him
more
– than anyone else who’d ever made that invitation, and she’d never thought twice about accepting when the offer had occurred before. Only now, her body stiffened at the thought, a rumble of unease tracing her spine over what should be a thoughtless pleasure.

“We don’t have to.” His voice was soothing, and that combined with his words told her she hadn’t hidden that bout of nerves like she wished she had.

“You know what happened to me.” Dammit.
Dammit!
She hadn’t meant to say anything. She didn’t want to talk about it now, not when she was under her blankets with his voice low in her ear. These times had always been magical to her, and she didn’t want to introduce the real world.

“Yes. I’d undo it in a second if I could, even if it meant-” His voice choked. He cleared it and went on. “Even if it meant I would never have met you.”

With those tones, that tremble, Granite made the words sound like the worst torture that could ever occur, and that he would rather ask for any other fate to befall him.

The wolf’s head perked up, its laser focus on the male at the other end of the call. It whined, calling to him, a rumbling growl and a sharp desire she’d never experienced from it before.

His reaction, and the wolf’s, buoyed her, and gave her a strength that had been missing until now. She
wanted
to see Granite again, so badly some night’s she couldn’t sleep for thinking about him. Maybe it wouldn’t be comfortable. Maybe what they had wouldn’t translate once they were sitting across from the dinner table. But she wanted to know, and damned if this prick of fear inside her would stop it.

She cleared her throat and turned her mind back to their discussion. Maybe she wasn’t ready to be part of the wolves world yet, but this she wanted to know. “You’re still searching for them?”

His voice was steady again when he replied, “Us and the wolves. We will find them.”

“And what will happen then?”

There was a silence that spoke of a man preparing to speak a vow, and then Granite said, “I will skin them and lay their pelts at your feet.”

************

Was this the way those involved in internet romances felt, the first day they were going to meet their online sweethearts in the flesh?

Frost smoothed her skirt over her legs yet again, looking around the elegant restaurant to search for Granite. Even though she’d been early she’d been seated by the maître d immediately and given some wine which was probably ridiculously expensive, but it tasted wonderful. This being spoiled thing wasn’t so bad.

And then Granite was walking towards her, and though it shouldn’t be possible, he was even more handsome now than when she’d seen him at Sophie’s. His eyes shown in delight, a smile lingering on his lips as he took her in.

He sat before she had a chance to rise, placing his hand palm up on the table, leaving it her choice whether to take it or not.

She took it, reveling in finally knowing the texture of his skin, warm and smooth and perfect in hers. Her smile felt like it was taking up half her face, but she couldn’t lessen it at all. “You really are a nerd. I don’t feel a single callous.”

He laughed, ducking his head for a moment. “What can I say? I like to remain pretty.” He shrugged, his thumb stroking over the top of her hand. “Though I might as well just let myself go. Now that I’m beside you, no one’s going to notice me anymore.”

“I’ll notice you,” and the flirtatious tone was not there like she had intended. But then again, maybe she was past flirting. Instead, maybe here in front of her, she had what she needed.

His smile dimmed, his eyes going heavy-lidded, and his fingers tightened around hers for an eternal second. “Then that’s everyone who matters.”

Her apartment seemed smaller with Granite there, but in a way that was intimate rather than claustrophobic.

The dinner had been wonderful, and everything that made their text and phone conversations work still remained as they watched each other over steak and lobster and champagne that was so bubbly, it tickled her nose. Only in person, a hunger and a wanting that had nothing to do with food built within them, and every moment it grew, until Granite called for the check a little louder than necessary and a little sooner than originally planned.

Now they were here, and he looked good amongst her pictures and furniture and the items that made up her life, standing there in his slacks and shirt. His hands were in his pockets, but his gaze never left her. He was at ease, his body language neutral, waiting for her to direct what happened next.

She cleared her throat, stepping back towards her bedroom. “Since we’ve talked so often while I was in bed, would you like to see what it looks like?”

Those words broke whatever had been reigning him in, and where before he was careful neutrality, now his whole body projected sexual tension, his jaw locking for a moment before he spoke. “Yes. I want to see it very much.”

Frost hadn’t been this nervous since before she lost her virginity. Maybe not even then, considering her first time was the very cliché back seat of the car of a football player deal. Nothing had ever felt this
much
before.

Granite though, Granite seemed to either not feel it, or ignore it. Instead, he climbed on the bed fully clothed sans the shoes he took off when he entered her apartment. He sat with his back against the headboard, legs crossed at the ankles. “Nice bed. Memory foam?”

A giggle escaped, and the nerves eased slightly. “You like my bed.”

“Hell of a lot nicer than mine. I might have to keep coming over to borrow it. My sleep is very important to me.”

“Says the dragon who stays up to keep an eye on international futures.”

He nodded decisively. “Exactly. This means when I sleep, it needs to be quality.”

She had the most ridiculous male she had ever met in her bed, and it hit her, that moment, she didn’t want him anywhere else. Certainly not tonight. Maybe not ever.

She began to unbutton her shirt, pulling it from the waist of her skirt. “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought we might be doing other things in bed, but I don’t want to interrupt your very important sleep schedule.”

The shirt fell to the floor, followed by the skirt, and now all she was left in was a matching ice-blue bra and panty set. A feminine thrill zipped through her when Granite looked like someone had come up behind him and whacked him with a 2x4. “You remember what I said about spoiling you?” he asked, his voice thick as his eyes stayed glued to her.

“Yes?”

“I want to state for the record that if you bankrupt me by buying out lingerie stores…I have no problem with that.”

“I’ll remember that detail.” She kneeled on the bed and slowly crawled up his body, their skin not touching until their bodies were aligned, after which she lowered herself so she was flush against him, her head slightly under his so she had to look up to meet his eyes. “What about shoes?”

“High heels? Because that’s a yes.” His body was tense beneath her, breathing starting to get a little rapid, and the noticeable bump at his crotch signaled his interest. But he kept his hands at the side, and he didn’t move a muscle.

“How about you spoil me by giving me some kisses? I’ve been masturbating to the thought of what you’d taste like, and I’d really to know.”

His eyes closed and a low groan broke from him at the words. His arms jerked, like he was going to hold her before he stopped himself. And then his head lowered, and his mouth was on hers.

His kisses were warm breath and soft touches and the taste of Granite, something hot and fiery and male. Kissing had never been this before, though whether it was because he was a dragon, she was a wolf, or some other factor that was only
them
, Frost couldn’t tell. All she knew was she wanted more of it.

Her tongue came out to touch his lips, and a hiss escaped him before he opened his mouth to her. She was in charge, her tongue wrapping around his in languid caresses, and where she led, he followed.

She broke the kiss off, and Granite took the opportunity to pepper kisses along her jaw, up her cheek and over her forehead. If his lips could reach it, he marked it, until she was sure not an inch of skin had escaped his gentle ministrations. Only then did he go back to her mouth, pressing those small kisses against it until she opened her mouth once again to him, deepening the kiss.

Frost was clinging to his neck, pressing harder against him. This feeling was everything she’d been chasing, everything she hoped for in her life. This feeling was why she always doubted herself in the past when she tried to convince herself she was in love with someone – because this feeling was absent. She tried to tell herself she was a fool, that no one really could feel this way about someone else, this deep-seated need for someone, that you would live or die for them, that they were more vital than oxygen, that you’d give your soul to be near them.

Yet here it was, with a dragon who somehow knew her better than she knew herself, who walked with her step-by-step during a healing she hadn’t even recognized was happening.

It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t over. But it was
good enough
. It was in
progress
, and much of that was due to this amazing, ridiculous, loving male under her.

She broke off the kiss. They were both breathing heavily, and Granite was watching her with those fathomless eyes of his. She reached up to trace over his eyebrow, loving the thick arch of it. Texting had been wonderful, but she was so grateful now he was hers in the flesh, to touch and to hold. “I’d go through it again, as long as you are always on the other side of it.”

Granite stilled, the breath catching in his chest as his eyes darted over her face, connecting dots she couldn’t perceive. His hands were clenching at his sides, the muscles of his arms bunching, and he asked, voice breaking, “Can I hold you?”

“Please.”

He clung to her, and she to him, their bodies molding to each other as if to affirm their desire to become one.

Chapter Eight

It had been weeks of learning one another.

Through Granite, she knew more about the supernatural world she now existed in. She’d go to Bella, make allies with Steel’s pack someday, but she wasn’t quite ready for that.

However, learning about dragons…that she wanted. Well, more like wanted to learn about dragons to learn about Granite, but it was needed knowledge either way. She’d become a regular visitor with Sophie and became fast friends with Jo, and between the three of them, they worried Mica and Granite regularly with what they were planning.

She’d met Granite’s family, and his grandmother was more wonderful than she’d been led to believe. Grandmother Eire immediately gave Frost kisses on her cheeks and smacked her grandson for taking so long to visit, before sitting them both down and laying before them enough food to feed a family for a week as a ‘snack’.

His mother wasted no time talking about grandchildren. “Granite always scoffed at the idea of mates, but no one could want children as much as he does without secretly waiting for their mate.”

Grandmother Eire piped up. “He did his share of comparison shopping to find her,” she said, before holding Frost’s chin in her hands. “But look at you. Such a spirit and a
face
. Your children will be too beautiful, too beautiful.”

Stifling her laugh, Frost turned to Granite, his face beet red under the words of his family members as they all chimed in on his ‘shopping’, and mouthed the words
I’m sorry.

She blew him a kiss, and the worry slid off him.

“So you really want kids, huh?” Frost asked as they drove away.

He tensed up, as he always did with a question that landed in new territory, where he had no idea where her thoughts lay. “Yes,” he came out with finally, without the prevarication that type of question usually inspired. “I really do. If you don’t, we’ll work around it. But I do.”

After such a heartfelt answer, she had no desire to tease him. “Four.”

His hand jerked, the car almost weaving into the other lane. “What?”

“I want four kids. And because my figure will never completely come back from that, and because I want to be a stay-at-home mom, this means my mate has to be willing and ready to support me.”

Frost glanced over, nervousness in her belly over how the bold statement would be received, but she shouldn’t have worried. Granite was looking straight ahead at the road, but his mouth was partly open in an unbelieving smile, the type of smile that comes only when a person has heard something they’ve always wanted, but never thought would come true. “He is,” Granite said, reaching over to entwine his fingers with hers. “He is.”

Their lovemaking over the last weeks had been slow and hesitant. The first couple weeks alone Granite would not go beyond heavy petting, the type of things teenagers all over the world giggled over as they compared hickey’s in school.

Frost finally convinced him to start adding oral sex when she climbed on top of him and parked her pussy over his mouth. He put up a valiant fight with his one second of indecision before his hands wrapped around her hips and pulled her hard against him, where he then proceeded to give her three of the strongest orgasms she’d experienced in her life. The fact he did it the next day proved it was skill, not luck.

It took a few more days before he was comfortable with her returning the favor. He refused to touch her or to come in her mouth, but the sound of him, the feel of him under her as he came, was worth every step it took to get here.

And then finally, last week, they made love. She didn’t know who had been shaking more when they started, but atop him, him inside her finally, it
clicked
. This was her future. This was her mate. And she was going to take it and move forward.

Now she had to convince the love of her life to move forward with her. She adored that he took such good care of her, but it was now at the point that it was hindering instead of helping.

She would admit…would admit she was glad he wouldn’t have to bite her to mate her, that for dragons it was more of a mystical joining between the two mates. That had been her only fear, and while she liked to believe herself strong enough to have dealt with it, she wasn’t too proud to admit she was so grateful it wouldn’t be an issue.

Now she prepared for battle. She wore one of his white button down shirts, a pair of lacy underwear, and nothing else. Make-up was minimal while still drawing attention to her eyes and lips. Hair with the just-got-fucked-and-want-to-do-it-again look? Check.

Tonight, Granite was hers. The dragon was going down.

The door opened and it only took two steps before Granite stopped in shock, his manner almost helpless as his gaze roamed her from head to toe and back up again. “If this is about funding that women’s shelter you were talking about, the answer is yes. I’d call them now to work out the details, but I don’t have enough blood in my head to talk intelligently.”

Good start. With a coy smile she moved forward. “Granite,” she asked, rising on tiptoe to nuzzle his neck. “Do you know what very important thing we’ve forgotten to do?”

“Nnn-nnn,” he responded, not moving his neck where her lips were latched on.

“We, my beloved dragon,” she said, moving up so her mouth now rested on his earlobe, “have not yet mated.”

His head gave a tiny jerk towards her, the lightness now gone and a deep tenseness invading his body. “I don’t want-”

“You, my beloved, don’t want anything to harm me, and that even includes yourself.” She nipped his ear, followed by a quick lick of her tongue, her warm breath over skin. “I’m telling you know that would never happen. I’m yours. I have been for a very long time.”

Granite shuddered at her words, his hands coming to rest around her waist, the first time they moved without him asking permission. “This can’t be undone. I never want you to regret us. I wanted to give you enough time to be sure.”

“The wolf inside me growls whenever you’re near. She wants to burrow into you and reach inside you so deeply that you’ll never be able to tell where wolf ends and dragon begins. She howls in disappointment every time you leave this apartment still not smelling of mate.”

His hips were rubbing against hers, the muscles of his stomach clenching under her fingers where she was exploring him. Little growls were coming from him, low sounds she doubted he realized he was making.

“Don’t dragons claim their mate? Mark them so well no one will ever try to challenge the claim? My wolf is demanding a strong mate to claim her and protect their den, and my human heart loves you so much I can’t stand the thought of not living with you this lifetime. Granite…I’m yours. So
mark
me.”

Granite held her tighter to him, their chests rising and falling in synchronicity. She was almost too hot, but he was a dragon, and he could handle whatever fire she possessed.

He nuzzled into her neck, pressing kisses to the soft skin, to the pulse point that told how hard her heart was beating. His fingertips pressed into the flesh of her back, the thin shirt not any kind of barrier, but he wanted it gone
now.

Stepping back for a scant moment, he pulled it away, leaving her upper body bare. He took her in for a moment before stepping back into her arms, resuming the caress of his fingers as he rubbed his cheek against her hair, dipping his head to breathe in her scent.

“What are you doing?” Her voice held the hint of laughter, and he rejoiced in it.

“Marking you. I’m going to do it in every way possible.” Now he rubbed his cheek against every inch of skin above her neck, and the hint of laughter in her voice became peals of laughter as she tried to dodge him. “Every inch of you is going to smell like me. And in turn, every inch of me is going to smell like you. Even a bloody bear will be able to figure out we’re together.”

“The way you talk about bears. I think that’s discrimination.”

“Hmmm.” He loved the laughter in her voice, wanted to hear it always. But there was a fire in him, growing hotter every moment. He was restraining it best he could, but her words had unleashed something primal within him.

His mate had accepted him. Wanted him. Offered herself to him.

He loved her laughter, tried to hold on to the lightness, but something dark and primitive was riding him now. Never to hurt her, never that, but…

Mark her…

In her strength, she had ordered him to prove himself worthy of such a she-wolf, and the dragon’s wings snapped at the challenge, claws coming out. It wanted its mate. Wanted her fire. Wanted her fierceness. The dragon had finally been accepted, and it would have its mate tonight, bind her to him for eternity.

He nuzzled her temple, and though her head was down, she looked up at him through those long eyelashes, the effect making her seem just a bit shy, and he couldn’t let that go. Granite tilted her head up and kissed her, long and hard, pushing his tongue into her mouth and claiming her, until her laughter dried up, until desperation started to inform her movements, her rocking against him, pushing her bare breasts into his chest and nestling her hips against his.

Frost’s fingernails dug into his shoulders as she held on, and he relished the small sting of pain, her claim of ownership on him. He wanted her to mark every inch with tooth and claw.

His mouth moved to her throat again, but not in a repeat of the gentle nuzzling of earlier. Now, he wanted signs of his possession on
her
. He latched onto her neck, using teeth and suction, and her moans rose as she squirmed against him. He kept at it, backing off occasionally to run over the mark with his tongue, to blow on the wet spot until little goosebumps popped up, until it was on the verge of too much. He stopped and went back to her mouth.

She was mindless, attacking his mouth, her arms now coming around to wrap around his waist, and now she used her claws on his back, the scratches still light, but the sense of possession beneath them undeniable. His hands roamed down over the curve of her breasts and across the expanse of her stomach until they reached her hips. His thumbs molded over her hipbones, and he pressed, just enough to hold her still, just enough to make a small bruise she would see every time she looked down.

She squirmed, but he held firm, and when she wouldn’t settle he brought one hand to the front of her panties and plunged inside, using his fingers to spread her pussy lips so he could get to her clit. He wasted no time, using her own juices for lubrication, he began to stroke over her. Hard, firm, small strokes, which gave small stings of pleasure and just as quickly took them away.

“Oh.”
The word was more an exhale of breath than anything approaching speech, but she stopped her movements, trying her best to spread her legs and let him further in.

It was heaven under his fingertips, the friction and wetness bringing the dragon’s possessive instincts out faster.

As always, his mate surprised him. Just as he thought he had her subdued, her hands shot out to grab at the waist of his pants, digging into the material to open the button and tug the zipper down. He would have expected her to rush through this, but instead, her hands were slow and steady, a tease, and the look in her eyes when his gaze met hers told him it was on purpose.

His fingers slowed on her as well, and she gave a frustrated groan, her hips flexing to get more touch. Even as she did this, her hand took advantage of his now opened pants, and her fingers curled around his cock over the fabric of his underwear. She slowly stroked him, pulling the silky cloth over the sensitive skin and heightening the sensation until his eyes were rolling at the dual touch of him on her and her on him.

They chased each other, each rub and stroke had the other following it, both of them growing louder, growls and maddening sighs, until Granite broke. Not able to take it anymore, he fell to his knees in front of her, instantly burrowing into the swell of her thighs, his tongue now moving over her underwear in a simulation of what she’d just done to him.

Her hands grabbed at his head, her fingers curling and pulling his hair, and he welcomed it like he welcomed the arch of her back and the rush of wetness from her cunt, soaking through the fabric of the panties and reaching his tongue. Granite growled, reaching around to grab her ass and pull her harder into him. He wanted every drop, and he wasn’t going to deny himself.

Her ass was perfect, and he flexed his fingers to fondle the soft globes. Now the scrap of fabric was beginning to annoy him, getting in the way of feeling her as he wanted, and he pulled far enough away from her to tear the offending material down her legs and fling it away from them.

She stood nude above him, all gorgeous limbs and mouthwatering scent, and placing one leg over his shoulder, he dove in again, wanting to sate himself on her.

He could eat her forever. Nothing was more delicious than the taste of her now, the crisp tang of her on his tongue. With his tongue he traced every curve, poked into every waiting space. Her legs were shaking, and only her fingers in his hair and his hands on her ass kept her upright.

Frost was looking down at him, her eyes wide and wild, her mouth open and gasping. Granite kept their gazes locked as he took everything from her, as he explored her, until she was the one who broke their connection, throwing her head back and crying out while her body shuddered around his tongue and her pussy drenched his face with her release.