Cruel Daddy Dragon (Candara Dragon Ops #3)

Chapter 6 - Sarah

Deep green jade eyes beam into me from under hooded eyelids, burning with a hungry form of desire. His strong jaw clenches for a moment, a throaty moan escaping Rufus’s chest. I’m shivering in anticipation. Heat crawls up and down me. My heart hammers. My breath heaves lightly. I very slowly close the handcuffs over his wrist with a very appetizing click, click, click. His hands are tied, and those scalding eyes look up at me in excitement. I put a hand on that perfect chest and push him down until he’s lying on his back across the backseat of the police cruiser. I lean forward and take his handcuffed hands, putting his palms on my bare tits. His hands move obediently, and his thumbs slowly brush lightly over my nipples as I rest them there. Sharp pleasure sparks down me—a stuttering moan leaps from my lips as he strokes my nipples, the arousal crashing down and pooling between my legs. I lean my head back to moan for a moment. I move atop him, and I can feel his cock growing harder and harder under my thick thighs. As it jabs into my inner thigh, I shiver.

I want it. I want that thick cock rubbing the most sensitive part inside me.

I lean down, my eager hands reaching the inside of his waistband, slowly unbuckling his jeans to try and release him. Rufus moans again—this time, my name.

“Sarah… Oh, Sarah…”

“Sarah!”

I start—that’s not Rufus!

I glance up. I’m disoriented.

I’m back in the police station. I’m at my desk, and William stares at me oddly, a stack of papers in his hand.

Shit, I was daydreaming!

“Are you all right?” he asks me, “You look flushed. Do you feel okay?”

“Um—”

I shuffle around and try to get my bearings. I look down at the paperwork I was doing—I was just typing up a woman’s statement about the theft of a ring—with Roscoe probably being the culprit, as always.

God, how humiliating is it that I’d have a daydream like that at work?!

I suck in a deep breath and try to shake off the reverie.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’m all right. Did you need anything, Will?”

“I was told you still had cruiser four, Sheriff,” he says, “Do you still have the keys?”

It feels dirty, but I hand over the keys to the car.

It was just a daydream. No, it was just an intrusive thought—you didn’t actually have sex in a police car…

“Thanks,” Will says, “are you going to be heading off soon, or are you joining the next shift for overtime? Your shift ended an hour ago.”

I sigh. I know. The problem is that it’s book club tonight, being held at Lena’s. Where Lena will be, Cyrus will be. Where Cyrus will be, the rest of the Candara team won’t be far behind. That means I’ll have to see him again…

How am I supposed to face Rufus like that? He stayed the night after I was kidnapped, and we’re technically married now, but we both just left the next morning with barely a word. I had to get to work, and he needed to report back to the Candara team. We just… didn’t talk about it, and I thought that suited me just fine.

But these damn daydreams don’t stop coming!

Why am I doing this? Why do I feel like this? Why can’t I get these sex dreams out of my mind?! I barely liked him as a person—why am I suddenly fantasizing about riding him every time my mind drifts off for a moment? I was never like this before!

“Sheriff?”

I start again; crap, William’s still here, staring at me.

“Sorry,” I say, “Did you say something?”

He's frowning hard at me.

“You should go home, Sheriff. You don’t seem well.”

“You’re probably right,” I sigh.

If I’m going to be so unfocused, then I might as well just leave. It’d be better to suffer these fantasies at home than at work.

But what am I supposed to say to him when I see him at the book club tonight? Can I skip it?

I sigh again, saving my document, logging off, and packing up. I suppose I could skip the book club tonight, but Georgia and Peyton don’t know anything about dragon shifters, and they wouldn’t understand why I was skipping. In fact, if I skipped every book club meeting from now until the end of time, then chances are I’d never see Lena or Julie again because their dragon beaus don’t leave their side, and the dragon shifters stick together.

In other words… I have to go if I want to see my friends. I guess I’m going to have to figure out what I’m going to say to him when I come over.

***

I’m still drawing a blank when I knock on Lena’s door. She opens it with a huge smile:

“Sarah! You’re early!”

I didn’t mean to be, but anxiety does that to me. I just give her a weak grin in response.

“Hey, Lena.”

She comes in for a hug, and I’m taken aback—as I am every time—by how hard a task that is with her pregnant belly between us. I put a hand on her stomach as we break.

“How’s the bouncing baby reptile?” I joke.

“Big,” she answers, “I know they look big, but they feel bigger. I just hope they’re not going to come out actually dragon-sized, but I’m starting to think that they will.”

I chuckle. I have to say that I’m pretty curious about how this is all going to turn out. I haven’t been an auntie to a small kid since Rosie—I’m looking forward to being the fun aunt again and doing all the stuff aunts do with the kids when they’re small and not too cool for it like Rosie currently is.

It does make me think… When we were kids, Lena and I used to play happy families. We’d play pretend on what our future was going to be like, and clearly things have turned out differently than what we planned when we were four, but we both had this idea that we were going to be pregnant together. Well, specifically, our child selves had the fantasy that we’d have our babies at the same time, for dressing them up in the same onesies and taking them for playdates.

A silly fantasy, really. But still… “Do you want some wine?” Lena asks, distracting me from my thoughts.

“Um…” I hum.

I don’t know if I do. I know Rufus is going to be around here, and I don’t want my… defenses lowered when I see him this evening.

“Oh, go on!” Sarah encourages, “The pregnancy means I can’t drink anymore, and I’ve had this bottle for a long time. I don’t want it hanging around.”

I laugh.

“Oh, yummy—corked wine!” I chuckle.

Lena pours me a glass and hands it to me. Once I have it, I take a bigger gulp than I intended—swallowing almost half the glass in one and spluttering a little afterward. Lena frowns at me.

“Are you all right?” she asks.

“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” I grumble.

“Here.” She takes my hand and leads me to the couch. “Tell me what’s wrong. Is it the kidnapping?”

I barely remember the kidnapping now. I know the drugs had a heavy hand in that, but it’s just been pushed aside for… other things.

“No, that’s fine. It’s just…”

I trail off. Lena smiles softly at me.

“What is it?” she asks.

I’m silent for a second. How to put this? I just take another gulp of wine, as I think.

“You’re really okay after the kidnapping?” she asks me.

“I’m fine, Lena,” I answer, “You don’t need to keep asking.”

“It’s just that something is bothering you; I know you,” she says, “If it’s not the kidnapping, then are you going to tell me what?”

She’s going to keep asking. I know she is. I try to formulate a sentence as I take yet another sip of wine.

“Lena, what…” I start, then break off for a sigh, “What was it like when you met Cyrus again?”

She blinks at me for a second.

“What do you mean?” she asks.

“I just need you to tell me,” I say, “I just want to know I’m not going insane.”

Lena’s eyebrows shoot up into her fringe, but then she looks away, frowning in thought. Her hands massage her large belly as she thinks.

“It sounds like something from one of Julie’s romance novels,” she says eventually, “but when I saw him again… it was like every time I’d felt love before that was like some kind of weak pretender—I just didn’t know it until that second.”

I’m looking down at the wine glass in my hand, looking at my reflection in the shallow amount of dull mauve drink. I don’t just want to come out and say what I’m thinking.

“That must have been overwhelming,” I mutter.

Lena laughs a little.

“It was,” Lena says, “When he first came here, he was driving me crazy. It felt like I was seeing him everywhere, even when I wasn’t.”

I nod at her. I go to take another sip, but I’ve run out of wine.

“So… are you going to tell me why you’re asking me that ?” Lena pries, starting to smile a little bit.

Again, I’m a little stuck for words.

“Does it have anything to do with your new husband?” Lena asks.

The H word sends a jolt of adrenaline through my body; it feels like my fight or flight activates the second the marriage has been mentioned.

“What?!” I yelp, “You know about that?! I thought Rufus was just telling Cyrus and the dragons!”

“That’s it, isn’t it?!” Lena chirps back.

“We only got married for the protection!” I snap.

“So did Cyrus and I,” Lena says, “But there’s more there, isn’t there? Are you—?”

There’s a knocking at the door.

That’s right. Book club. I’ve almost forgotten.

If it’s anyone other than Julie at that door, we have to stop talking about this right now, and I don’t know whether I’d prefer to keep going or not.

Lena whips open the door, and it’s Georgia.

“Hey-hey!” she cheers, holding up two bottles, “Wine for the girls and a mocktail for Lena! I am so ready for tonight—you will not believe the week I’ve had!”

Everyone else soon arrives, and we have to stop talking about it. To be honest, it’s nice to throw it back with people who don’t know about the dragons or my marriage. The normalcy is refreshing. Of course, the dragons hang in the background—barely making their presence known, but there anyway. The only times the relaxed mood gets broken is when I look over and match with those deep jade eyes.

Is it some kind of cruel joke that Rufus is one of the dragons looking over us tonight? Or did he sneak in to be here?

The worst part is that he doesn’t seem to catch anyone else’s eye, but they sure notice me looking over at him more often.

“No!” Georgia gasps playfully when she sees, “Not another one! Our squad of single ladies is already on the edge of disaster thanks to these two traitors! ”

She gestures to Julie and Lena, who both start laughing.

“Oh, please!” Bernadette chuckles, “Like you wouldn’t go for it if any of these fellas hit on you. It wouldn’t even matter which one, would it?”

“You’re just talking for yourself, Bern,” Peyton chimes in.

“For once, I don’t think I am!” Bernadette says, “I mean, I’d work my way through every one of them if it was up to me, but not one of you can look at me and tell me you wouldn’t!”

She looks between all of us, challenging us with her gaze. All the other girls burst into giggles, but I fight to even keep a smile on my face.

“So… which one is it that’s got you distracted, Sheriff?” Bernadette asks, “Are you with any of them? Sneaking off to be with one of them like the other two did?”

Suddenly, I’m faced with every one of their curious stares, and it feels like a firing line. I pause for a moment—but then Lena leans forward a little.

“Oh!” she gasps, “The baby’s kicking!”

“Really?!”

“Oh, my god!”

“Let me feel!”

They get up from their chairs and gather around Lena—I’m suddenly forgotten. The girls gather around her for a short while. I don’t get up to feel her belly again, but I get that same feeling I got at the door again. A reminder of that old fantasy of mine, having a baby…

I’m pulled back to reality when Lena speaks again.

“Ah, sorry, Girls,” Lena says, “I guess they decided to stop. Great timing, right?”

The book club grumbles and goes back to their chairs. I’m still forgotten, and the conversation moves on to more baby-related topics. As it does, Lena catches my eye and gives me a reassuring smile.

Thanks, Lena.

***

It’s a late night, and luckily, my marital status doesn’t come close to being mentioned again before all the girls stumble home to sleep off the wine. Soon enough, it’s just Julie, Lena, and me.

“I think you should just talk to him, to be honest,” Julie says quietly.

“That’s a very you answer, Julie,” I murmur, pouring the last drop from the last bottle into my wine glass.

“I think she’s right,” Lena adds, “I mean, what else can you do to fix this?”

It is a decent point—I’m just worried … about what could happen when we do end up alone again to talk.

“Good point,” I concede, “But—”

“No buts!” Lena laughs and pushes the small of my back gently, “He’s in the house somewhere. Just go and talk to him!”

I groan and stand up.

“All right. Fine,” I sigh, “Wish me luck then.”