Chapter 68

A soft knock on the door woke him up. He groaned and got up after turning the lamp on. He looked around for his shirt, sighing when he didn’t see it anywhere. After all the rum he had drank, he was not the least bit surprised that he didn’t know where it was. He opened the door and his breath slammed out of his lungs. Lily took a startled step back.
“I- I..,” she stuttered.
She turned and tried to flee back down the hallway, but she stumbled and fell. She struggled to stand back up and he hurried to her side. He lifted her back to her feet and immediately let her go. She wiped a tear away and started walking back towards her room.
“Lily?”
She stopped moving and her shoulders slumped.
“Yes, Sire?”
“What’s my name?”
“Lukas,” she whispered.
Just the sound of his name on her lips made him want to snatch her up and- He cleared his throat.
“Did you need something?”
She shifted uncomfortably. “I was looking for Jo. She said she was down here.”
“What did you need Jo for?”
“I was scared and when I’m scared at home, my parents let me sleep with them.”
He walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. “What are you afraid of?”
She sighed as she turned around. She pulled her shirt down. His blood boiled at the thin, inflamed, still oozing scratches on her skin that could have only been placed there by a wolf. He was even more happy that he had killed that bitch of a sister of his. He leaned down and licked her skin, pushing his healing saliva gently over her wounds. She jumped, but didn’t pull away. He pulled her shirt down more, following the marks. When they went to the front of her body, he pulled away, trying to not show that he was having difficulty sucking in air.
“Do you want to sleep with me?”
Gideon immediately got excited and Lukas had to growl. Fuck, his dragon’s raging libido. He had not meant it the way it came out.
“Lukas?”
He was snapped back to the present. “Yes, Lily?”
She pointed to where his hands were still on her shoulders. “You’re hurting me.”
He instantly let her go. “I’m sorry. Did you want to sleep with me?”
She nodded. He held out his hand and she took it. He had to swallow back a moan as pleasure exploded in every cell in his body. He led her back to his room and shut the door behind them. He left her side to find his shirt. He went into the bathroom and was happy to see his shirt hanging on the rack. He grabbed it and pulled it on. He walked back into the main room and just seeing her running her hand over his bed, made him regret this decision. What in the hell was he thinking? He never should have asked her to sleep next to him. Now, if he sent her away, it would only hurt her. He was most definitely tempting fate tonight. He walked to the dresser to pull on a pair of shorts over his boxers. He walked to the bed and sat down. She eyed him nervously.
“Are you sure this is okay?,” she asked timidly.
No. This was absolutely not okay. He already wanted to pull her onto his lap and-
“Yes, I won’t hurt you. If you are scared, I will make sure you know you’re safe,” he said out loud, cutting off his alcohol fueled thoughts.
She climbed into the bed and he covered them up. He shut the lights off again. They laid in silence for a while, before she sighed.
“Can we sleep with the lights on?”
He turned it back on. She kept shifting until he rolled towards her.
“Lily, what’s wrong?”
“It’s just.. This is weird.”
“I’m sorry?”
“No! I mean..,” she huffed in frustration.
“When you sleep with your parents, do they cuddle with you?” She nodded. “Do you want to show me?”
She rolled towards him and slid her hand under the pillow. “This is how daddy lays, but I like mama’s way more.”
“How does she cuddle with you?”
“Umm….,” she muttered.
She rolled over and scooted back against him. She wiggled against his body and he put his hand on her hip.
“Lily, you have to stop moving.”
She froze. “Did I hurt you?”
He shifted behind her, pushing his semi- hard cock between his legs. “No. Just be still, okay and I’ll hold you.”
“Okay.”
He wrapped his arm around her waist and positioned her so he could wrap fully around her. He kissed her cheek.
“Try to sleep, sweetheart.”
She snuggled down into the blankets and was out in no time. He sat up a little to take in her profile. He brushed her hair back and kissed her cheek.
“You are so beautiful, my queen, and I am already falling for you.”
He sighed. He wished he could jump ahead a few years already, so he could truly have her in his arms like he wanted her to be. He nuzzled into her neck and let her breathing lull him to sleep.

He woke to a soft moan and his eyes flew open when his hips pushed forward again, sliding his hard cock beneath something warm and wet. Sparks flew over his skin and he jerked away from her. He tumbled onto the floor, before popping up immediately. He got up and lifted the blankets up. His body relaxed when he saw that she was still fully clothed. He looked down at his body and sent up a prayer to the goddess when he was also still fully clothed. She uttered another small moan and his body involuntarily reacted.
‘Gideon, what in the hell were you doing?,’ he hissed.
‘I was doing exactly what you have been wanting to do since we found her.’
His stomach turned and he jumped to his feet to rush to the bathroom.
‘She is a fucking child.’
‘Dragon females can be bred as early as 12-13. This is not weird. She is our mate.’
‘SHE IS A FUCKING CHILD! DO NOT EVER DO THAT AGAIN,’ Lukas yelled in his mind.
‘Then why were you dreaming about doing more than grinding against her?’
He bent over the toilet and vomited. Oh, Goddess. What had they done? She was never going to trust him. He felt so dirty and he hated himself. He retched again into the toilet.
“Lukas? Are you okay?”
Oh, Goddess. He was such an asshole. He had practically raped her in her sleep and she was concerned about him. Such an innocent child. He put his head further into the toilet and threw up again. He nodded.
“Yes, honey. Go back to bed. I’ll be there in a minute.”
He vomited some more, while she hovered anxiously in the doorway. Please, Lily go back to bed. He really needed to give his body and mind some respite from the deliciousness of her scent. She sighed, but moved away. He spent another ten minutes puking, before he stood up. He brushed his teeth and checked on her. She had fallen asleep again and he was glad. He needed to relieve the huge problem he was currently having. He shut the door and quickly jacked off, gripping the edge of the sink when his orgasm tore through him to silence his moans of pleasure. He cleaned up and went back to bed. As soon as he slid in behind her, she moved back against him. He eased one arm under her head, placing his hand over her heart. He wrapped his other one around her waist. She shifted slightly and weaved her fingers through his. The steady pace of her heartbeat told him she was still asleep. He drew in a deep breath. He needed to get it together. He shouldn’t feel this way about a child.
‘No, but you should feel this way about our mate,’ Gideon reassured him. ‘And that is exactly what she is. Our mate. Ours. Forever.’
Lukas didn’t respond. He refused to feed into the potential bomb Gideon was trying to drop. He sighed, knowing that even though it was wrong, he was going to enjoy having her in his arms. Even if it killed him and it might, if he was honest with himself. He knew letting her go in the morning was going to be almost impossible. He just prayed that he would be strong enough to let her go until the time came for her to officially be his queen.