Page 10 of Daddy Billionaire Dragon

His thumb is now caressing my palm and I bite my lip to suppress a moan. The air between us is so thick with sexual tension that it can be cut with a knife.

When our waiter brings our food, my shoulders sag in relief. But I don’t understand why I feel so bereft when he withdraws his hand, allowing the waiter to place our food in front of us.

I think it is time that I get a grip on my emotions, and spell it out for Lex as well.

“Lex, I find you incredibly attractive, but I don’t want to act on the attraction. You are my boss. My career is too important for me to do something stupid and jeopardize it,” I say with worry etched on my face. I don’t want to disappoint him, but it is better to be honest.

“I have never been called stupid before,” he says with his lips twitching slightly.

“What? I never said you were stupid!” I say, aghast.

“Well, you said you didn’t want to do ‘something stupid’, and since you don’t want to do me, I assumed you were referring to me,” he says, cocking one eyebrow.

“Lex!” I am half-amused, half-shocked as my hand flies to my chest, and I look at him with wide eyes.

“Alright, alright,” he answers, holding up both his palms as his lips twist into a wicked grin. “That was a really poor joke. I’m sorry,” he says, not meaning it at all.

I huff and cross my arms under my breasts, but my lips are twitching. I bite my cheek to stop the smile from spreading on my face.

“Even though it pains me greatly to admit it, you are right,” he says after a small pause. “I cannot jeopardize your career or ruin your reputation. So no matter how much I want you, it’s going to be a strictly platonic and professional relationship between us. Let’s shake on it,” he says and holds out his hand.

I take it, but the moment our hands touch, we feel that spark again. He withdraws his hand from mine and groans.

“How are we going to make it work?” he asks with feeling.

“Damned if I know,” I reply.

The rest of the lunch passes pleasantly enough. The food is great and although we do our best to ignore what’s between us, there are moments when we are both tempted to break the promise we just made. Like when he feeds me a bit of lobster with his fingers. We take great pains to keep the conversation revolving around Druk Technologies.

Finally when the lunch comes to an end and we head back to the office, there’s a strange and potent cocktail of feelings churning my innards. Relief, disappointment, frustration, sexual tension: it seems like these feelings are going to be my constant companions as long as I am working closely with Lex.

***

A few thousands miles away…

The setting sun cast a deep orange glow over the horizon, throwing dark shadows over the layered red-brown rocks of the north rim of the Grand Canyon. He stood near the edge of the precipice, stark naked, staring at the sheer drop below, oblivious to everything. In a rare moment of lucidity, he remembered the time when he’d stood right here all those years ago.

He had brought her here on their third date, had shown her what he really was. She had been shocked, but she’d also been awed by the beauty of his dragon. They’d ridden down to the very depths of the canyon that day and made love for the very first time under a star-studded sky. He’d known that night; they’d both known that night that they belonged together. She was his mate, his one true love. There would be nobody else for him ever.

She had been so accepting, so curious of what he was, wanting to know everything about him. He had told her all about himself that night as they lay in each other’s arms on the sandy shore of one of the many springs in the canyon. He had told her that he was a Quartz dragon—the rarest and the mightiest amongst the dragon shifters. He had told her that if claimed her as his mate, he would be stronger, more powerful than he’d ever been. She had allowed him to claim her, to mark her, to bond with her, and he had felt invincible.

But he had not told her about the curse. He had not told her that if he were ever to lose her, he would lose his mind, that he would go mad with grief.

An image of her laughing blue eyes flashed across his mind unbidden. And suddenly, she was there! She was there right in front of him. If he reached out, he would be able to touch her, to hold her again. He would be able to kiss her and tell her that he loved her and that he’d never let her go. Taking another step closer to the edge, he reached out, extending his arm, wanting to feel her soft skin under his fingers. A few loose rocks shifted under his feet, dropping into the river below, bounding over the many hard, rocky outcroppings on the way.

No!

A cry of heart-wrenching agony escaped his lips as her image faded into nothingness before his very eyes. The grief he’d been trying to keep at bay ever since they had told him the news earlier in the day squeezed his heart in a vise-like grip. She was gone. Gone forever. Nothing he could do could bring her back. How could the gods be so cruel and take her away from him? He had done nothing to deserve this! As the realization of her loss hit him afresh, he felt his soul being ripped into two. The pain was too much to bear.

It couldn’t be true. He would not accept it. He would bring her back. He had to bring her back, he thought, taking a step away from the precipice. All he had to do was find her.

She’s not coming back, a cruel voice in his head jeered. She’s dead, it said savagely.

No!

He cried out again as night descended and the first stars twinkled in the sky.

It’s your fault she’s dead, the voice continued to torment. You should have taken better care of her, it said viciously.

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