Page 64 of Drawn By Dragonblood
“Shit.”
“—but this is the one the American government decided on.”
“How much does it cost to build one of those?”
A wry smile twisted his lips. “Too much, but if they will save lives while not endangering others…”
“Damn worth it,” I said, glancing once more at the creature he had created. “Are they going to clothe the damn thing or let it run around naked?”
“There’s armor which you’ll be testing various designs to see which best suits each prototype.”
Grinning, I tipped the chair onto its back legs, hands behind my head. “When do I get to see these in real life?”
“I have to go to New York in a couple of days.” Elijah flicked a few buttons and spoke into a mike, telling the lab tech to outfit the robot in the first suit of armor. “You’re welcome to come along with me if you’d like,” Elijah said, returning to our conversation. “I’m sure you’ll be wanting more of your belongings from your apartment—if you’re still planning on staying here with me for the four weeks we agreed upon?”
The contract I’d signed hadn’t even hinted at living arrangements. “Better fucking believe it.”
My gaze snagged on his lips as he turned to face me. Full, perfectly bowed, sexy as sin and so fucking soft...
I sucked in my lower lip, remembering how he’d owned me with that mouth. The slickness of his tongue fucking mine, the sweet scent of his breath filling my lungs when I’d expected the tang of embers.
“Jon.”
“Hmm?” I tore my gaze off his mouth, and my dick jerked fully to attention at the hunger in his eyes.
“Last night...” He glanced away, his brow furrowing.
I waited, my body tense, jeans trapping my hard cock that throbbed for his touch. “Last night, what?” I pushed when he didn’t continue.
Elijah heaved a breath and stood. “Run the same course with that armor,” he said, nodding toward the monitor. “I’ll return in a few minutes.”
My gaze trailed after his backside—his tight, round ass in jeans I wanted to rip off his body.
“Fuck.” I growled under my breath at the lost opportunity and picked up the remote, my knee bouncing while the lab techs strapped on black, scale-like armor. The breast plate glinted in the lab’s light, sending a shimmer of rainbows across its surface.
A tickle of a memory shifted in my mind, but I couldn’t bring clarity to what it was my brain tried to tell me.
I leaned forward, mesmerized by each piece of material the lab techs strapped to the robot. They looked like scales. Black, fucking dragon scales like my make-believe friend—exactly like those on the cross I’d been dreaming about being shackled to.
“No fucking way.” I actually touched the screen, my fingertip trailing over the robot’s body.
“Whenever you’re ready, sir.” The tech’s voice came through the speaker, jerking me back to the present rather than flying through the skies like I’d done in my mind as a child.
I cleared my throat. “I’m ready.”
For fifteen minutes, I set the robot through the course, only slightly hindered by the armor they’d added. The techs took over, readying the next suit of armor, and Elijah still hadn’t returned.
I stood and stretched the kinks from my neck and back. Without meaning to, I strode up the hallway, drawn as though tethered to a life-giving energy I couldn’t escape—and had no wish to.
Chapter 24
Elijah
Both Jon’s and Dakota’s actions baffled me. I’d sensed his disappearance from the window earlier that morning as though he’d been angry, jealous perhaps, at finding his wife watching me, and I had expected so much more than a mere question about work over coffee.
But nothing had transpired as I’d been waiting for.
His seeming disinterest in expanding upon what had happened the evening prior sent a lancing through my chest so painful I was reminded of my heartache with my ex.
