by Starla Night
"No, I mean...We can't become mates. You don't understand because you've never seen my dragon."
His gaze darkened with dusky hunger. "So then show me."
Her arousal throbbed. She had to risk exposure, his recoil, to be his. And she wanted to be his. She wanted his hard cock thrusting into her needy channel giving relief and pleasure as it bound their souls together.
She wanted Darcy to know even though his reaction terrified her.
Amber backed out of his arms and hunched in on herself. Scales exploded over her skin, a colorful shower of deep orange, coating her with an impenetrable fortress of dragon.
He stood and backed out of the way as she filled the entire studio, squeezing the vast space. She didn't want to look at him to see his disapproval but she also couldn't look away.
Darcy's expression was unreadable.
He held out his hand. "May I?"
She lowered her head to his level. "Yes."
He stroked the ridges above her eyes and her elongated neck to the bone of her wing curled against her back.
Trusting him took everything.
But he paid it back with his eventual smile. "That wasn't so bad."
"You look uncomfortable," she insisted. "You're no longer aroused."
"I prefer humans," he agreed, undeterred by her observation. "But if I could shift to a dragon, then this would be the sexiest, most arousing vision of my life."
Really? He really...no. The quirk of his smile and the twinkle in his eyes gave it away.
"You're teasing," she accused.
He laughed, a mix of delight and acknowledgment, and rested his hand on her large dragon knuckles. "I'm trying not to."
"A dragon would run in terror."
"Forgive me. I'm only a recessive non-shifter human."
"I could burn you."
"I'm sure you could. You look just like a dragon out of my childhood storybooks."
She nudged him with her snout. "And?"
"And yes, you're large as a house and could kill me with a single breath. I can understand why you intimidate your brothers. They resolve disputes with violence, and in a fair fight against you, they wouldn't stand a chance."
He knew. He understood.
Her heart drooped. "No matter how much I repress myself, this frightening power dwells within."
He silently accepted her.
She frowned. "You still don't act afraid."
"Why would I?"
"Because ... because you can't feel comfortable living with a crocodile. Someday, I'll bite your face off."
He lifted a brow skeptically. "You're not a crocodile."
"No, but it's the same idea. Unlike my brothers, I'll never give you a fair fight."
He barked a laugh. "But Amber, in a fight with your brothers, I still wouldn't stand a chance. That's just a fact. I don't tiptoe around them in fear. They're not unreasonable. They're in control just like you."
"My brothers are nothing like me."
"Well, you're trying harder, sure." He patted her shoulder. "Amber, you won't do anything that you don't want to do. I've never seen you shred a table or destroy a desk, like Mal. I've never seen you pick a fight in a bar just so you could experience getting punched in the face. You have the power to sheath this mighty dragon and also to use it for good—and not just to terrify your brothers, even though occasionally they do deserve it."
Her heart was pricked by a thousand little pins and then massaged with soothing honey. The lump returned to her throat, and in dragon form, that lump was huge. She couldn't speak and that was okay because she didn't know what to say.
Even though she was massive and monstrous, Darcy was not afraid.
He truly wasn't afraid.
She shrank to her human size, the scales returning into her skin and shifting back to nude.
He ambled to her and rested his hands on her soft hips. "Now watch me get aroused again."
"Okay." She fit her index finger into his shirt collar.
He smiled with interest, leaning forward willingly.
She unsheathed a wicked sharp claw and zipped it down the front slicing through the collar, undershirt, leather belt, underwear, and to the right thigh of his trousers. Everything separated and fell, leaving him naked and proud, his arousal returned as promised.
His brows soared for the ceiling. He looked down at himself, suddenly nude, and then at her in shock. "Well, then."
A red mark scratched his collar bone and a line of blood seeped up.
She gasped, horrified. "Oh, I'm so sorry Darcy."
"Why? That was hot." He stepped out of his socks. His erection proved he did find it very hot.
"I should have better control." She rubbed the red mark.
He cocked his head, arrogant. "So you're saying I make you lose control?"
"You really are not afraid of me."
"I'm not." He nuzzled her neck.
"Promise you're not teasing."
"I'm not. Not about this." He walked her backward to the bed. "But I can tease you all over, all night, and I promise you'll beg me for more in the morning."
She tilted her mouth up to meet and invite his welcome kiss. "Okay. I accept."
Chapter Sixteen
Amber's luminous trust in Darcy made him sweat bullets.
He needed to sweep her away with desire. And to not screw this up. She needed him to treasure her or tonight's tender alliance could shatter.
"You're smiling again," she murmured, questioning him.
Because aside from his nerves, he was so happy he wanted to burst out laughing. Happy laughter, but he couldn't risk Amber's misunderstanding.
Instead, he ducked his head, hiding his smile in the soft round of her belly. Her belly button was a delicate innie, and he teased the skin. Little goosebumps shivered and changed her skin to orange as he moved to the mons. Tight curls in the same honey-amber dusted her feminine vee. Her feminine lips glistened with arousal.
Good.
He nuzzled her velvet. Feminine musk mixed with her elusive yet intoxicating floral scent. He craved a taste.
She yielded to him.
He tasted her, teasing her lips, delving into the secret recesses.
She made desperate, hungry noises timed with his deliberate strokes. Her sweet honey only increased his cravings. His cock pulsed to be inside her, claiming her for his.
"Darcy?" she sounded uncertain.
"Yeah?"
"What are you doing?"
Uh oh. He retreated to caress her warmth. "Do you want something different?"
"No, I ... I don't know. Kissing there feels amazing. But dragons do not kiss anywhere, so...is this common for humans? Not only mouth kissing, but kissing the sex?"
"It's foreplay," he said, relieved. "Enjoying each other so the sex can feel even better."
"Should I do something?"
"Enjoy 'amazing' until you can't stand upright."
"I can stand upright for a long time."
He cocked a grin at her. "Well, I've got all night."
Her eyes flickered color to a deeper amber. She swallowed. "Okay."
He tasted her again, treasured her, and, yes, teased her until her eyes burned with need and she forced him to his feet. "We will have sex now."
He followed her onto the bed, his cock hard and ready.
They both moved in different directions—him to knee between her trembling thighs, and her twisting over on her front. Her knees knocked into his. He had to bite his lip, hard, to keep the laugh inside so she wouldn't misinterpret.
She tilted her head. "Aren't you ready?"
"More than ready," he promised and rested on his heels to let her lead.
She stilled, worried.
"Amber?" He leaned over her, no longer amused. "What is it?"
"How do humans have sex?"
He blinked. "Ah..."
"I haven't watched the educational videos because I didn't think it would become important. Now, I regret that."
"
Educational videos...?"
"Yes, the vast archives of popular instructional videos of humans practicing sexual techniques. My brothers have been watching it for ages." The right memory crossed her face. "You call it pornography."
"Oh. Those are just, uh, suggestions. You can do whatever feels right."
She wrinkled her brow.
He kissed her shoulder, needing to be closer, craving contact. "Is it that different for dragons?"
"Dragons don't have foreplay. A female selects her male, sprays him with lust hormones, and then they couple." Her frown deepened. "I never sprayed you. Are you sure you're turned on?"
"One hundred percent." He rubbed the still-ramrod hard cock on her naked, trembling, gorgeous thigh. "You've got me. I'm yours."
The wrinkle between her brows smoothed. "How strange. You really are strange, Darcy."
"I can be whatever you want me to be." He kissed her, long and hard, until she was desperate and moaning again. "You want it dragon-style? I can do dragon-style." He pulled his knee out from between her legs so she could continue rolling onto her front. He could take her from behind.
"You can?"
"Yeah."
"Are you sure?"
"Oh, yeah. We even have a name for it."
"You do?"
"Er, yeah. It's, uh, common." He wasn't sure of Amber's feelings about dogs. "I'll, uh, tell you later."
"Is that position what you want?"
"I want anything you want, Amber."
Her mouth opened to ask for another reassurance.
He rubbed his hard cock on her soft thigh. "I want you in any way. Upside down, right side up, backward, forward, you name it. I want to make it good for you. You tell me what to do."
Her eyes shone honey-amber again and her skin shuddered with goosebumps. She rolled onto her front and arched. "Do the foreplay on my breasts, as you did before. And make me feel small. Like I'm a tender human female you must protect."
"You are a tender human female." He leaned over her back and covered her from behind, lifting her soft buttocks to cushion his hard erection, and cupped her breasts. "You like this?"
She moaned in answer and pressed against him.
His cock hardened to diamond.
He caressed her, squeezing her breasts and her buttocks, massaging and pinching the sensitive skin, enjoying himself and filling with every moan. She lifted her sweet sex. He wet the tip of his cock in her honey and drew along her seam.
Amber reached behind her and squeezed his cock. "Darcy. Sex. Now."
"If you insist."
"Please."
He positioned the tip at her pink entrance and eased in. She stretched for him. He filled her to the hilt and she embraced him like a hot, wet glove squeezing his cock.
She felt amazing.
Amber rocked with him, taking her pleasure, encouraging his thrusts with soft, sweet moans. "Human sex is so.... This is.... I didn't know it could be so good."
He met and matched her rhythm, escalating her moans to desperate, needy cries of pleasure. Their bodies surged and fell together. His release bobbed, but he would not stop until she did.
Amber suddenly ordered, "Darcy. Touch me. Bite me."
He dragged her upright on the bed, thrusting up into her channel, and teased her salty skin with his teeth.
She shuddered. "So...much...pleasure..."
He kneaded her breasts, pinching the nipples. She moaned louder. He found her nub of flesh above his thrusting cock and swirled it with wet pressure.
She arched, keening with pleasure, and then collapsed into his arms.
Now.
His release whipped through his body, filling her soft wetness with his final uncontrolled thrusts. The world whited out in pleasure and then returned to his ragged breathing and un-syncopated heartbeat.
She moaned. "Still ... so ... good."
He collapsed beside her, catching his breath. Then, nestled against her back, he hooked his arm and leg over her. "You're okay?"
"More than okay."
"You enjoyed it?"
"All of it." She rubbed tears out of her eyes, streaking her face, and squinted back at him. "Is it always like that?"
"Mmm? Always like what?"
"From start to end, the feelings were so intense. Hunger, and then pleasure, and then satiation. I feel exhausted and yet alive."
He laughed, low and satisfied. "So you'll want to do it again, I'm hoping."
She stilled.
Uh oh. He stroked her cheek, irritated at himself for his ill-timed joke. "I didn't mean—"
"Give me a minute." She rolled to face him. "I've never had so many orgasms in my life. I was trying to savor the sensation. But you're the expert of human sex, and so, I'm sure you'll make more."
He teased a lock of hair from out of her messy bun. "I don't know if I'm an expert."
"Ever since coming to Earth, I've feared losing control. Tonight, losing control was pleasurable."
He squeezed her. "Good."
"I'm sorry I didn't take you seriously earlier, Darcy. You've brought so many new experiences into my life."
"Like being locked out," he said, and then wanted to kick himself.
"Yes, like the engagement dinner. Did you know I've never had a family dinner with my brothers? We've never stood in the same room with my mother. It's normal for you to take your girlfriends to dinner, but it's a first for me."
Unease filtered into him. "It's a first for me, too."
She squeezed his fingers. "I'm the first? Wow. Didn't you date any human girls?"
"Not seriously." He leaned up and kissed her. "Not the way I feel about you."
Her honey eyes smiled at him. She nestled into his embrace.
He held her tight trying to push away the discomfort. He'd stopped bringing over girls after high school. Partly because bringing a woman back to his mom and dad's wasn't cool, and partly because ... well...
His mom was under a lot of stress. Always. Who was he to add to it?
The boutique had been foundering for years. Managing a failing business while trying to put four kids through college was enough to turn anyone prematurely gray. Their business had briefly turned around five years ago when he'd pitched lingerie to the dragons and gained steady sales, but losing their contract had doomed the store. Hosting a wedding at home, and then catering to a surprise engagement party had caused Mom to snap.
He'd lucked out with Amber. She seemed invigorated by the challenge. But the day she wasn't invigorated was the day he'd have to choose sides.
His chest tightened.
In a few days, Tara's wedding would be over. He'd marry Amber. A small ceremony was fine; his mom could enjoy stressing out about a huge event on their one-year anniversary.
Yes. They'd compromise.
Only a few days and then the stress of Tara's wedding would go away and he'd have a calm, rational discussion with his mom about taking time for self-care, scheduling a massage, or hosting her book club. Stepping back and letting their dad handle the business.
Yes. He'd put off the conversation until after Tara's wedding.
Amber undulated suggestively in his arms.
"So many orgasms?" he repeated, focusing on his future wife.
"From start to end." Amber took a deep breath and let it out with a pleased shudder, then turned and presented her soft buttocks to him. "Okay. I'm ready again."
Well, when she put it that way, he was ready again, too.
He gripped her hips and positioned his cock at her wet entrance. "The second time will be long and slow."
Her trusting eyes gleamed. "I believe you."
He answered with a steady thrust that made her arch her back and moan.
Amber was so strong but vulnerable. She feared her own power. It took all she had to trust him.
He treasured her in body, heart, and soul.
No matter what happened, no one would hurt her ever again. Darcy promised Amber, teasing her nape with feather-soft teeth and pump
ing into her channel until another orgasm crashed over her.
He would protect her.
Chapter Seventeen
Amber strolled into the main office building doors the following morning as a human, crossed the lobby, and stopped at the reception desk.
The receptionist, Jeanine, barely glanced up from the keyboard. "Mal's shouted for you three times."
"Only three?"
"You're early." The fifty-year-old glanced up, taking in everyone in the lobby and passing over Amber again. "You look refreshed. New necklace?"
She touched the red lace with her fingertips. Despite a very late—and very satisfying—night, and dropping Darcy off secretly in the still-open turret window on her way in, she felt great.
He'd given the lingerie a long, meaningful look while she'd gotten dressed. So, since his offering meant so much to him, she'd given in and fastened the choker. It wasn't obviously lingerie. The well-made jewelry was artful, unusual, and now a reminder of his presence.
"It is."
"Looks good. The inspectors are already here." Jeanine handed Amber a slip of rejected appointments. "Talkative bunch."
"They're annoying."
Should she say something about Jeanine? Human women complimented each other and the former State Department secretary always seemed to notice Amber's smallest details, even though her gruff manner put off any further questions.
Amber tested out a compliment. "Your hair is very gray."
Jeanine's tough exterior cracked to show the shimmer of a smile and then returned to bored impassivity. "It's so people know I'm an elder. They have to give me respect."
"Does that work?"
"If it doesn't, Hunky and Chunky help me out." She patted the two anti-dragon land cannons resting in arm's reach beneath the reception desk. "Even the most annoying inspectors wait respectfully with these pointed in their direction."
Amber nodded because Jeanine was correct; the dragon way to resolving conflict was blunt, swift, and decisive. Darcy's family and their selfless acts of kindness tested her to the limit.
She thanked the receptionist and continued to the elevator, scanning the list. Jeanine put through the relevant calls but Kyan had always tracked the rejections. In his absence, she liked to scan the list.
