by Riley Storm
He could see her eyes fixated on his rear, the bit of it that she could see, at least.
“The shifting process,” he said lamely. “It, uh, it destroys clothes.”
“Right. Right I knew that,” she said in the tone of someone remembering forgotten knowledge. “Uh. Well, let me see that rib.”
“It’s fine, I promise,” he said awkwardly, trying not to meet her eyes, waist firmly pressed against the bed, as well as everything below it.
“Now,” she said sharply.
Galen sighed and awkwardly shuffled, preferring to turn almost completely around in the other direction, so she could have a full view of his rear, and not of his front. He figured it was politer that way.
The exasperated sigh from Kyla told him she understood what he was doing. A moment later, he felt her magic heal that cut as well.
“You’ve got one on your leg,” she said, her voice quite steady. “Stand up, I’ll get it too.”
“No,” he said. “No it’ll be fine, I promise. There’s no—”
“It wasn’t a question, Galen. I’ve seen naked men before. This isn’t anything new to me. Get over yourself.”
He cringed. “Kyla…”
“Stand. Up. You saved my life. I’m going to help you heal. End of story. Now up!” she said, snapping her fingers.
Bowing his head, Galen slowly rose to his feet, exposing his midsection—and the raging hard-on he’d been trying desperately to conceal from her.
He watched her eyes go wide at the sight, even as he swiftly turned and placed both hands over his cock, working to hide it.
“Oh. Um.”
Galen nearly died at the way she licked her lips, focus completely torn away from the large gash on his thigh.
The temperature in the room had gone up several degrees, and the longer Kyla stared at his now mostly blocked member, the more stifling the air became.
“Here,” she said absently, running her hand over his thigh, missing the wound the first time. “Let me fix that.” Her second pass closed it up, but her eyes never left his hands and what they hid from view.
“Thank you,” he said, knowing he should leave, yet wanting nothing more than to stay.
“Is that…is that also because of the change?” she asked, looking up at him.
Because of his height and the fact that she was still seated on the bed, Kyla was forced to crane her neck back to look up at him. In fact, she was at the perfect height that if he just turned his waist toward her…
No. You will not take advantage of her while she is tired after battle. Control yourself, Galen. You are supposed to be King. Act like one, put others before yourself.
“I should go,” he said, ignoring her question.
“Oh.”
Was that disappointment he heard in her voice? Could she possibly want him to stay? Galen had noticed the way her eyes were practically locked on his crotch, but that was probably because she felt as awkward as he did. Here they were, the aftermath of a fight, and all he could think about was pushing her down into the bed and climbing on top. How weirded out she must feel!
“You’re tired,” he said, reciting the words, yet not meaning any of them. “Sleep.”
“I’m not that tired,” she countered. “Besides…I don’t know if I could sleep right now. So much adrenaline, and then seeing you in your dragon form—magnificent by the way—I just don’t know if sleep is an option.
Galen just nodded. Was she…was that an invitation?
You can’t do this. You know why.
Kyla reminded him so much of her that in some ways it actually hurt. Yet despite his vows to himself, he couldn’t deny the way she made him feel. The desires she awoke in him that he’d so successfully muted for centuries.
His attention was jerked back to the present as Kyla slid around on the bed until her legs were hanging off—one on either side of him.
Galen’s willpower crumbled as he realized that she wanted him as well. It was the first time he’d been interested in a woman since…since a long time ago, and now she was reciprocating that.
Was it possible? Could it possibly be that...?
There was only one way to find out.
Forgive me…
He took Kyla by the shoulders and pushed her back onto the bed, noting the way her pupils dilated ever so slightly as she caught a glimpse of his cock before his mouth covered hers and they fell into one another.
Chapter 17
Um. He’s a shifter. A dragon shifter! What are you doing, lady?
Fire from Galen’s kiss scorched her brain clear of such thoughts.
Him. She was doing him. It was crazy, and it took her way beyond the neutral limits that the Archmage had told her to keep. When he’d told her not to get involved with any sides while investigating the shifter alliance, he’d meant simply helping out one House or faction within a House.
Neither of them had thought that she might actually come to not only like, but end up sleeping with one of them. Yet here she was, and truthfully, Kyla didn’t give a shit.
Galen felt good pressing down on top of her, his firm muscular bulk a heated blanket of sexy goodness that she welcomed. His kisses were hotter than lava, and she frantically returned the passion, wrapping her arms around his neck, legs hooking onto his waist, pulling him down into her.
His cock rubbed up and down between her legs, sometimes finding the mark, sometimes sliding just shy of it, and driving her crazy with every little thrust, despite the fact she was still clothed.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” Galen protested through her lips.
“I know,” she agreed—but she didn’t stop kissing him, and neither did he pull away.
She realized that he was probably thinking this was just as crazy. He was going to have sex with a mage. With his long lifespan he remembered fighting her kind, and now here he was bedding one.
But it just felt so right. Kyla couldn’t deny the way her body was reacting to him. It had done so in the cavern after they’d fought each other, and it was awakening to his touch once again here in his bedroom.
This was meant to happen, and she was done fighting it. Judging by the way Galen’s hands were tugging at her shirt, anxious to get it off, she figured he was feeling much the same.
Sitting up slightly, she aided his efforts to reveal her naked body, watching his eyes as they roamed across her, his bottom lip curling up under his teeth as he smiled at what he saw.
“Wow.”
The single word just then did more to arouse her than anything more long-winded. Just a simple, stunned proclamation before he covered her mouth with his once more.
His lips seared hers, burning their way across her jaw and down her neck. Galen’s breath drew goosebumps across her collarbone as he kissed there and continued down, pausing to pay attention to both breasts, flicking his tongue across her nipples before he ventured across her stomach.
By this point his fingers were hooked into her pants, buttons already undone, ready to strip them from her. She barely remembered the next few moments, her attention fully focused on what she knew was about to happen.
Prepared as she was, it didn’t help when his tongue slid across her. Fresh arousal shot through her body, igniting nerves and heating the furnace between her legs some more. She was on edge, and every touch, whether it was his arms wrapping around her thighs to hold her securely, or his tongue as it circled round her clit, edging her into heightened arousal, all served to embed the memory in her mind forever.
“Galen,” she moaned, repeating his name several times as he worked her over quite easily, his tongue turning her to mush in his hands.
For his part, the dragon shifter was loud and encouraging, making plenty of noise as he pleasured her. Kyla felt relaxed and comfortable, and her own cries mixed with his groans as she thrust her hips at him, practically begging him to keep going.
Never had she felt so uninhibited and relaxed during sex. His large hands roamed over her body, caressing
her breasts, gripping her thick sides with an ease and strength that sent a thrill through her core. They always returned to her thighs, however, holding her legs open, giving him complete and full access to her most vulnerable area.
And he repaid that trust by pushing her closer and closer to the edge, building the pressure within her to a new limit, a level she couldn’t sustain for long. Galen seemed to know that, and just when she felt she couldn’t take it any longer he slipped not one, but two fingers inside her.
Moving them in and out in time with the rhythm of his tongue as it played across her clit with an increasing swiftness had Kyla shaking.
“I can’t, I can’t take it. Don’t stop,” she moaned, her hips lifting from the bed. “Fuck, Galen. Oh my God. Oh fuck. Oh shit. Don’t stop!”
He didn’t. She cried out loudly as the orgasm slammed into her like a runaway car, beating her body into submission with wave after wave of unbelievable ecstasy. Galen played her body masterfully right up until she couldn’t take it anymore, then he withdrew to let her curl up into a ball and whimper, completely and total spent from his actions.
It was unlike anything she’d ever experienced before, such attention to detail and to her pleasure, uncaring of himself at the time. Kyla’s heart hammered against her chest, and she struggled to breathe, still assaulted by the slowly fading bliss as the echoes of her climax rang through her.
“Holy shit,” she gasped once her lungs had enough air to let her. “You…you’re good, mister. You’re really good.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Galen rumbled happily, climbing up onto the bed.
She started to open her legs for him, but a gentle press of his hand on her thigh stopped Kyla cold.
“Just stay like that,” he said. “You’re okay.”
At his not-quite-tender mercy, Kyla lay on her side, knees pulled closer to her chest. She lifted her head, catching one last glimpse of his magnificent cock before he lined it up with her opening.
“Holyfuckingshit,” she exploded in one breath as the tip of his cock spread her open.
“Does it hurt?” he asked nervously. “I’ll go slow.”
“No. No, no. More,” she ordered, stunned at how perfectly he fit, stretching her just a little, but not enough to hurt. He slid in easily, she was more than ready for this, and when he was firmly pressed against her, she shivered at how full and womanly she felt with him inside her.
She’d never felt like this with another man. Nothing even close. Nobody had made her feel this way. Vulnerable yet safe, sexy yet womanly. It was a new experience, and she wanted more of it.
Kyla wanted more of the dragon shifter. A man she’d expected to be a dumb brute, who was proving to be smart, courageous, well-spoken and more honorable than many mages she’d met over her lifetime. Not to mention a tender and caring lover, who knew her body better than any human.
“Oh, God,” she moaned, head lolling back onto the mattress as Galen moved in and out of her with deliberate slowness.
“You’re so fucking tight,” he groaned, leaning over her, smothering her in more of his delicious kisses. “I don’t know how long I can take it.”
Biting her lip, she grinned up at him. “Is that so?”
Then she squeezed around him.
Galen’s face bulged and she saw every muscle in his upper body tighten at once as he flexed. His core went from defined to ripped and his biceps swelled.
“Don’t stop,” she ordered wickedly, releasing around him.
“That’s not nice,” he complained, his hips crashing into her harder as he recovered.
Kyla gasped, loving the feeling as their bodies came together. She wanted more of it, and her cries told Galen just what to do to please her.
“If it makes you feel better,” she moaned through the pleasure-numbed fog of her brain. “I’m not going to be able to last long either. This is hitting the spot just right.” Her eyes rolled back into her brain as he grabbed her legs and started pulling her in even as he thrust at her.
“So fucking sexy,” he growled in that deep, throaty rumble that men developed when they were fully aroused. “Goddamn, Kyla you’ve got one hell of a body, and I like fucking it.”
The crude comment would never have flown with her normally, but in the moment it just made her want him more.
“Harder,” she urged, craving him in her deeper, lusting for that feeling that spread out as his hips slammed into the back of her legs. It was so base, so primal, and she let him know it, wordless cries urging him on.
“Kyla…” he gasped after a few minutes, though he didn’t stop.
She knew what that meant. “Don’t you dare stop,” she begged. “I’m so close.”
Galen just nodded, a jerky, twitchy movement now that he was close.
Without warning, he snaked a hand through her arms, and another under her waist. With a mighty roar, he lifted her clear of the bed. She hung face-down in mid-air, knees still up near her face, held aloft by two powerful arms.
She bounced wildly every time his hips slammed into her. Never before had she been so manhandled, so treated like nothing more than an object, and it lit her body on fire. Kyla’s walls tightened almost immediately and she knew she was going to come hard.
Galen swelled inside her and she lost control. Her body was immobilized under his control, but she spasmed and writhed like crazy as he pounded into her from behind. Warmth exploded inside her and almost immediately began dripping down her legs, but she didn’t care, her screams bouncing off the walls as Galen came.
He roared her name, the sound giving her another minor orgasm all on its own as he thrust into her with lightning speed, emptying his load deep inside.
Then all at once he was done and they crashed down onto the bed side by side, his arms still holding her still, cock still all the way inside her.
Both of them heaved for breath, unable to do anything but focus on keeping their lungs pumping as their endorphin-riddled brains began to shut down.
“Wow,” she said quietly after a minute or two had passed. “That was something else.”
She could feel Galen breathing behind her, but his only response was to withdraw from her. She felt his contribution coating her leg, but it only brought back memories of what had just occurred.
“You sir,” she said with a half-crazed laugh. “You are pretty damn good. My, oh my.”
When Galen still didn’t say anything, or make any noise, she looked over her shoulder. His eyes were open, and he was staring up at the ceiling. Confused, she rolled onto her back, pressing a palm to his chest.
“Galen?” she asked. “Are you okay?”
There was no response. Just more of the blank, almost troubled stare.
“Hey. Galen,” she said, shaking his shoulder, growing worried. What the hell was going on? “Are you okay?”
“I’m sorry,” he said, the words so quiet she had to strain to hear them. “I’m so sorry Kyla. But I can’t.”
“You can’t what?” she asked, sitting up. “Galen, what are you talking about?”
He got up abruptly and moved to a drawer, pulling out pants and a shirt. Slipping them on, he turned to face her.
“I can’t do this. I’ve made a huge mistake. I’ve betrayed…I’ve betrayed…”
Then Kyla knew. She understood what he was saying.
“Your mate,” she said, remembering another bit of information about dragons. They mated once, and only once. “You’re betraying your mate.”
Galen could only just nod.
Chapter 18
“You have a mate.” She repeated the words. “You have a mate, but we just…”
Galen looked pained. “Kyla, I…”
The pain on his face, in his voice, it was very real.
And it was very much not directed at her, she knew now. It was directed at the woman that he had just betrayed. That she had just betrayed.
“What have I done,” she moaned, burying her hands in her face, emotions cascadi
ng over her in a waterfall, one after another.
Sadness. Anger. Guilt. Shame. Embarrassment. Rage. Horror. Betrayal.
“You made me do this!” she cried, clutching one hand to her chest, covering her breasts even as evidence of her wrongdoing continued to leak out from between her legs. “How could you do this to me? How could you put me in this position?”
It had been stupid of her, of course. Stupid to assume that this could actually work. That someone as attractive as Galen might actually be both single, and interested in her.
“Turn around!” she snapped, reaching for her clothes as he did just that.
“Kyla, listen to me,” Galen said, trying to plead with her, but she wasn’t having any of it.
“No. I’m not going to listen to you,” she said icily. “I can’t trust anything you say, or do. Not anymore. So just keep your mouth shut. I’m going to get dressed, and leave, and then you can go explain everything to your mate. Tell her yourself what you’ve done. She can hate me too, but you had better tell her that I didn’t know,” she growled.
“Wait. Please. Kyla.” Galen started to turn around.
A dark red bolt of energy flew past his cheek and scorched the wall beyond.
“Turn. Around.”
Although she wasn’t ready to take on the wind dragon, Kyla’s anger was getting to her, and she certainly wasn’t going to let him see her naked again, that much was for sure.
But Galen resumed facing away, his voice shut off.
“What are you doing?” he asked, pained.
“What am I doing?” she yelped, stunned by the question. “I’m getting dressed, then I’m going home. Now. What the hell do you think I’m doing?” she snapped, her one palm glowing dangerously for a moment before she forced a bit of calm through her.
Attacking Galen was not the answer, as much as she wanted to blast him through the wall to teach him a lesson, to show him just how badly he’d wronged not only her, but his mate.
Kyla moaned all over again. “You made me a homewrecker, you asshole! You did this to me! How could you be so selfish?!”
Galen’s shoulders sagged at her accusations, but that only fueled her fury more. “Just when I was starting to think that perhaps dragons aren’t as bad as I’ve always been taught. That perhaps shifters and mages could learn to co-exist in time. Then you go and do something like this, that justifies every warning and story told about you.”
