While he’d stripped off her clothes and helped her to dress when she was too weak to do it herself, he hadn’t seen her when she’d donned her underwear. Now, she wanted to flirt and tease. She smiled—no, beamed—inside, but she didn’t let him see her humor.
Gwenyth reached behind her to unfasten her bra. Already, her nipples had become taut, her body achy and wanting him. Had she felt this way before? The thought shoved past her joy. A frown wrinkled her forehead—she felt the tension trying to swipe away everything right in her life. No! She refused to spoil this moment.
Without letting another notion surface, she let her bra fall away and down her arms.
“Gwenyth,” Leo murmured, and he sounded entranced and strained too.
Impishly, she winked at him before stripping her panties down her legs. “Last one in is a rotten egg.”
She turned from her stunned husband and sprinted across the sand to the water. She kept running, not even hesitating at the splash of cool waves against her calves.
Gwenyth swore Leo’s gaze singed her backside, and she desperately needed the chill to douse the ardor heating her skin. Gwenyth ceased walking once the water reached her breasts. Only then did she turn to see what Leo was doing.
A tremendous splash filled her eyes and mouth with water. She spluttered, and an instant later, Leo’s arms wrapped around her, drawing her against his hard chest.
“You’re a tease,” he murmured seconds before he crushed his mouth against hers.
The kiss held desperation, their teeth and noses clashing until they managed the perfect fit. His breath was hot, his flesh under her cold hands just as searing. Tongues stroked, licked, tasted.
Desire roared through Gwenyth. She moaned in enjoyment, his skin beneath her fingertips hot. Leo’s hands caressed the skin of her arse. He was burning her alive, yet there was no visible flame.
She pulled away a fraction, desperate to take one full breath.
“My lodestone,” he murmured. “You are so beautiful. I can’t believe you agreed to marry me. I am blessed—such a lucky dragon.”
Gwenyth ran her fingertips over his cheeks, his bold nose, then his sensuous lips. The edges of his mouth tipped up in a smile, growing bigger and wider until she glimpsed his white teeth. Unable to resist, she fitted her lips to his. This time, their kiss was slow and tender.
It set her alive with urgent need.
“Leo,” she whispered.
“Yes,” he said and lifted her into his arms. He carried her from the sea and headed farther up the beach to a cottage she hadn’t noticed earlier because it blended with the trees. It was part of the trees, she realized once Leo opened the door.
“Dry yourself off, my lodestone,” he said, handing her a towel. “I’ll grab our meal supplies and place them in the cool room. I will run,” he added when she opened her mouth to protest.
By the time she’d toweled herself dry and explored, Leo was back with their basket of supplies and their clothes. He set the garments over the back of a chair and strode into a smaller room that she discovered was the kitchen. When he reappeared, his eyes glowed a warm amber. He stalked toward her, his face full of determination and a hint of lust. No, the emotion wasn’t as harsh as lust but more urgency and desire.
His arms gripped her waist, and he swept her up. His long strides took them to a bedroom, and her pulse raced. She wanted him so much. The longing had crept up on her, taking her by surprise. With each passing hour, she’d grown to like him more and more. It was why she’d agreed to the marriage. Now that gentle attraction was taking on a life of its own. Leo placed her on the soft mattress and smiled down at her. Gwenyth licked her lips, shy and a little nervous, but wanting him, wanting this with every fathom of her being.
“I’m not sure where I want to touch first,” he whispered, his gaze heated as it roamed her breasts. His chest was broad and muscled, no doubt from his constant flying, training, and his hard physical work to build his farming business. His biceps bunched as he leaned over to steal a kiss. Her gaze wandered farther down his body to his lean waist, his narrow hips, and the muscles of his abdomen. So sexy. She imagined licking his skin, her tongue running over the distinct ridges on his middle region. Lower still, his cock was erect, a clear portrayal of his desire for her.
During her perusal of his body, she’d ignored his dragon tattoo. His dragon stood, his legs asunder and hands planted on his hips. The instant the dragon tattoo noticed her watching him, he waved and blew a kiss. The way he did it with the knowing gleam had color racing to her face and sinking down her neck. His dragon ran his hand down his scales to rest on his groin and winked at her.
Gwenyth gasped.
“What’s wrong?” Leo asked.
“Your dragon is crude.” She said the words, although they didn’t match the humor that was bubbling up inside her. She grinned at Leo, gaining confidence again. “Like any superb story, you start at the beginning. Touch me everywhere.”
“An excellent plan,” he said, and he dropped to the bed beside her. He combed his fingers through her damp hair. He kissed her, this time with purpose and skill. “You give me hope for the future.”
When she tried to reply, to ask why, he stopped her with another kiss, this one passionate and all-consuming. She clung, craving more of his touch. Hungry for the physical act.
For the first time, Leo’s big, competent hands wandered her body. He skimmed her breasts before cupping them and learning their shape.
Where his fingers went, his mouth followed with tiny bites of kisses that woke nerve endings and left her tingling with need. In return, she kissed Leo, tested the hard muscles of his arms and shoulders, and pressed herself close to his powerful torso. So good. So decadent. A gasp escaped her when he took a nipple into his mouth. He drew on the tight bud, and the sensation arced down her body to land between her thighs. She twisted in his arms, her legs splaying in a silent demand, a wordless enticement for him to do more.
“Leo,” she gasped, her hands tugging at his hair. “I need you. Please.”
“Let me feast, wife. Let me explore and savor.” His avid gaze met hers. “Please.”
The yearning in his voice grabbed her, threw her into something unusual. She’d never experienced this desperate desire for another man—the need to become one, to get as close as possible. At least, it seemed new. Momentous.
She jumped as he released her nipple and ran his tongue down the middle of her chest. To her relief, he signaled his intentions by moving farther down her body. He explored her bellybutton, the irregular scar on her hip that she’d received the time she’d fallen off her bike as a child.
Yet another memory. It seemed as if time might heal the gaps in her mind.
Leo halted his explorations and glanced up at her. “What is it?”
“I remembered how I got the scar on my hip. The second you licked it, the memory appeared.”
A strange expression came into his face. Was that a trace of fear?
“That’s good, right?”
“I worry you might reject me, that all this has happened too fast,” Leo said, still frowning.
His honesty was a slap to the face. But he’d shared his fears, and that brought warmth to compensate for the initial wallop.
Her heart squeezed out an extra-fast beat. “No matter what or if I remember things from my past, I will never regret you. Our marriage. You’re a dragon worthy of knowing. My mind wants this marriage, wants you. My body aches for you, so I guess that means I wholeheartedly approve of this union.”
“Since we’re adults, we are free to marry where there are no impediments.”
But what if there were obstacles? The notion drifted into her mind and took root like an insidious weed. Fear galloped behind.
“If you’re uncertain, we can stop. We have time,” Leo said.
“No.” Her reply came swift and sure. “I want to celebrate our marriage. Being close to you in this way makes me happy. I wasn’t joking when I told you I ache
for you. That I desperately want to make love with my husband.”
“Thank you,” Leo said, his tone fierce. “I didn’t know what I’d do if you wished to stop. I would’ve honored your request, but it would’ve been difficult.”
Gwenyth smiled and held out her arms, a silent plea for him to return to his explorations.
“Just a quick taste,” he said. “I want to memorize everything about you.”
His words gave her pause and raised questions, but this time she didn’t voice them. The last thing she wanted was to drive him from this bed.
Leo pinched her inner thigh, sending a jolt through her. “Pay attention. I want your mind and body focused on me and my dragon.” He sounded strained, as if he was exercising impressive control.
So, she’d push him and break that control until they both burned in a joyous celebration of their marriage. Doubts and hesitation, she’d kick to the curb.
Leo breathed in and out, an audible expulsion of air that heated her feminine flesh. Every part of her stood to attention. She cupped his head until his gaze met hers. “Leo, you’re taking too long.”
“Making memories,” he said, and an instant after he uttered the explanation, his tongue journeyed down her slit.
Her entire body jolted, and pleasure licked across her flesh. One touch and she lit up like a set of fairy lights. Once again, her mind supplied the comparison without a hitch, so she went with it, accepting the knowledge and embracing it.
“Do you like that?” he whispered.
“More than anything except how I imagine you’ll feel inside me.”
“Don’t put too much pressure on me,” he said with a trace of humor. “My dragon and I might fail.”
“It’s possible,” she conceded, trying to appear thoughtful and failing because of the smile that kept slipping free. “But I know that the second time, you’d whop butt spectacularly.”
He laughed, the joyful, musical sound widening her smile.
They had a connection, she and her dragon. Her trust and confidence in him had come fast yet naturally.
His tongue slid across her clit, giving her another one of those jolts. Prickles of pleasure sizzled through her abdomen. Anticipation and impatience had her tilting her lower body upward and silently demanding more.
His chuckle told her he knew what she was doing, but he gave her what she craved. More touches. More pressure. More of those delightful sensations. Her hands went to his hair. She twisted and tugged the locks, urging him on.
Leo’s caresses were halfway between soft and hard, the perfect touch to have her soaring high and fast. A moan escaped her and another when he pushed a finger inside of her. He licked and sucked and focused on the silent hints she offered him. Clever dragon.
“Leo,” she said, his name a mere gasp. “Please. Please. More.”
He withdrew his finger then pressed into her a second time, equally slow and sensual. The drag of his digit against her inner walls ignited a burn that pushed all the right buttons. This time, her moan was loud and throaty, and when he sucked on her clit, the excitement burst. She shattered under his ministrations, intense pulses tightening and releasing around his finger.
A long moment later, he pulled away and rose up her body to kiss her.
She tasted herself on his lips, along with his deeper male flavor.
“Give me more,” she ordered in a throaty tone. “But this time, do it with your cock.”
Leo laughed. “I’d like that.”
“Now,” Gwenyth said.
He kissed her once more, this time slow and with tongue. Her breath caught at the exquisite pace of the kiss, the tenderness that assailed her. This dragon. Why hadn’t she met him earlier in her life?
Another memory? She released the thought to concentrate on her husband.
Leo guided his cock to her entrance and pushed home with a stroke that left her gasping. It wasn’t shock. It was more the rightness of the fit and the inner knowledge she’d found her one.
Leo released a growl of his own. He rested his forehead against hers for long seconds before withdrawing to the tip and pushed back into her.
“Magical,” he whispered, resting again while fully embedded. “You feel hot and tight and perfect around my cock.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “But believe me, I’m certain it will be even better once you are moving and hitting all the right spots. That’s when the magic will change into spectacular. I adore spectacular.”
“Me too,” he said, and he pulled back again before thrusting into her.
Gwenyth kissed his neck and found the perfect place to suck. Marking him felt right to her. A badge of their love.
Leo set up an invade and retreat, the drag of his shaft lighting her up again.
“Leo,” she cried, gripping his shoulders and this time giving the soft skin of his neck a nip.
He seemed to enjoy that because he issued a tortured groan.
“More,” he urged.
So she bit him again while his thrusts grew faster and erratic. His breathing turned ragged, his scent enticing. She opened eyes she hadn’t realized she’d closed and spotted the ecstasy on his dragon’s expression, the way his tattoo seemed relaxed and yet tense. Gwenyth stretched a fraction so she could reach where his dragon reposed, and she pressed her lips to the spot she could touch. A harsh groan escaped Leo, and it felt as if his cock pulsed inside her. Gwenyth kissed him again before wrapping her arm around her husband and giving in to the pleasure that shone like a beacon.
Leo plunged into her one last time, and stilled, his breathing hoarse. He sought her mouth, and the heat of his lips was blistering. It seared her lips and down her throat until she wondered if she’d implode. Then the heat changed to comforting and the faint tension in her released.
Another mini-series of spasms pulsed through her sex before trailing away to leave contentment and satisfaction.
“Gwenyth,” Leo murmured.
“Leo,” she replied. Instinct told her what had happened between them was magical and unique. Something special that she wanted to repeat again and again. Her hand went to Leo’s dragon tattoo, and she patted the dragon’s head. The tattoo moved into her touch and a hum slipped from Leo.
Gwenyth grinned. Leo’s dragon was plain cute.
“Are you hungry?” Leo asked.
“I could eat.”
Leo levered away and rolled to his feet. He extended his hand, and she noticed Leo’s tattoo looked sleepy and content. Yep, so cute. She placed her hand in Leo’s. Her stomach grumbled, and they laughed together.
“I’m drooling over the pie. It smells amazing.”
“We can try that first,” Leo said.
“It’s dessert,” she protested, a tiny voice at the back of her mind shouting that eating sweets first was wrong.
“There are no guidelines for food and my wife,” Leo said with a smile. “We make our own rules.”
“Works for me,” Gwenyth said, a distant memory still refuting the meal order. No, not her, she thought. Someone else had insisted on preciseness in everything. She plucked at the information, and while her head didn’t ache this time, the facts she sought remained elusive. Her mind was healing, though, and she thought that was a splendid thing.
“Are you happy with our marriage?” he asked without warning.
Gwenyth didn’t hesitate. She wrapped her arms around him and settled in to show him how much she valued their marriage. The pie could wait.
10 - Leonidas, You’ve Brought Dinner
“Husband, there has got to be a better way of traveling with you.” Gwenyth braced her trembling knees and leaned against Leo, who was still in his dragon form. She dropped Leo’s bag of clothes on the ground and dragged a hand through her tangled hair. “That was a brief flight, and it scared me silly. I didn’t think the second time would bother me as much. Wrong.”
Leo’s enormous, green dragon head turned to observe her, and her own eyes narrowed. Her husband of not even a day was laughing a
t her.
She poked him in the ribs. “Stop laughing at me.”
“Leonidas, you’ve brought dinner,” a masculine voice boomed across the giant field where they’d landed.
Leo released an amused grunt, and Gwenyth spun to skewer the recent arrival with her glare. He stood tall—at least six inches above her height of five-foot-nine.
Huh, she remembered her height. How weird was that?
She returned to studying the man, peeved at his stupid joke. His eyes were golden brown while his nostrils flared in a manner that told her he was testing her scent. Another dragon, then. A bushy ginger beard covered his lower face, and his dragon tattoo—an orangish-red in color—cocked his head to peer at her. His chest was a gathering of splendid muscles and bared to the elements. He wore a pair of tight black trews and black leather boots on his big feet.
Jenny was safe with the minister’s family, and they’d promised to watch her for as long as necessary, which meant Gwenyth was the snack in this scenario.
She studied the new arrival’s grin and planted her hands on her hips. “Ginger, did you call me dinner?”
Leo snorted, a single ring of smoke erupting from his nostrils. He rubbed his head against her arm before nudging her farther away from him. Seconds later, he stood in front of them in naked splendor. Her gaze wandered his muscled body and his…ah…undercarriage before she thrust the bag at him.
Leo accepted the clothes and slung his arm around her shoulders. “Well met, Felix. Meet Gwenyth. She’s my wife.” Pride shimmered in Leo’s words, and Gwenyth’s irritation faded. Her husband beamed with satisfaction. A marriage of convenience with a human who was a stranger didn’t faze him.
Felix’s bushy brows shot upward, his eyes widening in surprise. “Married? But I thought you’re betrothed to a dragon lass from Smoking Isle.”
“You heard wrong,” Leo stated.
“But she’s due to arrive tomorrow,” Felix said. “Her and her retinue.”
Gwenyth shot Leo a searching glance but remained silent, deeming it best for him to take the lead since she was unfamiliar with castle protocol.
Liza (Dragon Isles Book 1) Page 9
