by Zoe Chant
And then he turned to face her again. His eyes were like pools of molten gold. A pulse beat visibly at the fine skin of his throat. She could sense that he was barely holding himself in check.
“Do you like what you see?” Lucas asked.
“I do.”
“Have you seen enough?”
“Lucas, I could look at you forever. But come touch me now.” Journey beckoned him down.
He moved in a flash, kneeling over her before she could so much as blink. Now that he was closer, she could feel the heat of his body and smell his spicy scent. Before he did anything else, he leaned down and kissed her. The second kiss was just as thrilling as the first. Journey never wanted it to end.
But he moved downward, undressing her with his bejeweled hands as if he was unwrapping a precious gift. She shivered with excitement as he lifted her and loosened the ties of her corset. Her uncovered nipples hardened in the air, and he bent to kiss and lick each one. She gasped at the touch of his tongue, which sent ripples of flame through her body. All her senses were on fire.
As he moved downward, stripping off her dress and kissing every inch of skin as he slowly exposed it, she shuddered and writhed, instinctively trying to bring herself closer to his mouth. Every movement made the soft velvet of the bed cover stroke her body, caressing her back and ass and thighs. Lucas’s chains slid smoothly along her skin. The contrast of the cool metal and the heat of his touch was almost more than she could bear. She heard herself making helpless little moans of pleasure. She couldn’t remember ever sounding like that before, but she couldn’t help it.
But before she could become self-conscious, Lucas lifted his head and said, “I love those moans of yours. Maybe later I can make you scream.”
“I bet you can,” Journey managed, before breaking off with a gasp as he flicked his tongue into her belly button.
Then he tossed aside her dress. He’d stripped her bare, and she lay naked and exposed before him. His gaze traveled hungrily over her body, and she could see in his expression that he found her infinitely beautiful and desirable.
“You’re everything I’ve ever dreamed of,” he said huskily.
Then he bent his head to taste her. His tongue was like a caress of fire, sending her nearly to the brink of orgasm with its very first touch. She grabbed the bed cover in both hands, clenching it in her fists, her back arching. Ribbons of flame licked at her clit and her sensitive inner walls until she felt like her entire body was on fire. She felt herself poised on the edge of climax for an endless moment, every cell of her body yearning for completion. And then she went over the edge in a white-hot burst of fulfillment.
Journey opened her eyes, which had fallen shut. “Did I scream?”
Lucas smiled like the cat that ate the canary. “Yes.”
He began kissing and caressing his way back upwards. Journey had never come more than once while having sex, nor had she ever come just from having her body touched. But as Lucas slowly worked his way upwards, she began to think that she just might do both. Even his slightest touch sent ripples of pleasure through her nerves. She could tell by his loving attentions exactly how much he adored her and every inch of her body.
She didn’t quite come from having her breasts kissed, though it was a near thing. Then he was poised atop her, his steel-hard cock pressed against her sensitive mound. He began to rub himself against her slick folds. Journey moaned as her clit swelled and throbbed. But she couldn’t quite abandon herself to pleasure, forgetting all else.
“Wait,” Journey said, though she hated to say anything that would make him stop, even for a moment. “I’m not on the pill— I haven’t had sex in three years.”
“I’ll try hard to make up for that,” Lucas replied. “But dragons do not have offspring easily. Unless I’m deliberately trying to make you pregnant, it can’t happen.”
Journey blinked. It sounded like such a line. Back in Lummox, guys were known to tell girls they couldn’t get pregnant if it was their first time or they had sex in the shower or the man drank lots of Mountain Dew. “Seriously?”
“Seriously,” Lucas assured her. “But if you’re worried, we don’t have to do anything that could even conceivably get you pregnant.”
Journey looked into her heart, searching for any warning of danger, and found none. “That’s all right. I trust you.”
He again began to rock against her. She relaxed, giving herself completely over to passion. His rock-hard length rubbed against her clit, making her moan and cry out. It was so hard to keep her eyes open, but she loved looking at Lucas, at the gold of his eyes and hair and dragonmarks, at the sweat beading his forehead, at his muscular arms and shoulders. His chains had been warmed by her body, and now they felt hot against her skin.
Journey wrapped her arms around his back and held him tight as he pushed into her. She opened to him easily, loving the feeling of having his hard shaft inside of her. Every thrust stroked her clit, sending electric shivers through her body.
He moved faster and faster, harder and harder, pushing her down against the bed. She too felt hot and frantic. They kissed each other everywhere they could reach, her lips, his throat, her forehead, his cheeks. She tasted the salt of his sweat. His stubble was rough against her lips and skin. His spicy scent rose up, making her dizzy.
“Journey—” Lucas gasped. “My mate— Mine—”
He gave a hard thrust, sending her over the edge. Her climax shook her entire body. Journey heard herself cry out as she gave herself up to ecstasy. It seemed to go on and on, an exquisite moment stretching out forever. And then she descended from the heights like a dragon flying down to land.
“My dragon,” she murmured. “I still can hardly believe this is real.”
Lucas kissed her, his lips warm and gentle over hers. “I can hardly believe it either. And yet here we are. Together.”
She buried her face in the crook of his neck, breathing in his spicy scent. His hair was smooth across her skin. As Journey fell asleep, she crossed her fingers that she wouldn’t wake up and find that it had all been a dream.
Chapter Seven
Journey
Journey stretched and opened her eyes. A shaft of sunlight fell across the bed, making Lucas’s hair and dragonmarks shine like the purest gold. He slept beside her, arms flung out and blankets tangled around his hips, his breathing steady and deep.
She watched him sleep, treasuring the intimacy of being able to do so. His eyelashes were long and golden, his full lips slightly parted. The long fingers of his left hand were curled around her wrist as if he didn’t want to let go of her, even in sleep.
A wave of love and tenderness rose up in her, as powerful as the passion of the night before. He was a prince and a dragon, but also a man who had risked his life for her and let her see his pain. She couldn’t imagine how any relationship between them could possibly work out, but neither could she imagine letting him go. Just the thought of it made her heart ache.
Lucas opened his eyes. He didn’t seem surprised or alarmed to see her watching him, but smiled up at her as if she was the best possible sight to see upon waking.
“Good morning,” he said, and pulled her down for a kiss.
Like every kiss they’d had, she never wanted it to end. She cuddled up close to him, luxuriating in the warmth of his skin against hers.
When their lips finally broke apart, she said, “I wish we could spend all day in bed.”
“We could,” Lucas replied. “That is, we could spend most of it. I need to go down to the kitchen and find some food. Flying takes a lot of energy. But I could come back and bring you breakfast in bed.”
“A prince bringing me breakfast in bed,” Journey said, laughing, and then sat up. “Never mind. I’ll help you forage. Are you absolutely starved, or can we shower first?”
“Shower first,” Lucas said decidedly.
She smiled to herself at his tone. Unlike other men she’d dated, Lucas obviously preferred to be meticulously clean
. She bet she’d never have to remind him to put the toilet seat down.
In the bathroom, Lucas removed his bandages before stepping into the shower. Despite all the magic Journey had already seen, it was still astonishing to see how the raw wounds of the night before had healed into pink weals.
“Will they scar?” Jasmine asked.
“I doubt it. They weren’t very deep.”
She picked up his hand, loving that she could be so free with his body, and traced the little nicks and scars across his knuckles. “How deep were these?”
“Not very, but I got them over and over again. I think eventually my body got so used to them, it decided they were supposed to be there.”
“But what are they from?”
“Bladework,” Lucas replied. When Journey gave him a puzzled look, he elaborated. “Swordfighting, dagger fighting. I practiced every day since I was a boy.”
“With weapons dipped in dragonfire.”
“Sometimes,” he said with a shrug. “And sometimes they were sharp.”
Lucas turned on the shower, holding his hand under it to make sure it was warm before he beckoned her to step in. She wondered about his childhood and how normal he seemed to find it. He’d said it was stifling, but he’d never called it cruel. But whatever Lucas himself thought, if she ever met Grand Duke Vaclav again, she’d be tempted to punch him in the face.
She stepped in to the cascading water. The shampoo and soap smelled like Brandusan herbs, wild and spicy and astringent. Though Journey guessed that Lucas was too hungry for her to want to delay him, she did enjoy looking at his beautiful body glimmering under the sheen of flowing water. And she loved seeing how he looked at hers.
Obviously thinking the same thing she was, he said apologetically. “We can indulge ourselves here later. Or in the sunken tub.”
“I vote for the tub,” Journey said.
As she was toweling herself off, Lucas said, “Don’t put on your old clothes. I’ll find something clean for you.”
“Clean freak,” she teased.
“Better than a...” He paused, obviously searching for the phrase, and triumphantly said, “Better than a couch potato!”
Journey giggled. “That means someone who’s lazy, not someone who’s dirty.”
“Oh, does it? I always pictured a man crusted with dirt, like a potato dug out of the ground.”
“Nope. It’s a guy who stays on the couch where you left him, same as if you’d dropped a potato there.”
Lucas tapped her shoulder with an outstretched finger, wielding a mock sword. “I appoint you the royal slang coach.”
Journey laughed as he strode off, a towel wrapped around his waist. He returned a few minutes later with an armful of clothing. “I raided the attic. I hope something will fit. For myself as well. I can’t fit into anything I wore as a teenager.”
As Journey put on a pretty blue skirt and blouse with stylized flames embroidered around the seams, she asked, “How much did you grow?”
“Six inches. All since I was eighteen.”
“I’d have loved to have that happen that when I was that age,” Journey said. “I really wanted to be slim and elegant.”
“I hope you don’t still.” Lucas looked her up and down with open appreciation. “Your body is beautiful. Slim wouldn’t suit you. And it’s not pleasant to grow so quickly. It makes your bones hurt.”
“It’s all right. Now I like the body I have. And I love that you appreciate it!”
“Oh, I do.” He ran his hand along the curves of her body, from shoulder to side to belly to ass, conveying his appreciation with his touch. Then, with visible reluctance, he pulled it away. “Let’s get breakfast. Then I’ll show you around.”
He led her through more lavish corridors, decorated with gold and marble, then into a distinctly less fancy kitchen. The refrigerator was empty, but there was a well-stocked freezer, pantry, and wine cellar.
“Do you cook?” Lucas asked.
“A little. What about you?”
“A little.” He didn’t sound very confident in his abilities. “I only learned when I left Brandusa. We have cooks in the palace, of course.”
“Of course,” Journey said, smiling. She couldn’t imagine such a life. “I had a mom who cooked. She did try to teach me, but it never quite took.”
“Perhaps we should not attempt anything difficult,” Lucas said. “No soufflés, for instance.”
“No strudel.” Mrs. Florescu had demonstrated the art of strudel-making to Journey, culminating with a demonstration that perfectly rolled dough was thin enough to be pulled through a wedding ring.
Luckily, there was plenty of ready made and easy-to-cook food in the pantry and freezer. An American freezer would have been full of supermarket food, but the castle freezer was full of hand-wrapped packages with hand-written labels. Between the freezer and the pantry, they created a breakfast of pan-fried ham, toast with butter and plum jam, and coffee sweetened with wildflower honey. Lucas burned the toast, but Journey scraped off the black parts.
Lucas started to carry it all into the dining room, but both he and Journey hesitated at the enormous and intimidating table, with portraits of royal ancestors scowling down from the walls.
“We could eat in the bedroom,” he suggested.
“What about outside?”
“Excellent idea.” Lucas headed toward the doors. He had his hands full, so Journey went ahead, opening them for him, until they came to a garden.
The castle walls rose high around them, giving a sense of peace and privacy. They stood among a mock-wild abundance of trees and flowers. Bees buzzed around the roses and birds sang in the trees. A flock of pink and blue wild parakeets took flight when the door opened, chirping loudly.
Journey pointed to a tree with feathery leaves and sweet-smelling white flowers, shading a bed of thick green grass. “That looks like a good picnic spot.”
“I expect it is,” Lucas said. “But I know of a better one. Will you follow me into a labyrinth?”
A labyrinth! Journey thought delightedly.
“I’d follow you anywhere,” she replied.
“Come, then.” Lucas led her along the castle wall until they came to a wall of roses.
Journey shaded her eyes, looking up at it. She’d never seen such a tall hedge of rose bushes. It rose up ten feet tall or more, completely concealing whatever lay beyond it. It looked ancient, the twigs gnarled and heavy with dagger-like thorns. But it was lush with roses in every color: red, yellow, peach, pink, white, lavender, and a deep purple that was almost blue. The scent was intoxicating.
“It’s like the briar roses guarding Sleeping Beauty’s castle,” she said. “Will we have to pick it apart twig by twig to get to the labyrinth?”
“It is the labyrinth.”
Lucas led her further along the hedge as it curved around, until he came to an archway in it. Journey stepped through and found herself in a maze of rose hedges. The ground was thick with grass, and paths went in every direction.
“I hope I remember the way,” he muttered. “It’s been five years.”
“If we get lost, at least we have provisions,” said Journey.
He led her through the twisting paths, pausing now and then with a frown of concentration before he made his selection. Journey couldn’t believe that she was being led through a labyrinth of roses by a dragon prince. It was like every dream she’d ever had, all come impossibly true at once.
Finally, they came to the center of the labyrinth. It was a glen carpeted in wildflowers, surrounded on all sides by red roses of every shade— scarlet, crimson, fire-engine, lipstick, burgundy, vermilion, swirled red and white, and a red so deep it appeared almost black.
Lucas set down his trays down, and they sat and had breakfast in the heart of the labyrinth. The air was warm and still, smelling of greenery, roses, and rain.
“How did you come to leave... Lummox?” he asked.
Journey couldn’t help laughing at the disdain in
his voice, which eased the sting of what she had to say in return. “After I graduated from high school, I was going to spend a couple years working and saving money, and then leave. So I worked the farms and imagined where I’d go. But before I could go, I met a man. His name was Scott Griffith, and he was a new farm hand in town. He was handsome and charming, and on our very first date, he told me he loved me.”
“I see.” There was an odd tone in Lucas’s voice.
Journey was sure he was recalling the wild promises he’d made to her the first time they’d met. She still didn’t know what to make of them. He couldn’t have fallen in love with her at first sight— that didn’t exist. Maybe he’d fallen in lust at first sight and liking at first conversation, and had mistaken it for love.
Unable to look into his eyes, she went on, “He seemed so different from the Lummox men. Romantic. Passionate. He promised me the moon and stars. He told me he’d love me forever and go with me anywhere I wanted. And I believed him.”
Lucas’s voice sounded dry and brittle. “I assume he was not to be trusted.”
“No. He wasn’t.” Journey took a drink of coffee, but it didn’t clear the lump in her throat. Why had she even started telling this story? She didn’t want him to know how stupid and naïve she was. “One morning I woke up and he was gone. And so was all my money.”
A low, menacing sound made Journey’s head jerk up. Lucas’s eyes had gone hot and bright, but not with desire. His cool exterior had given way to burning fury. “And where is this Scott Griffith now?”
“He doesn’t exist,” Journey replied. “It turned out to be a fake name— everything about him was fake. I have no idea who he even was, other than a con man. I found out later that he’d been going town to town, finding stupid girls like me and—”
“No.” Lucas laid his fingers across her lips, silencing her. “Never call yourself stupid. You were young and innocent. He took advantage of that. But you were not in the wrong to believe him. He was wrong to lie and steal and betray.”
“I—” Her lips moved against his strong fingers. He dropped his hand, then tugged her close, cradling her against his chest. The contact brought tears to her eyes. “You’re the first person to not blame me. Everyone in Lummox said it was my fault for being stupid enough to trust him. And they said if I’d spent my money on house payments like a normal person instead of saving it all, he wouldn’t have been able to clean me out.”
