“You,” he answered, as he reached where she stood motionless and hooked one finger over the edge of her towel. “Every delicious inch of you.”
Before her pleasure-fevered brain managed to offer a word in response, he tugged her to him via the towel, which promptly gave up its tenuous job of covering her body and pooled at her feet in a fluffy purple puddle.
Druid magic?
Fucked-up, ancient druid magic.
Had to be. That was the only explanation Ari could think of for how the now-naked goddess gazing up at him could be his Fire Mate.
Dragon shifters and humans were not meant to mate.
In all his centuries, he’d only known of two situations—and both involved druid magic.
Sure, sex between humans and dragon shifters occurred often; there was even a group of humans who called themselves Riders who traveled the world seeking out dragon shifters to sleep with. Dragon-shifter groupies who courted death by fire and seemed to get off on that idea, more than the sex itself.
He’d been approached by a Rider or two himself in the past, his brusque rebuke of their advances adding to his reputation as “unobtainable” and “picky.” It had nothing to do with being picky and everything to do with being sensible. Too much danger for a human as far as he was concerned.
But here he was, facing a human… Drawn to her.
It didn’t make sense; to be mated by destiny for the rest of his existence, by the magic of his kind and the power of his croi, to a human?
And yet this woman, with her wide green eyes and feistiness, was just that. His Fire Mate.
How could it be possible?
Druid magic.
Damn it, he didn’t like that idea at all. Druids were sneaky bastards with hidden agendas, ulterior motives, and peculiar aspirations.
But it didn’t matter. Right now, all that mattered was the insatiable hunger burning through him for the woman gazing up at him.
He’d get to the bottom of it all…after he surrendered to the potent force of the mating fire and lost himself to the pleasure of her incredibly lush body, creamy pale skin and full pink lips.
The fact she’d answered the door wearing nothing but a towel to hide her beautiful curves only fed the fated sexual need blazing through him. As did the raw, carnal way she’d responded to his kisses.
Kisses he wanted more of. Now.
Right now.
You don’t even know her name.
Names could come later. Now, he needed her lips against his…
Holding her gaze, he smoothed his hands down over her hips, her flesh warm against his palms, and lowered his head to hers. He saw his desire mirrored in her eyes a heartbeat before he took possession of her lips.
Fresh pleasure flooded through him.
A heartbeat before she drove her knee up into his balls.
White-hot pain exploded in his groin.
“What the hell are you doing?” she snarled, scurrying backward.
Bent over, breathless, his balls and cock a world of agony, he watched her bounce away from him like a wired boxer.
His body reacted to the rise and fall of her incredible breasts. His dragon growled with hungry impatience and appreciation.
Pulling in a slow breath, he straightened to his feet. “I deserved that,” he murmured. “Shoulda asked before I kissed you again.”
Her eyes narrowed and she caught her bottom lip with her teeth for a second. “Well, yes. Yes, you should have.”
A wry chuckle rumbled deep in his chest and he raked a hand through his hair, his body’s preternatural ability to heal itself already dealing with the collision of knee and scrotum. “You really don’t know what I’m talking about, do you?”
Feet now firmly planted on the floor, stance wide, fists raised—no doubt ready to smack the crap out of him if he drew close to her—the goddess glared at him.
Hell, it was hard not to throw himself at her, flatten her to floor and bury himself in her sweet—
“I have no clue who you are,” she shot back, eyes blazing with a ferocity he admired. “And with the way you’re going on about dragons, I’m also hazarding a guess you’re on some crazy drug that’s making you fucking nuts. That’s what I know.”
With another chuckle, Ari smoothed his hand over his jaw. Did he risk the punch she would swing at him if he moved to kiss her again? She would surrender to the mating fire eventually. Of that he had no doubt at all. What happened during their joining would completely mess with her head—a human clueless to dragon shifters and the mating fire would have little hope of understanding the concept of being engulfed in blue fire during a soul-deep orgasm—but she would surrender to the pleasure of it regardless.
She had no other choice. The joining of Fire Mates didn’t answer to choice, it answered to primal magic. Destined force.
He took a step forward.
She didn’t retreat.
Instead, incensed determination flared in her eyes. “Try it, buddy,” she snarled, balled fists clenching tighter. If it weren’t for the potent scent of her undeniable arousal, Ari would consider backing off.
Her scent, however, her pleasure and her need, threaded through his every breath. Stirring his own. Stroked the dragon that he was…
He took another step, and then stopped.
The reality of the mating fire, the magic of its force and power, the flames… If she truly was only human, and knew nothing of what it meant to be a Fire Mate, he needed her to understand what was happening. What was going to happen. Or at least, she needed to hear him explain it. He didn’t want her terrified when the blue flames engulfed them. He wanted her to give herself over to the beauty of it all, share with him the power of it as they came together.
“Tell me your name,” he said.
Did she realize how delicious she looked standing there naked before him? Hell, just the sight of her neatly trimmed pubic hair—waxed into a thin strip he desperately wanted to stroke with his tongue—flayed at his sanity, let alone the rest of her. He could lose himself in her dips and curves and die a happy dragon.
She bared her teeth at him, fierce fight in her eyes. “Fuck you.”
He chuckled, another wave of admiration and approval rolling through him. Yep, fierce alright. Damn, she was perfect. “Shall I just call you Fuck? Or do you prefer Ms. You?”
Her eyes narrowed, even as her lips fought with a smirk. “Ha. So you’re a funny, insane Viking biker. Just my type. Not.”
Ari laughed, even as the craving to take her, claim her, pleasure her, rocked through him.
Risking his jaw, he took a slow step closer. “Look, I know this is going to make no sense to you, but that undeniable, ravenous lust you’re feeling right now? The desire to strip me naked and do wicked things to my body?”
She snorted, rolling her eyes.
He let out another low laugh. “Don’t try to deny it.”
She snorted again.
“What you’re experiencing is called the mating fire, and it’s happening to you because despite the fact you’re human, and I’m a dragon shifter, we’re destined by ancient magic to be mates. For life. An ageless magic more powerful than any you could imagine has wrought its force upon our biology, our spirits, our very existence, and nothing but each other’s pleasure, bodies and desire will ever sate us again.”
She stared at him, lips parted, breaths shallow. “Holy crap,” she whispered. “I’ve fallen in lust with a psycho.”
Ari let his lips curl in a slow smile as he ever so slowly closed the distance between them. “No, you’ve fallen in lust with a dragon, and I’m going to make you fucking scream with pleasure unlike any you’ve ever experienced before. For the rest of our lives. Starting this very second.”
And with that, he curled his arm around her waist, hauled her to his body and took possession of her lips once more.
She fought him. For exactly half a heartbeat.
Her lips parted, her tongue finding his with savage ferocity and greed. His
brain registered the fact her delicious breasts and belly were pressed against him, that his hand cupped the most exquisite arse it had ever been his pleasure to grip, and then his brain gave up trying to register anything and surrendered to the sheer heat of the moment.
He growled into her mouth, releasing his tenuous restraint on his desire.
She growled back, the sound wholly human and utterly arousing. He’d never partaken in human/dragon-shifter sex before, too aware of the possible dangers. One soul-shattering orgasm on his behalf and his human partner would be incinerated.
But Jilly was his Fire Mate. Human or not, she would survive, and they would burn in their mutual eruption together.
The realization was singularly the horniest fact he’d ever encountered.
With another growl, this one far from human, he yanked her off her feet, wanting her—no, needing her—closer to him.
She wrapped her legs around his hips, clearly on the same page.
The heat of her sex pressed to the lower plane of his abdomen, detonating a rush of longing inside him, and it was all he could do to not submit to the urgent need to ram her against the wall and bury himself to the balls inside her.
He may be borderline delirious with hunger for her, but he had enough lucidity to know he needed to slow it down. Just.
She truly had no idea the incredible, momentous rapture about to happen to her, to him, to them both.
Better to have her balancing on the cusp of unadulterated pleasure before entering her. It would make what was to happen when they both came…easier.
Instead of driving her to the closest wall, Ari moved to the closest piece of furniture—a sofa—carrying her the whole way, unable and unwilling to drag his lips from hers.
Fuck, she kissed like a demon. No, a dragon. Wild, intoxicating and ferocious. Hell, was it possible to fall in love with someone so quickly?
Bumping into the back of the sofa, he deposited her butt on its edge and raked his hands along the underside of her thighs.
She moaned, grinding her pussy against him.
His cock strained against the leather prison of his pants, eager for release. He denied it, knowing if he undid his fly he’d be lost.
Not yet. Not yet. Not until…
Tearing his lips from hers, he sucked in a ragged breath at her protesting whimper.
“No,” she moaned, snagging his hair with fast hands. “Don’t stop kissing me. Don’t you dare stop kissing…”
The plea dissolved into a raw groan as he cupped her right breast and latched onto the dusky-pink perfection of her nipple with his mouth.
“Holy fuck,” she cried out, digging her heels into his butt as she arched into his carnal caress.
He drew deeper on her flesh, his body awash with a million pinpricks of heat.
“Oh my God.” Surprise threaded through the pleasure in her voice. “This…this is so good!”
Her delight and hunger sent fresh fire into Ari’s groin. Unable to be gentle, he cupped her other breast, squeezing and kneading the heavy bounty as he continued to feast on her nipple.
For every suck, she cried out, her panted words begging him to do it harder. Harder.
Head swimming with pleasure, Ari complied. He swapped breasts, biting and sucking on her smooth flesh, nipping at the edges of her areola before sealing his lips around her nipple and drawing it hard into his mouth.
“Fuck, yes,” Jilly moaned, snagging the long plait of his hair in a tight grip, holding his mouth to her breast. “Again. Suck it again.”
He did, her fierce demand flooding his cock with liquid steel. He hadn’t expected his Fire Mate to be so wild. But she was. Wild and hot and savage and demanding.
He couldn’t have wished for anything better.
“Oh God,” she ground out, scraping her nails over his shoulder. “Oh God, it’s so good. So fucking good.”
A low chuckle rumbled at the back of his throat. Talk about an understatement. It was so good. Better than good. Perfect. Insane. Animalistic and powerful.
And he hadn’t even tasted her yet.
Raw need pooled in his groin at the heady thought, and Ari growled.
Taste. Yeah, he needed to taste her. Now.
Releasing her nipple with a loud, wet pop, he dropped to his knees, shoved her thighs wide and laved his tongue up the moist seam of her pussy.
His head swam with rapture. She tasted like molten fire and honey and life.
“Holy crap!” She bucked, ramming the soles of her feet to his shoulders even as she fisted her hands in his hair, holding on for balance. “Holy crap, don’t stop. Please don’t stop!”
Ari lifted his head from between her thighs, another low chuckle falling from his lips. “I’m not planning to, gorgeous. Not until you’ve come all over my—”
The door smashed open and a man barged into Jilly’s apartment.
A man Ari knew.
A druid.
“Get the fuck away from her, dragon.” Derek Garrison’s furious stare locked on Ari. “She’s mine!”
3
Jilly squealed, her gaze snapping to Derek charging into her home, a second before gravity snatched her in a tight grip and yanked her backward onto the sofa’s seat cushions.
Her breath burst from her in a hoarse oomph, her teeth clicked together in a painful snap, and then her body continued its undignified downward journey, her knees and legs rolling over the top of her head into empty space in a flailing mess.
She tumbled completely off the sofa, hitting the floor with a bone-rattling thud and muffled grunt.
“Mine!” Derek yelled from the other side of the sofa, as she scrambled for any kind of traction in an attempt to get to her feet.
Damn it, her shoulder hurt. And her back.
“What the hell are you doing here?” her Viking Harley hunk growled.
Head swimming, she looked up at him through tangled strands of her hair.
Her Viking’s stare was fixed on something near her door. No, not something. Someone. Derek. What the hell was her friend doing charging into her home shouting something about dragons?
“She’s not yours,” Derek snarled, still out of her sight.
Clawing at the sofa, pain a throbbing beat in her head and shoulder, she shoved herself to her feet. “What the hell is going on here?”
Both men locked their attention on her. A split second later, Derek’s attention dropped to her naked body.
Heat flooded her cheeks. Her stomach knotted. Without thought, she snatched up one of the cushions that had tumbled to the floor with her and held it in front of her groin, hugging her boobs with her other arm. “I said, what the hell is going on?”
The hunk from the Harley swung back to Derek, every muscle in his body seemingly poised to strike. “She’s not yours, druid. Now get the fuck out of—”
Derek threw something at him.
Dust? Powder? Jilly couldn’t make it out, but the air between Derek and her stranger, who’d moments ago had been on the verge of making her come with only his tongue, suddenly filled with a bruised-purple mist
Thick and dense. Concealing almost everything. Everyone.
A putrid odor, like vomit and spoiled fruit, tainted the air, and she mashed her hand to her mouth, gagging.
“We’ve got to go, Jilly.” Derek appeared beside her, curling his fingers around her wrist in a tight grip, his gaze drilling into hers.
She gaped at him. Behind him, the purple fog writhed, the sound of a coughing snarl emanating from its dense cloud.
A large, dark shape moved inside it.
“Wh-what did you do?” She frowned at Derek, and then at his hold on her wrist. “Where’s…” Shit, she didn’t know her hunk’s name. She glared up at Derek, pulling at his grip. “Let me go! Whatever you’re doing, I don’t like—”
“Now, Jilly,” he snarled, before turning away, his hand tightening.
He ran from the room, dragging her along behind him, telling her to hurry up the whole time. Her f
eet tangled and she tripped, tumbling forward, but he didn’t stop yanking on her arm, forcing her to find her balance and follow him. “Derek, stop! This is insane. What are you doing?”
“Hurry,” he barked over his shoulder, increasing his pace. “Hurry up!”
Her hip collided with the console table near her apartment’s door, hot pain shearing through her. “What the hell is going on?” she cried, her wrist burning as she tried to twist out of his vise-like grip. “Derek, what’s going—”
A wall of heat slammed into her back, driving her into Derek.
He turned, expression harried, and threw out his hand over her shoulder.
More powder flew through the air, as putrid in odor as the last, and the heat vanished, replaced by a furious roar. The walls rattled, windows shook. Frames smashed to the floor.
“Come on.” Derek fixed her with that same harried look, eyebrows knitting. “I can’t save you if we don’t leave now!”
“Save me?” Jilly blinked. Her head swam. Her stomach roiled. “Save me from who? What?”
Derek’s grip relaxed a little on her wrist. “Trust me,” he murmured, before holding his hand, palm up, in front of her face and blowing.
Everything turned blue. Her eyes stung, and a blanket of numb detachment fell over her. She tingled. All over. Every molecule of her body tingled, and yet at the same time, she felt nothing, as if she no longer existed.
“Come on,” Derek said, although his voice sounded different. Deeper. Older. The words…the words slid over her mind, mellifluous and guttural at once.
She nodded, fuzzy with that weird emptiness. A surreal compulsion to do exactly as Derek said flowed through her. “Okay.”
He pulled her from her apartment. She went with him, moving through the blue moisture particles hanging in the air as they slipped over her bare skin. And yet even as she followed willingly, a distant part of her mind shrieked at her to fight against him, to tear her wrist free of his grip. To escape him.
To return to…
“Ari,” she whispered.
The tingling void of her existence flared hot at the word.
Dragon, Interrupted (Fire Mates Book 5) Page 3
