Passion (Shifters Forever More Book 5)

by Elle Thorne

  Oiddras looked stunned but Samara laughed as if she were in on some secret. She may very well have been, but Jolie sure wasn’t. What did he want shot glasses for? Why didn’t he ask for whiskey or scotch? Or gin? Or vodka? Wouldn’t that be the next logical question?

  “Meet me outside in five.” Matteo followed Oiddras out of the room, probably to a kitchen or a bar, though in her time here from before, Jolie had never noticed a place where they would have held alcohol.

  She stepped outside with Blaise and Samara.

  “Nervous?” Samara asked.

  “About riding on a dragon?”

  The blood elf nodded. “Yes. It’s not commonplace for your kind is it? Or for sorceresses, I mean.”

  “I never have!” Blaise burst out, hugging Jolie. “So I’m nervous on your behalf.”

  Jolie took Blaise’s hands in her own. “I’m so glad you are free.” She looked at Samara. “You will take care of her? Not just now, when I’m gone for a little bit, but later.”

  Samara put her a hand on each of their shoulders. “I have no clan. Have had no clan. I have been living at the mercy of Mae, who thankfully kept Griz and his kind away. I want a family. It is my goal that we succeed.”

  Tears sprang to Jolie’s eyes. One slipped down. Samara wiped it away. “None of that. I would like to spend time learning about your time mage skills.”

  Jolie laughed. “That makes two of us.”

  “Maybe when things get settled and Oiddras takes you to find your people, I can accompany. A blood elf can be a good asset to any team.”

  Of that Jolie had no doubt. And she would have said so, if her attention had not turned to a strikingly handsome man who was approaching. One with green eyes. Vivid green laced with gold lightning bolt striations. Her breath caught, so captivating was the sight of his dragon in his gaze.

  She found herself blushing like a schoolgirl at the intensity of his stare. He strode toward her like a man on a mission. He was sexy. Confident. Muscular. He was something she’d never thought she’d ever wish for, and he was everything she could have ever wanted. The corner of his mouth tipped upward, just one side, in a crooked smile that made her want to buckle time and kiss him while all of those surrounding them were oblivious.

  He must have been able to read her expression because his brow quirked.

  “Don’t you dare,” Samara said from next to her.

  Okay, maybe she was transmitting her intention a little too well. She was happy to see that her father was watching on with an indulgent smile. Maybe the two had bonded while Matteo removed the lenses. She knew now what he wanted the shot glasses for. Something to keep his contact lenses in. All so he could indulge her in her wish to see his eyes. He risked being seen by mortals and possibly killed, all to satisfy her urge. What she’d felt for him before grew exponentially with his actions. This dragon shifter was like no other man.

  “Ready?” Matteo taunted.

  She rose to the challenge in his voice. “Absolutely.”

  He took her hand then turned to the others. “Be back soon.”

  They strode through the green, green grass, up a slight slope toward the cliff’s edge, passing large boulders that looked like they’d been planted by giants creating a stone garden. She breathed the air in, sucked the North Sea smell in, closed her eyes, and stood still for a quick moment.

  “You’ve missed it,” he said from next to her.

  “I did. I miss the crispness. The freshness. The way you can smell the sea life on the air. The way the salt makes your hair feel when you’ve been outside long enough. I miss the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks at the bottom of the cliff. At night, you hear them the loudest. I used to sneak out evenings and listen. Just sit and listen, imagining the moon was my mother and the stars were my siblings. Or cousins.” She opened her eyes, and the brightness of the sun reflecting off the water blinded her momentarily. She blinked and squinted. “All this time my father was here. With me.”

  “Why do you think he didn’t want you to know he was your father?”

  “I plan to ask him, but if I were him, and the mother of my daughter had been killed, and I knew dragons were hunted, I’d keep my child hidden. I’d leave her in a place where she would be camouflaged.”

  “Except he didn’t leave you,” Matteo pointed out, starting to walk toward the cliff’s edge once more.

  “True. He did not. I think, under the circumstances, he did the best he could. I imagine he planned to tell me the truth when I was a little older. When I had the maturity to handle that sort of knowledge.”

  They were at the boundary, two paces away from the drop-off. “You good? Want to stay here and talk?”

  “Oh, no. Not for a second! I want to feel the wind in my hair!” She jumped up, wrapped her arms around his neck, and, before she realized it, she’d locked lips with his. She kissed him, tangling her tongue with his for several moments, time slipping away, though not buckled. They had the privacy of the stone behind them, keeping them from prying eyes, if there were any.

  His hands tangled in her hair, wrapping it around his fists while his fierce dragon eyes studied her face. “I can’t believe this. It’s real. It’s happening.” He pulled away from her mouth, raising his head slightly. “If you keep kissing me like that, I’m going to have to ask you to buckle time and get naked with me.”

  She knew what he meant. She could feel his hardness against her body. Insistent. Demanding. Hot. Though that was not the worst idea she could think of, she did want to fly, before it was dark. Not that he couldn’t see in the dark, she knew shifters had those skills, but still, it would scare her silly to be flying about in the dark over an ocean. Or land, for that matter.

  “Let’s go.” She gave him a tiny shove. Not toward the cliff, nor away from it, just sideways.

  “Here we go.”

  Moments later, after the noises—ever so excruciating sounds—of shifting, before her stood a magnificent, glimmering green dragon, like a horse, but with wings, and with a beautiful dragon’s head and the same emerald eyes. He butted her lightly with his forehead. She ran her hands over the scales. So smooth. So warm to the touch. Wrapping her fingers around his neck, holding on to the muscular structure, she leaned close. He lowered his body and she climbed on, then held on for dear life, fingers seeking purchase on his strong neck, her legs wrapped around his body.

  He took one step then another, approaching the cliff’s edge. She could see the waves crashing, breaking on the rocks, leaving white foam. No gentle ebbing of the waves here like there were on beaches. It was all violence and passion, brutality and turbulence. She bit back a squeal at the fear that grasped her and clutched Matteo’s dragon tighter. She felt the vibration of a growl, almost soothing, against her fingertips.

  Then there was another short growl.

  A second one.

  She wondered if he was counting down. If the third one would be it.

  And on the third growl, he dropped off the face of the cliff, plummeting down, down, down, closer and closer to the crashing waters below, the jagged rocks, just waiting to turn them into pulverized bodies.

  She caught her breath, thinking of a rollercoaster ride and how the suddenness of the loss of footing felt. This was that. Only multiplied it by one billion. Or more. Whatever more was. A trillion? She couldn’t think of numbers now. All she could do is feel. And feel she did.

  Then his wings extended. Mighty wings that stretched out longer than she was tall, and suddenly, they were climbing.

  Jolie whooped. A sound so freeing, so full of the joie de vivre, that Oiddras had long ago accused her of having.

  The dragon looked back at her, his eye gleaming, his jaw slightly open, revealing lethal incisors. She ran a hand over his neck, from the top to his shoulder blade, then leaned in close until her cheek was touching the back of his head. “Don’t tell Matteo, but I love you.” Though she knew, of course, that Matteo could hear everything.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven


  In his dragon, Matteo rode the thermals, allowing them to take him higher and lower, soaring effortlessly over the gleaming dark-blue ocean. His heart soared as well, with the knowledge she’d voiced her feelings. Sure, she’d said the three magic words to his dragon. But he was his dragon, and he knew she had to know this.

  She loved him. And as if that wasn’t enough, the cherry on top? Her desire for him was a scent that made its way toward him each time he banked and turned. Which was exactly why he kept doing it. Relishing the aroma that traveled over his dragon nostrils. Filling him with a desire that matched his.

  For more than an hour, he glided, staying well away from the coast where they might be seen. They flew over a pod of whales. He dipped low so she could see them up close. Only to find themselves sprayed when one released a spout through its blowhole.

  Jolie had hooted with delight, soaked to the bone, and still loving every moment of it as she shoved her wet hair away from her face.

  “Go close to the water! I want to dip my hand in it.”

  And so he did, dropping low, banking hard, tilting his body so she could fill her hand with the brisk sea water.

  She laughed as he began to climb again, higher and higher. A speck, not out of reach caught his attention. A tiny island in the near distance. Gathering speed, he headed toward the bit of land.

  When they arrived, he circled the little bit of land. It had huge, dark-gray stones on one side and heavy, glossy, volcanic-black sand on the other.

  “Let’s check it out,” Jolie shouted over the mounting winds, which had picked up the last few moments.

  Exactly what he’d been thinking, that checking it out would be a good idea.

  The sun was still out, but clouds were building not too far away. Not ominous clouds, but still, ones that threatened to take the sunshine away. He landed on the sand, and she leapt off but bounced on the balls of her feet, clearly excited about the discovery. A mist hung low over the water where the clouds were, but it wouldn’t be hard to fly above it if it moved their way.

  He began to shift to his human, but it seemed Jolie was too anxious to explore to wait for him.

  “We have to name this island,” she said as she marched toward the large boulders. Large, like the ones at Stonehenge, but these were partially buried in the sand.

  As soon as his shift was complete, he took long strides and caught up with her. “Slow down. You have time.”

  She whirled around, threw her arms around his neck. “I’ve never felt so alive, Matteo!” Her eyes glittered with excitement. “Ever! This island. It needs a name.”

  “Got any suggestions?” He trailed a finger over her jawline, studying her profile. The beauty of her. A more gorgeous woman had never existed. His dragon roared his agreement.

  “It’s a secret island with a name only the two of us will know. And it’s a private thing. We won’t share it with anyone. Can we come back to visit?”

  He grinned. So, she did see him as a part of her life. “We can. So, what’s the name?”

  “I don’t know. Haven? Haven Isle? Haven Atoll? I’m goofy, I know.”

  “I like the sound of that. “Haven Atoll.”

  “Our own personal haven.” She giggled, her expression one of childlike wonder. “We can come back and picnic here.” Then she was off and running back to the water and the end of the black sand. “I’m dipping my feet in. I don’t care if it’s cold.”

  She rolled up her jeans, removed her socks and shoes, and began to wade, the waves rising and falling, just to her knees.

  “Be careful,” he cautioned. We don’t know the waters out here. Where they drop off and—”

  Her scream of half-delight, half-terror cut him off as she fell into the water and was waist deep and soaked.

  He leapt into the water, snatched her up, and carried her out, bridegroom-carrying-bride style. “I got you.” He set her on the warm sand. “Are you alright?”

  She laughed, loud and without inhibition. “I’m fine. That was wild. One minute, I’m standing, the next, I’m…well, being pulled deeper into the water.”

  She was definitely alright. “Yeah, I was going to warn you about that.”

  “Thanks for saving me. Again. That’s become your thing.” Her cheeks were flushed pink with exhilaration, and her breath came out in quick pants.

  “No problem. Glad I was there. Again.” He was. He couldn’t explain how happy he was that he’d been there the first time. And this time. Then it occurred to him how fast this had all happened. How she’d become someone he couldn’t be without in just a brief amount of time. He’d heard that some said adrenaline-charged situations could lead to emotional bonds, but this was on steroids.

  “I told your dragon that I love you.”

  “I know.” He took the spot next to her sprawled out in the sunshine. He noticed the clouds were closer, but still not something he’d regard as portending doom.

  “I know you know.”

  “I figured you did.”

  She smacked him lightly. “Stop one-upping me. Anyway, you’re missing the message!”

  “Oh, I got the message, alright. Trust me on that.”

  “And…?” She mock-grimaced, shooting him a fake glare.

  “Oh, that.” He laughed at the expression on her face.

  She sat up, and, instead of punching his arm, like he thought she was, she grabbed him by the hair and pulled him closer. “Yeah, that!” She nuzzled her face against his then locked her lips onto his.

  He loved this new and uninhibited Jolie.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Jolie couldn’t have said what was going on with her. She felt a freedom she hadn’t ever felt. It surpassed the freedom when she’d escaped Orkney’s clutches.

  Matteo wrapped his arm around the back of her neck, pulled her closer, taking control, and then he took charge of the kissing.

  He held her tight against his body, parted her lips with his tongue, then began a primal dance of tongues, one that spoke of centuries of love between a man and a woman. One that clarified how he felt about her fully. She didn’t need his words. This was enough. She moaned softly into his mouth, and, deep in his chest, his dragon growled, making his pecs vibrate against a hand she’d placed there.

  Her desire for him turned into a yearning which turned into an inferno. She wanted him furiously. “I need you,” she told him. And she did. She needed him the way a woman needed a man. The way a drought thirsted for rain. And darkness needed light.

  Matteo unbuckled her pants, pulled them down, lower and lower off her body until she was in her panties. Her heart hammered, pounding against her chest, in her throat. His hand touched her leg, near her ankle, then rose, slowly tracing its way and then doubling back. It moved ever upward, to her thigh, her hip. Up to her waist. His hand slid under her T-shirt and her bra, cupping her breast.

  She groaned under the onslaught of sensations. He pulled her shirt and bra off and lay her down on the volcanic sand. It was warm against her body. He lay next to her and the sands shifted, yielding to his weight. Her flesh pebbled from the cool air rising from the sea, the mist hiding the ocean’s horizon from them and at the same time hiding them from any and all that might could see. Be they animal or human, alike.

  Her nipples were hard. Stone hard, like the stones that composed the other half of their own paradise here in the North Sea. A stark beautiful paradise composed of black sand, blue waters, and gray mist. She braced herself, waiting for him to touch her again, but instead, his eyes traveled the length of her body, back and forth, up and down. A slow study of her anatomy. She heated, both from excitement and embarrassment and moved her hands to cover her insecurities.

  “No.” Matteo took her hands in one of his, held them over her head. His other hand touched her bottom lip. Lingering then tracing its way along the seam, from corner to corner. She released a low moan and the opportunistic finger slipped inside, letting her taste the North Sea’s salt.

  She licked the
finger, then wrapped her tongue around it and sucked. He hissed his desire, his eyes aflame, his jaw working.

  “Two can play that, temptress.” His voice was sex-husky, pulling her deeper into a thrall.

  He cupped one breast, grazing her nipple, causing her to gasp.

  “No fair.” Was that really her voice? Sounding more like a siren than herself?

  He thumbed the hard, pebbled tip, then pulled on it, dropping his head to replace his finger, the heat of his mouth drawing her closer, except she couldn’t move her captive hands. She breathed in long deep draws of fresh salty air, her chest rising and falling, and his mouth stayed put, fixed on her rosy tip. Sucking, teasing, licking.

  The hand he’d replaced with his mouth began a slow, languorous journey over her abdomen, hip, and thigh, almost the same path it had taken upward, but this time, it paused as soon as it reached her thigh. It traveled across this time. She stiffened in anticipation when his fingertips touched the soft, springy hairs there. Using just that hand, he parted her legs—the cool sea breeze sent shudders over her body—and without ceremony, dragged a finger across her folds.

  She knew what he found was the slickness of her desire. It had flowed and never waned from the moment she’d kissed him on the cliff. Every second on the dragon’s back, every moment spent diving close to the water, then soaring upward toward the sun, making her think of the Icarus from mythology, the one who’d tried to fly but melted his wings. She knew why that mythical young man wanted so passionately to fly. There was no other sensation like flying.

  Or so she’d thought. Now naked, next to Matteo on the sand, she knew she had been wrong, for this was the ultimate sensation. The way this man made her feel. And kept making her feel. Whirlpools of pleasure gravitated from the center of her body, pulling her downward as his now-slick fingers traveled from the folds to the very button in which all her passion felt concentrated at this moment.

  She bucked at the sensation as he probed the tiny core which was already throbbing for his touch. He held her in place with his firm grasp on her hands while his other hand traced over the opening, dipping in and out, then back to her button, caressing, circling, stroking.