When the mid-morning sun flooded the room, he opened his eyes to the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. Not the Negev Desert or the Kirkjufell Mountain could compare to the woman who lay by his side. With the back of his hand, he stroked her upper arm. Emilia stirred, and relief flooded him when she opened her eyes. For a moment she was lost in a sea of confusion but then awareness of him, of where she was, swept that confusion away.
“Did you sleep okay?” Thorn asked.
“Yes.” She stretched. “I’m starving.”
He chuckled as he slipped out of bed and grabbed his clothes. “I’ll put some breakfast on. Come down when you’re ready.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek, not expecting her to grab his face and pull him back onto the bed.
“Kiss me. I want to know this isn’t a dream.” Her breath caressed his shoulder as he leaned forward to press his lips to the swell of her breast, before he cupped her face in his hand and slid closer.
“This is not a dream,” he assured her. Their lips met, and he kissed her, softly at first but as a different kind of hunger filled him, their kiss deepened. Nipping her bottom lip, he cupped her breast in his hand and rubbed his thumb against the hardened bud of her nipple. She groaned and pressed herself closer to him.
He wanted to claim her right here, right now. To brand her with his body and make her his for eternity.
He dragged the covers off her body and ran his hand along her soft belly and lower. Emilia opened her thighs and he slipped his hand down to caress her mound, pinching and rubbing her there. She gasped against his mouth and her hand threaded between their bodies to curl around his hard length. Moving her hand up and down, she stroked his cock through the fabric of his shorts.
“Fuck,” he ground out. Impossibly hard, his cock strained to break free. Did she know the effect she had on him?
“Make love to me, Thorn.”
“I thought you wanted food,” he asked lamely.
“So did I,” Emilia told him. “But I want to feel you inside me to know I’m alive.”
“We don’t need to make love to know you’re alive.” He kissed her neck, nipping the sensitive flesh with his teeth. “You can feel the bond between us that tells you we’re real, right here, right now.”
“What if it’s a dream?” Emilia buried her face into the hollow of his neck and sobbed. “What if all of it is a dream? How can I tell if I haven’t finally lost my mind and convinced myself I’m awake when really I’m still stuck in that cave?”
“Because I’m here.” He held her hand against his chest. “My heart beats for you and only you.”
Emilia stroked his face and kissed his lips. “I want you, Thorn. I want to celebrate life. I want to make a life.”
He gave her a crooked smile. “I never expected to be the one holding back when I met my mate. But I don’t want you to regret this.”
“I never would. You told me that maybe it was fate that made Perry put us to sleep. That I was waiting to meet you and Magnus was waiting to meet Ruby. Well, if I believe that then I have to believe this is meant to be. You and me.”
He kissed her lips, his hand sliding down her body to curl around the hem of his T-shirt and pull it up. She lifted her arms and he yanked the T-shirt over her head, throwing it to the floor. Immediately, he cupped her breast in his hand and rubbed his thumb over her taut nipple. Emilia responded by pulling his shorts down and caressing his cock with her hand.
The tension in his body grew, he was going to come before he’d even entered her. He covered her hand with his and reluctantly stilled her touch. Then he moved to slide down her body until he nestled between her thighs.
Easing her knees apart, he lowered his head and kissed her mound, flicking his tongue out to stimulate her clit. Emilia pulled her knees up and let them flop to the side. He inhaled her scent, all woman, all his. Running his finger along her sex, he parted her outer lips and pushed inside her. She gasped and threaded her fingers through his hair, encouraging him. Although, Thorn needed no encouragement. With his hardened length pressed against the bed, he tried to ignore his own need and concentrate on Emilia’s instead.
Working his finger inside her, he grazed her inner walls, while his mouth tortured her sensitive bundle of nerves. Kissing, licking, hard and soft, he drove her toward the inevitable. She writhed beneath him, her back arched as she moaned, a primal sound of a woman in the throes of passion.
Wild and unashamed, she told him what she liked with her voice and guided him with her hands. He pushed two fingers inside her and fingered her roughly, his teeth grazing her clit. There. She sobbed and her back arched and her hand covered Thorn’s as he curled his finger, searching for the sensitive spot inside Emilia that would send her over the edge.
“Oh,” she sighed. “Oh.” Her voice grew higher in pitch and then she came, her body rigid as her orgasm hit her and then she softened, her sex throbbing and pulsing around his fingers. Thorn didn’t let up; he drove his mate on, unrelenting as she came.
With the taste of her on his tongue, he kissed her soft belly, working his way back up her body, wanting to bury himself in her hot sweet sex and fill her with his seed. She spoke about making a life, and the need to procreate with Emilia was too intense to ignore.
“Bear or dragon?” he asked as he sucked her nipple into his mouth and rolled his tongue around the taut bud.
“Dragon,” she sighed and guided his hard length toward her entrance. “Dragons are stronger.”
He took hold of her wrists and pinned them above her head as he flexed his hips and thrust into her. “Really?” He kissed her mouth, then nipped her bottom lip before sucking on her nipple while his hips circled, stretching her, bringing her inevitably toward her second orgasm.
Emilia wrapped her thighs around him and urged him on, she was wild with abandon, unlike any woman he’d ever known. If he’d expected a meek maiden, he was wrong. She might have wanted to hide her dragon away from the world, but she had not hidden herself. Sexy, confident, in charge of her own pleasure, she brought him to his knees.
When Thorn finally came, he jerked into her, his seed spurting deep inside. His fingers tightened around the bed covers and he cried out until the tension in his body broke and he lay spent in her arms.
“What a way to wake up.” He held her close, her head resting on his chest.
“It is a requirement you must meet every morning if you are to be a dragon shifter’s mate.” Emilia stroked his chest, making small circles over his skin that made him want her all over again.
“A requirement.” He chuckled. “I think I can accommodate you.”
She giggled. “I like you, Thorn Manning.” Sinewy yet soft, she crawled out of the tangle of covers and straddled his thighs.
“You take my breath away.” He ran his hands over her shoulders and then lower to stroke her breasts, stimulating her nipples with the palms of his hands.
Emilia leaned forward, her hair tickling his chest as she kissed him. “I want us to be happy, Thorn.”
“Should I give you my list of requirements?” he asked, his expression serious.
“You can, but a dragon does not obey.” She nipped his bottom lip, and her hand curled around his cock, which sprung to attention.
Lifting herself up on her knees, she hovered over him, before lowering herself down slowly, completely in control of not only her own pleasure but his, too. Inch by incredible inch, she took him inside her warm heated sex until she was completely impaled on his hard length.
Thorn closed his eyes, lost for a moment to the intense sensations flooding his body. Her hips circled around and around as she rode him, while her fingers stroked his chest, soft and light, then hard, as she curled her fingers and raked his skin.
He lifted his hips off the bed, thrusting upward. He needed to be inside her and all around her. Thorn sat up and held her in his arms while she rode him. She rocked back and forth, her eyes locked with his as she took him to the brink of his orgasm and sent him soaring over
the edge. In that moment they were both dragons, flying together over the mountains wild and free.
He placed his hands on her hips and jerked upwards, deep, as deep as he could, his essence flooding her, his one aim to put a child in her belly.
Crashed and burned. She left him sated and spent.
“I need to eat.” She kissed his chest, her fingers circling his nipples. “Shall we make breakfast together?”
He wrapped his arm around her waist and used his body weight to change positions, so she lay on the bed beneath him. “You hold your own enchantments, Emilia. A sorceress with powers over men.”
She stiffened beneath him as he kissed her neck and inhaled her scent. “Only you, Thorn.”
He lifted his head, drunk on desire. “Hey, I didn’t mean anything.”
She stroked his cheek with the back of her fingers. “I never made love with Perry. I want you to know I never led him on. He was a good friend and I didn’t want to ruin that.”
He inched back away from her. “It wouldn’t have mattered to me if you had. You were a single woman, he was a single man. I know from his journal he didn’t father a child until ten years after you and Magnus disappeared. The marriage was described as loveless. He married to spawn an heir, no more.”
She sighed and sat up, wrapping her arms around him. “I wished him happiness. It would have been easier to bear if I thought he had found a woman to love who truly loved him in return.”
“Maybe he didn’t think he deserved love. But his child, Harry Manning, he found the real thing, he was the mate of a bear shifter. From Harry onwards, my ancestors found their true mate and enjoyed long, happy lives.”
“Come, Thorn, let us eat and put all thoughts of Perry behind us.” She slid out of bed, pulling on the blue robe. He joined her, dragging his jeans on over his shorts.
Together they went downstairs, and he made a pot of coffee and introduced Emilia to the pleasure of electricity and running water in the kitchen. Half an hour later they had eaten a large breakfast of eggs and bacon, and drank two cups of coffee, which appeared to have an effect on Emilia who looked wide-eyed and ready to take on the world.
As they washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen, Thorn’s phone rang. Grabbing a towel, he quickly dried his hands, then grabbed it out of his pocket and answered it. “Hello. Oh, hi, Ruby. No, we’re not busy. Yes, we slept well.”
Emilia gave him a secret smile from under her long eyelashes, her honey-blonde hair spilling over the blue robe that was much too big for her. As he listened to Ruby, he longed to drag the robe off her shoulders and take her here on his kitchen table. Sex had never been a high priority in his life, not because he had a low sex drive, but because there was always a part of him that remained unfulfilled. However, with his mate here and very available, he wanted to bury himself inside her at every opportunity.
He forced himself to listen to Ruby’s voice and answer coherently. “Sure, we’ll meet you in town in half an hour.” He ended the call and put his phone in his pocket before speaking to Emilia, “Since you can’t go into town in my robe, let’s see if any of Ruby’s clothes fit.”
Resisting her naked body proved difficult, but he managed to keep his cock in his pants while she tried on the clothes Ruby had loaned her. Settling for a pair of worn denim jeans and a loose-fitting shirt, they were in his truck and heading for town in twenty minutes.
Emilia sat back in her seat looking like she belonged. “Can we look at the museum, too?”
“Sure.” He switched on the radio which fascinated Emilia.
“So many different songs.” She turned the dial, having insisted he tell her how the music box worked. “These people just hang around and sing all day?”
“No, they are all recorded, and the different radio stations have copies of them which they play over the air.” He turned into the main street and looked for a place to park.
“Recorded. How?”
“Like a photograph only for sound.” He gave her a simple explanation. There was no way they had time to cover CDs and downloads.
“Wow.” She tapped her foot to a pop tune. “I like it.”
“When we get time, I’ll take you to a club where we can dance.” He switched off the engine, disappointment registering on her face as the music ended.
“Like a ball?” she asked. He got out of the truck and went around to open the passenger door and helped her out.
“Something like that. Only less formal.” She jumped out and stood in front of him, her body pressed against his. “There’s Ruby.”
Emilia cocked her head to the side. “Thorn Manning, I can read your mind.”
He shuffled his feet and looked at the ground. “I am not sure how I’m going to get through today without taking you somewhere quiet and…”
Emilia put her fingers to his lips. “You must learn the art of self-control.”
He chuckled. “Until you woke up last night, I was the master of self-control. Today I feel as if I’m the one who’s been asleep for a couple of centuries and have a lot of making up to do.”
He slipped his arm around her waist and hoped no one looked at his bulging crotch, which was a little uncomfortable. Attempting to look relaxed, despite the tension in his body, he guided Emilia along the street to where Ruby was waiting outside a clothing store. Emilia walked slowly, her eyes glued to each of the stores they passed.
“So many pretty things.” She stared into the grocery store. “So much food.”
“Before we eat again, you need some clothes.” They reached Ruby, who looked amused.
“You two make such a cute couple. You know when we met, Thorn, I thought you were a bad guy who was going to cause so much trouble for us. Fiona even offered to bite your head off.” Ruby spoke in a conversational tone, but he believed her.
“Now I’m part of the family.” He held up his hands and grinned. “I could call you sister.”
“You could, but if you do, I’ll bite your head off,” Ruby replied sweetly and linked arms with Emilia. “This way. My clothes might fit you, but you need clothes of your own. My treat.” She looked over her shoulder to Thorn. “Are you coming with us or shall we meet up somewhere after?”
“I’ll leave you two ladies to shop while I catch up on some work at the museum. We’ll meet back there after you’ve finished. My office is upstairs.” He nodded.
“Deal.” Emilia gave him a lingering look as she walked away. The invisible thread that joined them stretched out but remained strong and unbreakable despite the distance between them.
Thorn watched the two ladies enter the store then swung around and ran across the road, turning left to head toward the museum. The building loomed large as he approached, its carved stone gargoyles looking down on him. When Perry built the original house, he’d added in Gothic architecture like most rich people at the time. The front approach to the museum featured impressive arches and ornate abbey windows, while the roof was domed, almost like a church, but with a turret room on either side.
This had always been one of his favorite places, entering the ornate wooden doors was like coming home. Thorn stood for a moment outside the grand entrance and looked up at the building, then he pushed open the heavy wooden door and went inside. It was early, but there were a few people mingling around, mostly older people from the community who gathered here to talk and reminisce over a cup of coffee, surrounded by the history of the town.
“Morning, Thorn, I didn’t expect to see you today.” Mr. Tully was a volunteer who came in each morning to help at the museum. A retired history teacher who had taught Thorn in high school, Mr. Tully had never found his mate and came to the museum each day to fill the empty hours of his life.
Until yesterday, Thorn had half convinced himself that when he was ready to hang up his explorer hat, this was the fate that awaited him. The life of a bachelor, no wife, no family. Today, he knew better and was acutely aware of exactly what Mr. Tully had missed out on.
“Morning, Mr. T
ully. How are you today?”
“Not as good as you, Thorn. Did you have another interesting find since yesterday?”
Thorn smiled broadly. “You could say that.” He kept walking as Mr. Tully fell in step with him.
“Care to share?” Mr. Tully asked eagerly. Thorn wasn’t ready to tell Mr. Tully about the dragons, or Emilia, or her treasure, but he could do with some help digging in the museum archives. One of Mr. Tully’s favorite places.
“Yes, you might be just the man I need.” Thorn hid a smile as Mr. Tully’s face lit up enthusiastically. “I remembered seeing a drawing or a painting of an amulet. It had runes carved into the back and runes covering it. I can’t be more specific than that.” It had been dark in the cave and Thorn hadn’t gotten a good look at the amulet before Emilia drew the cover over it to shut off the barrier. When he had time, he would have to take the amulet way up into the mountains and open it. Only then could he study the inner workings of the amulet in more detail and try to figure out where it came from. Perhaps Perry had it specially made?
Mr. Tully frowned, also deep in thought as he rubbed his chin. “I think I’ve seen a drawing. In the basement.” He looked up brightly. “I can go and ferret it out for you if you want.”
“Thank you, unless you have anything else to do?” Thorn wanted to go through Peregrine Manning’s journals and see if there was any mention of this Oriental man Emilia recalled around the time of the spell being cast.
Mr. Tully’s eyes darted eagerly toward the door leading down into the basement, then he sighed. “As soon as one of the other volunteers arrives, I’ll get right on it. The basement is my favorite place in the museum, so much history that people never see.”
“When I first started work here, I spent hours going through the basement. Perhaps if you come across anything that we could make a display out of, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.” He smiled and nodded his thanks to his old teacher, before heading for his office, which was a small room in one of the turrets. After the basement, this was his favorite place in the museum. His own private space where he kept all his maps and research along with the journals of family members that had been passed down through the generations.
Treasure Bear (Return to Bear Creek Book 19) Page 7
