by Ashlee Sinn
I chuckled and kissed her head again. “Well, let’s go sleepyhead.”
As we climbed back into the truck and drove through the territory belonging to no one, I thought about how strange that must be. No alpha. No dominant. How did this group have any kind of order? But as the woods opened up into a vast valley lit only by the half moon, I began to understand. To have this kind of space…that would mean more to most animals than having order in their lives.
The truck bumped and twitched against the county road. Most parts were fairly well maintained, but every place the road crossed a small creek or culvert, the water seemed to have gotten the best of the land. An hour later, we found ourselves driving along the edges of a lake.
“I think that’s it up there,” Danika said, pointing to a dirt road marked by a blue reflector.
I turned right and followed the driveway back at least a mile before the silhouette of a cabin came into view. The land was mostly flat, with sparse pines intermixed with shrubbery and brush. The log cabin, however, looked somewhat out of place with its magnificent wrap around porch and sloping roofline.
“How does Seth know about this place again?” I asked Danika.
“According to the scratchy handwriting on his map, it’s been in his family for generations. He usually rents it out in the summer, but no humans want to trek all the way our here in the winter.” Danika looked up at the house and sighed. “I’m not sure we should have left.”
“Well, woman,” I grabbed her hand and squeezed, “it’s way too late for that now. Besides, I’m tired and you’re hungry, so let’s get inside.”
With a giggle, she asked, “How do you know I’m hungry?”
I jumped out of the truck and hobbled around to her door, annoyed that my leg still wasn’t cooperating. When I reached for her hand, I answered her question. “I heard your stomach growling for the last two hours.”
“Sorry,” she mumbled.
“Don’t be,” I said as I helped her down. Pulling her close against me, I gently kissed her warm lips. “I loved the sound.”
“That’s weird,” she teased.
I kissed her again, muffling the cadence of her laugh. Moving my hands over her tight body, I ached with the need to be inside of her again. With all that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, me and my bear needed some affirmation that this was real. That Danika was my mate and that we would always fight to be together.
Danika’s hand slipped between us and she squeezed my hard cock tight in her hands. “Looks like you’re hungry, too.” Her voice had deepened with a need I hoped I could fulfil.
I pushed my dick into her hips, rubbing up and down as she slid her legs apart. With her back pressed against the passenger door, I grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head. Crushing my lips against hers, I thrust my tongue inside and reveled in the taste of her and her dragon. Spicy, hot, delicious. Her scent had captured me instantly, but it was only recently that I could fully enjoy what that power did to me.
I let my teeth graze her neck as she pulled against my hands. “Oh no, little dragon. Tonight the grizzly is in charge.” Danika liked to be in control, but I felt it was my duty to show her that every once in a while it was okay to let go.
Her chest rumbled with something deep and dark which only turned me on some more. I squeezed her wrists tight in my left hand, while I used the right one to lift her leg up over my hip. This opened her legs and I rubbed my bulge up and down the folds underneath her pants. Her fingers dug into my ass cheeks, her teeth bit my bottom lip. I purred beneath her, cooing like a dog in heat and wanting nothing more than to be inside of her now.
With one quick tug, I ripped her pants down and thrust my finger inside her warm and wet sex. She threw her head back against the window and screamed out my name. I flicked her clit with my thumb and pushed another finger into her heat. She struggled to free her arms, but I bit down lightly on her neck in warning—not tonight. Tonight was my turn to dominate.
“I need you in me,” she begged.
“What? I couldn’t hear you.” I flicked on her clit some more, loving the way she twitched and writhed beneath my touch.
“Zane, please,” she whispered through her panting.
“Please what?”
“Please fuck me. Fuck me hard.”
That was enough to almost make me spill in my pants before I even had the pleasure of tasting her skin. Momentarily breaking free from her sex, I hastily shoved my pants open far enough to release my dick. It flung out straight once free and immediately smacked Danika against the stomach. She moaned under that touch and looked at me with unashamed lust in her eyes.
“Do it,” she growled.
I let out a breath and smashed my lips against hers again. And as I pushed my tongue between her lips, I guided my cock into her folds and let her own moisture steer me into the warmth and wetness between her legs. With one giant thrust, I let her have all of me. She screamed into my mouth and her sex squeezed me hard. A shove of my hips followed quickly by another large push into her moist center had us both panting into the night air. The metal of the truck creaked with our bodies pounding against it. Danika wrapped both of her legs around my hips, pulling me closer and giving her a chance to move right along with me.
I still had her hands pinned, and my teeth on her neck as I slammed into her over and over again. She was so tight, so warm and so willing to open up to me. My grizzly rumbled in delight, totally content with his choice in mate and anxious to claim her a thousand times over.
Bite her.
No, I couldn’t do that. Who knew what her dragon might think. I shushed the animal and instead enjoyed the feeling of her orgasm getting closer. She writhed under me, her hips and legs working together to make me pump faster and faster. Our skin slapped together, our stomachs hitting each other while our hips worked their magic. Danika tensed below me, trying to bite at my lip and growling like a feral beast when I wouldn’t give her what she wanted.
“Zane, I’m coming,” she breathed. “Oh, my god. I’m coming!”
Her body tightened against my cock, squeezing it harder than I would have thought possible. Her lips parted and her hot breath singed my ear as she enjoyed her release. That pure, unadulterated pleasure that she’d just let me witness had me exploding inside of her several times over. I felt the hot seed shoot into her core, lubricating her sex even more. Burying my face into her shoulder, I jerked and pulsed until the last wave of orgasm left my body.
Danika giggled beneath me and nipped my ear. “No one had ever done that to me before,” she whispered.
“Done what?”
“Dominated me. No one had ever been brave enough to fight against the dragon.”
I huffed a laugh and kissed the side of her neck for several moments. “Well, I’m not afraid.”
“I see that,” she giggled again. Then she grabbed my face between her hands when I finally let go of her wrists and said, “And I love it.”
The bear inside roared in delight. He’d captured his mate and she was here to stay. No more pining from the distance or having others tell him they were crazy for wanting this woman. He had her. They had her. She belonged to them.
“I love you, too,” I said.
She pulled my head to hers and sucked on my lips. The way she could manipulate her tongue had my dick hardening again, even though I was still inside of her. I felt it growing, already sensing the way her wetness pulsed around him. She tightened her muscles some more and laughed against my lips.
“Ready for round two?” she cooed.
I lifted her away from the truck, cupping my arms underneath her ass and walking backward. “Always,” I teased as I started to shuffle toward the front door. Her pants dangled from her leg, my own starting to slip over my hips. But I kept my mouth glued to hers. Lifting her up and down slowly over my cock while trying to get us inside the cabin as quickly as possible.
By the time I opened the front door, I’d become fully aroused again and
couldn’t wait another second to get her on the bed, or the floor, or the kitchen counter and enjoy every second inside of her warmth.
But Danika pulled her mouth away from mine and wiggled down off my hips. When my dick slipped out, I groaned at the loss of heat and the sensation of her wet sex. She covered my mouth with her hand and shook her head slowly.
“Don’t worry, grizzly,” she teased, grabbing my erection and squeezing hard. “I won’t let this go to waste.”
I didn’t know how Zane had done this to me, but he’d unleashed a beast. A sex-craved, raging hormonal beast who couldn’t get enough of him and his body.
I’d never experienced a man before whose erection grew inside of me right after finishing sex. And I couldn’t understand why the hell that was the most fucking awesome feeling to experience. Perhaps it was because it showed just how much I turned him on. Or perhaps it was because it also showed just how exiting our life together could be.
The door closed behind us while I stroked his hardened cock. It was still slick with our moisture but it already flinched and tensed underneath my touch. My dragon had never submitted to a man before, and the fact that she still lay rather dormant inside of me spoke volumes to how much she trusted this red-headed grizzly who made her laugh and come more than she ever thought imaginable.
Zane grabbed my head and forced his lips on mine. I loved the way he tasted like the outdoors and how his day-old scruff scratched my chin while he devoured me like a starving animal. I let him have my lips while I worked his shaft. Wiggling out of my ripped pants, I used my other hand to free him of his jeans. Somewhere, a fleeting thought darted through my mind about the fact that I had no other clothes. But when Zane’s fingers slid between my legs again, all rational practicalities went out the door.
I walked us backward until my ass hit the couch. It had one of those southwestern patterns on it and scratched my skin slightly. But I didn’t care because now Zane had his mouth on my hardened nipple.
“Easy there, grizzly,” I cooed, holding him back at arm’s length. Then I did something I’d never done before…I gave him my back. My dragon would have ripped out of my skin had I done this to any other shifter in the world. She didn’t even let me do it to my own father. And now, here I was, giving Zane, a lower grizzly, my back and teasing him at the same time.
I pressed my butt against his bulge and slid my cheeks back and forth. Leaning over the back of the couch, I spread my legs wider and invited him in. Zane didn’t hesitate. He dug his fingers into my hips and pushed inside. Already wet and worn from the first round, I was surprised by how good it felt. He set his one of his hands on my upper back and added force. The pressure pushed my body forward, making me lean down further and giving him more trust than he knew.
But at the same time, the angle of his cock pushed deeper and deeper hitting a spot inside that I hadn’t known existed. My thighs clenched as my knees went numb, the pounding of our bodies creating a rhythm that matched my speeding heart. The tip of his long dick pressed nicely against that sweet spot, my breasts banging against the cushions on the couch. I grabbed ahold of them, squeezing and pretending they were Zane’s hands caressing my skin.
He roared into the air, his speed picking up. I called out his name as the pressure exploded inside of me and I had one of the most powerful orgasms of my life. Maybe letting go of the control had been something to free my soul, because I could honestly say I’d never enjoyed sex this much before. Zane crashed into me with his release. Just as explosive as last time, I felt the moisture fill me up inside. He grunted and growled with each pulse, fingers holding on tight as though I would try to run away.
When finished, he fell on top of me. Although our shirts were still on, I felt his damp skin reaching through the thin material. Our body heat alone could start a fire, not to mention the little treasure I had buried inside of me. I smiled at the thought. What an odd couple—a grizzly and a dragon. A dragon who had once thought all others a waste of her time and had resided herself to always be alone. But here he was. My dragon’s salvation, her savior, her strength to fight against her father. I would not allow Anton to take control of my uterus or my life.
All of that belonged to Zane now.
I felt the first hint of a tear stream down my cheek as I stood. Zane pulled out, a bit of his seed dripping down my leg in the process. He rushed over to the open kitchen and grabbed some paper towels. I quickly dabbed at my eyes before he returned to help clean me up.
“You smell sad,” he said. “Did I do something wrong.”
I shook my head and wrapped my arms around his neck. Squeezing him tight, I nestled up against his face. “No. You’re perfect.”
He hesitantly held me in his arms. “So why are you crying?”
“Because I’m happy.”
“Wait,” he said, pushing me back a little, “you’re crying because you’re happy?”
“I am.”
Shaking his head, he wrapped me up tightly again. “I don’t understand girls.”
I laughed in his arms while my stomach started to growl.
“Oh shit. Right. Food. We were coming inside for food,” Zane stumbled over his thoughts. “I’ll make us some food.”
He kissed me quickly and pulled up his pants. Running his hands through his hair, he started mumbling to himself. “Where are we going to get food?”
I looked at my pants crumpled on the floor and picked them up. They were in pieces and I knew there was no way they were salvageable. So I tossed them to the side and yanked down on my blouse. It barely covered my hips, but I didn’t care. This was the new Danika. I didn’t have to be perfect all of the time. Especially not in this sanctuary with my Zane.
“In the note, Seth said he had someone stock the kitchen.” I’d barely finished my words when Zane let out a childish yelp.
“Elk sausage! He got us elk sausage!”
I giggled and moved to stand behind the open refrigerator with him. “You like elk sausage?”
“Oh my god, woman. Yes!” Zane jumped up and down with me bouncing along with him. “We’re going to eat like royalty,” he proclaimed.
I couldn’t help but let the smile widened. “I love how you can enjoy the littlest thing.”
He turned in my arms and flicked my nose. “I love you, too.”
“That’s not what I said.”
Zane walked over to the center island and started searching for the things he needed to cook. As he slammed a cutting board on the countertop, he winked at me. “I know you love me,” he teased.
“Maybe.”
“You lo-o-o-ove me, dragon. And it’s okay. Because you are my mate and someday soon we will have a bunch of little shifters running around and filling our lives with too much happiness.”
I couldn’t stop the tears.
“Oh no, now what did I say?” he groaned, although he also immediately pulled me against his chest.
“Nothing.”
“Danika? We’re partners in crime now. We share everything.”
Everything? No, I couldn’t. Not yet. A powerful wave of guilt rushed to the surface. I should tell Zane that it was under my father’s order that he was tortured in that facility. I should tell him that the only reason my father started these labs was to find a way to breed a dragon into me. I should tell him all of this…but I just couldn’t. So instead I said, “I don’t know if I can have babies.”
“What?” Zane’s look of shock pierced my heart and I immediately pulled away from him and walked into the living room.
“Dragons are different. We can’t breed with humans. And as far as I know, we can’t mate with other types of shifters.”
Zane stood motionless for far too long. I sucked in a sob and covered my face when I couldn’t contain it anymore. “Can we just forget I said that? I don’t want this to ruin our time together. You are the only person to ever make me feel…human. And I don’t want to lose that just because I can’t have your babies.”
Zane rushed
to my side, catching me before I collapsed to the floor. I never would have thought my inability to breed would cause me so much pain. I’d always known I wouldn’t carry a dragon and that had never irked me in the least. But now that I had this man, this wonderful man who brought a new joy into my life, I broke inside at the notion I couldn’t ever give him everything he deserves. And he deserved to be a father. To pass along his kindness and big heart to his grizzly cubs. He had too much love to give not to be a dad.
I cried harder than I ever had before. Like full-on, snot dripping, cry that sucked every last ounce of energy out of me. When I was finished, Zane caressed my head as I calmed down. “It’s okay, Danika. It will all work out.”
More optimism. Damn him for being so positive. I still hadn’t told him about the truth behind my father’s motives and I didn’t know how he’d take it. Yet, the survival instinct in me told me to shut the hell up. That now wasn’t the time to divulge all of my secrets. I needed to see how long this was going to last first.
Shit. No. I knew that this would last forever. My dragon had claimed him by submitting to his animal. There would be no turning back. No other mates. Just him or utter loneliness. I had once reveled in that kind of loneliness. But no more. I couldn’t even imagine living a life without my grizzly in it.
I had to tell him the truth.
“Let’s get you fed,” Zane said before I could open my lips.
“I need to tell you something,” I whispered up at him.
“I know. You’re hungry. I can hear your stomach.” Zane pushed to his feet, easily lifting me up with him. “Why don’t you go shower and I’ll cook.”
“But I—”
He held up his hand, palm out, and cocked his hip to the side. I busted up laughing at his pose. “No, woman. Enough talk. Time to eat.”
“Seriously?” I asked between my giggles.
He shook his well-defined butt and danced over to the counter. “Yes. Eat, sleep, fuck, and sleep. That’s the plan for the night. Now, go woman. Before I force you.”
Shaking my head, I turned and lifted the blouse over my arms. Spinning around so he could see my naked breasts, I wiggled them a few times before trotting off into the shower. In the background, I heard him mumble a curse and say something about changing the order of the plan. I let the smile consume me as I fumbled down the hallway until finding the bedroom.
