Fury and the Dragon (Redwood Dragons Book 8)

by Sloane Meyers

  Finally, though, she’d run out of reasons to stay behind her closed door, and she forced herself to walk back into the living room. Although she had no logical reason to think that this encounter with Weston would be anything special or different, she couldn’t seem to slow the rapid pace of her breathing, or the pounding of her heart in her chest.

  When she stepped out of her bedroom, Weston was no longer sitting on the couch. The papers he’d been looking over were all spread across the coffee table, but he was not there. It only took her a moment to find him, though, thanks to the sound of his voice.

  “My god,” he said from the kitchen, where he stood with a carton of milk in his hand. “You look beautiful.”

  Violet blushed. “Don’t be ridiculous. I look the same as always.”

  Weston set the milk carton down on the kitchen counter, unopened, and started walking toward her bedroom door. “Well, you always look beautiful,” he said.

  Violet’s heart continued to pound in her chest. Her breath grew more ragged with every step he took toward her. She had been right. Something was different between them now. Special. Violet felt drawn to Weston like a magnet. There was no escape. Her eyes locked on his, and she couldn’t tear herself away. He felt the pull between them, too, she knew. He walked right up to her, until his face was mere inches from hers.

  “Violet,” he said, his voice husky. The only word he said was her name, and yet, somehow, he was saying so much more than that.

  “Weston, we shouldn’t,” Violet said. But her voice didn’t sound convincing.

  “Shouldn’t what?” he asked. He reached his right hand up and cupped the left side of her face with it. His palm was large and warm, easily covering both her cheek and her ear. His thumb reached to stroke gently at her lips.

  Violet had no answer for him. She tried to put words together in her mind that made sense, but it was impossible to think with his hand on her face, and his thumb on her lips. Nothing on the outside had changed between them. After all, they’d been soldiers together in this war already. They’d fought battles together. But somehow, the mission to destroy the master bat had changed them. Violet knew that they had done something great together, and that they had only been able to do it because they trusted each other so completely. Sure, they argued about what the right course of action was at times, and they teased each other relentlessly about who was better at every little thing. But at the end of the day, all that mattered was that, in the heat of battle, they were always one. They fought together, they were willing to die together, and, so far, thankfully, they had always triumphed together.

  Violet didn’t know how to put into words what she was feeling, but she knew that her attraction to Weston was about so much more than just the way he looked. Oh, sure, he looked amazing. There was no denying that his muscular body, chiseled jawbone, and piercing green eyes were enough to send any woman’s heart racing right out of her chest. But physical attraction was only the beginning. There was something about his soul, the very essence of who he was, that drew Violet’s heart to his.

  He was brave, loyal, and kind. He was fearless in battle, and willing to die to defend what was right and good in the world. He never wavered in his efforts to make the world a better place. He was, in short, a dragon. He had an old soul, a heart strengthened by the legacy of a thousand dragons before him. And somehow, miraculously, he was hers. She could not have told you how she knew this. She just did. Her heart leapt at the sight of him, and she knew that his heart did the same for her. He loved her. He had told her so. And in the middle of that tiny apartment in Blackstone, Violet finally fully admitted to herself what she had known since the moment she’d met him: she loved Weston Pars.

  Before she could change her mind, or try to rationalize away the truth that was filling her heart, Violet tilted her head upward and found Weston’s lips with her own. He tasted, strangely, like cinnamon. His lips were softer than she would have thought, and she closed her eyes as they pressed against hers, returning the kiss she had finally allowed herself to give him. For a moment, time stood still as they both came to the realization that they were finally letting themselves fall into each other.

  And then, the softness of the moment ended, and was replaced by a sudden, heated urgency. Violet heard a low growl coming from Weston’s chest. The sound was deep and primal, and it sent shivers of delight running down her spine. He broke his lips away from hers to lift her in his arms, then carried her over the threshold of her bedroom door. He lay her down on her back over the soft comforter of her bed, and reached for the buttons of her blouse even as he bent down to find her lips again. He slipped his tongue into her mouth as he fumbled with the buttons, and another deep growl rumbled from his chest. Violet reached her legs up and wrapped them around his hips, pulling him down toward her and making his button-removing task nearly impossible. She didn’t care at the moment. There would be time to mess with buttons in a moment. All she knew right then was that she needed him close to her. She needed to have his body pressed up against her body, the same way her lungs needed oxygen. It was as though her life depended on it.

  Weston let her pull him in, and Violet moaned as the weight of his body pressed across the top of hers. His tongue moved skillfully in her mouth, flicking back and forth against first her teeth, then her tongue, then the roof of her mouth. Every movement he made sent a wave of tingling pleasure emanating across her body. She felt the heat of it spreading to her furthest extremities, until even her toes were tingling. She could feel the space between her legs growing wet as her body’s craving for him grew. With every passing second she wanted him more. With every passing second, the juices of her desire oozed out thicker than before. Her body beckoned to him, begged for him, prepared itself for him.

  She lost track of everything in the room except him. She moaned as the stubble of his cheek brushed against her own smooth cheek. He hadn’t shaved in the last twenty-four hours, and the shadow on his face made him seem more masculine than ever. She shivered as he pulled away from her kiss to finish his work of unbuttoning. He took her shirt off first, followed by her pants, then her bra and panties. The clothes she had spent so long in choosing this morning now lay on a crumpled heap on the floor. She was naked before him, her breasts rising and falling rapidly under the intensity of his gaze. The only thing remaining on her body now was the delicate gold chain around her neck, her favorite necklace from which a compass charm hung. Weston reached up and fingered the charm, holding it a few inches above her chest as he looked at it. Then, he let it fall, and he moved his fingers to her breasts. He circled her nipples carefully, his intense eyes drinking in the sight of her as he stroked the hard nubs that rose in response to his touch.

  Violet trembled from the heat and pressure that filled her now. The comforter was growing wet below the point where her legs joined, as the wetness of her desire increased. She blushed, slightly embarrassed by how strongly her body was reacting to Weston. But she couldn’t hold back. She had never wanted anyone the way she wanted Weston right now. She had never felt so intricately connected with another human being.

  He traced his finger down to her navel, slowly circling her belly button before continuing on to lower, wetter spots. He raised his eyes to meet hers when he first felt the warm moisture that coated her slick entrance.

  “You want me,” he said. His voice was husky, pleased.

  “I need…you,” Violet panted out. “More. Now.”

  She was surprised at how difficult it was to speak. The heat that filled her body seemed to weigh down her tongue, making it impossible to form sentences. Weston understood, though. He smiled at her, warmly, then pulled back for a moment to stand next to the bed. He reached down to pull off his t-shirt, exposing his sculpted abs in all their perfection as he removed the garment in one swift movement. But, as lovely as his muscles were, it was not his stomach that caught Violet’s eye. It was the space just below his stomach, where his erection was now pushing out insistently against
his jeans. She sat up and let her legs hang off the side of the bed, with Weston standing in front of her. She reached for the button and zipper on his jeans, tugging, pulling and grunting with impatience as she struggled to remove the pants, which were so obnoxiously in the way right now. Weston let out a grunt of his own, bending slightly to kiss the top of her head. Finally, Violet managed to remove the jeans. She could see his outline clearly now, stiff and hard against his black briefs. She wanted to see it fully, with nothing between them but skin. In one smooth movement, she pushed off his underwear so that he stood naked in front of her. The sight turned the warmth in her body into a burning fire. How was it possible for a man to be as wonderful and perfect as Weston? He stood tall, muscular, and strong. His erection pointed straight at her, as though heralding her. She smiled, and reached to grab it with her hand. She wrapped her finger around his shaft, marveling. He felt like steel—hot steel. He was warm and throbbing beneath her touch, and she rubbed against his skin, hardly able to believe that she was lucky enough to share a moment this intimate with a man like Weston. She looked up at him, her face glowing with heat, passion, and desire.

  “My dragon,” she whispered.

  “My lady,” he answered.

  And then he bent his knees just enough to position himself in front of the sweet spot where her legs joined her body. The bed was high, so he didn’t have to work very hard to fit his tall frame perfectly in front of where she sat on the mattress. He slid into her and she gasped as he filled her. His thick shaft pressed against her inner walls and she could feel his heat as he slid back and forth. He reached down to wrap his arms around her back and then pressed into her, thrust after thrust, each one feeling deeper than the one before. She tilted her head back, her eyes closed as she drank in the wonderful sensations that filled her. Every movement of his body against hers increased the tingling pressure within her, until she felt that she was going to explode. Her breathing grew even more ragged than it had been as she felt her whole body reaching the point of explosion.

  And then, her release came crashing over her. She let out a surprised moan as the intense shock waves rocked across her body. The heat and pleasure that filled her felt incredible, and she thought that she hadn’t understood what true happiness and ecstasy were until that moment.

  “Weston!” she cried out, needing to say something, but only able to gasp out his name.

  He grunted in response and thrust harder, his impossibly stiff erection reaching into the deepest parts of her as he kept her pleasure going much longer than she would have ever thought possible. She probably would have fallen backward against the bed if he hadn’t been holding her. She felt like she was floating and couldn’t concentrate on minor details like holding her body upright. All she knew was that the tremors her body was experiencing right now made her feel more fulfilled than she ever had before.

  Just as her own ecstasy began to slowly subside, Weston let out a roar and thrust into her one last time, long and hard. His shaft pulsed and throbbed, pressing against her inner walls as he found his own release and came into her. The feeling of him finding such pleasure inside of her set her off anew. She moaned with him, whimpering in happiness as her body once again quaked under his touch.

  She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, deliciously entwined with him as her body practically glowed from the aftereffects of their lovemaking. All she knew was that she was warmer and more at peace than she’d ever thought possible, and she wouldn’t have traded that moment for anything. When at long last Weston pulled out of her, he didn’t walk away. Instead, he sat on the bed next to her, then pulled her down with him so that they were lying at a funny diagonal angle across the mattress. He looked over at her and grinned, then leaned in to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.

  “You’re amazing,” Violet said. It sounded like such a silly, juvenile thing to say, but she wasn’t sure what other words to use to describe how he had made her feel. Words felt so inadequate right then. She looked at him in wonder, drinking in the sight of his tanned, stubbled cheeks and piercing green eyes. He crinkled up those beautiful eyes as his smile deepened.

  “So are you,” he said, then glanced over her shoulder at the alarm clock that sat on her bedside table. “It’s already been the best day of my life, and it’s not even nine a.m. yet. Who knows what wonderful things the rest of the day will bring.”

  “Who knows,” Violet agreed. And although their conversation was somewhat joking and lighthearted, she had a feeling deep down that this day was indeed going to bring more amazing things. If only she had an idea what those things might be.

  For now, though, she was at peace, basking in the beauty of this moment with her dragon. Her dragon. How had she been so lucky?

  Chapter Ten

  Violet had just finished taking her second shower of the day when Weston walked excitedly into her bathroom.

  “Knox and Peter have agreed to an emergency meeting this afternoon!” he said. “They’re going to let me present my plan to invade Saul’s headquarters and rescue the prisoners.”

  Violet reached for a towel and stepped out of the shower, still dripping wet as she wrapped the fluffy cloth around herself.

  “What, now you just waltz into my room like you own the place?” she teased.

  Weston shrugged and grinned. “Well, I’ve already seen you fully naked. It’s not like I’m going to see anything more than what I’ve already seen.”

  Violet gave him a playful punch in the arm, then grabbed a second towel to begin rubbing her hair dry. “How much time do we have before the meeting? I’m starving.”

  “Time enough to eat a quick bite,” Weston said. “We’re supposed to meet at headquarters in about an hour and a half from now.”

  Violet nodded as she turned toward her bedroom to find some fresh clothes to wear. She felt suddenly shy in front of Weston, and she avoided his eyes as she dressed. She knew he was watching her, taking in the curves of her body as she pulled her jeans on over them. Her nervousness must have shown, because he finally let out a small grunt and asked her about it.

  “What’s wrong, Violet. Having second thoughts about being together with me?”

  Violet looked up at him in alarm. “Oh, no. Nothing like that. It’s just that…”

  What was it, exactly? she wondered as she took in the concern etched across his face. Perhaps it was her own fear of the future that made her want to put up a wall of protection around herself. She’d given herself to him completely, and she had fallen in a deeper love than she ever thought possible. She knew that he’d said he loved her first. Surely that meant he was serious about this. But what if he wasn’t? What if he’d only said his words of love in the heat of the moment, and now that the threat of death or the intense passion they’d had in their moments of lovemaking was passed, he was having second thoughts.

  “It’s just what?” Weston asked. He wasn’t going to let this go until he was satisfied that she’d told him the truth. She knew how stubborn he could be, and there was no use trying to pass off her emotions as nothing. Violet took a deep breath and decided to just be honest with him. She would lay all her cards on the table, and see how he responded. They were new at being lovers, but they had known each other for a while now. If she couldn’t be honest and open with him in this moment, then they weren’t ready for a future together. And Violet hoped more than anything that they were ready for a future together.

  “It’s just that I didn’t expect to feel so strongly for you so quickly,” Violet said, forcing herself to meet Weston’s eyes.

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “Well, I’ve had feelings for you on some level for a long time. I don’t think that’s any secret,” Violet said. “And I think I knew that I loved you, even before we slept together.”

  “Oh you admit you love me?” Weston teased. He tone was joking, but he looked happy.

  “Yes,” Violet said, holding his gaze. “I love you. And I have for a while. The same would
go for the way you feel about me, it seems.”

  “Of course,” Weston said, his voice turning soft and serious now. “I’ve loved you since pretty much the first moment I met you.”

  Violet felt her heart filling with warmth at his words. She told herself that he cared about her, and, even if he didn’t agree with what she was about to say, she knew he would never mock her for it. This gave her the strength to continue, and to say what seemed like an absurd thing to say to someone after only admitting a few hours ago that you even wanted a romance with them at all.

  “It isn’t just that I love you, Weston,” Violet said. “It’s deeper than that. I love you so much that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I know that probably sounds like a crazy thing to say so soon into our relationship. But I know deep within my bones that it’s true. I can’t exactly put it into words, but as soon as we made love I just knew. I’ve always been drawn to you, but after sleeping with you I feel connected. I don’t even know if that makes sense, but it’s how I feel. It’s like we’ve been connected with some sort of bond that I know in my heart will never be broken. And it’s how I can already stand here and tell you that, no matter what happens in the future, and no matter how you feel about our relationship, I know you are the only one for me. There will never be anyone else.”

  Violet felt like she was starting to ramble, so she paused to take a deep breath. She looked over at Weston expectantly, willing him to somehow understand the depth of what she was trying to convey. His green eyes looked at her with such intensity that they were practically glowing, although she couldn’t quite read what kind of emotions were causing him to look at her that way.