She swallowed, her gaze locked on his lips. She was as aroused as him.
He slid his other hand to the nape of her neck. He angled her and closed his lips over hers.
Desire hummed over his skin. A bead of sweat trickled down his chest. He thrust his tongue into her mouth, tangling it with hers, letting the taste of her hold him captive.
That wildfire scent of hers filled his head.
She moaned in her throat.
The sound sank into his blood, turning him on even more.
Her arms came around his shoulders, and she moved closer, flattening her breasts to his chest.
The pressure in his groin built. His heart thundered.
He wanted to savor her, hold her... He couldn’t wait anymore.
Slipping his hand between them, he let his claws glide out to tear her pants.
They tore with a rip that echoed around the room.
Shock jolted her. “The door...” She gasped. “It’s not locked.” Her breath seared his lips.
Pulling in his claws, his hands in human form again, he pushed aside her panties.
“Logan won’t let anyone in.” He plunged a finger inside her. He needed her soft and open and greedy for him. He was going to make sure she forgot everything but him.
Her breasts thrust at him. Her hips cradled him, inviting him in. Her inner walls flexed.
Feeling her drip moisture over his skin, he rubbed that secret center of her. Slid another finger in.
A moan ripped out of her, and that only made him even harder.
He wanted her to feel the intensity of what he was feeling. Hungry, wanting her, needing her. He was going to make her come apart in his arms.
A shudder seemed to ripple through her.
The muscles of her shoulders coiled with tension. She bucked against him, her nails digging into his shoulders.
She was close.
With the heel of his hand, he rubbed her core.
His other hand around her neck, he angled her head so he could nip at her lower lip. Her body jumped as the force of her climax tore through her.
He felt the scream that welled up in her throat and closed his lips over hers to absorb it. Another tremor jolted her.
Her gaze locked with his. She slipped her hand under the waistband of his briefs and pulled until the material gave and his arousal sprang free.
She curled her fingers around him.
He couldn’t stop his hips from thrusting, his arousal filling her palm.
The golden flames in her eyes sparked and expanded to fill her vertical irises.
Sweat broke out over his forehead, and his chest heaved as the breath whistled out of him. Sliding his fingers out of her, he brought them to his mouth and licked.
The breath hitched in her throat.
Then she lowered herself onto him. There was no hesitation. She just took him in all the way.
Sweat tricked down her throat between her breasts, soaked up by the shirt she was still wearing.
Lust seared his nerve endings, and Cain knew he needed more. Surging up, he gripped her waist, his palms large enough to span the width.
Then in a move that had his ribs protesting, he flipped positions so she was below him, her legs still twined around him.
Her chin raised as her head fell back. “I thought you were still hurt?” Her cheeks were flushed, her skin glowing.
He buried his nose against her neck. “Am healing fast.” He managed to force the words out through a throat that was so dry it felt like he’d been running many miles. “Don’t expect me to submit to you in bed, kitten.”
Her eyes widened. “Here I thought you were such a kind, gentle lover.”
He went still, raised his head. “Is that what you want?”
39
Eve
She wanted him as he was. Wild, feral, untamed.
He’d seen through the masks she wore for the world to the woman she was inside.
He looked at her like he wanted to consume her. Like she was his.
She wouldn’t let him look at anyone else that way.
A burn of possession heated her skin, and she peeled back her lips. Leaning up, she buried her teeth at the juncture of where his neck met his shoulder.
His big body shuddered above her.
It sent a dense pulse of longing through her. Made her feel powerful and needy at the same time.
She dug her nails into his side and licked the reddened skin where she’d bitten him.
His grip on her tightened. He hardened further inside her.
A growl rumbled up his chest.
The reverberations heated her blood and traveled straight to her center. Liquid heat poured through her.
Every inch of her skin hurt. Every part of her body was ready.
She raked her fingers through his hair, yanking his head down to her.
He slanted his lips over hers and plunged his tongue inside her mouth, one hand braced against the pillow to support himself.
The other he slid up her thigh, pulling her closer.
He tilted his hips, and his arousal brushed against her sensitive inner walls.
His eyes widened as he gazed into hers. In his she saw love and trust and a need so powerful it had her throat going dry. Her breath stuttered.
Was this what it would be like every time they made love?
When he thrust into her, she screamed.
The force of his possession pounded her body into the mattress. He slid in all the way, and she was sure he’d touched her womb.
Her eyes fluttered down. A teardrop welled up and rolled down from the corner of her eyelid.
His big body trembled above her. “I didn’t hurt you, did I, kitten?” His voice was rough and fierce at the same time.
It sent another pulse of desire shooting through her.
She cracked her eyelids open.
His brow was furrowed, those amber eyes glowed. He bent and rubbed his nose against hers.
He’d never seemed more wild nor more gentle.
He was a passionate lover; he’d demand everything from her but he’d always put her own needs first.
Just as she would, too.
The thought sent her pulse racing. It only turned her on even more.
He was the one she’d been waiting for. She’d always known it. Yet, right then, with him inside her, it felt so right. She knew nothing in her life could match up to this moment.
She bucked her hips. “Don’t stop,” she said through gritted teeth.
His cheeks flushed. The gold of his irises expanded until it felt like she was looking into a mirror of boiling lava.
She wrapped her arms around his biceps, the muscles trembling as he held his weight off her body. He was afraid of crushing her?
A drop of sweat slid down between her breasts. Her nerve endings sizzled and caught fire.
Dense heat poured off him, thrumming her already sensitized skin.
She wanted him now. She couldn’t wait any longer.
Scissoring her legs around his waist, she pushed herself flush against him.
It pulled him deep into her.
When he slid down her quivering inner walls, her body heaved. Her back arched off the mattress. Her eyes rolled back, and desire consumed her.
The first throes of climax ripped through her.
40
Cain
The temperature of her skin shot up, sinking into him, until it felt like their skin was melded. She was burning up in his arms.
Tearing his lips from hers, he glanced down to find flames of violet and gold shimmer up her skin. The tips of her hair glowed ruby red.
It was the most erotic sight he’d seen, his body still buried in her and her dragon fire flickering over their entwined limbs.
He’d never get used to seeing her go up in flames.
The fire swirled around him, binding them as one. It cocooned them in a world that separated the two of them from everything else.
The skin over her waist was flushed,
and her breasts heaved, nipples still erect. Her chin was reddened from his beard and her lips swollen.
The color of her irises had deepened to a purple. She was beautiful and vibrant.
He licked her cheek. She tasted of his loving. His scent was embedded in her skin.
His lion growled. She was all his.
“You’ll never catch fire with anyone else. Your dragon fire is only for me.” His voice was rough and dominant, but that was okay.
They were equal. They’d always fight each other and come together and find a balance that was unique and just them. Neither would subdue the other. They’d let each other be as their true natures were.
She tilted her chin and nipped his lower lip. “Only you.”
The fire licked over his skin.
It lit parts of him he’d shut out when his parents had died, when he’d been forced to grow up overnight from a cub to an adult.
His lion had known she was his mate, but being inside her, giving her pleasure and making her his, completed him in a way he’d never thought would be possible.
Pulling all the way out, he angled her hips then plunged inside.
He closed his mouth over hers, absorbing the scream that boiled up her throat.
She throbbed and closed around him as she took him in completely.
A feeling of tenderness welled up, tightening his chest. The tension built in his groin, growing to a crescendo, rushing to take them both to release.
“Come with me,” he whispered against her mouth, licking her lower lip. He thrust into her again.
Her muscles clenched around him, and her shoulders shook. A quiver ripped through her.
Her moisture pooled around him.
Her head reared back, and she bared her neck to him.
He licked his tongue down the column, to the base of her throat. His mouth closed over the pulse that beat there. Her life force thrummed over his skin.
On the psychic plane, the violet fire of her dragon twined itself around the red of his lion’s. The mating bond tautened, throbbed with their joined desire.
Then a tremor rocked his hips, and the muscles of his groin tensed.
A groan rolled up his throat as he came inside her.
Dragging his lips to hers, he closed his mouth over hers, drinking in the cries of pleasure.
His skin, slick with sweat, slid over hers. The breath shuddered out of him.
He placed his forehead against hers and cradled her body to him.
He held her as she trembled. Her chest heaved.
He’d found her. He was never letting her go.
A knock on the door cut through the intimate moment.
Swearing, Cain slid out of her, pulling the sheet over them both.
“It’s Hope,” a voice came through the door.
Eve’s cheeks flushed. She yanked the cover to her chin. “What are we going to do?” Her hair was spread out over the pillow and mussed from his loving. Her eyes were unfocused.
A glow of satisfaction spread through him.
He turned in the direction of the door. “Ah, Eve and I are busy at the moment.”
Eve thumped him on the chest. Her lips widened in a smile.
Her fingers still trembled in the aftermath of her climax. Her skin glowed.
He nipped her lower lip, and her mouth clung to his.
“I am leaving clothes for you outside the door.” There was a pause. “I was told that Cain needed a little more time to heal. I’ll just tell Vance that’s changed, shall I?”
Cain couldn’t stop the chuckle that rolled out from his throat. He was very much enjoying having his dragoness in his bed. “Well, that’s it, the word’s out.”
Eve peered at him over the top of the sheet. “What do you mean?”
He folded his arms behind his neck, nodding to the door. “Shifters love to gossip.” He canted his head, a warm feeling settling in his chest. “Before the evening is out, everyone will know that we are mated.”
“You planned it, didn’t you?” She sat up, forehead furrowed. “You wanted to make sure everyone knew I was your mate.”
“Do you mind?” His body was relaxed. He watched her every move, waiting to see what she did next.
“I’m yours.” She couldn’t have said anything that could have been more perfect.
The tightness in his shoulders dissolved.
His dragoness wanted to stake her claim over him, too, she just wasn’t aware of it yet.
“You’re alive, that’s all that matters.” She ran her fingers through his hair. “Once I reached out through the mating bond to you, our energies balanced each other out.”
She scraped her nails against his scalp.
It sent frissons of pleasure down his spine.
She was already learning what he liked and what turned him on.
He sighed and stretched, every inch of him humming with pleasure. “It’s accelerated my healing power and left me with energy for a whole lot more.” He gripped the nape of her neck. His gesture was intimate and possessive. But he wasn’t stopping himself anymore. “Come home with me. Let me love you tonight, Eve.”
41
Eve
Eve walked into the war room. Her eyelids were heavy from lack of sleep, and her thighs throbbed with every step.
Cain wasn’t only a dominant lover, even when not completely recovered from his injuries. The man had a lot of staying power.
They’d dressed and made it to his room in the barracks, where he’d told her to shower then left with a firm kiss.
He was back with food and water and wine, which she had refused, reminding him dragons couldn’t have any kind of alcohol. It only fueled the fire inside, and right now she had enough firepower to have her going up in flames with every climax he’d brought her to through the night.
They’d fallen asleep near dawn, wrapped around each other, waking up only when there had been a knock on the door.
Logan had come to check on them and remind them that they were both needed for the Council debrief.
Cain had yelled at Logan to tell the mayor that they’d be late. As she’d opened her mouth to protest, Cain had turned to her and kissed her senseless. It didn’t stop there of course…they’d made love again. He’d wanted to shower with her, and she’d refused, knowing where that would have led.
The man was insatiable, and she’d thought dragons were the strongest of the species. Whoever had said that had obviously not had any experience with a dominant, possessive lion shifter.
The thought of him at peak health sent a shudder of pleasure down her back. They were more than evenly matched in bed. She couldn’t think of a time when she’d felt happier or more replete. She felt all loose and limber with her dragon raring to spread her wings and fly.
Cain was right behind her as she entered the war room. He’d said it was out of deference as she was alpha.
She didn’t believe it was only that. She had a sneaky suspicion he wanted to watch out for her, make sure no Elysian would ever take her by surprise again.
She tossed him a look over her shoulder. “You are my mate. I’ll always listen to you.”
His lips pulled apart, baring his teeth. “It’s disconcerting when you listen to me without even a token protest.” Those amber eyes watched her, unblinking.
“Besides…” She clasped a hand to her chest. “You do make sense.”
He clamped his hand around the nape of her neck. “You know I don’t want you to submit to me in any way.”
Her pulse leaped. Heat from his fingers bled into her skin.
When he stalked her like this, the thrill of the chase rippled down her spine, not to mention the longing that flared between her thighs.
His nostrils flared, and he took a step forward, closing the distance between them.
She raised her head, not caring who was watching.
It didn’t matter that she was the alpha of the dragons in a meeting with the Council who were her strategic partners.
; The joy of having her mate with her felt new and so right. A man who was her equal in every way, who’d never want her to be anything she was not.
Sheer happiness bloomed; her heart felt like it was going to explode.
She licked her lips, anticipating the kiss. Her gaze traced the shape of his mouth.
Her mind ran over those naughty things they’d spent doing all of last night. Her legs went weak. She wanted to turn around and leave and go back to his room. Close the door and resume where they’d left off. What was she doing here anyway?
Someone cleared their throat in a rather loud and pointed fashion.
Cain went still, the tendons of his neck bunching.
She changed the direction of her head before her lips could meet his.
Logan looked up from his seat at the middle of the table. He tipped his chair back on its hind legs, his mouth stretched wide in a grin.
Next to Eve, Serena waggled her eyebrows.
Behind them, Eve spotted Vance. He stood by the window, arms folded against his chest. His lips were pursed.
The vampire still didn’t trust her. But she didn’t care.
A knot in her belly loosened.
She pulled Cain’s head down by the collar and, rising on tiptoe, kissed him.
She’d intended for it to be just a quick one, but of course Cain took full advantage of the situation.
He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close. Slanting his lips across hers, he proceeded to nibble on her lower lip and kiss her thoroughly. Desire blazed. The taste of him filled her mouth, sank into her blood, making her eyes roll back. She found herself getting wet.
This man just had to touch her and she was ready and hungry and wanting him all over again.
When he let her go, her knees felt weak. She gripped his shirt front for support.
“You’ve been helping each other recover?” Leana brushed past them to take her seat at the head of the table.
Eve started. If they had continued kissing, she would have made love with him right there, not caring about the audience or that she was in a meeting with the dragons’ strategic partners.
Obsession: Paranormal Romance : Dragon Shifters, lion shifters, immortals and wolf shifters (Dragon Protectors Book 2) Page 14
