The Rookie

by Abigail Owen

  A burst of sensation, like electricity, shot through her. A sensation she’d felt twice now over the last few days.

  Sera jerked her mouth away to find glowing embers drifting through the air.

  “Was that you?” Aidan asked, eyebrows almost to his hair.

  A giggle escaped her. “Yeah. New dragon sign from all the stress.”

  “Right.” He chuckled. “Outside, where there’s lots of water.”

  His blue eyes danced with fire, fully ablaze now, and laser focused on her. He could control any flames if he wanted but making love outside—out in the open in broad daylight—felt like a big F-you to the people against this mating.

  She smiled with abandoned, wicked pleasure. “Outside sounds perfect.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Aidan couldn’t get enough of the woman in his arms—how delicate she was and yet resilient—her soft skin, the little moans escaping her lips, the summertime scent of her skin, like grapes warmed in the sun. He’d waited too fucking long to do this. To accept this. That she was his…and he was hers.

  “Kiss me,” Sera insisted with a needy plea.

  Aidan smiled. “I am.”

  “More.”

  Her urgency only spurred his higher, and he couldn’t stop his hands from roaming over every inch of her he could reach. She needed this as much as he did. All he wanted to do was strip her bare and enter that gorgeous body, feel her milk his cock, drive into her until she cried out his name as he spilled his seed inside her.

  But more than that, he needed to see his brand—and only his brand—on her neck. Would it happen right away?

  Sera unwrapped her legs and he let her slide down his body until her feet touched ground. She backed up, and the only reason he let her go was her unguarded expression. She was letting him see everything—her desire, her trust, her conviction that this was right.

  With a speed that surprised him, Sera whipped her top over her head and shucked her shorts. He didn’t even have time to appreciate the pale peach lace of her bra and panties against her creamy skin before those were gone, too.

  Everything inside Aidan stilled at the sight of her bared to him—a perfect handful of pink tipped breasts, the dip of her waist, the slender yet rounded mound of her belly, hips widened by childbirth. Immediately, he could picture her round with his child.

  His child.

  Their child.

  They would give Blake a brother or sister soon enough that he could enjoy them in his lifetime. Without asking, he knew Sera would want that.

  “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he choked.

  A sweet blush flooded her cheeks, matching the tips of her breasts. “I’d say the same, but you’re still clothed,” she pointed out with a smile that shot voltage straight to his dick.

  Without hesitation, Aidan undid his pants, dropping them on the wooden deck that lead to the idyllic pond beyond.

  “Faster,” Sera whispered.

  Again, he had to grin. His mate, usually kindhearted and giving, was demanding when it came to sex, and that fact turned him on. His cock had gone hard and aching at that throaty plea, so ready, he might come the second he entered her.

  Aidan stripped with the speed his abilities gave him, loving how her eyes widened at the blur of movement he presented, until he stood, unabashedly naked before her, his cock jutting from his body.

  Sera shivered, her breathing turned raspy, and her skin flushed, not with embarrassment, but with pure need.

  Using that same speed, Aidan rushed his mate, covering the distance between them in the space of time it took her to inhale sharply. Her skin against his was immediate sensory overload, and he shuddered against her even as he claimed those soft lips again.

  Aidan groaned against her mouth as her taste—like the sweetest wine and achingly familiar to him—pushed him further down the raging river of need. He lost himself in her, running his hands over her, savoring the smooth warmth of her skin, the magnolia scent of her hair, each sigh and hitch in her breathing telling him how she liked to be touched.

  And she liked to be touched everywhere.

  Picking Sera up again, he took them down a series of steps into the water, hoping the chill of it might slow him down, but the silky feel of the water against his heated skin only added to the sensations bombarding his system.

  Muscles clenched, Aidan barely kept his control but still held back enough to take this slowly, to take his time to explore every inch of her and give her time to be ready for him. Because once he finally entered her, he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold back. The dragon would take over—pure sensation and possession—especially during a mating.

  He bent her back over his arm, bringing those pretty little breasts up, her nipples surging forward. Aidan sucked one plump bud into his mouth and laved it with his tongue. In his arms, Sera squirmed and moaned, the heat of her core pressed against him.

  Grinning, he plucked at that nipple with his teeth.

  “Harder,” she insisted.

  He tugged.

  “More,” she said.

  Fuck, this woman of his was going to kill him with her needy responsiveness to a little rough foreplay. Dragons could be tender, but they also liked it hard, their natures craving a coming together that got down to instinctual, elemental pleasure.

  He threaded a hand through her hair, tugging hard to bend her more, until her hair floated in the water surrounding them, and sucked hard on that tight peak.

  Sera shuddered against him. “Yes,” she hissed.

  Aidan switched to the other breast, pulling the same ragged, lusty response from his woman. Despite the way he had her positioned, held tightly by his arm at her waist and his hand in her hair, she wriggled her hips, panting moans escaping with each brush of her clit over his hard shaft.

  Blood pumped to his cock and fire gathered inside him. He could feel the beast crawling within him, desperate to claim her. He yanked her back up so that he could possess her lips again, backing her up against the slick concrete siding of the steps leading from the house to the water, kissing her until they both had to come up for air.

  “I can’t wait any longer,” he warned her.

  Sera dug her fingernails into his back, no doubt scoring his skin. “Then don’t. I need you inside me. Now.”

  Everything inside him, already hitting a feverish pitch, went hot and wild in an instant.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” he managed to grit through clenched teeth even as he lined his cock up with her wet entrance.

  “You won’t. I like it hard.”

  Fuck.

  The dragon roared his approval inside him and together, man and beast, Aidan surged into his mate, impaling her on his cock. Her tight heat clamped down on him like a constrictor. Sera screamed, but not in pain, pure pleasure flushing her skin. Aidan stopped and held, memorizing this moment as the most perfect thing he’d ever felt.

  What they’d had when they met in their dreams, what they’d experienced there, had been a pale imitation of the real thing.

  Sera leaned back against the curved side of the pond, her gaze on him, her lips tilting in a smile that ratcheted his need even higher.

  Fire burned in his chest, ready to be released.

  Now.

  With the last shred of control left to him, Aidan twined his fingers with hers and pinned her hands on either side of her. He looked deep into those pleasure-hazy eyes. “I’m going to mate you now.”

  She nodded even as she rubbed against him in wanton need.

  “Sera…” He searched that turquoise gaze for even a hint of a smidgeon of doubt.

  Gods, what if he lost her? What if he was wrong?

  But this was too right, they fit together too beautifully, every part of them, body and soul.

  “I love you.” The words poured from his lips.

  He leaned forward to seal their mouths together in a kiss, hoping that she could feel the truth of those words, could understand that she’
d become his entire world. Before he could worry himself out of it, Aidan brought forth his fire and prayed to the gods and fates that he wasn’t about to take Sera out of his life.

  …

  Sera swirled in a haze of lust and love and need and such utter, perfect rightness, even while her sensitized skin and aching core demanded that her lover fuck her, hard and long.

  I love you.

  Those words, in that hypnotically deep voice, repeated in her mind even as she lost herself to his kiss, to the taste of him and the scent of his skin. His heat wrapped around her and in her, the chilly water only adding to the sensations thrumming through her body.

  A low rumbling sound poured from Aidan’s chest. The sound of an inferno about to be released inside her, to change her into what she now knew she’d always been meant to be.

  Zero doubt lingered inside her. Aidan was her mate.

  Still kissing her, he started to pump those hips, pulling out and then slamming back into her, mimicking the action with his tongue against hers, claiming her body in every way.

  Then he exhaled—fire flowed from him into her mouth and down her throat. The flames didn’t burn but warmed her from the inside out in such a delicious way, entering her bloodstream and lighting every single element of her body on fire.

  Aidan’s thrusts got harder, faster, pounding into her and she loved every second, feeling as though he possessed her body, owned her pleasure…pleasure she wanted to give over to his care because she knew he’d make her scream in ecstasy.

  The heat of his fire inside her coalesced in her core, bringing her already pulsing clit to raging life. Every thrust of his cock inside her causing starbursts of pleasure. She trembled on the edge of an abyss and needed to be tumbled over into it.

  Aidan pulled away from her mouth to stare down at her with intense, flaming eyes.

  Her breathing hitched at the sight and her body ached harder. “I need to come,” she begged.

  He smiled, wicked intent tightening the skin across his features. “Only when I tell you.”

  Sera nodded.

  That’s when he increased the speed of his thrusts, water splashing around them, fucking her hard and fast. She lost herself in the sensation, thrashing beneath him with the need to let go, let the orgasm take her.

  “With me,” he ordered in a voice now barely more than a growl.

  And still he hammered her body, not letting her plunge into her pleasure. Tears leaked from her eyes, as the pressure continued to build and build, filling her up until she thought she’d explode with it.

  He pinned her with those flaming eyes. “Sera, come now, babygirl.”

  Not looking away, her body responded immediately, incandescent pleasure exploding inside her so hard she clenched around it, riding each lashing wave like Aidan was riding her body.

  At the same time, Aidan thundered his own release and another heat joined the flames already inside her, consuming her from the inside. Pure power joined the pulsating pleasure, as if her cells were taking all of him—everything Aidan was—and absorbing it into themselves.

  Her heart expanded with the amazing beauty of becoming his so completely.

  Aidan’s thrusts slowed as the rush of their joining eased and ebbed, leaving her languorous and floating.

  He squeezed her hands. “Sera? Talk to me. Are you okay?”

  Sera couldn’t help her smile as she lifted her head. He let her move her hands out from under his grip so that she could wrap her arms around his neck and plant a soft, lingering kiss on his lips. “I’m wonderful.”

  Her mate huffed a laugh, a happiness reflecting her own in the sound. “Me, too.”

  Aidan drew a finger over the line of her jaw and across her lower lip. She kissed the tip of his finger and he smiled again. Those smiles could get addictive. “We should get dressed. I don’t imagine Rune wants to babysit too long.”

  With obvious reluctance, Aidan, still semi-hard inside her, slid from her body. He swung her legs so that he scooped her up against his chest and carried her out of the water. “When we get a chance we’ll take a vacation, just the two of us,” he promised. “A proper honeymoon with lots of sex. Blake can stay with his grandparents.”

  She sighed at the thought. Devlin’s parents would love that, too. They hadn’t been happy about her moving away. “I’d like that.”

  Back on the deck, he lowered her feet to the floor. “I’d prefer to keep you naked for weeks so I can stare my fill.”

  Sera chortled. “I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of this.” She ran a finger over a tight pec and down the ridges of his abs, which clenched under her touch.

  With a grunt that almost sounded like pain, he stepped back, turned her away from him, and swatted her behind. “Get dressed before I decide I want to make sure the mating took and mate you again.”

  Another chuckle escaped her as she hurried to her pile of clothes, pulling them on quickly. Harder to do with wet skin, the cotton sticking uncomfortably, but she didn’t care. As she adjusted her shirt, a small sound caught her attention. Almost a whimper.

  Sera turned toward the sound, and paused, confused by what she was seeing. Blake stood on the shore of the pond about a quarter of the way around from where she stood. Only, Rune wasn’t the dragon with him.

  “Titus?” she asked, more to herself.

  Aidan, already staring at the man, held out a hand to her, as if staying her. Something in his stillness, the way he stared at his teammate, sent fear pumping through her in nerve-packed bursts.

  The mask of fury on Titus’s face—lips pulled back in a sneer like he was a rabid animal baring his teeth, eyes narrowed to flaming slits, the spark obvious even from this distance—made him almost unrecognizable.

  “Titus?” she called louder, though, with his enhanced senses, he had to have heard her the first time.

  He spoke in a low growl that raised the fine hairs all over her body. “You are supposed to be mine.”

  How she heard him, she didn’t know, but she did. Sera said nothing. How could she answer him when he stood with a hand on Blake’s shoulder? Instinct told her the gesture wasn’t one of protection, like he’d done so often with her child, but threat. Even Blake stood stark still, his face pale, wide eyes on her, begging her for the safety she was supposed to provide.

  She breathed her mate’s name. “Aidan…”

  Wrong thing to do. Before Aidan could respond, a cascade of emotion—hatred, sneering disgust, rage—poured over Titus’s face before his expression hardened. And scared the hell out of her.

  Sera took a step forward with only one thought, to save her child, but Titus tightened his grip on Blake, hard enough that her son whimpered.

  “Mama,” he whispered. She somehow caught the sound before the word formed on his chalky lips.

  Sera’s heart cracked.

  “What do you want, Titus?” she asked in her calmest voice, unable to stop the tremble taking her over.

  “My mate.” Oddly, Titus sounded equally calm, even as he raised his voice so she could hear. “My brand marks your neck. I knew what you were long before the others, though I kept quiet, waiting for you to show them who you were. My fire ignited the beast dormant inside you. My fire.”

  His fire? What was he—?

  Sera sucked in a sharp breath. “The fire in my home? That was you?”

  He cocked his head in a move so lizard-like Sera almost expected a tongue to slither out between his lips to taste the air, sense her fear. “You needed the push.”

  “You could have killed Blake.” Sera only managed to keep her voice from rising, the fight not just with herself, but with something deeper.

  Something…darker.

  Inside her.

  Looming.

  Uncoiling.

  “I wouldn’t have let him die.” Titus’s glare slipped into a smug smile. “I told you…you’re mine.”

  “It’s too late,” Aidan growled. “We’ve mated. She can never be yours.”

&nbs
p; Stinging bile rose up her throat, the scent sour in her nostrils.

  “She may have survived your fire, and my brand no longer marks her, but neither does yours.”

  Sera shot Aidan a confused glance, her heart clenching at his pallor.

  “What does he mean?” she demanded.

  Not taking his eyes from Titus, Aidan addressed her in a low voice. “When mates first complete the process, the original brand disappears for a short time until their coupling is final. Once the bond solidifies, the brand sears into the mate’s neck, visible for all to see, even without fire. It can happen immediately, or it can take a while. Until then, the mating isn’t…finalized. If one of us dies, the other lives.”

  “Exactly,” Titus called. “You’ve proved you can become a mate. You can be mated to another.”

  “No one would ever try,” Aidan snarled. “If you kill me and try to mate her, you’ll kill her, too.”

  Titus turned his focus to her, his gaze possessive and desperate at the same time. “Sera’s strong enough. And she’s mine.”

  “The hell you say,” Aidan growled.

  “Do you remember our conversations?” Titus asked Sera. “The way you said you only wanted me? That you wanted me to kill Aidan?”

  What is he talking about?

  From the periphery, Sera saw Aidan turn his head to look at her. Doubting her? How could he after what they’d shared? Didn’t he see that Titus had lost his grasp on reality?

  Titus aimed that black gaze at her. “I’m sorry, my love. You’ll someday see that I had to do this.”

  Do what? Fear pushed her breath from her lungs in little puffs.

  “There are two impediments to our coming together. I must dispose of both.”

  Immediately, the shimmering, mirage-like waves of his shift surrounded him. Trees cracked in the wake of his rapidly growing size.

  He was going to change so he could kill Blake then Aidan. His words left her in no doubt.

  Vaguely she was aware of Aidan doing the same at her side, shifting to stop his teammate, but something was happening inside her that pulled all her focus. All that rage and panic and terror coalesced inside her, powering a greater change with a heat that threatened to consume her.