“Teo!”
“Accept it,” he growled. “Accept me as yours.”
“I do, I do, I love you!” Marcy wailed. Hungering to taste his lips, she turned her head to the right and found her intuitive lover waiting for her. Their lips met with urgency, and despite the latex sheath, she knew he’d climaxed. She longed to feel the hot pulse of his seed and the bloom of warmth it would bring.
The orgasm didn’t stop, a relentless and steady series of contractions. “Teo?”
His arm curled around her waist, securing her against him. Each back stroke, every thrust, renewed the chain of molten sensation pooling in her core. Marcy thought for certain she’d be the first woman to ever die from absolute rapture.
“I will always treasure you, Marceline,” were the last words to caress her ears before she screamed in pure lust at the tail end of his last ardent stroke. Her walls shuddered around him, a merciless and explosive bliss on repeat that reduced her to a writhing pile below her mate.
Eventually, Marcy moaned from the bed where she lay face down amidst the cushions and silky comforters. Their cool touch felt good against her naked skin. Despite his views toward nudity, Teo had covered her. The sweet gesture and acceptance of her rules brought a smile to her face.
Did I pass out? What the hell? She raised her head and sighed, reluctant to move from her nest. “That was amazing,” Marcy murmured. “No wonder Chloe never stays away from Saul for longer than a couple weeks.” She pushed up on her elbows and scanned the room for Teo, finding him by the window. Her bronzed god watched her with a relaxed smile on his face.
Once her weak, trembling legs cooperated with her decision to leave the bed, Marcy crossed to her mate and joined him at the window seat. He curled his arm protectively around her waist to secure her on his lap, then she pressed her ear against his chest and listened to the slow drumming beat.
“This is the happiest I have felt in all my life,” Teo murmured against her hair. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me for making you happy, silly.”
“But I do. You have changed my life, Marcy, and there’s something I’d like to show you.”
“What is it?” She drew on her silk robe.
“What is mine is now yours, Marceline. I would show you all of it.”
Teo led her outside into the balmy evening air and shifted. Marcy never tired of watching the transformation, loving admiration shining in her eyes. She took her time, moving around him, and trailed her fingers over his soft skin. His feathers ruffled beneath her touch.
“Sometimes I wonder if the past five years have all been some crazy dream,” she mused. “I worry I’ll wake up and Chloe will still be living with me and dating that douchebag ex of hers, and I’ll still be stressing at work.”
The dragon’s rumbling chuckle raised goosebumps on her arms and stirred the sand beneath her toes. “No, it is not a dream. I am quite real, and completely yours. As is Saul’s devotion to Chloe.”
“I know.” She kissed his long snout. “I am incredibly blessed to have you.”
Marcy moved around to his side and claimed her place on his back. Only after he was certain she was secure, Teo flapped his powerful wings and lifted them into the air.
They flew, circling twice around his island before Teo turned toward the rocky peak dominating the skyline. Up close it was larger than Marcy had anticipated, a sheer wall of rock she doubted even Chloe could climb with her best gear. Trailing wisps of fog clung to the thick foliage.
A backstroke of his wings slowed their descent onto a small ledge, where large green ferns covered the entrance into his lair. Marcy was forced to dismount and follow inside on foot, the crevice was so narrow. She watched, amazed, as Teo’s bulky form twisted inside with ease.
“Doesn’t it hurt scraping against the rock?”
Teo’s rumbling chuckle echoed against the walls. “No. It feels nice against my hide.” To emphasize his point, he rubbed against the smooth worn stone.
“Like a bear against a tree.”
“More or less.” The black dragon shrunk down, becoming a man once more. He offered out his hand, which Marcy readily took. “Come.”
Stories spoke of dragon hoards, but even their close description couldn’t match the beauty of seeing one in person.
Saul’s treasure room was organized chaos, his hoard separated into distinctive piles. Teo, on the other hand, preferred a single large collection. Coins of all sizes glittered amidst scattered jewels and ancient relics.
“Dios mío,” she breathed, taking it all in. “Do you swim in that pile?”
A wide grin split Teo’s face. “No, but I do often use it as my bed.”
“Meaning you’d be sleeping here if I wasn’t on the island.”
Teo’s enigmatic smile gave her the answer he wouldn’t speak aloud. “Do you like it?”
“It’s amazing, Teo. A mess, but amazing all the same.”
He snorted. “What use are neat stacks when they only fall over at the brush of my tail or wings? This is for my enjoyment. Not for mere admiration.”
Marcy still couldn’t shake the image of him swimming through his massive wealth, no matter how much he denied it. She easily pictured him rolling through the mess and playing with rubies and diamonds the way a child would play with marbles.
“Seriously?” She bent down and snagged a handful of coppers from the floor. “You hoard pennies?”
“You might be amazed, Marceline, at how swiftly such paltry sums add up.”
“I’ll be sure to raid my couch when I get back home,” she mumbled, her attention caught by a feathered headdress. “Is this Aztec?”
“It belonged to my father.”
“It’s beautiful. May I?”
“Touch whatever you wish.”
With great care, Marcy lifted the beautiful accessory from the stalagmite where it had been resting. The feathers retained their bold shades of blue and green. She carried it over to Teo and gestured for him to lean down a bit, then she settled the crown on his head.
“Just as I first imagined you,” she sighed, breathless at the sight of him. “You made me think of an Aztec warrior from the first moment I saw you crossing Saul’s lawn.”
“I did not live up to that honor.”
“No, you didn’t,” she agreed, smiling. “But you’ve made up for it.”
Teo leaned down and kissed her, claiming her mouth in a slow and sensual kiss, with a tenderness their bonding had lacked. Marcy’s knees wobbled and her toes curled, his kiss felt in every fiber of her being. Her face remained tilted upward toward his after their lips parted and her lashes fluttered open.
“I’d like to sleep with you. Here. In your true shape.” She placed her hands over his muscled chest and looked deep into his eyes. “I want to sleep with my dragon.”
“Whatever you desire.”
Chapter 11
Money, Marcy determined, did not make a comfortable bed, but a dragon as her pillow had more than made up for any discomfort. They awoke to the sound of bird calls outside and the soft, distant rush of waves crashing against the shore. After urging her to pick something for herself from his collection, Teo carried her down in a lazy, spiraling glide. They landed seconds before a gentle rain began to fall. The warm kiss of misty rainfall felt incredible, an improvement over the persistent dry heat of Texas.
With overcast weather trumping any plans for outdoor activities, Marcy suggested an afternoon of cinema. Teo’s personal movie room made any film a thrilling experience, especially the ones from Drakenstone Studios. The panoramic screen and interactive seats made her feel like she was in the scene.
Together they watched Saul’s newest release, which hadn’t even hit the theatres yet. With a bowl of popcorn between them and a fruit platter, they enjoyed the fantasy adventure.
“Would you like to watch another?”
“Actually,” she said, a saucy grin turning up her lips. “I’d like to see one of your educational fi
lms.”
“Er... what?”
Marcy laughed and crawled over the armrest into his lap. “Your pornos, Teo. Let’s watch one together.”
He blinked owlishly up at her, but his nostrils flared and his cock twitched beneath her bottom. “I did not think such was done.”
“Oh, it’s done.” She leaned down and kissed him sweetly. “Consider this a human biology lesson.”
A lesson which took the rest of the afternoon and evening. During which, Teo’s eagerness to take the submissive role in the bedroom became apparent. She challenged him in bed, teased him with a downy feather from his own wing, and pushed her new lover’s sexual limits during their exploration. Through it all, he was her eager student, only accustomed to intimacy in his natural form. As a human, he craved her every touch.
The following morning dawned bright and offered perfect weather for a swim in the cove. Teo cut through the water as efficiently as a dragon as he’d flown through the air on his wings. Marcy straddled his back and held on tight as he took her in short dives beneath the waves to explore the colorful coral formations below. As with the wildlife on his island, the local sea creatures had become accustomed to his presence. They didn’t flee for cover as Marcy expected.
Another day was spent on the main island enjoying the attractions. The moment Marcy learned Teo had never built a sand castle, she dragged him to the beach where his guests enjoyed the sun and surf. As the sun began its descent, Marcy manned the boat’s helm and took them back home.
“Did you have fun?” she asked once they were settled inside with their clothes stripped away.
“It was better than I expected,” Teo agreed. “Better still now we are alone, away from the noise and prying eyes.”
Leaning over her in the bed, Teo nibbled the sensitive spot on Marcy’s throat. Their joint explorations had acquainted them with the subtle nuances of each other’s bodies: where to touch light, where to knead with more pressure, and which areas turned them into a ball of putty.
Distracted by his kisses, Marcy fumbled for the adjacent box of condoms. Foil packets spilled over the floor and scattered, then she raised her hips and moaned. Part of her wanted to feel him skin to skin, to let him experience her inviting clench without the layer of latex between them. Something feral within her demanded to claim Teo as thoroughly as he claimed her. In the end she prevailed through the struggle and smoothed the ring over his cock.
“Why must I continue to wear this ridiculous sheath? It is time to conceive our child, Marceline.”
“What?” His words may as well have accompanied a bucket of ice water.
“To mate as was intended by nature. Is there no better time than now?”
“Uhh, yeah, like never,” Marcy replied, bewildered.
A low growl rumbled in Teo’s chest. “You cannot be serious. We came to an agreement in which you swore to be my mate. You accepted me.”
“Wait, hold on, wait. I never agreed to bear you a child. I never agreed to that.”
“What did you think I was asking of you when I asked you to allow me to mate to you?” Teo’s green flashed with anger only to dim moments later. A furrow creased his brow. “Marceline, if we do not... what point is there to being mine if I will lose you?”
Marcy shook her head. “We didn’t discuss making a child. That’s where I draw the line. I adore you, but I’m not going to subject myself to what I helped Chloe through. She almost died. She had an excruciating, horrible birth, Teo. Her uterus ruptured. If you want me, you get me for a human’s life span.”
“Marcy—”
“Don’t Marcy me,” she snapped. “What? Don’t like the idea of me growing gray and old because then I won’t be so fun anymore? Is that it? No one wants to have sex with a grandma.”
Teo quieted.
“I’d be too human then, wouldn’t I? Another monkey. So there we have it.”
Her dragon remained silent.
Marcy and Teo didn’t speak for the rest of the day. He shut himself away outside in the wilderness and left Marcy to the hospitality of his home. Kekoa arrived to engage her in conversation, but his conflicted feelings of fondness for Marcy and loyalty to Teo sent him back into the waves. He didn’t want to judge either of them.
I’m alone here. Is this what I can expect any time we don’t agree? Being left alone and isolated?
Without him there, Marcy sprawled outside in the shade with Philomena stretched out alongside her. The jaguar rubbed her face against Marcy’s cheek and purred.
“I must smell like Teo now, huh? Is that why you love me so much?” Her fingers slid over the jaguar’s furry head and stroked her ears. One of the cubs came up to join them next. He batted Marcy’s hair and rolled across her lap. “Hello to you, too, Chapo.”
Despite the company of the jaguars, Marcy was lonely. It reminded her too much of her empty apartment and days spent without friends. She missed Chloe. She missed going out on her own.
Most of all, she missed Teo. On the second day, Kekoa cooked for her and took her out to the main island. She caught a performance and visited the aviary, but it wasn’t the same without her dragon by her side.
Her mate returned on the third morning, nude and gleaming from head to toe. His dark hair lay wet against his shoulders when he strode into the bedroom to find her.
“Why are you packing your belongings?” Teo asked.
Marcy’s open suitcase lay over the enormous bed, half-filled with the clothing she’d stored into his closet. “I’m going home.”
“Home?” The smile dropped from his face. “I do not understand.”
“Home. I need time to think about this. Maybe we jumped into it too fast without thinking things through. Without talking about what we both wanted.”
“Are we unable to talk now? Is this not a talk?”
“I need to go for a while.”
“But why?!”
“Space,” she replied in a clipped tone, unable to look at him.
“Did I not give you space?”
“You walked away without telling me a thing. I’m at least informing you I plan to leave and where I’m going.”
“You will not return. You do not plan to return.”
“Don’t tell me what I plan to do, Teo. I know my own fucking mind. I just need some space away from this, away from you, to think about things and what we’ve done here.”
“You must stay and speak of this with me.”
“You have a lot of nerve to insist I need to stay here when you left me alone for two days.”
“I allowed you time to think. Time I felt we both needed.”
“And now I’m taking some more time to think. Just as you did.”
“I did not leave to another country!”
“Who knows where you went off to? I sure didn’t,” she snapped back at him. “I need to go home and handle some things and that’s all there is to it.”
“I can make you stay.”
His words held truth and they both knew it. He was a dragon and she was only a human woman. If he chose to hoard her away like the rest of his treasures then there was nothing much she could do about it.
“Force me, Teo, and you’ll lose me forever,” she said in a soft voice. With all her belongings packed, she zipped up her luggage and headed out the door.
Teo didn’t stop her.
Chapter 12
“You’re certain about this?”
“It’s time, yeah.” Marcy smiled at her long-time employer and held out her hand. Howard pulled her into an embrace instead.
“You'll always have a place here with us, Marcy, if you ever change your mind. Even if that doesn’t happen, don’t be a stranger.”
“I won’t, I promise.”
Marcy left the building feeling lighter. Her substantial savings and numerous talents meant she didn’t need to worry about work right away, but she didn’t want to get lazy either. Between all the contacts she’d made at Teo’s resort and a few from work, she was confident s
he could build a small clientele base. Going into business for herself was a longtime aspiration, and it had taken cleaning up Teo’s tangled accounts to make her realize she could handle it.
Her apartment was quiet when she unlocked the door and stepped inside. Too quiet, almost. The bright, open space felt barren without her best friend there living with her.
At least I can turn her old room into a dedicated office, she thought.
The ring of the phone broke the depressing silence. Marcy smiled faintly down at the Caller ID window, wondering if Chloe’s new abilities included knowing when someone was thinking about her.
“Hey, Chloe,” she answered. “Recovered from your vacation?”
“Are you kidding? Astrid is ready to go back for another glass bottom boat ride.”
Marcy laughed. “Those were fun, I agree.”
“So how are you doing?” Chloe asked. “You never called and said you were coming back home.”
She heard the worry in her friend’s voice clear as day. Marcy swallowed thickly, tears threatening to well in her eyes. “A lot happened, chica.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Starting at the beginning, Marcy let it all spill out, from Teo’s back and forth behavior to his threat the day she packed her bags.
“So I left. I asked Mahasti not to mention anything to either of you.”
“Oh, sweetheart,” Chloe whispered into the phone. “I’ll be right there. She’s bringing me now.”
Before Marcy could hang up the phone, Chloe was there in a puff of jasmine-scented smoke, tendrils of the genie’s magical essence wafting through the apartment. The two friends met halfway and collapsed against each other. Their limbs tangled in a tight embrace and they sank to the couch where Marcy wept against the other woman’s shoulder. Uncontrollable sobs shook her body, and through it all Chloe held her tight.
“He... he didn’t even care I was leaving. He didn’t say please. Instead of asking to come with me, he threatened to make me stay like I was another gem in his treasure pile.”
Taming the Dragon (Loved by the Dragon, #3) Page 10
