Her eyes widened. “You mean our brothers stranded us here on purpose?”
Declan nodded grimly. “Apparently so.”
Something inside her crumbled and her heart ached as it shattered all over again. “I’m so sorry.” She took a step back from him. “It was wrong of them to force you like this.”
One dark brow winged up. “Force me?” A rusty laugh laced with derision escaped him. “You’re the one who doesn’t want anything to do with me, Elysia.”
Her eyes flew to his. In them, she saw a wealth of anguish as well as anger. “You s-said you’d fallen in l-love with m-me,” she stammered, confused and racked with pain. “I thought that once you’d g-given me some time to t-think, that you would c-call…” Her voice trailed away. “When you didn’t, I t-thought you’d changed your m-mind about me.”
To her horror, tears welled, one escaping to roll slowly down her cheek. Suddenly, her emotions became too much to handle. Her knees gave way, and she sat down abruptly on the damp sand, sobs racking her slender frame. She pulled up her knees and wrapped her arms around them, burying her face against the denim so he couldn’t see her despair.
A rough growl met her ears just before his hands sank into her hair, pulling her head back. His mouth took hers in a kiss so fierce and filled with emotion that she cried out, throwing her arms around him and kissing him back frantically. Fear flooded her, but this time it was fear that he would disappear, that this moment was a dream conjured up by her pain-crazed mind.
You’re mine. You will always be mine.
The possessive words filled her mind and she felt a strange electrical current run through her. She realized she’d heard Declan’s thoughts. Hope began to creep into her veins. By the gods! She wasn’t wrong! He was her bloodmate. His green apple scent mixed with the salty scent of the ocean, swamping her senses. Her tears seeped between their lips and Declan’s hands tightened on her, as he tasted them.
He broke the kiss, looking down at her pain-ravaged face. “Lys, you sent me away. I said I wouldn’t bother you again.”
“I thought… I just …” She blinked back tears trying to get control of her emotions, but she felt so shattered she just couldn’t pull herself together. “I didn’t think you were the kind of man who would give up…”
Realization dawned in his amber eyes and he groaned, pulling her closer to his wet chest. “Oh, baby. I’m so sorry,” he murmured into her hair as he held her tightly. “You’re such a strong woman. Your rejection of me just sucked away my soul and my will. I haven’t been able to string two thoughts together, let alone figure out what to do about you.”
Sobs caught her up again and her body shook against his. “I’m sorry!” she wailed softly, her fingers clutching him. “I was scared!”
Declan cradled her against his hard body, sliding his hands beneath her jacket and shirt to touch her bare skin. Desire flared instantly between them and Elysia sank back onto the sand pulling him with her. They kissed urgently, the soul deep kisses of a couple who thought they had lost each other.
Elysia cradled him between her thighs, her hands running over his hard torso, barely able to believe he was with her. When he touched her breasts, her nipples peaked beneath the lace of her bra. She sucked in a breath, a shiver going through her.
Suddenly, Declan raised his head. His chest heaved as he sucked in air. He shook his head and Elysia’s heart stopped with fear. Seeing her face, he leaned down, brushing her hair back and pressing a kiss to her forehead.
“Baby, we need to clear the air before we go any farther. I don’t want any more misunderstandings.”
Elysia reached up and touched his cheek with her fingertips. He turned his head and kissed her fingers. “I love you, Declan. You’re my bloodmate. I want to bond with you, right here, right now. I don’t want anything to come between us again. Not people nor fear nor misunderstandings. Nothing,” she whispered urgently. “I was afraid of what was happening between us. Afraid of making another mistake. I pushed you away instead of talking to you. I was wrong and I’m so sorry.”
Declan kissed her hard, his tongue sweeping over her lower lip. She melted against him. He lifted his head, smoothing his thumb over her lips. “I pushed you too hard. I should have waited to tell you I was in love with you. I knew you had to be at least a little afraid after what you went through with Austin, but I was arrogant. I thought what we’d shared would carry more weight than the past,” he said, his voice low and troubled. “I was wrong too. I’m sorry, love.”
Elysia searched his golden eyes, her fingers stroking his face. “Can we put it behind us now? I don’t want to dwell on the pain. I just want to know what it’s like to be truly happy.”
A grin flashed across Declan’s face. To Elysia, it was so bright and joyful that it seemed as if the sun had come out from behind a cloud. “I’m going to make you so happy that even when you’re angry, you’ll still be smiling,” he teased.
Elysia laughed breathlessly. “I can live with that.”
She pulled his head down, nuzzling his throat, her nostrils flaring at the scent of his blood. She licked his neck, her fangs elongating as the ocean salt hit her tongue. She let them trail along his skin as he pressed his hard cock against the vee of her legs. Rocking her hips against his erection, the delicious friction made her pussy even wetter.
Declan began pulling her clothes off. In a matter of moments, her clothes were tossed aside and his swim trunks tossed after them. He rubbed his hard cock against her wet pussy as the tide came in, the waves rolling up onto them. They ignored the cold water, their focus solely on each other.
Clutching his heated flesh, she guided him inside her. As he filled her, she arched her back, her torso pressing against his. His hips flexed, his thrusts short, shallow, and hard. Elysia tilted her hips up, her legs coming up around him. The movement caused her swollen clit to brush his pubic bone. She shuddered with every thrust. The head of his cock pressed against her G-spot, his pubic bone grinding against her clit.
Despite the icy water swirling around them, she was on fire. That’s when she noticed smoke streaming from Declan’s nostrils in a thick cloud. His skin glowed and was hot to the touch. He kissed her possessively, his tongue twining with hers. He thrust into her, their hips slapping noisily in the water.
Elysia whimpered as her orgasm came on her suddenly. She jerked beneath him, clutching his shoulders as her pussy clamped down on his cock. He continued to thrust into her and she felt the heat rising swiftly in her again. His fingers flicked over her clit and she cried out as she came once more. She bit down on his neck, her fangs sinking into his jugular vein.
There was a roaring in her ears as his essence filled her. His thoughts rushed into her consciousness like the waves crashing on the beach. She drew on his vein; drinking from him and feeling her body come alive as her bloodmate fed her. The most incredible heat enveloped her as Declan cried out, his cock spasming within her. She retracted her fangs as his cock throbbed in her pussy. Licking his neck to seal the bite holes, she turned her head just as his mouth came down on hers. Golden light bloomed and she felt flames licking at her, pushing her toward a third orgasm. His mouth swallowed her cries of bliss, as his dragonfire surrounded them, bathing them in a pleasure so intense Elysia thought she would fly apart.
Elysia! My sweet, Lys! My mate, I love you…
Oh, Declan! I love you so! You’re everything to me…
Their thoughts mingled, words of love and commitment flowing between them effortlessly, their emotions completely bared to one another. They held each other tightly as the waves crashed around them, hissing and turning to steam as it hit their heated flesh. As their skin cooled and Elysia’s bite faded on Declan’s neck, they came down to earth. They lay in the surf, locked together, their breath slowing and their bodies becoming lax.
Declan’s cock slipped from her pussy and a little mewl of pleasure came from Elysia’s throat. He smiled down at her and pressed a quick kiss to her swollen lip
s. A long sigh escaped her and she shifted in the wet sand, sitting up.
“Oh, yuck,” she murmured, looking at the wet sand that streaked her body.
Declan got to his feet and reached down to help her up. He pressed her against him, kissing her again. “I can’t get enough of you,” he said as he nibbled on her lips.
“I can’t get enough of you either,” she smiled, curving her arms around his neck. “But we’re naked on a public beach and we’re stranded.”
He glanced over at the parking lot and then grinned. “No, we aren’t. My car is back.”
Elysia turned and looked over her shoulder. Sure enough, the Mercedes convertible sat at the curb where she’d left her shoes. Her eyes flew to Declan’s. “Do you think your brother saw…?”
Swiftly, he shook his head. “Sean wouldn’t look. If he didn’t see us standing here he would have assumed, and rightly so, that we were lying on the sand. To Sean, that would have been a positive sign. I’m sure he just left the car and took off.”
“Okay.” She looked down at herself and grimaced. “I’m gross.” She looked at him and flicked sand off of his ribs. “You are too.”
Declan laughed. “I have towels and plastic bags in the car. We’ll dry off and go to my place.”
They gathered up Elysia’s clothes and Declan’s shorts. At the car, they toweled off the worst of the sand and put the wet clothes in a plastic bag. Declan wrapped her in one of his sweatshirts, which came to mid-thigh on her, and pulled on a clean pair of shorts and a t-shirt. They drove to his condo, and tossed the wet sandy clothes in the washer before heading inside. In his bathroom, they stood in the shower stall and washed the sand off each other, which of course, led to another round of lovemaking.
Later, they lay in Declan’s bed, eating leftover Chinese food and testing their new mental connection. Declan would tell an off color joke in his head just to see if Elysia heard it. If the joke was especially bad, she pretended she hadn’t heard it. Their fragile bond grew as the hours passed.
Finally, just before dawn, as they were catching their breath after making love again, Elysia said, “You realize that I am bonded to you now. I cannot drink the blood of any other creature.”
He nodded, stroking his hand over her silky back. “I know. It’s okay. I don’t want you running around biting anyone else.” He kissed the top of her head and she rubbed her cheek on his tattoo. “You know, fire won’t affect you now that you’re mated to me. Look at your shoulder.”
She glanced down and noticed a faint tracing of lines on her shoulder in the same place as his tattoo. “What’s that?” she asked in surprise.
“Your mating mark,” he told her. “Did you think the mark on my shoulder was a tattoo?”
She nodded, her eyes widening in shock as the lines on her shoulder grew darker before her eyes.
“It’s not a tattoo. It’s a clan mark,” he told her. “Each of us has a variation on our clan mark. It appears when we come of age. When we take a mate and bathe them in our dragonfire, the clan mark begins to etch itself on our mate’s skin. In a couple of days, your mark will be as dark as mine.”
She frowned. “I never knew that about dragons.” She twisted her head this way and that, trying to see the mark. “What if I don’t like looking like I’m tattooed?” she asked with an arch expression.
He tackled her, pinning her arms to the mattress as his hips rubbed against her sensuously. “You’ll like it. It’s a tangible sign that we belong to each other. Look at mine. It used to be a single dragon. Now there are two entwined dragons. Anyone who sees that will know that I am mated.”
Elysia swallowed hard as tears filled her eyes. “Declan?”
“What, love?” He brushed her hair back from her face with loving fingers.
Her eyes held his. “I’m so happy I found you. You honor me by taking me as your mate,” she said, her voice unsteady with emotion. “I will never dishonor you. I love you.”
Declan bent and kissed her. He pulled back and smiled down at her. “You honor me by bonding with me. I will never dishonor you. I love you, Elysia.”
She smiled, joy bursting within her. “That sounds like wedding vows.”
He shook his head, rolling over and taking her with him so that she lay on his chest. He licked her new mating mark. “No, those will come later.” He framed her face with his hands. “You will marry me, won’t you?”
“Try to get out of it, buddy,” she joked, kissing the point of his chin. “This tattoo thing on my shoulder is about as binding as a legal contract. You back out and I’ll sue your ass.”
Declan burst out laughing and Elysia grinned at him. “This is what I get for picking the most powerful woman in our industry to fall in love with.”
“You love it and you know it. I’ll have your finances in order in no time,” she said, slipping her hands beneath his hips to caress the hard curves of his bare ass.
“Finances? I was talking about a lifetime of us fucking each other,” he laughed.
She slipped a finger into the cleft between his buttocks, teasing his tight anus. He sucked in a breath. “That sounds like heaven,” she murmured, and took his mouth in a long, lingering kiss.
Epilogue
Eighteen months later
Crowds packed the convention floor. Elysia kept trying to stick close to Declan but the ebb and flow of the crowd pushed them apart more often than not.
“Ow!” She winced as someone stepped on her foot.
“I’m so sorry,” a man said.
Her eyes widened at the sound of his voice. “Austin?”
Austin Stone stiffened, shifting to his right so he could see her.
Elysia smiled at him. “How are you?”
He nodded awkwardly. “I’m good. And you?” His eyes took in the huge yellow diamond ring she wore on her left ring finger. Then his eyes flicked over the mound of her belly.
Elysia rubbed her hand over the hard round bulge that was her son. “I’m great. Did you get here in time for Declan’s keynote speech?”
Austin shook his head. “No, but my brother told me he’d asked Declan to give the speech since this year’s theme is cremation trends,” he replied.
Elysia nodded. “I was so pleased that Alfred asked him instead of Sean. It just solidifies his promotion and all.”
Earlier that year, Sean Antaeus had stepped down as President of Antaeus International, naming Declan as his successor. Sean was still head of the Board of Directors, but the day-to-day operations were now in Declan’s hands. It had been a feather in her husband’s cap to have Alfred Stone ask him to give the keynote speech at the Darkworld’s annual Funeral Director’s Guild convention.
Elysia herself had headed up two panels, one on the use of computers and cemetery software and another on finance, which she’d co-chaired with Garret Renquist, Holden Antaeus’ mate. Garret had become an AI vice president when Declan had been promoted. He and Elysia had a lot in common and the two couples often went to industry events as a foursome.
A warm hand slid around Elysia’s waist, coming to rest on the bulge of her pregnant belly. “How are you, Austin?” Declan’s deep voice was tinged with a bit of amusement.
Don’t make him uncomfortable.
You spoil all my fun, Lys.
No, I don’t. What about those handcuffs during the afternoon break?
Declan began to grin broadly and Austin shifted uncomfortably. “I’m good, Declan. Congratulations on the keynote speech… and you’re… er… personal events.”
“You mean our wedding and the coming birth of our son?” One black brow winged up, but Declan’s white teeth continued to flash in a smile.
Austin paled a little and took a step backward. “Y-yes. Congratulations on t-that,” he stammered. “I have to go. I see my brother waving to me.”
He vanished into the crowd and Declan looked down at Elysia. She noticed that his fangs had begun to extend, their curved lethal sharpness glinting in the overhead lights. Elysia smac
ked him on the arm.
“You scared him on purpose, Declan! Alfred’s not even nearby. He lied to get away from you and your dragon fangs,” she scolded, but her grin was just as wide as his.
He tucked her close to his side as they walked toward the exit. “He deserved to be scared. He’s lucky I never hit him after what he did to you.”
“Pffft,” Elysia said scornfully. “You should be glad he dumped me. Look what you got out of it.”
Declan stopped, and right there on the convention floor, in front of all of their peers, he took Elysia in his arms. He bent his head and gave her a long, leisurely kiss that sent smoke trailing from his nostrils to encircle their heads.
“Damned newlyweds,” a sardonic voice said.
“They should know better than to do that in public,” another voice chimed in.
“Fuck it. Leave ‘em alone,” a third voice replied. “They deserve all the happiness they’ve found.”
Elysia and Declan turned their heads to find Marius, Sean, and Alfred Stone standing behind them grinning in a very self-satisfied manner. Marius had spoken first, then Sean, and finally Alfred. The F word coming from Alfred Stone was about as astonishing as the time he’d worn a sheet to the Undertaker’s Ball.
Alfred winked at them. “There’s about two hours before the closing dinner. I don’t think anyone will miss you here on the convention floor.”
Elysia stifled a giggle behind her hand. Declan laughed out loud, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her toward the exit. “C’mon, honey. When the convention chair tells you to do something, you’d better do it!”
She glanced back at the three men as she followed Declan out of the convention hall. “Thank you!” she called out to Alfred.
He waved, saying, “You’re entirely welcome!”
At the elevator, Declan grinned at her. “You don’t feel like throwing up this time, do you?” he joked.
She shook her head. “Nope. I’m so happy I could…”
Her words were cut off as Declan kissed her again.
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