Their Mating Rituals [Paranormal Protection Unit 4] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Honor James

  Lina knocked on the door a couple minutes later. “Are you all right?” she asked softly. “I felt a wave of hurt from you, love. You okay? I’m worried for you, darling.”

  Turning his head, he smiled and pulled the door open more. “I’m good. I was just getting a look at what still needs to heal.” And what likely never would. Shifting to lean against the doorjamb, he picked up her hand and pulled her in closer to him. “I’m all fresh and clean,” he murmured. “Do I get a kiss now?” he teased with a grin.

  “Oh, yes please,” she said with a smile and leaned in closer to him. Placing her hand on his bare chest, she popped up on her tiptoes and lifted her face to him. “Kiss me,” she whispered and tried to brush her lips to his again, desperate for a kiss.

  Wrapping an arm around her, Aiden pulled her in closer and kissed her slowly. Using his other hand, he cupped her face to tip her head just right. Taking the kiss deeper, he slid his tongue to hers as he tasted her. She was divine, rich of flavor, and all his. Shifting, he pressed her to the vanity and then lifted her up to sit on the edge before moving in closer.

  Lina wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him in even closer, tighter. She kissed him with everything that she had inside of her, pulling his taste deep into her soul and then when they parted she said, “More.” God, she wasn’t ready to stop, at all.

  He slid his hands down her body slowly and inched them under her shirt. Brushing his fingers over her soft skin, he pressed a hand to her back, spreading his fingers wide. With his other hand he rubbed the backs of his fingers to her belly gently. “Soft,” he murmured quietly.

  “And you are so very, very hard.” She all but purred when she let her hands teasingly trail over his naked chest and shoulders. “I will never get enough of touching you, never.” Which scared the bejesus out of her. “I still…” Turning her head to the side, she let his mouth trail over her neck and shoulder, gripping him tightly between her thighs as she did so and moaning. “Oh God, that feels so good.” She had completely lost track of what she had been going to say as his teeth traced over her neck.

  Nipping at her flesh, he slid his tongue over her skin gently. “You taste like the sweetest of treats,” he whispered. Cupping her bottom, he lifted her against him and walked her toward the bed. Easing down gently with her under him, he settled between her legs and pushed at her top. “Off,” he demanded.

  Lina peeled out of her top and then undid the clasp at the front of her bra to slide it off as well. She knew that on her left breast there was the strangest of birthmarks, so she paused and kept the lace in place. “I guess I can now understand my birthmark,” she whispered and peeled out of her bra. There was a large Dragon on the lower curve of her breast with a tail that all but wrapped around her nipple. She watched him watching her. “Could never understand this one, but I suppose that it’s a part of having the father that I do?”

  Stroking the mark, he smiled slightly and nodded. “The Royal line all have one, not necessarily in the same place, but they have it.” Leaning in, he brushed his lips to her birthmark and slid his tongue along the tail to her nipple. “I have to say,” he breathed out huskily, “yours is much prettier than his is.”

  That had her shuddering, and she felt her breasts pimple with gooseflesh. “Again,” she whispered. “Please, because I really liked that, a lot.” Which was the truth. She really and truly loved the feeling of his tongue against her flesh. “Oh my,” she said happily. “Oh God, honey, please.” She knew that he needed to eat. God, she knew he needed to eat, but right now all she wanted to do was hold onto him and love him.

  Sliding his tongue over her skin again, he flicked her nipple lightly. Smiling when she shivered, he slipped a hand up to cup her lush flesh. “So damned pretty,” he breathed out. Squeezing gently, he took her nipple deep into his mouth and suckled slowly. Gently he scraped his nails over the body of the Dragon and slowly down over her belly. Slipping a finger down under the waist of her pants, he stroked the top of her mound lightly.

  Lina pressed her body up and against him once more and shuddered as she did so. “Aiden.” She sobbed his name. Oh God, she needed him, needed him and not to stop either. “We.” She kissed him again and wrapped a leg around his hips to drag him closer as she did so. “Need.” Another kiss. “God, we need to stop, baby, so you can eat.”

  “Later,” he whispered against her mouth, sliding his hand into her pants, and cupped her. “First you need to scream.” He smiled and kissed her again. Sliding his tongue over hers, he pressed a finger into her pussy and stroked her slowly, rubbing against her inner nerves.

  “I don’t think that it will take long to make me scream,” she told him and braced a foot on the bed to lift up her hips and meet his hand. “More,” she demanded. “Because it feels so very nice.” She had never felt anything like this before, had never trusted a man to touch her, but now, good Lord, now…She felt her body moving in closer to him even as she spoke.

  Slipping a second finger in, he spread them slightly as he finger fucked her. Nipping at her jaw lightly, he inhaled. “You have the sexiest smell on the planet,” he purred out quietly. “Heavy, rich, intoxicating, and so you that it’s amazing.” She was getting wetter and wetter by the minute, her hot cream making her pussy super slick.

  She never thought that anyone would tell her that they loved her smell. Not like this had ever come up for her before, but still. “Oh God.” He had curled his fingers inside of her pussy, and arching them as he pulled them out had him bumping her in the most delicious of places.

  Wiggling his fingers lightly, he grinned at her moan. “I love how your pussy feels, so soft, so silky, so wet.” He growled the last word out. Biting her neck gently, he scraped his teeth to her flesh and then slid his tongue over the small wounds. Adding a third finger to her pussy, he stroked harder, faster, pressing his thumb to her clitoris to rub at the tight bud.

  “Oh God.” She cried out and tilted her head to the side once more. “Again, I really, really liked that bite thing you did.” She had as well. Good Lord, it had been as if she had felt it all the way to her very core, and damn if she didn’t want to feel it again. “Again, please.”

  Growling softly, he bit her shoulder and squeezed just a little, her pussy clamped down hard on his invading fingers. Letting up, he grinned as her pussy let up as well. Tightening his hold on her shoulder, Aiden pinched her nipple and rolled it as he thrust his fingers in harder and faster, his thumb rubbing furiously at her clitoris, and he growled deep. The vibrations ran through his body and along hers where they touched.

  Lina braced her foot on the bed and met him thrust for thrust, at least his fingers. “So good,” she sobbed out happily, and then when his teeth bit harder into her shoulder, she screamed. She felt the gush of her orgasm that hit his fingers and felt that orgasm all the way through her very core.

  Stroking her through the orgasm, he let her relax as soon as the last wave slipped over her. “I have you, sugar,” he murmured quietly. Gently he pulled his hand free and rested it on her hip as she shuddered and shivered. Propping himself up on an elbow, he grinned. “Feeling better?” he asked curiously.

  “I’ve never felt anything like that before. Even when I tried to give myself an orgasm with BOB I never was able to do it, but you…” She panted. “Goodness gravy, you did it without even so much as a by your leave, darling. I’ve never, ever felt so much intense and incredible pleasure, ever.”

  Chuckling softly, he lifted his hand to stroke her cheek. “Just imagine what it’s like with both of us moving together.” He grinned. Pressing a kiss to her cheek gently, he breathed her in. “You mentioned there was food, right? Because I think we should both eat and then get naked together, fully naked.” He let his eyes move over her slowly. “Or maybe we should just get naked and eat and then we won’t need to worry about stripping after.”

  “I’m more than perfectly fine with that, you know,” she said with a grin. “I think we should get nice and naked an
d then we won’t have a second thing to worry about later.” She was giving him a lot, putting a great deal of faith in him. “As long as you are sure that I am what you might want or need?”

  Getting serious, he cupped her face and leaned in so all she saw was him. “You are everything I could ever want or need, Talina. You are my bond-mate, but if you don’t want that you have to say so before we make love. Because I will want to complete the bonding that first time with you, to bind you to me for the rest of time which, given my lifespan, is a hell of a long time. There is no divorce, there is no walking away, and there is no leaving your partner, ever. It is permanent and it is perfect,” he said softly as he watched her eyes.

  Talina hesitated and thought for a moment. “Aiden,” she whispered softly. “Honey, before…” She bit her lower lip and then, “Honey, do you think that perhaps we should talk about Talon before we do anything, honey?” she asked softly. “I don’t want you to think that I asked for our bond before we talked about the elephant in the room, my love. What are your thoughts?”

  “He’s your father. We both know that. You also aren’t sure if you ever want to meet him,” he said quietly, rubbing his thumb to her skin. “You do need to know that if we bond, you will have to deal with him eventually. He’ll know I’ve gotten a bond-mate. Well, he already knows I do, he just has no idea who it is, sweetheart. But he will want to meet you at some point. If you can’t handle that then maybe you don’t want this as much as I do. I honestly don’t care if you ever speak to him, love, but I care about you. I love you, and want to have everything with you.”

  Taking a deep breath, she nodded. “And I love you, too, Aiden. I never, ever dreamed that I would have that emotion for a man, but I do, with you. I love you so very much that it staggers my mind.” It humbled her. “Should we meet him first?” She knew she was tossing cold water on their previously hot, hot, hot feelings just moments earlier, but she needed help choosing a direction. “You know him. You know how he would react. What are your thoughts?”

  “You want to meet your father before we bond?” he asked and started to laugh. He couldn’t help it. “You really do want him to gut me, don’t you?” he teased with a grin. Pressing a kiss to her cheek, he sighed. “Talon is…” How did he explain it? “He’s King of the Dragons, darling. If he orders me put on the rack and tortured it will be done without question. And while he might eventually let up because I’m his only daughter’s bond-mate, it will leave marks.” Serious ones. “On the other hand, if we bond and then go see him and he finds out we all knew ahead of time”—or rather he and his brother—“we could be in for a shit storm, too. I can give you the odds and some information, love, but in the end it has to be your choice what we do and where we go from here.”

  “I want whatever you feel would be better in the end, Aiden,” she admitted. “I want to do whatever might cause you the least crap in the end, so you tell me.” She wanted Aiden. God, her whole body was like a live wire in its need for him.

  Staring at her, he nodded. “We bond first,” he said softly. “While he’ll be bent we kept you a secret and I bonded with you before letting you and him meet, he’ll get over it in time.” Talon would also likely take him to task, but that was fine. He’d survive. “It’s the strongest hand that will keep me from getting my ass handed to me, so I think we should do it that way. Plus I really, really want to make love to you before you meet your father.” His balls would likely take a vacation up north if he did it after and would be less than effective.

  “I would like that,” she admitted. “I very much would like to be able to spend every possible moment that I can with you. I want to do as much as we can before he comes hunting for us, because when he does…” She licked her lips. “God, when he does find out, he’s going to be seriously, seriously peeved off at you, isn’t he?” she asked quietly. “But I will be at your side. I will never, ever let him do anything that will cause you pain. I mean it. If, and this is such a massive if, he wants to even have a small part in my life and doesn’t just shun me completely like I figure that he will, then he wouldn’t want my feelings hurt, and hurting you would definitely hurt me.”

  Pressing a kiss to her lips, he let out a small breath of relief. “I love you, Talina,” he whispered softly. “Talon will very definitely want to be a part of your life. You are his baby girl. Dragons are extremely possessive beings and great nurturers. He’s missed out on a lot of your life already, sweet. He’ll want days with you to just get him caught up and then to spend time with you as often as you’ll allow.”

  “It’s just so hard to believe,” she said, stroking a hand over his chest. “Let’s get food and we will continue to talk.” She needed him to eat, wanted to make sure that he was well fed. “Come on, darling. Time to feed you, my Dragon.”

  “Naked?” he asked hopefully with a smile. “Pretty please?” he murmured. “With a cherry on top? I’ll even throw in whipped cream if it helps get you naked for dinner.” And since no one could enter without his or her permission because no one knew if he was back to human form, they’d have no interruptions.

  “Oh I love the way that you think. Cherries. Have I mentioned that I can put a cherry with a stem into my mouth and pull it out with a knot in the stem? A useless talent, I know, but it’s all mine. And yes, honey, naked. I promise.”

  “You can do that?” he asked and grinned at her nod. “That is so fucking hot,” he moaned out, pressing a kiss to her lips. Shifting, he got up and didn’t care he’d lost his towel as he tugged her up to her feet on the bed, her breasts at eye level. Nuzzling at her soft flesh, he undid her pants and pressed them down her legs, “You have the softest skin ever,” Aiden said in pure joy.

  “Lots of moisturizer,” Lina murmured. “When I’m not in the ER I totally take care of myself.” She frowned then and added, “I’m never going to be able to go back to my life, am I, Aiden? Never go back to my job in the ER or medicine? But I will have you, right?”

  Looking up, he nodded. “You will always have me, sweetheart,” he promised her softly. “But if you want to still be a doctor, you can, love. I would never take that from you,” he whispered. Cupping her bottom, he lifted her off the bed and pushed her pants away with his foot as he set her down on her feet. Cupping her face, he smiled. “We’ll need a few precautions put in place, but you can still work, Talina. It’s part of who you are.”

  “Thank you,” she said with a smile. “As long as you are sure, I would really, really like that.” She felt every single inch of his body against hers and wanted to lick and touch every part of him. “God, you are huge all over,” she whispered. “I’ve never seen anyone so built in all my life. Even with all the people I’ve treated never have I met anyone nearly as big as you are.”

  Grinning, he shrugged. “I’m a Dragon, love, we’re big boys. Our females, rare though they are, are much tinier, more like you, very dainty.” Pressing a kiss to her nose, he dropped his hands to her hips and hooked his thumbs in her panties. “You ready to get rid of these?” he asked softly. He’d left them on purposely so that she didn’t feel completely naked before she was ready.

  “One more question and then I want you to pull them off of me please,” she requested. “I would have known if I had been a Dragon, right? I mean, I’ve never shifted or changed like you did, honey, and believe me, I don’t heal quickly at all.” As evidenced by her scars from when she fell in barbed wire at the age of five.

  “You would have known when you hit puberty,” he told her softly. “As children, we’re just like human children. We romp, we play, but we heal faster naturally even then. But when we hit puberty, we don’t just get a vocal alteration or hair in places it’s never been before.” Aiden grinned. “We also usually have at least one major fire. That first sneeze after puberty is a serious bitch.” To show her what he meant, he turned his head to the side and gave a small snort, spewing a short flame that quickly dissipated. “You would have known, the local fire department would have know
n, everyone would have known pretty quick. You likely have some sort of ability from the Changer or magical realm because Talon was your father. I can’t say what it might be, but we’ll figure it out, sugar, together, promise.”

  “Other than the trick with the cherry stem, I really can’t do anything,” she admitted. “I’m a very good doctor, but that’s it.” Damaged goods all the way. “Now, will you strip me of the panties, please?”

  “You are not damaged,” he said fiercely in her defense. “You are perfect in every way. Never think otherwise, sweetheart.” Pressing a kiss to her lips, he shifted back and crouched down to slide the panties down her gorgeous legs. Reaching her feet, he waited for her to step out of them and tossed them aside. Stroking fingers up her legs gently, he stood slowly. “Beautiful,” he whispered softly.

  “I truly feel beautiful standing here, your eyes and hands touching my body as they are.” Caressing me, loving me. “I love you, Aiden. I really and truly love you,” she told him gently. “For now and for all time, I love you, honey.” She truly did. She loved him fully, completely. “Now, food.”

  Growling softly, he smiled. “I love a woman with priorities,” he murmured. Taking her hand, he kissed her fingers and guided her toward the kitchen. He was hungry. Too many days without a full meal really sucked ass. He’d eaten in his Dragon form but really, it wasn’t as satisfying as eating in his human form. Inhaling as they entered the room, he licked his lips. “Something smells delicious,” he commented and then looked at her. “The food smells not half-bad either,” Aiden rasped out huskily.