That dragon could very well be her mate. As a dragon, she was sure to have one out there somewhere in the world. The idea of it turned her upside down for a moment. Love was promised to her. Magic bound her to another soul and promised happiness with that soul. But, first they had to survive GOE’s efforts to destroy Snowdonia and what it was to the Welsh dragons.
“What are you thinking so hard about? Did the cheese melt while we were gone?”
She snapped back to the present and looked up to the dragon man that had crawled toward her on all fours. The sight of him crawling toward her moved something inside of her. She thought of the kiss they shared in his home. It very well could have led to other things had Drystan not interrupted them.
Now, she wanted to know if what she felt for him was a magic that bound them together. Chewing her lower lip, she crawled toward him.
He flipped them over. She laid beneath him, their bodies cradled by the grass. Her body lit up with flames everywhere he touched. It drove her mad. It made her rake her hands over his bare shoulders. She could feel the slight scars from earlier.
He’d done that to protect her.
She couldn’t remember the last time someone tried to protect her. Rhiannon always had to stand on her own two feet, no matter how precarious the situation. Not even Everett had thought to protect her and she’d given him the pleasures of her body.
Now, Gareth leveraged himself above her, looking down at her with his sky colored eyes. She reached up and ran her hand over the stubble on his face. She had a curious urge to ask him to grow it out, to give her something to grab so that she could pull him down to her hungry mouth.
His brows fell together, but before he could ask, Rhiannon’s hand slipped behind his head and pulled him down to her. She chewed at his lips like she could devour him bit by bit. He moaned into her mouth and it felt like flames licking her from her lips down to her core. It left her breathless.
“What is this?” she breathed. Was this the fire that mates felt for one another?
“No questions,” Gareth growled as he reached down for the waistband of her pants. He glanced back up to her face, as if in silent questioning. Could he embark on that path?
In response, she shimmied her hips so that her pants lowered. He growled and yanked them the rest of the way off her legs. Before he could do more, she wrapped her bare legs around him and pulled him back into her body. Her teeth grazed along his neck. He was defenseless in her grasp. She felt him shudder beneath her as she bit down on his skin. His hands rose to grasp her hips, tight as he lost control.
When he opened his eyes, they were dragon gold. Her own beast stirred in response, purring like a happy cat. Rhiannon envisioned reaching inward and grabbing the beast by the scruff of her neck to shove her back. She needed this to be of her own free will, not a demand made by the animal voice in her head.
There was time for that later, she thought.
“Lay back,” Gareth growled at her. His teeth hovered above the skin of her throat. The vibration of his words rumbled through her neck. She reached up and gripped his hair one more time, jerking his head back to set her hungry lips upon his once more before doing as he said.
He laughed at the dominant woman before lowering himself upon her. His lips and teeth traveled down her toned abdomen, down where the sweet smell of her was emanating. He slid her panties down her legs before pushing them apart. The sight of the rugged man between her legs was enough to make her core pulse with warmth.
His head dipped down and she felt the first flick of his tongue between her labia. His growl of pleasure vibrated through her core. She laid back and chewed her lip. How was she going to survive this? She felt like she could be molten metal.
His tongue pressed into her again, lapping her up. Shocks of pleasure radiated through her. She swallowed the moan that threatened to escape. Her back arched as she pressed herself into his lips. He laughed, his calloused and scarred hands travelling up and down her thighs.
“You will come for me at least once before we go any further. Do you hear me, Rhiannon?”
Unable to speak, she nodded. Above her, the open blue sky seemed endless, but she was bound to one single spot on earth. She was bound where his lips met her labia. She reached down to grip his hands while his tongue pressed deep and his nose gently nudged her clitoris.
She could feel the warmth building while his tongue made quick circles around her entrance. He pulled a hand from her grip and she felt a finger slip beneath his tongue and inside of her. She cried out into the clearing. A flock of birds startled and took to the sky. He pushed it deeper, another finger joining it.
It had been too long since she last laid with a man. Her entrance was small. Too small for a man the size of Gareth, she thought. As his fingers stretched her vagina, her pleasure was mixed with a small amount of pain. When his tongue reached her most sensitive spot, all of the pain vanished. The pattern of his tongue pushed her into waves of pleasure.
She felt the heaviness building in her core. She needed it. She wanted it. She arched into his mouth once more and he responded. His hands came around to grab her bare ass so that he could press his face deep into her. Tongue and lips pushed her over the edge.
She screamed her pleasure into the clearing. The waves crashed over her until she was breathless and writhing beneath him. Finally, her tired body collapsed on to the ground. Every nerve inside of her dang with joy as the tiny aftershocks jumped through her body.
“You enjoyed that, did you?” Gareth asked. She watched him suck the last of her from his fingers like it was something sweet and delicious.
There was only one reason for what she was feeling right then. She had suspected, but now she knew. The bond between them was alive and singing. Gareth was her mate.
She pushed herself up onto shaky arms. This was not over, she thought. She summoned the beast inside of her for help, for the power to still her shaking arms. The beast surged forward, too happy to oblige. She felt her eyes swirl between brown and gold.
Gareth’s eyes darkened as he watched her crawl toward him. She gripped the waistband of his jeans and used her new strength to tear the button from the fabric. The bulge beneath the fabric was huge, bigger than any she’d ever seen before.
“You did not finish,” Rhiannon and her beast growled. She shoved his jeans past his hips. The length of him burst free of the fabric’s constraints. He was thick in her hand as she rubbed back and forth. His eyes rolled back and his hands moved to push her back.
“Before we do this,” Gareth struggled to say as he closed his eyes. “I need to know who is asking for this. Am I talking to Rhiannon or her beast?”
“Both,” they responded.
His eyes opened. “Good.”
He shrugged off his jeans to better lean over her body. She spread her legs wide, wrapping them around him so that she could pull him as deep as she wanted. All of him belonged inside of her. She needed it. He needed it.
His tip rubbed her pussy, making small circles. She’d forgotten how small her entrance was. She gritted her teeth and pressed forward, easing him inside. She could hear his breathing quicken.
“Deeper,” she told him.
“I’ll hurt you,” he said, his voice breathy.
“Do it.” To push the matter, she reached and gripped his buttocks to pull him deeper inside of her. A small whimper escaped her, but he was halfway in.
His hands gently stroked her body and her breasts, he eased back and forth to gently open her wider before plunging deep. Once he was hilt deep Rhiannon gasped. He seemed to fill every available inch of space inside of her. She felt nothing but him in that blissful moment.
Once he was fully inside of her he began to thrust. Waves of pleasure crashed over both of them in quick succession. They moaned their pleasure to the wilderness around them. She locked her ankles behind his back to keep him close to her, to keep him inside of her. She couldn’t get enough of the sensation of him. He invaded every dark space insi
de of her and cast a fiery glow of pleasure.
He fought her grip, pulling out to rub the head of his cock in small circles around her opening. She growled and reached for him. He laughed and thrust himself home. She cried out, arching her back.
Once more he pulled out and thrust hard. She could feel the pressure of another orgasm building inside of her. She teetered on the edge, fighting the urge to fall head first. She reached out and gripped his hips and pulled him as deep as she could manage. Unable to contain it anymore, she fell over that edge.
Her climax burst through her body. She clenched around him. He growled in satisfaction and slammed harder over and over again, sending tiny shocks through her. She writhed beneath him while his breathing came faster.
Finally, his head fell back and he roared into the clearing. She felt him spill his seed inside of her. She didn’t worry about it. She was barren, unable to carry children. The doctor had informed her of this at a young age.
Her mate collapsed on top of her, sated and happy. She ran her fingers through his hair, pushing it back from his sweat covered forehead. How could she tell her mate that she wouldn’t be able to give him children? It was something she’d come to terms with a long time ago. Her old life didn’t seem fit for children anyway. Now… now that she knew what she was, knew that this man was her soul mate, circumstances changed. It wasn’t right that the option to raise children had been ripped away from him.
She didn’t say anything just then. It didn’t feel right. It, most likely, would have spoiled the moment.
***
Gareth watched her reach for her clothing, thin layers of black that slipped over her skin like the scales her dragon bore. Being with her had been like nothing he’d ever known before. Every time he’d prowled through the city on rutting night, a part of him had hoped that the woman that took him home would be the one. He hoped that he would miraculously find his mate among the thousands of human women prowling the city.
Instead of a human mate, he managed to find a dragon woman working for the enemy. He couldn’t understand why she made the first move, though. She was still adjusting to the new life that was thrust upon her, still trying to come to terms with the realization that she was not fully human. Gareth wondered if he had mistakenly taken advantage of her confusion. Guilt slammed him in the heart.
Fully clothed, she reached for the basket of food, her motions languid. She pulled a piece of cured meat from its package and rolled it before taking a big bite.
“You did most of the work,” she acknowledged. “Why don’t you come eat with me?”
Gareth hesitated. “Later on, will you regret what we have done here? Will you regret laying with me?”
She cocked an eyebrow at him as though he was being funny. He wasn’t. He fell headfirst into her, but it was a foolish action that could cause her to resent him later. He couldn’t afford that to hang between them.
“Answer me,” he begged, refusing to move from where he stood.
Rhiannon sighed. She took another bite from her piece of cured meat, her cheeks growing red. “I know what we are.” Her voice was a mere whisper, but he heard it.
Shaky knees brought him closer to her before they dropped him to the ground.
Her dark eyes rose to meet his. “I kissed you because I needed to know why I felt this way about you. I slept with you because I realized that you’re my mate. I feel… I feel good. I don’t think I could use the word love just yet, but I feel hopeful for my future for the first time in weeks. In time, I think that maybe I could fall in love with you. I already feel a strong amount of like.” A wry smile curved the corner of her mouth. “I must admit that I was charmed by the dangerous man who chose to camp on my deck to protest Wilson’s plan.”
Gareth felt such relief that he couldn’t help himself. He leaned forward, capturing her face between his hands, and locked lips with her. She tasted of meat and it made him laugh.
“Now, eat you fool.” She shoved food into his lips.
He eagerly nibbled the offering of meat and cheese.
Chapter Ten
When they returned to his home, tired and bearing more than a few twigs and leaves on their person, they were confused to find several dragons and some of their mates waiting for them. Drystan stood beside Maggie by the front door. A few paces away, Wesley hugged Dakota close to his chest. A dark look haunted the young human’s eyes. Liana, a young female dragon more closely related to Maggie, leaned against his house with one booted foot against the siding and her arms crossed over her chest. Despite her defensiveness, she had a look on her face that seemed tired and defeated. Her brother, Rhys, was nowhere to be found.
“What is it?” Gareth asked. His heart was in his throat, nearly blocking all of the words in him.
Drystan swallowed hard as though he had the same feeling. “The building that GOE used to frame Rhiannon was destroyed today. It was made to look like a dragon attack after all. The government is deciding on what course of action to pursue next.”
“I should be there,” Maggie growled beside him. Her arms were crossed over her chest. It was mind boggling to know that she’d been born into an era that belittled women, that treated them like property. She was fierce and a sharp cutting activist for her family.
Drystan shook his head. “I’m not willing to take that chance, my love. There is a full blown witch hunt going on.”
“It was only a building,” Rhiannon said, stepping forward. She was right, but Gareth had a feeling that there was more to this story.
“No,” Dakota hissed. “It wasn’t. There were five human casualties.”
Gareth reached out and set a soft hand on his mate’s trembling shoulder. Wilson and her old partner had finished what they planned on doing a week ago and it worked. With human deaths blamed squarely on the dragons in Snowdonia, a war would begin. The war that Wilson and the white dragon so badly wanted.
He could see, now, that Wesley’s arms were holding his trembling mate upright. She was not scared. It was anger that he saw on her face. And, it was pointed directly at his mate. He tried to put his body between the two women.
“This is not the fault of anyone here on the Territory. We should not be looking at each other with hatred right now. We should be looking outward to figure out how to stop this.”
Drystan nodded. Gareth watched Dakota squeeze her eyes shut and suck in a haggard breath. He understood her hatred. Rhiannon had been the one to shoot Dakota, after all. But, a lot had changed since then. Truth had come to light, revealing who each of them really are.
Mates. They are both family.
Gareth pulled his mate closer to him, but Rhiannon ducked his grip. She paced back and forth, chewing her thumbnail. Her eyes never left the ground.
“You’re thinking,” Maggie realized.
Rhiannon’s head shot up, their eyes meeting. “I won’t let this happen. It’s my fault for being such an idiot in the first place. I should have known that I was different when I was stronger than some of the men in my training class. I should have known that Wilson would betray me because I wasn’t human. This war is my fault and I’m going to find a way to stop it.”
His mate bushed past everyone standing outside his home and disappeared past the door. Before he could follow, Drystan turned his cold eyes upon him. Gareth stood, rooted to the spot while he waited for his leader to warn him of her possible duplicity.
Instead, Drystan’s words surprised him. “She is a fine dragon and a strong mate. Don’t hold that one too close you or she’ll revolt.”
He watched Drystan’s eyes fall on his own mate. Maggie raised one eyebrow even though her lips pressed into a hidden smile.
“Your home is now the site of our impromptu council. Cameron and Rhys are on their way with food so that no one is likely to kill each other while we discuss what we plan on doing. It will be a necessity when Owain arrives.”
Gareth nodded. He would do whatever his leader told him. They would follow Drystan into hell. I
t was evident in the eyes of everyone present.
The dragons entered his home. Drystan and his son went directly toward his kitchen table. Wesley sank into a wooden chair. Gareth could hear the chair groan beneath his cousin’s heavy weight. Gareth’s mother had been Drystan’s sister, a fierce dragon the color of pale ash until she died in the Occurrence. It was her death that drove Drystan to put Elgar on house arrest. It was Drystan that stopped Gareth from hunting down the old dragon and ripping him limb from limb.
Gareth pulled out a chair beside his cousin and spun it around to sit on the edge of the seat. His eyes followed Wesley’s mate as she meandered around his home. Every now and then, her eyes would return to Rhiannon. He was worried that Dakota was finally fed up with GOE and would take it out on his mate. He didn’t know what kind of gifts Dakota had been given by her mate bond.
His eyes flicked over to his own mate. She sat on the edge of the couch, her head in her hands. It broke his heart to see her this way. She was bearing the full weight of guilt for something that another person did.
Gareth was about to stand and move to Rhiannon’s side when his door burst open. Another wide shouldered dragon entered the house, bearing heavy canvas bags on his shoulders and arms. A wide pan of something that smelled of tomato sauce was cradled between his hands. The dragon behind him was loaded with bottles of soda and bags that smelled heavily of tea and coffee.
“It’s been a while, Cameron,” Wesley said to his food-bearing cousin.
Gareth often forgot that Cameron wasn’t an essential part of the other dragons’ lives. The younger dragon came and went so frequently in his life that he stopped locking his front door. The young dragon found ways into his home whether he liked it or not. He couldn’t be mad at his younger brother. Not for long, at least.
The Panther's Rival Page 31
