Lily shut out the voice echoing in her head. It was too much. Only a week. How could she accept such a monumental, life-altering change?
Then it hit her like a punch to the stomach. Why hadn’t she thought of this before?
Lily released her hold on Kord’s shoulders and scrambled off his lap. “W—What if, in the human world, I have a boyfriend or something?”
He scowled, surging to his feet. “You’re not tied to anyone.”
In the next instant, Kord’s shimmering-orange-and-amber dragon loomed before her. Lily swallowed hard. It was all too easy to forget what lay beneath his bronzed skin and sculpted muscle.
Until he shifted.
Kord bent down, way down. The exhale from his massive snout lifted a corner of her hair, warming her shoulder, then her breasts. “Do you think I would not know if you’d lain with another?”
Her mouth fell open, then snapped shut again. Really? He could tell that by smelling her?
He crouched before her, a towering mass of scales and power. “Innocent. Mine. Nothing else matters.”
His mesmerizing golden eyes shone with tenderness as they met hers. “Touch me, Lily.”
Slowly, she stretched out her hand and laid it on the wide space between his eyes. The heat generated by his body surprised her. The smaller face scales were smooth, flexible. Strangely enticing.
For long moments Lily caressed Kord’s fiercely exotic features, enjoying the sensation, appreciating the opportunity to be close to him like this.
The dragon prince released a low, gravelly purr. Lily smiled. Maybe she hadn’t tamed the beast, but she felt a lot calmer. As her gentle strokes increased, so did her curiosity. “By scent alone you’re that certain I don’t already have someone?”
The grin the dragon gave her, so much like Kord’s, made her heart skip.
He inhaled deeply, then expelled a tendril of smoke. It twined around her, a tiny, hot tornado that felt like a lover’s caress. “Absolutely.”
In that moment Lily desperately wanted to know what it would be like to be so elegant, yet powerful. “If I’m of Anglican then why haven’t I shifted?”
“I suspect because you have yet to regain your memory.” With a bright flash that blinded her, the dragon vanished and Kord reappeared, long, black hair tumbling over impossibly wide shoulders. Muscled and sexy. His heated gaze rooting her to the spot.
Completely naked.
Instead of retrieving the cloth he’d worn earlier, he tugged her into his arms. With a broken moan and a shudder of instant need, she eagerly arched against Kord’s burning male flesh. Her arms circled his neck, need rushing through her.
Unable to work up even the tiniest fraction of resistance against his charms, she coiled herself around his hard body as if he were a lifeline in a raging storm.
What is it about this male that draws me so?
“You’re behaving like my mate,” Kord corrected, nuzzling her throat. Long and thick, his cock pulsed against her stomach. “That’s why you behave so.”
“How can you hear my thoughts?”
“It will become stronger once we have mated in deed. I’ll also be able to hear your dragon’s.” His tongue flicked along her sensitive neck tendon until the sensation made her core weep.
Then what he said registered in her desire-soaked brain, and she lifted her eyes to his. “My dragon’s thoughts? Aren’t we one and the same?”
He kissed her nose and grinned down at her. “No, little one. Your beast is separate, yet not. You are one, with two minds.”
Could it be true? That would explain some of her odd thoughts. So, maybe . . .
“When your memory returns, you’ll be able to recognize your dragon from yourself. Trust me on that.”
He sprinkled kisses over her collarbone, before loosening the tie belt of her robe and baring one of her breasts. His muscles rippled beneath her hands, then fiery lips closed around her aching peak.
Instantaneous ecstasy. Lily could only hold onto him and weather the storm his skilled mouth and tongue wrought.
Would he lay her down next to the fire-pit, strip off the robe, and make love to her?
As her knees buckled and she waited for him to pull her to the floor and cover her with all that hard, smooth flesh, he raised his head, his amber eyes blazing into hers.
He started to speak, bowed his head as if in resignation, then slowly stepped back, holding her gently by her shoulders. The robe slid down further as she trembled from head to foot. She’d never wanted anything so badly than to have Kord inside her, throbbing with life.
I’m not ready for this.
“I know, my lady. It’s the only thing holding me back.” His voice was a vibrating frisson of lust.
“Stop reading my mind.” Her protest held no real heat.
Kord brought her close again, her bare breasts flattened against his chest. Brushing a kiss to her temple, he tucked her cheek into the warm curve between his neck and shoulder, his palm cupping the back of her head in a reassuring gesture that brought tears to her eyes.
“I can wait. Until you return my vow.” He lifted her chin.
Her heart raced as his lips covered hers in a searing, all-consuming, toe-curling kiss.
After what seemed an eternity, he raised his head, tugging her robe back up. Flames crackled in his eyes, hotter and brighter than she’d ever seen. His cheeks appeared carved from marble, his jaw so tense she could have bounced boulders off its uncompromising line. Every muscle in his impressive body vibrated with a need she echoed wholeheartedly.
When he attempted to set her aside, Lily clung, refusing to allow such a breach.
She wanted him. Everything that was hot, hard male called to her weaker, feminine, needy self. For the first time she could remember, something stirred and stretched inside her. Even preened. That inner voice assured her this was right. My dragon, insisting Kord is my soulmate and we belong together?
She needed to know. Before anything else interrupted them. Before another hour, minute, second ticked by.
Had it been trying to communicate that to her all along?
Kord had already claimed her, but she’d never reciprocated, and it pierced her like a jagged spike. Dragon 101, she thought inanely, then whimpered in protest as he drew further away. Somewhere in her heart, Lily knew she needed to speak the words Kord longed to hear.
“No,” she murmured, tugging him closer. “I claim you.”
He hesitated, his fervent gaze scorching her.
Finding a measure of courage, Lily stated, “I claim Kordlith, Prince of Battle Draconian. In word, I take you as my mate.”
“And?” The single word he uttered held arrogant demand.
For maybe three seconds, Lily was confused. With hands that trembled slightly, he cradled her face. In that instant she comprehended the magnitude of power females held over their mates. It was up to her, and only her. She must accede as his tradition dictated, before he would follow through by taking her.
Oh, I want him to take me. And take me, until there’s nothing left.
“I accept you in deed, my Prince.” The phrase boiled up from her very soul, winding its way through her body until she released it through quivering lips. “Mi buaileam thu staig gniomh.”
His groan echoed in the silent room. “Are you certain? Once spoken in return it can never be retracted.” He leaned in, and all she could see were fire-tinged amber orbs that affected her like a physical burn. “Be very sure.” His mouth brushed hers so lightly, yet the kiss scalded her. “Once I’ve had you, little one, I’ll never let you go.”
Lily’s throat dried up from fierce hunger. If he doesn’t make love to me in the next ten seconds, I won’t survive. Above her thudding heart she heard his as well, knocking against his ribs in some so
rt of weird syncopation. Almost as if their blood in their veins thrummed in unison, rushing through their bodies, feeding their desire.
When she managed the tiniest of nods, he snapped, “Say it.” The guttural demand made her insides quake.
Fighting for control, Lily issued a demand of her own. “Beo-ghlach.” It must have had the correct effect because he twisted her hair in two fists, anchoring her face beneath his plundering mouth. Her lips parted on a thin, sobbing gasp as he completed the ritual she guessed was older than the realm. Older than time itself.
“I accept you in deed. I capture. I take.” Kord punctuated each word with a hard, deep kiss edged in a bite that could draw blood.
Lily didn’t care. He could rip the flesh from her very bones, and she’d rejoice.
She belonged to him.
Chapter 9
Kord had long existed by the honor of a dragon, exercising strength and loyalty. The loss of his mate had rocked his very foundation.
Somehow she’d found him. Scooping her up, he strode into his chamber and placed her upon the furs. All that mattered in this realm or any other, lay trembling beneath him, the power of her oath still ringing in his ears.
Beo-ghlach.
She knew what it meant, what kind of magick it wielded.
He peeled her robe from her body, baring perfect flesh. Lily arched upward as his lips followed the path his fingers trekked over her breasts, along her taut belly, her flaring hips.
She purred.
Gods, how she purred. Low, seductive, the throaty sound of arousal. He doubted she understood its significance, but he did. It left him more certain than ever a dragoness slumbered within her lovely body, close to the surface, as it was meant to be at the moment of joining. His beast growled long and low in satisfied response.
Kord buried his lips in her shoulder. He’d leave bites on her silky flesh before this night was over. It was necessary and right that he mark her. His muscles clenched in anticipation of the exact moment she reciprocated, and bit him in return.
Her blood thrummed beneath her skin, sweet like honey, richer than wine. Kord thrust against her heat and she shuddered. Her slender hand reached between his thighs and palmed his cock. Hard.
“Beo-ghlach.” This time her oath carried the smoky flavor of readiness.
He’d barely begun to stroke her, prepare her. It amazed him to know he didn’t have to. Even more so, that his beast was willing to wait. He’d wanted her since the first time she’d visited his dreams.
Lifting his head, he stared down into her eyes, half-slitted and glowing. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t.” She emphasized with sharply jutting hips and a squeeze to his cock that he felt all the way to his balls.
“Shit.” The human curse erupted from his lips as he pried her hand away from his shaft and pinned it to the mattress. He trapped her thighs beneath his, groaning at the wetness from her center, slick against his groin. When she yanked at his hair with her free hand, he allowed the demand for a kiss. Her tongue pushed past his lips and sank deep. Velvet-soft mouth. Urgent need. Hot, tight body, writhing under him.
Lust ripped through him. One kiss before I take over.
Then she bit him. Enough to cut.
Fuck.
Before he could stop her, she licked his bottom lip, tasting his blood. Kord tensed against her overheated body, primed for the inevitable, his muscles clenching, his cock swollen and aching.
The moment she swallowed, a strangled cry erupted from her, and a violent climax shook her delicate limbs. As she arched her hips impossibly high, caught in the throes of the first-mating orgasm, Kord loosed the iron dominance he held over his dragon, and thrust through her virgin barrier, hard and deep, filling her completely.
Hot. Wet. Tight. So good.
“Damn,” he ground out between gritted teeth, throwing back his head as he fought for control. As his release built, far too quickly, Kord dropped his face to her shoulder.
Back it the hell up, dammit. Ladies first.
Every muscle in his body seized as he struggled for mastery over his lust. Pressing a heated kiss to her temple, he reared back before slowly pushing forward. A keening cry fell from her lips as she shuddered anew with pleasure. Never in his life had Kord felt anything as perfect as Lily’s silky tight flesh stretched around his cock as he plunged again and again.
Clutching her hips, he lifted her and drove even deeper, as her nails raked down his back, her whimper vibrating against his ear. Sharp, electric bursts of white-hot pleasure shot up his spine as his balls tightened once more. His body shook with the force of it.
His dragon roared for her blood.
“Not yet.” Kord wouldn’t bite, urging her toward another climax instead. “You’re not ready. Not until you remember all.”
“It doesn’t matter. I want you.” She gasped, clinging to him. “Take my blood. Please.”
The entreaty ended on another scream as she convulsed around him, and Kord covered her mouth in a voracious kiss, tasting her surrender, reveling in the way it fueled his own release, slamming into him with hurricane strength. With one final, deep plunge, he exploded, pouring all that he had into his mate, their flesh locked together for long endless moments as their cries of completion echoed inside the vast room.
Boneless and sated, Kord sank over her, his kiss gentle now, worshipful and tender against her swollen lips. She’d wound her limbs around his body to hold him inside.
He had no intention of pulling away.
In the soft, silent aftermath, no words were needed. Though he hadn’t bitten her yet, what they’d already shared was enough to mark her as his. No other dragon would encroach. Kord rested his face in the pillows, his lips against her shoulder, and sighed.
Her answering purr made him smile.
She still held on tightly, her unwillingness to let him move away a welcome prison. He would gladly stay right here, buried deep within the silken clasp of her body, feeling himself growing hard and already anticipating the moment he’d make love to her again . . .
He raised his head and peered into her face, thrilled with the satisfied glow he could see. In her smile, the way it curved one corner of her mouth as if she possessed a secret. In the bite of her nails on his back, ten sharp little crescents in his skin, exciting him even more. In the tender clutch of untried flesh that had learned so quickly how to wring every single drop of ecstasy from his very soul.
“Mine.”
She panted against his neck. “Yes.”
A shift of her body, and Kord knew what she wanted. “Tell me.” It was a demand for dominance, although at the moment, with her tight sheath surrounding him and his dragon awakening with a vengeance, he wasn’t certain whose dominance was in the lead.
“You.” She traced the side of his jaw as her eyes, stormy yet tinged with fire, blazed into his. “My beloved Prince.” She framed her vow with an internal squeeze of her muscles that had him panting.
Grunting harshly, Kord rolled to pin her to the mattress. He stared into the eyes of his mate, withdrawing almost completely from the swollen clasp of her body, before thrusting home again.
Chapter 10
“Stupid imbecile!” Tasha ground her teeth together, barely refraining from having Zanralth of Diablian turned into a Monravionist stinkbug so she could squash him under her dragon heel. “What were you thinking? I don’t want Kord dead, you ass.”
Zane’s upper lip curled, his eyes narrowing. “When you convinced me to assist you in your foolish quest of becoming Queen of Battle Draconian, I was promised the Anglican princess. I held up my part of the bargain. So, why does fucking Prince Kordlith have my prize?”
Throwing her hands in the air, Tasha paced her hideaway, located on a remote, desolate expanse of land between the
two kingdoms. Over the centuries, the deteriorating series of chambers had been nearly forgotten.
The suns were beginning to set, sending dark shadows across the entrance. Furious, she stomped over to confront the warlock who’d first sent Lilliaa of Anglican to the human realm, grinding one red-tipped fingernail into his chest. “Send her back.”
“Not possible.” Maran, Rogue of Eight, gave a definitive shake of his head, the wormlike lineus clinging to his scalp undulating as if in response to their master’s every mood. “Stronger magick than mine brought her here.”
“What stronger magick? Other than this waste of space—”she jerked a thumb at Zanralth—“showing up in the human realm too soon to claim his female because he couldn’t show even a speck of restraint.” She fisted her hands at her sides, so as not to claw out the eyes of the two males within reach.
They were still of use to her. At least for now.
Though Tasha had magick of her own, it was weak, a byproduct of her lesser heritage. She couldn’t bring it to bear against the royal family. Not without consequences, anyway. Banishment from the Dragon Realm remained a great possibility.
Zane muttered petulantly, “I was tired of waiting. I wanted her.”
“Brain-dead idiot,” Tasha spat, infuriated anew.
Maran’s obsidian stare held plenty of secrets as he intoned, “Only the Soul Mate Tree is stronger than a witch’s magick. The Fae spirit inhabiting its ancient trunk is older than time itself. And only the tree could have returned her. If it revealed itself to her, and thus wants her back in this realm, that’s where she’ll stay.”
“What a bunch of hogwash. There’s no such thing as a Soul Mate Tree. That’s an old fairytale.” Tasha could barely contain her temper.
She’d had Kord’s attentions for several full moons, and finally felt she’d made significant progress with him. Then, Lilliaa showed up out of damned nowhere, suddenly attached to Kord at the hip. No way was she putting up with that bullshit. She’d gotten rid of the Anglican heiress once. One way or another, she’d find a way to do it again.
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