Dragon Lust

by Kelly Armenta

  When we left the cavern, no one was particularly happy. I got to keep Owen, but in deference to my lack of control, Nick assigned me one of the women. He tried for the black haired one but for obvious reasons I politely refused. I ended up with Merry, a six foot brunette with a flat chest and large thighs, which caused Jace to shake his head and whisper sarcastically, “Holding off the smaller woman was bad enough. You do this again and she may break me.”

  Dammit, he was probably right!

  Chapter 16

  We left the guards in the lobby. I followed Jace through the door and only made it a few steps before Gareth picked me up in his arms and carried me down the hall, past the front room and into his bedroom. He tossed me onto the bed and was kicking off his shoes as Jace climbed naked onto the bed. Apparently Jace had dropped his clothing somewhere out in the hall. You can do that when your hands aren’t full of squirming female.

  I edged backwards, watching him stalk me across the bed. His eyes were deep and dark and full of need. I could see that he was long and hard and oh so ready to be in me. He climbed my body until he was over me and I was pressed back into the bed, looking up at him as he leaned into me and buried his face in the hair at my temple. “I want to kill him for touching you,” he rasped against my ear. “I need to burn away the image of you beneath him. Help me.”

  Gareth’s hands slid between us, capturing the straps of my one piece and easing them down my body so that my breasts sprang free. I pulled my arms out and lifted my hips so the cloth slid down my legs and was tossed over the edge of the bed. I reached for Jace, my hands sliding up his chest and around his back as I pulled him onto me, raising my hips so the hard length of him pressed against the sensitive skin at the juncture of my legs.

  He crushed me beneath him, his lips finding mine. I shuddered in his arms as he opened his mind to me. The desire I had aimed at him rebounded back at me, flavored with the darker taste of helplessness and rage at the thought of someone else’s hands on by body. I whimpered and held him tighter, clinging to him in my need. His mind overwhelmed me, surrounded me, until all I could feel was his emotions and the pleasure between us, and there was nothing and no one but Jace alone. I held him tighter, kissed him deeper and writhed beneath him on the bed, powerless in his arms, drowning in his desire.

  I cried out and lifted against him, offering myself. He pulled back and gazed into my face, his eyes whirling like jewels in a kaleidoscope. I caught my lip between my teeth and stared back at him while my hips undulated against him, my eyes silently begging him to come inside of me, to fill the void he’d created. He held my gaze as he lifted himself and slid the soft silky skin of his head into me. I fought to hold his eyes, to not throw myself about in an attempt to impale myself on him. My breath came in ragged gasps and in my mind I felt emotions swelling, growing like a tidal wave roaring toward the shore. I cried out again as he slammed into me, both mentally and physically, swamping me in pleasure so intense it arched my back and spasmed my body under him, my mind completely rolled by the full weight of his need.

  He rode me then with hard deep thrusts until warmth pooled in my center, filling me with thousands of drops of pleasure until I couldn’t hold them anymore. They spilled up and out of my body and I screamed and dug my nails into the bed trying to hold myself together. My body arched beneath him, clenching tightly as the near pain exploded inside of me. And when I thought I couldn’t give anymore, he began again, building the pressure with long deep thrusts until I shattered again and again for him. And only then did he find release in me, pumping hard once, twice and a third time as his release bowed his back and he yelled … slammed into me one last time and I felt him come so deep inside of me.

  His head dropped to the bed and he would have slipped to the side but my arms wrapped around him, and held him tight. His weight was a warm comfort as my eyes closed and I let consciousness slip from me.

  Next thing I knew I was being carried, pressed against the warmth of a naked chest. I cracked open an eye when moist heat surrounded me and then I was being lowered into the pool, his lips gently nibbling at my eyes and cheek. I stretched and reached my arms around his neck. He released my legs so I could wrap them about his waist as he carried me deeper into the water. He rolled onto his back and I kissed his chin and the underside of his jaw as we floated silently. My palm rested over his heart and I reveled in the deep strong beat, feeling it slide into me, setting the tempo so that my blood flowed in time with his. His hand stroked my lower back softly, his fingers trailing over me, dipping into the base of my spine and on over my bottom, cupping me gently, then skimming back up and over my lower back again. It was as if he had all the time in the world and was willing to share it with me.

  We floated like that for a while, just relaxing, feeling the ebb and flow of the blood through our bodies. Who knows how long we might have stayed that way, me thinking calm easy thoughts just enjoying the moment. Yeah, I could have gone on like that, except Gareth was apparently holding himself back…admirably. Something I didn’t realize until he dropped his shields and I was engulfed in his churning emotions.

  Rearing back at the unexpected deluge, nearly sending us both under, Gareth wrapped his hands around my back and pressed himself to me. My breath caught in my throat and I shuddered against him. “Gareth,” I whispered, “what... ”

  “My needs are no less,” he replied, his deep blue eyes capturing mine and holding them as he questioned. “Can you deny me?”

  How could I when he held nothing back as he did in that moment, his soul laid bare to me? “I cannot.”

  “Lexi,” he whispered, “I think you will break my heart.”

  No! My mind cried! I did not want to hurt this man. I wrapped my arms around him and took us under the water, my lips finding his as I tried to deny the words he’d said.

  When we broke the surface, he stroked to the nearest edge and when his feet hit bottom he stood and we clung to each other. “Give me a year,” he whispered.

  One year. It was nothing ... a blink of an eye in a Dragon’s life. Yet I had been created for a purpose and that knowledge was ever with me, shaping my life and driving me. Still it was no sacrifice and I would gladly have promised more. I couldn’t rush the future and there was so much that he and Jace could teach me, so many reasons to stay. I leaned my forehead against his. “Yes, I will stay,” I told him solemnly. “One year and we shall see.”

  He hugged me tightly, then lifted me onto the steep bank and laid my back on the deep sand. “One year,” he replied. “But be warned, I will do everything I can to convince you to stay longer.” And so saying, he eased between my legs and slid his body inside me. I arched into him, taking him deeper so that he filled me. My fingers slipped into the damp hair on his chest and he buried his face against my neck, inhaling my scent into his lungs. Deep in his chest he hummed his contentment and I smiled as I rained kisses over his shoulder. His thoughts had settled somewhat from the chaotic mass they had been when first he’d dropped his shields. It was as if they now held focus, a single burning determination. The force of it was nearly daunting.

  Gareth kissed me then, his cupid bow lips soft and gentle as he nibbled and teased. A last kiss on the chin and he slid back into the water. I raised my head to look at him. He was so beautiful. He leaned over me and ran his fingers down my body. “You are the beautiful one. Your skin is so soft, like silk. Your breasts are perfect.” And he leaned forward and ran his tongue around my areole. The touch puckered my nipple and made me squirm on the sand. He took his time running his tongue from breast to breast, teasing until they were tiny buds that he captured in his mouth.

  My pulse raced as he worked his way down my body, nibbling along my ribs and over the muscles of my stomach to dip his tongue into my navel. His eyes held mine as he eased lower across my red gold curls. “Help me,” he urged, then reached for my hands and guided me, showing me how to hold myself for him so that his lips and teeth and tongue could plunder. He worked me for se
veral minutes, licking and sucking until I was quivering on the edge and then he backed off, allowed my breathing to even out before he built the pressure over again.

  I was a mass of shuddering nerves when he slipped a finger inside of me and began slowly sliding it in and out. He hummed and the vibration of his mouth against me tightened my muscles, nearly sending me over the edge. He became serious then, the flicks of his tongue becoming stronger as I made soft noises and held myself open to him. His moved his finger faster and the pressure built and built until it spilled over me, pulling me off the sand as my body contracted and the waves of pleasure coursed through me.

  He pulled me back into the water then, whispering for me to hold onto him as he reached between us with one hand and guided himself into me. His other hand he used to hold my hip so he could direct me onto his hard length. He teased me with his hand on his cock as he ran his head over and around me. I moaned and writhed trying to capture him as he brushed himself against me until I threw back my head and screamed in frustration. Only then did he enter me, using my hips to direct us as he rocked in time, pulling me onto him hard and deep.

  My head slipped back and his mouth found my nipple, this time his teeth sank deep and I cried out with the near pain of it, then nearly whimpered when he growled and rode me. I held his arms and gave myself over to the pleasure and came shuddering and moaning for him. His breathing changed and he drove himself into me harder, grinding our hips together and I felt the urgency in his mind, the rush to release as he spilled his seed into my body.

  We clung to each other in the water, gulping air, and I wondered how he had managed to stay on his feet. He smiled and kissed my temple. “Sheer stubbornness,” he admitted, and I chuckled softly. He helped me rinse the sand out of my hair. I had a bad moment when we couldn’t work the rubber band out and he ended up calling Spot over to us so he could use one of his teeth to slice through the thick band. Apparently Spot had been banished to the other end of the pool by Gareth and was more than happy to join us. It took a few minutes to explain to him what we wanted, he was so excited and just wanted to play. When Gareth finally got him settled down so that he wasn’t practically drowning us in his wake, he used his eighteen inch fang to slice through my hair band, then grabbed it up in his mouth and carried it away with him to the other end of the pool. Obviously it was just one more trophy to go with my shoes. Spot sure like collecting things!

  “What we need is a blanket and some towels,” Gareth remarked.

  “What we need,” I replied, “Is food! I haven’t eaten since dinner last night.”

  “Fine, then what we need is a blanket and towels and a picnic basket!”

  “Please.”

  “Please,” he replied with a smile. His fingers brushed my cheek and he leaned in for a kiss. I smiled back at him and lifted a hand to trace one brownish blond eyebrow and his eyes narrowed. He reached for my wrist and held my arm up so he could inspect it. “Did I do this?” he demanded.

  I turned my arm so I could see the nice purple bruise forming. “No, I don’t think so. I probably got that from Mark.”

  “Mark?”

  “The guard I sparred with upstairs. The one Jace is going to beat to a bloody pulp next time he finds him alone in a stairwell,” I replied with a nasty smile. “I can’t say he doesn’t deserve it, the cheat pulled my hair.”

  “I’m sorry,” Gareth said suddenly, pulling me against his chest.

  I shrugged and gave him a squeeze. “It’s no big deal; the next time I shift it will disappear. I could do it now, but it’s a sort of reminder that not everyone plays fair.”

  “Not about this,” he replied then gently kissed my bruise. I pushed back in his arms so I could see his face. “I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner, when I first felt your call.”

  “But you did. You came with Nick. That was the only call I made.”

  He shook his head at me. “No, I mean the desire.”

  “You felt that?” I asked and I’m sure my face paled. “Where were you?”

  “I was going over inventory with Nick in the club.”

  I swallowed slowly. This was so not good. If my range had spread to two floors up it was amazing that no one else but those in the cavern were affected. “Did Nick feel it?”

  “No, he didn’t react until you…called for him personally. He wasn’t kidding about it knocking him out of his chair. That was well done.”

  “But you felt me…weren’t you concerned?”

  He grimaced and admitted. “I fought it.”

  “Why?”

  He leaned his forehead against mine and took a deep breath. “Lexi,” he told me softly. “You are very young and I…am old and not without my pride. I did not like the idea that you could have that power over me.”

  I took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry. I know it was wrong of me to use force. Gareth, I need help, if I can’t learn to control this power it might be disastrous.”

  “Obviously, this is why we will help you.”

  I worried at my lower lip for a moment. “It’s worse,” I told him, realizing he needed to know the whole ugly truth.

  “Tell me.”

  “Mi thinks it could get stronger.”

  Gareth nodded and gave my shoulder a squeeze. “You are not old enough to have reached your full potential, though I admit you are already stronger than a good number of those that crossed over, a gift from your father, no doubt. I suppose it makes sense that your powers would continue to increase.”

  “Every time I have sex?”

  “That would be… are you certain?”

  “I just don’t know.” It was frustrating but true.

  He shrugged and added in a teasing voice. “There’s only one way to know for certain. Of course I will be happy to assist you in determining the truth. In fact I will make it my number one priority.” We were laughing when the door opened and Jace wandered in with his arms full. Perfect timing.

  “Snick shoved this at me and said someone ordered a picnic?” he told us, wandering over to a sandy spot so he could lay out the blanket he had over one arm. He actually had a picnic basket, towels, and robes in the other and we left the water to help him set things out.

  Lunch was wonderful, fresh barbequed salmon on crackers, a variety of cheeses and boiled and seasoned new potatoes. For desert there was fresh fruit. A bottle of crisp white from the Napa Valley had been included, along with a bottle of water, and I realized I’d gone without coffee that morning.

  “Next time you see your Merecat, be sure to thank her for packing your apartment,” Jace commented, as he leaned back on one elbow and sipped his wine. He was wearing jeans again and a dark t-shirt without shoes.

  “Where did you put my stuff?” I asked, looking at him from where I lay with my head in Gareth’s lap.

  “We just put everything in your room, there wasn’t all that much. I’ve never known a female to have so few belongings.”

  I leaned up on an elbow thinking that can’t be right. “What do you mean there wasn’t all that much? My stuff took up the entire first floor and a good portion of the basement! Furniture and clothing… I had two bedrooms full!”

  “Nope, I didn’t see any of either of those, just a few boxes in the middle of an empty room. I had the guys bring them down.”

  Gritting my teeth I thought evil thoughts at Mi. She probably wasn’t paying attention but it irked me enough to be angry with her. Sounded like she’d taken the opportunity to get rid of my clothing, she never had liked my taste! Well, the joke was on her because Areth had great taste and I made a mental note to keep those two apart if possible. No need in warping Areth with Mi’s sense of style. “Thanks.”

  Neither one would meet my eyes. I grumbled under my breath then put my head back in Gareth’s lap. He lifted a finger and gently stroked the tension lines from between my eyes. “And thanks for the watch,” I told them, thinking that I needed to get it out of Jace’s room and start wearing it. “And were you going to get aroun
d to putting that chip in me anytime soon? I might need to go out at some point and it would be nice if I could get back in. Oh and by the way,” I said, my eyes closed while I fielded the random thoughts coming from my subconscious. “I left my car in the parking structure over at the publishing house.” Note to self, I thought, I needed to contact Margie, maybe send her some flowers or a yacht or something. I owed that woman big time.

  Jace leaned forward and ran his finger down my arch. “We already took care of it.”

  “Hmm? What do you mean you took care of it?”

  “We had it moved to our garage last night.”

  I frowned again and cracked open one eye to look at him. “Okay, can I have my purse back soon or were you planning on keeping that too?”

  “It’s in your room. Although you’re lucky Nick found it upstairs… very careless.”

  “I seem to recall being a little busy at the time,” I told him.

  Gareth’s voice was calm as he asked, “Where might you need to go?”

  I shrugged. “I still have a job you know. Although I suppose I should contact my publicist to let her know I won’t be working anymore. I’ll need to do some banking. And it would be nice to see the sun again. Maybe take a walk on the beach or something.” I kept my thoughts light. “That’s not going to be a problem is it?”

  “Not as long as one of us goes with you.”

  “What’s the real reason?” Jace demanded and Gareth glanced at him sharply. Damn he shouldn’t have been able to tell I was hiding something.

  “Stop poking at me or I’m going to shield,” I told him with a grimace. “Did I pry when those Vampires attacked us, or make one mention of the fact that you obviously hold super secret conferences here, and have your own fighting force living and training on the premises? I didn’t even ask who were those six Weres upstairs the other night. Remember them…the ones Mi warned us about? No I did not, nor did I say anything about that ultra modern computer gear you’ve got going on in the other room, or that you’ve got a cave like Batman with your own personal Wyrm guarding the bat gate? I don’t think so! And let’s not forget that you were sleeping with Troll girl! A Troll, for God’s sake. I’ve even given you the benefit of the doubt and assumed you were sleeping with the enemy for information or something. I mean why in the hell else would you be doing it? Its obvious whateverhername was didn’t give a rats fig for you, oh yeah cause she was so sleeping with Ricky, and can I just say for the record…yuck. So before you start grilling me on where I usually spend my nights, you might want to rethink the whole give what you get theory and either mind your own business or start talking.”