The Snow Leopard's Christmas Surprise

by Emilia Hartley

  “I’m going to make it so that you never want to wear underwear again,” he said into the mound of her. He could smell just how much she wanted him. The scent invaded his mind and drove him toward her. He needed her just as badly, but often the woman didn’t orgasm from simple sex. She needed more and he was glad to give it to her. He peeled away the tiny scrap of fabric and tossed it to the side.

  He was pleasantly surprised to find that she was bare of hair. He nipped the bare flesh of her labia between his teeth to hear her gasp. His tongue slipped between the folds. It flicked the bead of her clitoris and she gasped above him. Her hips arched into his lips. His hands moved to grab her ass and he pressed his face deeper into her.

  His tongue delved inside of her and he could feel her body beginning to contract. To make it last longer, he pulled back. His tongue ran in wide, lazy circles around her clitoris. She rocked her hips into him, craving more. She reached down and fisted her hand in his hair. The pull of her hand on his scalp pulled things lower inside of him. His hands tightened around her thighs.

  He flicked her clitoris in quick succession before she arched beneath him. Her orgasm spilled out from her with a moan of pleasure. He gripped her ass tight and lapped up the taste of her. She writhed beneath him, the orgasm sending aftershocks throughout her body with each swirl of his tongue.

  Her body fell limp from pleasure. Wes growled in satisfaction. This was his mate and he was going to make her a happy woman. He kissed his way up and down the inside of her thigh, ending near her most sensitive spots. She squirmed beneath him when his lips touched her. He smiled.

  “Do you want more?” He asked from where he knelt between her legs.

  She looked down at him. A new fire burned in her eyes. “No more,” she breathed.

  Chapter Eleven

  Dakota needed him inside of her. She couldn’t take it anymore. She wanted to feel every inch of him inside of her. The need was overwhelming. She sat up and reached for the waistband of his jeans. They strained against the hard length of him.

  “Are you sure,” he asked, leaning back.

  She met his gaze and saw what a struggle it was for him to pull back, to ask her that simple question. In response, she leaned forward and claimed his mouth with her own. She bit at his lower lip, tugging playfully. In one motion, she swung her body over his so that she was on top.

  Her entrance was slick from his attention. Her body still felt shaky from the orgasms that he’d given her. The first one had exploded inside of her in a way that she’d never felt before. The second had pushed her over the edge completely. Now, it was her turn to share.

  She crawled back, grabbing the fabric of his jeans in her hands and yanking them off. His thick legs slid free of the pants and Dakota was left to stand back and admire the man laying before her. She looked up the thick legs and found his cock standing at attention. Beyond that was the hard planes of his stomach and chest. His blue gray eyes sparkled as he studied her.

  She pushed him back onto the bed and rose her hips over his. With one hand, she reached between them and grasped his cock in her hand. It was larger than she’d ever seen before, not that she could say that she’d seen a lot. But, she’d never tried to fit anything this large inside of her before. Now, she wanted every inch of it to fit inside of her.

  Lowering her hips, she let him press against her entrance. She let her head fall back. Small spasms rocked through her muscles, leftover from her earlier orgasm. His hands rose to grab her hips. He pushed her down with an urgency that made her look at him.

  The fire that she’d seen in his eyes at the bar burned in them again. It made her warm from the inside out as she fell into his gaze. He growled.

  “How badly do you need it?” she whispered as she rotated her hips over his cock. She felt the tip of him move in and out of her.

  He growled and pushed her hips down. She laughed and let her hips move down. He thrust inside of her and she gasped. He was everything, he was all she could feel. It took all her effort to find the muscles within her to even swallow. Slowly, she began rocking her hips back and forth. Beneath her, he moaned with pleasure.

  His grip left her hips, his hands following his eyes and slipping beneath the shirt. She reached down and pulled it off, revealing the rest of her body.

  “So, you do have more tattoos,” he was able to say. His hands moved up her rib cage. While his fingers touched the black ink on her side, his thumbs grazed her bare nipples. She hissed as a new sensation rippled through her.

  He leaned forward and took a nipple into his mouth. He rolled the soft flesh between his teeth, flicking the very tip with his tongue. Dakota couldn’t handle everything he made her feel all at once. It made her forget what she was trying to do.

  She grabbed his shoulders and shoved him back down onto the bed. Her hands still on his chest, she pushed herself up so that she could pull back. Nothing but the tip of him was inside of her when she looked into his eyes. Suddenly, she thrust down and took all of him. His eyes rolled back. She did it over and over again just to watch him move beneath her.

  “I’m going to come,” he growled. His eyes widened for a second and he reached to still her hips. “We need to be more careful. Let me get a condom.”

  Above him, Dakota shook her head. She rocked her hips back and forth against the wishes of his hands. The feeling of him inside of her was overwhelming. She couldn’t stop now. She could barely even speak, but she managed to get the words out.

  “I’m on birth… control,” she breathed. “Just hope… you’re… clean.”

  Wesley nodded as his eyes closed. His breathing was coming faster. Dakota knew that he was almost finished. Pressure was building inside of her, too.

  Dakota took him as deep as she could. Inside of her, she could feel his cock spasm. It sent shock waves through her that made her head fall back. Her body lit up from the inside. A scream left her lips, his name falling from her mouth.

  ***

  Dakota didn’t know what she was doing in that room. All she knew was that this man’s gaze set her on fire. She’d been making a joke and looked to him to see if she’d made him laugh and instead fell into the flames of desire that overwhelmed his eyes. He’d tried to cover it up, but she’d already fallen.

  When was the last time anyone had looked at her like that? Had anyone ever bothered?

  It was the reason that she’d let him carry her up the stairs to his room. He’d carefully dropped her onto his mattress before covering her with his own body. Wes hadn’t made any protests at making sure that she came first, multiple times. She’d even been pleasantly surprised when he could fit all of himself inside of her. It was nearly perfect.

  She sat up and looked back at the man lying next to her. His arms spread wide while his eyes were closed. She didn’t know the sounds of a sleeping man. She’d never stayed overnight with one before. There was never anything to talk about in the morning and she wanted to avoid the awkward morning retreat for either of them.

  “Don’t stare,” he said.

  She jumped and a bubble of laughter escaped her. But, the real world slowly invaded her thoughts. She’d lost track of time while she’d lost herself in him. Dakota fumbled off the bed, yanking his shirt over her head before searching desperately for her phone.

  Her heart sank when she found the time. She had missed her interview with the art history professor to discuss her intentions while abroad. She let her weak knees drop her to the floor. The rug beneath her knees wasn’t enough to absorb the impact.

  “What is it?” Wes asked from behind her.

  “I have to go back to school soon. Can you take me without… you know, being seen?”

  She glanced over her shoulder. His peaceful face was exchanged with one of loss. His lips were set in a thin line and the tension that had filled his jaw that morning had returned. It hurt her to have to see that kind of sadness on his face, but she had to get back to school. He had to know that this was just a one night thing.
/>   Right?

  She couldn’t date a dragon. It was out of the question. Her mother would absolutely flip her lid. She laughed at the idea of her mother’s reaction. Tiny Bea would be a mess of anxiety and worry for her only daughter.

  “I have a life that I need to get back to,” she told him, softly. “I can’t stay here forever.”

  “Why not?” he whispered in return.

  She paused. Looking around, she could have easily forgotten the world outside his tower bedroom. She could crawl back onto the bed and curl up beneath his arm. Yet, she hadn’t worked as hard as she had through her childhood to throw it away for a man, a dragon man. Those years filled with work had to mean something, right?

  Finally, Dakota shook her head. “I have to go back.”

  He ran his hands over his face. Once his hands fell away, the man she’d seen earlier returned. He gave her a lopsided smile and rolled off the bed to find where his pants had fallen. Wes tugged his pants on and Dakota was a little sad to see his round ass disappear. Her eyes roved up his body until she met his eyes.

  The sound of her stomach broke the silence between them. Dakota laughed and held a hand to her stomach. Her stomach growled again and she found that their lovemaking had left her voraciously hungry. She was grateful that she took her birth control regularly despite normally being sexually inactive. There was no threat of finding herself carrying a dragon baby. Then another thought struck her. Her face warmed.

  “What is it?” Wes asked, closing the space between them and gently resting his hands on her arms. He rubbed his palms up and down her skin.

  She didn’t know quite how to ask the question that burned through her mind. She damned her vivid imagination for its intrusion. Eventually, she turned her head up to him. “Do dragons give birth to…” The idea seemed absurd now that she began speaking. What was she thinking? “Do dragons give birth to eggs?”

  Wes let out another laugh like the one that had cause the whole pub to stop and stare at him the night before. It came from deep within his belly and rumbled through her arms. It settled within her and made her smile despite the shame she felt for her odd question.

  He shook his head, wiping away a small tear of laughter. “No. Our mates give birth to children. They might not look completely human, but they are children all the same. That I can promise you.”

  “What do you mean they don’t look completely human?” Dakota asked, her curiosity overpowering her good sense to shut up. “Do they… do you look like a lizard when you’re born?”

  Wes smiled again. He sat on the edge of the mattress. “Maybe just a little. It isn’t so much that we are born with tails or anything odd as that. Some of us are born with our beasts in our eyes. Others bear marks of scales, red birthmarks on the skin in the shape of the scales of our beasts. But, they are always in the shape of healthy little human children, with cute little toes and chubby arms.”

  She smiled at his description of children. Wes was a surprise to her. She’d never imagined meeting a dragon in her life, but she’d imagined them plenty. He was nothing like the brooding and imposing men that she’d dreamed up. He wasn’t a brute.

  Instead, the man she stood before had a boyish smile on his face that warmed in her presence. He looked inviting and like laughter was always waiting on the edge of his lips. Living with a man like Wes in your life would mean to know laughter and love on a daily basis, she thought. He would be the kind of guy to nuzzle your neck while you worked, maybe even write silly notes back and forth. She wanted to close the space between them and enclose herself in his arms for the day.

  But, Dakota had responsibilities. She had a future that she had worked hard for so far. She’d sacrificed so much of her younger years for work so that she wouldn’t end up like her parents, barely making ends meet in jobs that meant nothing to them. Not even a dragon man was going to screw that up for her.

  “Would you mind if I took you out to lunch before I brought you back to campus? It is the least that I can do for you. We can go somewhere no one will recognize me, if that makes you happy.”

  She shouldn’t, she told herself. She really shouldn’t. But, her lips parted and the words that came out did not agree with logic. “I would like that, I think.”

  He shot up from his seat, his grin taking over his face. A dimple sat neatly on each side of his smile. It made Dakota swallow hard.

  “But, I need something a little more covering than a men’s tee shirt.”

  His eyes raked over her naked legs and she felt warm. How could he look at her and make her feel such things? How could he look at her like she was the only thing he ever wanted in life? She fidgeted under his gaze, making him propel into motion.

  “I might have something a bit smaller left around here. Female dragons are rare, but I have a female cousin and she comes here from time to time to escape her own family. They’re over protective of her and it drives her a bit crazy.”

  Wes returned with a pair of plain, black leggings and a long t-shirt that promoted a soccer – no, football team that she didn’t recognize. She wasn’t about to argue. She moved to pull on the leggings when she realized that she no longer had underwear. She glanced at the scrap of fabric on the floor that had been her thong and frowned.

  He followed her gaze and laughed. He appeared before her, his finger gently placed under her chin so that she had to look up at him. “I like it this way. It makes it easier for me to smell you.” His lips fell upon hers.

  Her lips parted to let him in. His tongue delved inside of her mouth and she nibbled at it, flicking it with her own tongue. He pulled back, a laugh on his lips. Her head was light as she looked up at him. She clung to his thick arms to keep from falling over.

  “I would prefer you wear that little number from last night without underwear, but I think you would attract too much attention in that. You aren’t looking to be the center of attention today, as far as I understand.”

  She most certainly was not. And, she most certainly was not going to wear that red dress again. She thought back to the night before and the mistake she made that nearly hurt her. She had been lucky that this man was there, that he had the presence of mind to save her from a dangerous situation.

  That’s what she felt. It had to be. She was grateful to him for all he did the night before. That was why she couldn’t stop looking at his dimples or sneaking peeks at his ass. It was what made her feel so safe in his arms.

  Right?

  She shook her head and shoved a foot into the leggings. She would go to lunch with Wesley and then she would walk back to campus. She felt bad about the clothing that she was wearing, but she had no intention of ever seeing him again. She couldn’t afford it.

  Chapter Twelve

  Wes grabbed the keys to his truck, his mind running at approximately a million thoughts per second. The most pressing thought flashed like a neon sign every time he turned to look at Dakota. Her dark hair fell like a curtain over her face as she knelt to put on her shoes. With a practiced toss of her head, the length of it fell over her shoulder to reveal a solemn gaze flecked with sparkling green.

  It threw him for a loop every time. It made the neon sign in his mind flash, the image of his beast pointing to it with his tail beneath it.

  Tell her. Tell this woman that she is your one and only mate. You may never have this chance again.

  But, it wasn’t right. She had her own life. He couldn’t force his life, his love on her. She had to make that choice on her own. The best that he could do at the moment was continue to take up her time. He would take her out to lunch, his beast insistent that she be fed before he left her presence. Over lunch, he hoped that they could talk. He wanted to know more about her. He hoped that she would love what she saw in him.

  The ride out of the territory was quiet. She was pressed against the far side of the truck cab as though they hadn’t made love only an hour ago. He could see it in the way that she walked, the way that her knees still wobbled slightly. But, she has
forgotten it and pushed herself as far from him as she could get. It hurt.

  “What are you studying here in the city?” He broke the silence.

  “Art history,” was all she said in response.

  “What do you plan on doing with a degree like that?” Wes had no idea what people did with degrees. He learned to use his hands long ago to craft things when men with degrees sat behind heavy wooden desks that he’d made. The world had changed without him on the outside of the territory. Degrees had become a lot more important than they once were.

  Dakota didn’t say anything for a long moment. Wes wondered if she would speak to him at all for the rest of the ride, or through lunch even. When she finally did speak, it surprised him.

  “I want to run an art museum,” she said. “I love the stories behind why things were made. I want to help preserve those stories and myths. I want to surround myself with them every day of my life. And, maybe, I want to travel the world. I got lucky with the study abroad program. Wales is full of art and architecture. Its stories are crazy.”

  He nodded. “I cannot argue with you on that. I know of a good many of the stories myself. When I was a child and my grandfather could still stand my presence, because older dragons do not care for the presence of other dragons in their territory if they are not just bairns, he told me the tales of our kind.

  “He told me of the two dragons that shook Wales. They fought, one red and the other white. No one knows why they tore at each other day and night, but a Welsh king sought to put an end to it. He built a grand castle over the two warring dragons. For a while, it contained them. After a long time, the king and his descendants forgot that there even were dragons under his keep.

  “Then, their war became so great that it shook all of the stones of the castle loose. The king’s men rebuilt it, but the same thing happened over night. Again, they put the stones back in their places and went about their business.