by Ruby Dixon
Meaning just oral. And while that’s great—and okay, I absolutely love oral and his willingness to give it—I also feel a little sad that I’m too scared to ask for more.
Tomorrow we go to retrieve Amy and Sasha. Whatever happens tomorrow, our dynamic changes. After tomorrow, it’ll be me, him, Amy and Sasha here in this place. We’re losing our alone time, and the days of casually grabbing the other person for an impromptu make-out at any time, any place? Those days will be over. I’m a little sad about that and wonder if I shouldn’t take advantage of the situation. I’m asking Kael to trust me tomorrow—can’t I trust him?
And if something bad should happen tomorrow…this might be our last night together.
“I want to have sex,” I blurt out to him, my hand on his bare chest. “Real sex. Not just touching. I want everything…but I’m scared.”
Why scared? I am your mate. I want nothing more than to give you pleasure.
“Yes, but the bite—”
I do not need to do so again. My venom races through you even now. He watches me intently, his claws stroking down the column of my throat. Your scent has melded with mine, just like our minds have melded. We are connected. One claw drags down the front of my T-shirt, the fabric catching. You are my mate. My everything. But if you are still scared, I will only pleasure you with my mouth.
I swallow hard. “I don’t want to be scared. I want you, too.”
Then look into my mind. See my thoughts. You will know you have nothing to fear.
I tentatively reach out to connect my mind to his, and I’m immediately flooded by images. Images of us together, his mouth on my skin. Images of my hand skimming down his back. Of his mouth between my legs. Of him feeding the aching length of his cock into my soft pussy—
And I moan, putting my arms around his neck. “Yeah, okay, let’s do that.”
Which part? He sounds amused.
I have to pick? I want all of it. All of what he just showed me, because I’m terribly greedy.
Then you shall have all of it. He swings me into his arms and heads toward our large bed.
I wrap my arms around his neck, still a little hesitant. “We still need to prepare for tomorrow,” I tell him, even as he sets me down on the bed and then immediately climbs over me. “I need to make a second saddle for Amy, and…”
And I’m getting distracted as his weight settles over my body. God, I love the feel of him against me. My breath dies in my throat as he buries his face against my neck and begins to lick my collarbone with his hot, raspy tongue. We will prepare, he tells me, and his thoughts are husky with need. But for now, I need my mate.
“Oh boy, your mate needs you, too.” I arch against his teasing, glorious tongue. Why am I wearing so much damn clothing? It needs to go right now.
“My Claudia,” he says aloud, my name carefully pronounced and sounding like pure heat coming from him.
I whimper. “God, why is your spoken voice so sexy?”
He chuckles, chest rumbling. “Claudia,” he teases again, and his hand moves to undo the button on my jeans. I smell the wetness between your legs. You grow slick when I say your name.
I moan, head lolling back onto the blankets. Whatever he wants to do to me, I’m his. With a simple breathless whispering of my name, I’m ready to shuck my panties and throw caution to the wind.
My dragon has me. He has me, and he’ll keep me safe.
“Claudia,” he murmurs again, his mouth trailing downward. His claws rip at my T-shirt, shredding the fabric. I want to feel your skin against mine.
I yelp, pushing his claws away, because at heart, I’ll always be a practical scavenger. “Not my shirt! Do you know how hard it is to find good undamaged clothing—”
Then take it off, fast. He nips his fangs at my exposed skin and gives me a hot look that makes my knees liquid. I want to mount you and sink deep inside your sweet depths, my Claudia.
Oh, holy heck, I want that, too. I tug at the remnants of my clothing, moving as fast as I can. I’ll have to sew them together again tomorrow, but for now, they need to come off pronto. Kael’s seductive thoughts are making me ache deep inside. I fling my tattered shirt off, then my bra, and toss them off the bed. Then I flop onto my back and begin to shimmy out of my stupidly tight jeans. So much clothing. Right now I’m thinking I should become a nudist like him.
Even as I undress, he moves forward, rumbling low in his throat. His mouth goes to my breast, and he clasps it in his hand and begins to gently lick the erect tip.
“God, you don’t play fair,” I whine, shrugging my jeans off my ankles and then doing the same with my panties. All the while, he continues to nibble and suck on the tip of my breast, driving me wild. But then I’m finally naked, and I wrap my legs around his hips and drag his body back against mine. I tug at him, pulling him up so I can kiss him. Sensing my need, he presses his mouth to mine, taking me in a deep, sweet kiss. And I love it—he tastes like heat and spice and all of the things I’ve been craving more with each passing day.
His cock rubs against the slick heat of my pussy, and I moan into his mouth as he pushes it through my folds, wetting his length with my juices. Back and forth he rubs, until I’m mad with need and my hips rise to meet his. I’m not thinking about bites, or saddles, or anything other than the feel of him rubbing up against me. It’s both the best thing in the world and the most maddening, because I want him deep inside me. “Yes,” I murmur against his hot mouth. “Please. Kael. I’m not afraid anymore.” There’s nothing left in me for fear—I’m too full of hunger for him.
“Claudia,” he purrs again, his tongue snaking against mine.
I shudder with need so fierce I almost come with his next slick thrust along my folds. Please, I send to him. Quit torturing me and just take me.
Turn over, my mate. His thoughts are possessive, heavy with desire even as he lifts off of me, and his eyes are black with need. I will show you how a drakoni takes his woman.
This is so incredibly filthy.
I…love it.
I moan as I turn over on my stomach, obeying him. I lift my hips suggestively as I do, my hands twisting in the bedsheets as I await his touch.
It comes a moment later. His big hand smooths down my ass, brushing over my hips and thighs. So beautiful, my Claudia. My mate.
“Kael,” I moan. “Need you.”
He drags my hips up, until I’m on my knees, my cheek pressed to the mattress. Do you want your mate, Claudia? Do you want me deep inside you?
“Yes,” I beg. “Yes, please. Now.”
Here? His knuckles brush along my wet folds, and I cry out. They skim over my flesh, and I feel him graze my clit, circling one big knuckle around it over and over again. Is this what you want?
Oh god, is it ever. I’m making incoherent pleading noises as he circles my clit, driving me wild.
Show me, he says, and his hand goes still. Use your hand and guide me.
I’m panting as I reach between my legs and find his big hand there. I start to touch myself, to stroke my clit, but he pushes my hand aside.
Use me.
So filthy. So delicious. I moan as I guide him, using his knuckle to rub soft little circles around the sensitive bud of my clit. I can feel the heat of him pressing up against my body, and that combined with the sultry thoughts he’s sending in my direction, I’m about to come in what feels like record time. I rub harder and faster with his knuckle, my mouth open in a wordless cry. So close. So—
He stops. His hand pulls away. I muffle my scream of frustration in my throat, grabbing another fistful of the blankets. “Kael,” I pant. “You son of a bi—”
I nearly come off the bed in the next moment, because the head of his cock presses against my core. God, yes, this is better. So much better. I shift my hips, spreading my knees wider so I can take him. So he can claim me.
He does, in one swift, hard stroke.
Kael sinks deep, filling me with such intensity that my toes curl. I scream at the sensation,
pleasure bursting through me like a flood. Already, my muscles are beginning to clench and tense with the onset of an orgasm; he feels that good inside me. I love the low growl he makes, the way his big body covers mine, everything. I’m pulsing with need and there’s no breath left inside me. Everything’s waiting, ready to explode.
He grips my hips, pulls back, and then pushes into me again. I make a thoroughly unladylike grunt, shocked at how good that forceful motion feels. Then he begins to pound into me with swift, possessive strokes. My mate, he growls in my head, overwhelming my thoughts with his. Do you like the way I take you, my mate? Do you like the way I make you mine?
Yes, I whimper, clinging to the blankets for dear life as he deliciously hammers into me. My toes curl with every stroke of his cock, the enormous girth of him dragging against all of me and making me feel incredible. I can feel my pussy clamping around him as my orgasm builds, and it just makes every thrust of his cock harder and more delicious. I shove a mouthful of my new sheets between my teeth and bite down as I struggle to hold off the tidal wave of desire for just a few moments longer. He feels so good, I want this to last forever.
It’s no use, though. In the next moment, I’m coming, little keening pants escaping my throat as my body locks and I clasp him deep, the orgasm shattering inside me. I vaguely hear Kael roar his own pleasure, feel him thrust harder into me, his movements becoming jerky as he reaches his peak. I tense, because I’m afraid he’s going to flip me on my back and bite me—
But then he’s coming, too. I feel the wash of him inside me, hot and wet. He continues to pump into me, slowly, and when there’s no move to bite, I relax and close my eyes, losing myself to bliss.
That was a brutal mating…and an utterly sublime one. My toes feel permanently curled, and I have a dopey smile on my face. Kael sighs heavily, and then I feel his weight slide off of me. A moment later, he drags me against him, cupping my smaller body against his bigger one. My mate, he says again, nuzzling my neck. You are mine for now and for ever, my Claudia.
I reach backward and touched his cheek tenderly, but I don’t respond. I need tomorrow to happen before I can promise my future to anyone.
Because if Amy isn’t safe, how can I ever be happy with Kael?
29
CLAUDIA
The next morning, the skies are crisp and clear, as if even the weather is smiling on our plan.
“We ready?” I ask for the dozenth time, tightening the straps on my legs once more. I’m nervous. Super nervous. Have been since I woke up. Well, okay, I was woken up with sex. That was awesome and distracting. But after that, I was nervous, and the knot of worry in my stomach isn’t going away.
Kael sends a wave of assent to my mind. We are ready. I am calling to Dakh.
“Okay,” I breathe, and then clasp my gloved hands, trying to stop their trembling. We can do this. We can. Amy and Sasha’s safety depends on it.
I can’t quite shake a sense of foreboding, though. Like this is all about to go tits up in the worst possible way and I’m just too stupid to see it yet. Theoretically, everything’s in place; there’s an extra saddle rigged behind me on Kael’s back, and additional straps so I can let someone ride in front of me. Dakh knows his role as distraction, and Kael has an image of the building that Amy is being kept in thanks to our mental connection. Provided that Amy’s still in that building, everything should go smoothly.
So why am I so worried? I’m teaming up with two dragons, two big, scaly, bus-sized badasses. It’s not like we don’t have the power. Humans can’t hurt dragons at all. This is a totally one-sided fight.
But still…there’s something inside me that worries.
All will be well, Kael tells me. Trust in me.
And there, I suppose, is the problem. I do trust him. How could I not? We’re as intimately connected as any two people—well, two beings—can be. Yet privately I worry that Kael will think of Amy and Sasha as threats, or rivals for my attention, and abandon them.
But maybe I’m just making mountains out of molehills. I swallow hard. Only one way to find out. Let’s do this, then.
Hold tight. Kael takes to the air with a trumpeting blast, and it’s echoed a moment later by Dakh, far in the distance. I adjust my swim goggles and peer at the skies. Oh, this is much better; it’s so much easier to see when the air isn’t sandblasting my eyeballs and my hands are warm in the gloves. I cling to my handlebars, heart beating a nervous staccato in my breast. This will all be over soon, and Amy and Sasha will be safe. That’s all I want. The rest doesn’t matter.
Kael’s powerful wings beat hard, and he lifts into the skies, darting between broken skyscrapers and flying even higher. Dakh whirls a short distance away, and when I peer in his direction, his eyes are flashing black. Uh oh. I swallow my alarm. Check out Dakh—his eyes are dark. Is he okay?
He struggles, but he will do this.
All right. I have to trust. I can’t do this on my own, and Kael won’t let me down. He’ll keep me safe, and he knows how much my sister and Sasha mean to me.
I just have to trust in his plan.
The flight toward Fort Dallas seems to take forever. I know it’s not that far from the tower we’ve claimed as ours, but each wingbeat seems to happen in slow motion, each breath inhaled, an eternity. I glance back at Dakh as he circles in the sky, never flying close, but just far enough that I know he’s still with us.
Slowly, the city comes into view, and I suck in a breath as Dakh speeds up and swoops low.
All is well, Kael tells me. Dakh knows the plan.
Yeah, but Dakh is crazy. But I have to trust. It’s not Dakh’s fault that the sight of the other dragon is drawing up bad memories, other days and other dragon attacks. He might not have had anything to do with those. I can’t blame every dragon for what happened in the past, not after knowing what I know now, and not after sleeping with Kael.
I still feel helpless, though. It’s weird, because on Kael’s back, I feel strong, yet surprisingly powerless. I need a weapon, I think. Maybe a spear or a gun. Heck, even a freaking slingshot would do. Just some sort of projectile weapon so I can go from passenger to participant in this raid. But I suppose it’s too late for something like that, since we’re already over the city. But in the future—
And then I stop myself. Raiding the city isn’t going to be a regular thing. Just because they’re assholes, it doesn’t mean that I have to be one. Nor do I plan on leaving my sister and Sasha behind.
In the distance, I hear the sirens go off, warning the residents of Fort Dallas that a dragon attack is imminent. I feel a twinge of guilt that I’m the one bringing the dragons, but I force myself to squelch the worried thoughts. If Amy was free, I wouldn’t have to do this. They’ve forced my hand.
Dakh dives toward the metal car barrier that surrounds the fort, and a great gout of fire spews forth from his mouth. I watch closely, because that looks like real flame and looks like enough to hit the ground and hurt someone. He’s not supposed to do more than frighten people. His flame shouldn’t hit the ground. It should be controlled.
But as I watch, Dakh roars and flames again, and the fire licks along the metal barrier. Somewhere on the other side, I see dark, oily smoke plumes go up, which means something’s caught on fire. “What the hell is he doing?” I ask Kael, worried. “We said no real attacks!”
I do not know. I will speak to him. Kael wheels about in the sky, heading for Dakh. I can sense my dragon’s displeasure even through his calm thoughts. He knows my wishes.
The other gold dragon dives at the city once more, flaming away. It looks entirely too real to be a diversion. Maybe it’s the worry-wart in me, but I don’t like it. I’m pretty sure my concerns are echoed by my dragon, because Kael trumpets an angry challenge and circles Dakh.
To my shock and horror, Dakh turns on us, flaming. His eyes are totally black, and this isn’t the face of a dragon that has his senses. He’s totally gone right now.
Kael roars in fury, rearing backwar
d. His wings rise high, and suddenly I can’t see anything but leathery wing and scale as Kael forms a protective barrier around me. Dakh is lost. His mind is gone to the madness again. It is the smells of the human hive. It is too much for him.
Well, shit.
Panic rushes through me. I’ve brought a dragon to scare people and fake a few attacks…and now he’s really attacking. People are going to get hurt, and it’s my fault. I duck lower in my saddle, trying to keep out of sight. Can we pull him away somehow?
We circle wide around him, and as we do, I catch a glimpse of the other dragon. Dakh’s face is wild, any intelligence once there now completely gone. Dakh snarls and hisses in our direction as we get closer, then turns in a flap of leathery wing, diving at another building.
He is not listening to my call, Kael sends, utter frustration in his thoughts. I cannot attack him with you on me. I will not let my Claudia be hurt.
I tug on my handlebars uselessly, wishing I could do something other than perch on Kael’s back and be dead weight. Should you put me down somewhere and go after him?
No. Kael’s thoughts are vehement. I will not risk your safety. You are only protected when you are with me.
Then pull away. We can’t do this.
But Kael only heads in the opposite direction, farther into the city from where Dakh is attacking the outskirts. The siren continues to wail, loud even from high above the city, and far below, I can see people scurrying to safety.
We…aren’t leaving? Terror clutches at my chest. Am I losing my dragon, too? Kael?
I am here. I am sane. But I notice that his thoughts are tighter, more rigid than normal. He’s holding himself tightly in check, focusing on me.
I’m confused. Then where are we going?
We’re not leaving until you have your sister, my mate. I promised you we would get her.
Oh god. I hesitate, torn. Our plan is going all wrong. No one’s supposed to get hurt, but I can hear faint screams as Dakh flames away, roaring and attacking the north end of the city. No one would be prepared, because this dragon attack isn’t in cycle with the others. They’re helpless and vulnerable if they don’t get to a shelter quickly enough.
