Col looked for a tie to remove the thin covering. “Off.” He growled deep in his chest, pulling at one of the shoulder straps. It didn’t come loose, and he couldn’t see how to remove it.
Her arms folded behind her back and a second later the fabric came loose.
He pulled it down her arms, freeing her beautiful, full breasts. Her nipples were pink and erect and begging for his mouth. His stomach tightened, like someone had landed a well-aimed fist to his mid-section. She was a gift from Fate. More than he could have ever imagined. Energy surged through his veins, a rush not unlike what he felt during battle. Or while he was soaring through the skies of Reylea.
This woman was his new home.
She put her hands into his long hair as he licked and sucked and worshiped her breasts. The little gasps and moans drove him further.
The way her fingertips traced over his face and ear and neck. She drew circles on his arm, following the lines of his family markings. Ink he’d earned as he’d advanced through the levels of his warrior training.
The way she touched him…so soft, but inquisitive. Curious. It drove the lust inside him even higher. His heart hammered in his chest. His cock throbbed with the overwhelming need to sink deep into his shuarra. To claim her as his own. He’d never known such desire.
Not in all his years. Not with any woman.
His mate was different. Her soul was his alone. Fate had chosen her to glow just for him. It was a gift and a promise he could no longer ignore. Perhaps it was Fate’s way of telling him he shouldn’t desire vengeance. His vow still stood. He would seek his family’s justice, but he’d keep his mate safe and close as well.
The light emanating from her tan skin illuminated the shadows of this small wash room, but only for him. She couldn’t see it. Probably for the best, too.
The window behind her was the only other source of light and it was quickly fading. The sun had already fallen behind the distant peaks.
Col growled, wrapping his hands around her body, lifting her from the floor. There was a bed in the other room. He wanted a chance to fully enjoy his mate.
He took three steps and laid her out on the bed. Her legs had wrapped around his hips and he took pleasure in rocking toward her as if he were already sinking his cock deep into her heat.
She whimpered and cried and begged softly for more, saying his name over and over again like it was the only word she knew.
Col leaned down to kiss her bare stomach, and then trailed kisses up her ribcage, to where her breasts waited for more attention. Her pink nipples were hard. He cupped both in his hands, loving the way they fit perfectly in his palms. He thumbed over her nipples.
She gasped for breath. “Col.” Her voice shimmered, beautiful and erotic and heavy with desire.
“Shuarra,” he said, using the only name he had for her. The only one that truly mattered. She was his. He dipped down again and took one of her nipples into his mouth again, caressing and nibbling just hard enough to make her gasp over and over and over.
She writhed beneath him, rising up to capture his head in her hands as a long moan of pleasure tore through her chest. A sheen of sweat had broken out across her brow, cheeks, and torso. The slight salty taste only added to her perfect flavor on his tongue.
He sampled her other breast and she cried out again.
“Please.” Desperation grew in her voice, rocketing his pulse. She was not Reylean. She didn’t know about the way souls glowed and called to their mates in his world. But he could tell she felt the need as strongly as he did. Felt the way the magick pulled them together.
He put his mouth on one breast, cupping it with one hand, while his other went to the fastener at the front on her leg coverings. It came undone without much trouble and he worked at the metal teeth below the fastener until they came apart as well.
Then he slid his hand beneath her bottom, grabbed the top of her coverings and pulled them down with one effortless stroke. Something remained; something bright pink covered her pussy. Col grabbed that too and yanked it down, tossing it to the floor with the rest.
Now she was glorious and bared to him completely. He parted her legs and brushed his lips reverently across the lips of her sex. A smattering of brown curls teased him.
She stilled on the bed, panting for breath. She smelled amazing. Clean and sweet and perfectly woman.
His woman. His shuarra.
He parted her damp folds and licked, drawing his tongue slowly over her swollen clit. Even though she wasn’t Reylean, she was similar in every way to their female’s forms.
She gasped and whimpered and writhed beneath his mouth.
Col continued to lash her with his tongue, holding her in place, taking his pleasure by giving pleasure to her.
“Col, please.” Her body trembled beneath the powerful hold of his arms.
He kept one arm across her hips, stopping her from wriggling away. With the other hand, he slid two fingers inside her slick wet warmth, exploring. In and out. Slowly then faster, mimicking how he’d fill her with his cock very soon. “You are beautiful, my shuarra. Fly for me.” His voice rolled from his chest, dark and commanding.
Col curled his fingers inside her, loving the feel of each shudder and clench of her thighs. He flicked his tongue over her clit again, moving his free hand to the other breast where he pinched and rolled her nipples just enough to make her moan.
Her body tightened again. The orgasm was rising, pulling her to the very top. She panted and gasped, “Col. Col, I need—” She dropped her head as another cry ripped from her throat.
He stilled his fingers as her body tightened around them. Then took her clit into his mouth and gave her what she needed.
She bucked off the bed beneath his hold as she came. The keening cry made him feel more alive than he’d ever felt before.
His name on her lips was the most powerful magick he’d ever experienced. He wouldn’t leave her. Ever. He’d stay with his shuarra until the day he died.
“Ohmygod.” She shuddered violently and fell back on the mattress with a satisfied sigh.
Col released her hip and crawled up over her body, lifting her small form and dragging her up toward the head of the bed. Then he kissed her again, taking her mouth. Slowly. Deeply. Enjoying each mewl and cry that squeaked out of her.
Her arms went to the waist of his kilt, fumbling and exploring, looking for a way to unfasten it.
“If I’m naked, you need to be,” she whispered on a breath against his lips.
He reached for the knot at his hip and worked it loose without releasing her mouth. He didn’t want to miss a single moment of tasting her.
The leather and fabric kilt came loose and fell from his hips, leaving nothing for her imagination to consider. His cock was long and hard, and he wanted nothing more than to drive it deep into her right in that moment. His tip dragged along the velvety smooth skin of her hip.
Her fingers dug into the meat of his arms and she arched off the bed, thrusting her hips closer. “Col, please. I need you inside me so badly it hurts.”
Col nudged her opening with his cock, pressing forward just a little to make sure she could take him. A little more. Then a little more.
Her body stilled as she stretched to accommodate his girth. She was tight and needy. The fire in her eyes locked with his as he pushed further. Her mouth opened in a wide “O” that turned to a moan. Her figure quivered next, anticipation building from within.
Her eyes were wide as he sank deeper, slowly, inch by inch until he was seated all the way to the base. She fit him like a glove. Her skin glowed and glistened.
She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. She was his.
His hips rolled into hers and she groaned, digging her fingernails into his biceps. He slid out, nearly all the way, before pushing in again.
It was like he’d found what had been missing his whole life.
“Watch me,” he ordered. “See me claim you, shuarra.”
Her big
brown orbs locked with his gaze as he drove into her harder than before.
Col relished the way her hands clawed at his arms, his shoulders, anything she could reach from where he’d pinned her to the bed. The slight pain of her fingernails only increased his desire.
He pushed her legs, guiding them around his waist.
She wrapped them tightly, lifting her hips off the bed.
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and lifted the rest of her until she was straddling his thighs as she rode him.
Her arms were around his neck and his face was buried between her gorgeous breasts. He licked and sucked and bit at her nipples until she rocked up and down. Then he took hold of her hips and slammed her down hard.
She cried out as he lifted her again and then pulled her right back down. “Col!” Her body was tightening, winding its way closer and closer to release.
He wasn’t going to last much longer, but he wanted her to come first. Wanted to feel her bear down as she found her climax. “Fly for me again, shuarra. Now.” He growled deep in his chest and bit down a little harder on one of her nipples. The pain was just enough to push her over the edge.
She screamed, digging her fingers into his back, then screamed again, wave after wave of her climax rolling through her to him.
He laid her back on the bed, driving into her again and again as she came, his mouth moving closer and closer to the soft curve where her neck met her shoulder.
She came again with another furious cry of need and pleasure all wrapped into one.
Col joined her this time, a roar tearing from his throat. His balls tightened and then heat poured through his body until it erupted, filling her with his seed, marking her as his mate.
His dragon fangs lengthened, and he bit down on her shoulder, tasting her blood, sealing her to him.
Forever.
It could never be undone.
4
Her eyes opened slowly. Wooden walls. Wooden ceiling. Cabin. Fabric beneath her body. A mattress. She was in a bed. Her skin was clammy and warm. She was soaked with sweat. Gentle pressure on her lips—ceramic—made her open her mouth. Cold water dribbled through them. She swallowed.
Then everything came rushing back.
Great beasts—a red and a black dragon—had fallen from the sky right into the clearing where she was trying to photograph Alaskan wildlife.
Pretty sure dragons were not native to the valley. They’d seen her. Chased her into the trees. She’d thought for sure she was about to be a reptilian snack. Then everything had just gone black.
The next thing she remembered was another dragon setting her gently down in front of an old snow-covered cabin. He was black also, but much bigger than the first one that’d attacked her with the red. Then he’d been a man. How was that possible?
Of course, that was saying that dragons were possible too. She wasn’t ready to admit to the existence of either.
“Shuarra?” The rumbly dark sexy voice from her dreams was speaking to her again.
He’d made her feel safe. Desired. She’d dream-walked through the best sex of her life. Whatever had happened to her head, she wanted it again.
The air held the scent of sweat and…
Emotions slammed into her head, drowning her in pain and guilt. How could sex with a stranger have been better than what she’d had with the love of her life?
But it had been.
She’d loved Tommy since grade school. They’d been planning a wedding. A family.
Everything.
Then the accident had taken him from her. Had taken everything from her. She never thought she’d have another chance at being happy. At feeling anything close to what she’d felt with Tommy. She didn’t want to. She didn’t deserve to.
It’d been her fault Tommy had been in the car when he was.
She had sent him to his death…
“Ohmygod!” Naomi sat up straight. She was in a bed. Her lungs clamped down, like a vise was tightening on them. It couldn’t be real. But he was right there. The man from her dreams, the dragon who’d saved her was sitting on the edge of the bed with a cup in his hand.
Everything came tumbling back.
He’d said he was hunting the first two dragons. That he wasn’t from this world. That kiss in the bathroom. Then sex…mind-blowing, earth-shattering, crazy hot sex with a dragon man. And—he’d made her forget. Well, she’d had amnesia. For a few moments she’d felt what it was like to be held and loved by a man.
It’d been so long.
A dull throbbing pain between her neck and her shoulder brought her out of her memories. She turned to the man at the foot of the bed. “You bit me!” She craned her neck trying to get a look at the shoulder he’d sunk his teeth into. She remembered feeling the pain through the fog of her incredible orgasm, but nothing after that. Her body had been so heavy and tired. Sleep had been the only option.
She traced her fingers along her bare left shoulder. There were four puncture marks, two on the front and two on the back. She could feel the ridges where a scar had formed. “How long was I out?” she asked.
The beautiful man with bronze skin and black tattoos swirling up and down his arms, cocked his head and paused a moment before answering.
His name was Col. She recalled from her muddled memories.
“You have been asleep several hours. My bite seems to have caused a fever in your body.”
She nodded. “Everything burns. Why would you bite me?” Naomi pulled the blanket up to cover her breasts. “And how are the holes from your teeth already healed?”
“You’re mine, shuarra.” He yanked the blanket down and leaned into her personal space. “My mate. Do not hide yourself. You are beautiful and have the most exquisite breasts.” Col dipped his head. His mouth closed around one of her nipples and he suckled on her, sending sparks straight south.
Her mouth opened, and she panted. Naomi’s core ached and throbbed from the sex they’d had hours before. Now, she’d be damned if her body wasn’t craving more like an addict that desperately needed their next hit.
“No, no, no,” she protested, shoving his head away, but missing the warmth of his mouth on her the moment it came off her breast.
How could she want this? Another man.
Tommy had been her whole world. No one could replace him. Ever. But all she could think about was this man’s presence. How big and strong and muscled and exciting.
It was the first time since Tommy’s death two years ago that she’d actually felt alive. Her family had begged her to get away. Take some time for herself.
She’d avoided everyone and everything, except her job. This Alaska shoot had come up at the magazine where she worked. It’d originally been given to an intern, but for some reason she’d begged her editor for the opportunity.
Something deep inside her had needed to get away. From the city. From her grief. From her inability to move forward in life without Tommy. And now that it’d worked…now that she had taken that first step, she felt like a traitor. A rock sat in the bottom of her stomach, weighing her down, pulling her even further away from the present.
“What saddens you?”
“I—” Naomi started, then stared at the man sitting a foot away from her. Was she that obvious? She’d learned to bury her emotions and hide them from her family. At least that was what she told herself.
Mostly, they just accused her of avoiding them. Even her friends at work accused her of becoming a shut in. So, what if she had? She didn’t deserve to be happy. She’d killed her fiancé. He’d died, and she’d just been left alone and lost.
A low rumble made her look back at Col again, but she didn’t want to talk about Tommy.
“You can’t distract me away from the fact that you bit me. You might be sexy and covered in muscles and have a really magnificent cock, but I’m going to need more explanations now that I’m…me.”
He sat back, giving her space immediately. “You remember?”
“Yep, dragons
falling from the sky. Check. Getting ass kicked by aforementioned dragons. Check. You bringing me here to this abandoned cabin and telling me you were hunting the dragons that attacked me. Please feel free to butt in at any time and tell me I’m just on some drug, tripping so high, I don’t know up from down. Then we had mind-altering sex. And I woke up, right now, with all my memories intact.”
“I don’t understand all the words you said, shuarra, but you seem to have the order of events correct in your mind.”
His voice was like a purr, and she wanted to rub all over him like a cat in heat.
“What the heck is wrong with me?” Why couldn’t she control her desire? Why couldn’t she just shut down this feeling burning inside her?
She’d had sex for the first time in two years because she’d had amnesia. Well, that was over. Now she should be able to get back to work. Focus on her career. Nothing more. She didn’t need anything more.
Liar. The little voice in the back of her mind spat out. Fine. Maybe she was lying to herself. It didn’t remove the feeling she’d betrayed Tommy—was still betraying Tommy—by letting this stranger touch her, pleasure her, make her forget…
A hint of a satisfied smile curved the corner of Col’s mouth.
Naomi narrowed her gaze and gave him her best tell-me-now-or-else look. It didn’t affect him in the least.
“You are my mate. Your soul glowed for mine. We are sealed together forever. I will protect you with my life until the day I die.”
Mate?
Hold the freaking horses. She did not agree with that.
And well, fuck.
She wanted to yell and rant and tell him he’d had no right to make that choice for her…except for the fact she remembered very clearly her telling him she wanted it. Wanted him.
But I didn’t want a mate. I had my chance and lost it.
The biting and claiming was a bit overboard. Couldn’t they have just had monumental sex and called it an amazing fling?
Knock Down Dragon Out: Soulmate Shifters in Mystery, Alaska Book 1 Page 3
