“Does it usually take you this long to make a decision?” Dylan teased.
She grimaced. “As it happens, yes.”
Dylan released her to step back and hold up his arms in an unthreatening manner. “I promise I won’t even touch you again if you don’t want me to.”
The problem with that was Holly wanted him to touch her again. She could imagine nothing more pleasurable than having Dylan slowly undress her, caressing and kissing every inch of her as he did so, arousing her even further, until she—
“Unless and if you want me to,” Dylan repeated softly, knowing by the blush on Holly’s cheeks and the feverish glow of her eyes that the mating aphrodisiac had already started to saturate her system. That in a few hours’ time, her body would be aching and desperate for release.
The blush deepened in her cheeks, and her gaze avoided meeting his. “Let’s have dinner together first and see what happens, hmm?”
Dylan knew exactly what was going to happen to Holly in the next few hours.
The deepening of her arousal.
The aching need of her body.
An insatiable desire to have his cock inside her.
To be filled and claimed by him.
Holly had no idea what was wrong with her.
This guest bedroom in the castle was beautiful. Decorated in pale lilac and cream, it had a white four-poster bed and a luxurious silk duvet and pillows in pale lilac and purple. There was also a spacious shower room adjoining the bedroom, as large as the kitchen/breakfast room in the apartment she shared with Gayle.
The suite was beautiful, decadent, and all Holly could think of was lying in that bed with Dylan and having him kiss and make love to her.
She ached to feel his lips claim hers.
She needed to have his hands on her.
Was trembling from the desire to have his cock buried deep inside her channel, filling her and easing and satisfying this aching arousal.
That need was so much stronger than it had been a week ago. It felt almost as if she’d been drugged since arriving in Wales and seen Dylan again. Injected with something that made her want to rub herself all over Dylan’s naked body. To take his hard cock inside her and wildly ride them both to completion.
A wanton need Holly had no explanation for.
She had never felt like this before in her life. Never desired a man so desperately, she wanted to launch herself at him. To rip off his clothes before impaling herself on the thick length of his aroused cock.
Maybe a cold bath would help? She’d heard that worked to ease a man’s arousal.
All the bath seemed to do for her was intensify the arousal. Even rubbing the soap over her own body increased that painful ache. Her skin seemed hypersensitive to the slightest touch, even her own.
Most humiliating of all was that a single caress of her soaped fingers on and around her throbbing clit resulted in a body-shaking orgasm so intense, Holly could do nothing but gasp.
She was still trembling from the intensity of that release as she stepped out of the bath to wrap a towel around herself, securing it at her breasts before going through to the bedroom. Her nether lips felt slick with her own release, and her skin was hot, burning, rather than chilled from the bath water. Nor had that climax eased the desire in the slightest.
The itching was back too, with a vengeance. It no longer felt like itching but as if millions of tiny shockwaves were passing through her body, causing her nipples to harden and ache, and her clit to throb.
She’d been under a lot of strain lately, predominantly from this situation with Gayle, so maybe this uncharacteristic behavior was in response to that?
She certainly couldn’t sit down and eat dinner with Dylan in this state. He would know, surely, just from looking at her flushed face and fevered eyes that something was seriously wrong with her. It would be too embarrassing if he should guess those symptoms were caused because she was so aroused, she no longer had control of her own body.
Holly’s eyes stung with the sudden onset of the tears that, seconds later, began to cascade hotly down her cheeks. She gave a choked sob, burying her face in her hands as she gave in to those tears.
She had no idea how long she was consumed by those deep and racking sobs, but she gave a start as she felt warm arms wrapping around her and drawing her close to the firm strength of a muscular chest. Dylan’s chest, Holly realized as she recognized the feel and warmth of him before relaxing against him with a relieved and welcoming sigh.
“You aren’t alone anymore, Holly,” he murmured against the dampness of her hair. “I’m here now, and I’ll protect both you and your sister. You never have to be alone again,” he assured her gruffly.
Holly appreciated him saying these things to her, even if they were only said as a way of comforting her. And they did comfort her. Filled her with a strength that had begun to ebb since they’d parted at her suite earlier. Having Dylan’s arms around her, holding her, reassuring her, brought back her belief that maybe, with his help, this situation could— No, it would resolve itself without any bloodshed.
She drew in a deep breath before slowly lifting her head, smiling slightly as she looked up into his concerned face. A dark and handsome face that took her breath away just to look at him. “I’m not sure I’ve done anything to deserve you being so kind to me or offering to help me.”
Dylan stared at her in amazement. Holly didn’t believe she’d done anything to deserve his kindness?
She’d done everything, she was everything to him now. The sun, the moon, the stars, his fated and life mate. Being apart from her even long enough to allow her to take a bath and change before dinner had caused him pain. Hearing her sobs as he approached the bedroom to escort her to dinner had felt as if his heart was being ripped from his chest.
Holding her in his arms, breathing in the aroma of her arousal, almost brought him to his knees. Even with her hair wet from the shower, her face bare of makeup, she was still the most beautiful woman in the world to him. She always would be.
“I meant it, Holly,” he spoke firmly. “It’s taken me a long time to find you, but I’m here to stay now, and I will protect you. From anyone and anything.”
She eyed him a little warily as she pulled out of his arms and took a step back. “I only want— I just need you to do what you said and talk to Gregori Markovic on my sister’s behalf.”
Dylan’s arms felt empty without Holly in them. He felt empty. He also sensed Holly pulling away from him emotionally as well as physically. That the intensity of his vow had unnerved her.
He nodded. “That’s the reason I’m coming back to London with you.”
There was a frown between her beautiful green eyes. “You’ll explain the situation to him? Make him see that Gayle isn’t guilty of anything except gullibility? We can give him back the fifty thousand pounds, and someone else took the rest of his money. Possibly someone he knows, if they were aware of the bank account,” she added speculatively.
“Aeron is already looking into that possibility.”
The color first flooded and then drained from her cheeks. “You told your brothers the reason I’m here?”
Dylan’s brothers already knew exactly why Holly was here, and it had nothing to do with her sister or the mess Gayle had gotten herself into. Garrett had barely stepped through the door of the castle a week ago after they’d flown back from London together before informing the rest of the brothers Dylan had met his mate. Another one of them finding his mate after sixteen hundred years of searching was reason enough for them all to celebrate.
It was also the reason his family had all started drifting into the sitting room earlier, curious to see and meet his mate.
Just as the moment he and Holly returned from the beach, his brothers’ heightened senses had told them the mating had begun even if it wasn’t yet complete.
None of which he could tell Holly yet. Despite what he’d hoped earlier, after the way she’d withdrawn from him just now when he a
ssured her of his protection, Holly wouldn’t be ready to hear any of that until after he’d ensured her sister’s safety.
In the meantime, the mating aphrodisiac was already in her bloodstream and would cause her severe discomfort. An arousal only Dylan, as her mate, could satisfy. An arousal he wouldn’t allow any other man to satisfy. Ever.
“Are you in a relationship?” The idea had only just occurred to him. If there was a man in Holly’s life, Dylan hoped he would bow out of it gracefully, because there was no way he would allow any other man anywhere near Holly, including his brothers, until after they were mated. And maybe not even then.
She gave a dismissive laugh. “Junior doctors don’t have time for relationships.”
“Good.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Good?”
He grinned. “Less competition for me.”
Holly appreciated Dylan’s lighthearted flirting. At the same time, she knew it was only another way of cheering her up after her emotional meltdown.
She had no illusions about the way she looked. Red hair. Green eyes. Pale skin that burned in the sun rather than tanned. Her figure was slightly voluptuous from too many hospital cafeteria meals eaten at odd hours because of the long shifts she worked. Dylan was breathtaking. The sort of gorgeous that graced movie and television screens. He could, and no doubt very often did, have any woman he wanted.
In fact, Holly now wondered how she’d had the temerity to kiss him earlier.
It had been purely impulsive, of course. A reaction to Dylan having agreed to help her. Admittedly, he had kissed her back, but that could merely have been out of politeness. Whatever his reason, she mustn’t read too much into it. Or his flirting. Once he had helped her to resolve this situation with Gregori Markovic, Holly doubted she would ever see Dylan again.
Chapter 6
“Are you a vegetarian?”
“No,” Holly assured him with a brief laugh.
She’d been relieved when she joined him in his suite that Dylan was still dressed as casually as she was. He wore a blue polo shirt and black denims. Holly had replaced her cream blouse with the only change of clothing she’d brought with her, a dark green blouse she knew complemented the color of her eyes.
Dylan still looked concerned. “Is the steak cooked enough for you?”
“It’s fine.”
“You’ve only eaten one bite of it.”
That was probably because Holly’s appetite had deserted her the moment the two of them sat down together to eat dinner in the sitting area of Dylan’s suite.
It was a much more masculine suite than the one she currently occupied. The furniture in here was a large and comfortable mahogany, with original paintings and even a tapestry hanging on the plain gray stone walls. A log fire crackled merrily in the huge hearth in the sitting area, where a table had been set beside the window for the two of them to eat dinner together. It was a scene set for intimacy.
Something which Holly felt deeply. There were at least another half dozen people in the castle—the castle, for goodness’ sake!—but the two of them were completely alone in here.
Dylan, after they’d returned from the beach, had whisked her up the stairs without so much as saying a word to any of his brothers or sisters-in-law to let them know they’d returned. Holly hadn’t seen any of them since, and she very much doubted any of his family would dare to intrude on their privacy now either.
She gave a rueful shrug. “I don’t think it will hurt me to lose a few pounds.”
“I’d prefer you stay exactly as you are.”
Holly gave Dylan a startled look and then as quickly lowered her gaze back to the barely touched food on her plate. Her hands were trembling slightly from the unnerving glow she saw in those intense sapphire eyes.
She gave a dismissive laugh. “Luckily it’s my own decision whether or not I choose to lose weight.”
“Is it?”
The two of them had talked of general things during the first course of their meal. They hadn’t quite gotten round to discussing the state of the economy, but they had discussed their likes and dislikes in books and films and discovered they enjoyed a lot of the same things. But as the meal progressed and Holly’s physical awareness of Dylan increased, so did her tension. Their conversation had become more and more stilted during the main course of the meal. It had now taken a turn toward the surreal.
“Oh, I think so,” she attempted to tease. “Besides,” she sobered, “I’m really not hungry.”
“You should eat.”
She frowned at Dylan’s persistence. “I’d rather not.”
“You need to keep your strength up for what’s ahead.”
Her eyes widened. “I don’t see how my eating more is going to make this situation with the Russian bratva any more bearable.”
That hadn’t been the “what’s ahead” Dylan referred to.
After the bite, a dragon mating took days, not hours, to be complete and binding. Days when neither of them would have more than a few hours’ sleep in between even longer hours of fierce and intense lovemaking. The two of them would be joined for long lengths of time by the mating barb on his cock. The only nourishment they would take during that time was from each other.
If Holly agreed to the mating, and that was still a big if, she was going to need to be as healthy and strong as it was possible for her to be before that mating began. His brothers’ human mates had withstood the mating without too much difficulty, but Holly was worn down from years, not days, of hard work and responsibility. Once they were mated, Dylan intended to ensure she was relieved of both those things.
If or when they were mated.
He reached out to encircle one of her wrists with his fingers, instantly aware of her indrawn breath before she stopped breathing altogether. He could hear the rush of blood coursing hotly through her veins. Feel the too-fast pulse beneath his fingertips. The heat of her skin. The thrum of her body’s arousal.
Her deepening arousal.
An arousal she’d indulged in the bath earlier, when it was his right, his pleasure, to do so.
He really would have preferred to wait to tell Holly any of this until after the matter with Markovic was settled, but her deepening arousal made that impossible. He knew Holly’s need for them to make love was only going to get worse, until it became so intense, it was a physical pain that only Dylan could assuage. As her mate, he was sworn to protect her. Allowing her to feel even a moment’s discomfort or pain when he could prevent it was a part of that protection.
He released her, breathing in deeply before speaking. “I said earlier there was something I need to discuss with you.”
Holly heaved a sigh of relief at the removal of Dylan’s fingers from about her wrist. For a moment, it had felt as if he was more attuned to her body than she was. As if he knew exactly how much her nipples ached to be sucked. By him. How her clit craved being stroked. By his fingers and tongue. How she longed to have his cock inside her. Pleasuring her.
Maybe she had been working too hard?
Because no matter how gorgeous Dylan was, how muscular that lean, taut body, she’d never wanted any man like she now craved Dylan.
She nodded in answer to his statement. “So you did.”
“You’re sure you don’t want to eat any more? The steak? Dessert?”
“No, I’m really fine.”
He rose abruptly to his feet. “Let’s sit on the sofa, where it’s more comfortable.”
Holly stood to follow him slowly over to the seating area in front of the warmth of the log fire. She was a little uneasy at his intensity as she made herself comfortable on the couch and watched Dylan throw a couple more logs onto the fire.
A frown creased his brow as he turned to face her. “What I’m about to tell you might seem a little…unbelievable.” He grimaced. “But I want you to hear me out before you decide to get up and leave. I can prove what I’m saying, but I would rather you hear the words first.”
Her unease d
eepened. “Are you sure you want to tell me if it’s that serious?”
His mouth twisted. “I don’t have a choice.”
She eyed him warily. “Why don’t you?”
He gave a half smile. “I’ll tell you that too once I’ve explained the first part.”
“Okay,” Holly murmured guardedly.
He nodded. “Remember I told you three of my brothers died?”
“Yes.”
“Well, one of those brothers was King Arthur. The Knights-of-the-Round-Table King Arthur. Although there were no actual knights as such, or a round table— Sit down and hear me out, Holly,” Dylan instructed as she rose abruptly to her feet.
“I don’t think so.” Her heart was pounding, and it had nothing to do with arousal and everything to do with the fact she was alone with a man who thought he was the brother of King Arthur. “Garrett was right about you. You are an alcoholic. To the degree you’re having hallucinations—”
“Did you see me drink any of the wine with our meal?”
No, she hadn’t, but that didn’t prove a damn thing. “That’s the thing about alcoholics. Most of them do their drinking alone.”
“I am not an alcoholic,” he bit out between gritted teeth. “Garrett only said that because we had to give you some explanation as to why I had to retrieve my blood samples before any tests could be done on them.”
Her curiosity got the better of her. “Why did you do that?”
“Because those tests would have shown that I’m not completely human.”
O-kay. “I think it’s time I left.” Past time, actually. She should never have come here in the first place. She knew nothing about this man other than that she had felt drawn into seeking him out and asking for his help. She had been so sure Dylan could help her, it was whether he would that had been in question. To now learn he was unstable, to have that help given to her and then snatched away again because of that instability, was beyond bearing.
Tears stung Holly’s eyes as she bent to pick up her shoulder bag from where she’d placed it on the floor earlier. Dylan was nothing more than a drunk, a man who believed he wasn’t human and that one of his brothers had been King Arthur.
Dylan (Dragon Hearts 4) Page 5
