Dragon’s Protected (West Coast Water Dragons Book 6)

by Kayla Wolf

  It had been so long since anyone had touched her, she realized. Even Dennis—whose cold eyes and dull voice seemed thousands of miles away in this moment—seemed to have gotten tired of her body towards the end of their relationship. They’d had sex, of course, but it had always made her feel so … self-conscious. Like she was a meal he was eating, or a piece of art he was enjoying, a shirt he was wearing. Something to be consumed and then discarded. Something that he was never that interested in in the first place. He certainly had a long, long list of things he didn’t like about her body. Her legs were too long, her breasts were too small, she needed to go to the gym to build her butt up to look the way he liked it …

  But none of that could be further from how she felt now, with Harvey’s lips on hers. She could feel his hand caressing the side of her face, toying with her dark hair, pushing it back behind her ear the way she often did, and there was something so careful and reverent in his touch that she could hardly believe it was her that he was holding. Holding her close, his arm curled gently but possessively around her lower back, both of them kneeling in the still-warm sand of the beach as they kissed … holding her body like it was something precious, something delicate and beautiful. Something to be adored, not something to be consumed.

  ”I’ve been wanting to do that since I met you,” he breathed, his lips parting from hers for a moment as he spoke, and she took a deep breath, realizing to her surprise that she’d almost stopped breathing when he’d kissed her. How much time had passed? The sky was darkening, the lights of the settlement behind them seeming surprisingly remote as the moonlight danced across Harvey, his sculpted torso almost glowing in the moonlight. He looked like a sculpture, she thought dizzily, gazing up at him. Like some kind of Renaissance masterpiece brought to life, his warm hand still resting on the small of her back and sending fire shooting through her body …

  ”Me too,” she breathed, and it didn’t feel like a confession—it felt like a celebration. The smile that spread across his face was infectious, and she let her own lips curve upwards. Then she hesitated at the wondering look on his face. “What?”

  ”Your smile,” he said softly, reaching out to caress her lips ever so softly with his fingertip. She shivered at the sensation, her whole body tingling at his touch. “It’s usually so quick. Like lightning striking. It’s nice to see it hang around a little.”

  She ducked her head, embarrassed by the intensity of his regard. “You’ve been paying that much attention?”

  ”Of course I have,” he said, looking at her as though she was mad. “Do you have any idea how—bewitching you are?”

  Now she was blushing in earnest—she could feel her cheeks burning, feel her heart pounding as absolute joy and giddiness warred with her self-consciousness, her ingrained instincts to hide. She had no idea what to say. So instead, with a boldness she never even knew she had in her, she acted. She reached up to kiss him again, and this time she kissed him harder, letting a little of the desire that had been building in her show itself. Lori had always been so strict with herself, with showing people what she wanted. But she was so tired—so, so tired—of always putting her needs last, of hiding her desires. Right now, in the moonlight with this masterpiece of a man, she couldn’t bring herself to hide how much she wanted him.

  And it seemed she wasn’t alone. Responding to her ardor, she felt him deepen the kiss, his soft lips pressing hers apart, the heat of their kiss seeming to intensify as their tongues met. She’d never kissed anyone like this, never—she almost didn’t feel the way he was holding her close, gently lowering both of them to the slightly rumpled towel on the sand beneath them. Then they were lying down, and she could feel the length of his body pressed against her, and her whole body was buzzing with joy. They were alone—it was as though this was some kind of dream. All of her obligations were a thousand miles away at this moment. There was only the beach, the soft sand beneath the towel under her, the moonlight dancing on Harvey’s skin … and Harvey, above her, those blue eyes luminous as he gazed at her like she was something magical.

  Her hands were flat against his chest, and she could hardly believe how natural it felt to be in his arms, to let her hands wander and roam across his body as though she had every right to touch him, to enjoy the feeling of his skin against hers. She gasped as he broke away from her lips, started kissing her throat, his mouth gentle against her skin and yet somehow overwhelming, the nerve endings there set alight by the way he kissed and nibbled and bit a trail along her throat. She felt her hands clutching at his shoulders, drawing him closer, impatient with the feeling of her shirt clinging to her body because it was blocking her from feeling more of him. So without even thinking about it, she pulled it off over her head, realizing as she did that she wasn’t wearing anything underneath it. Just her skin, bare under the cool night air, and his blue eyes on her were so full of admiration and … and something else. Something that made her heart skip a beat. It was desire … it was wanting … it was pure, animal lust, and for the first time in a long time, it was almost as though she could feel her wolf howling inside her chest. All she wanted was him. She gazed back at him, almost challenging him with her gaze, her heart pounding furiously in her chest … and then he was on top of her, a new urgency in his movements as their mouths clashed together.

  She felt like a completely different person as she reached down to pull the shorts he was wearing off his body, pushing them down over his long, muscular legs and taking advantage of the gesture to caress the firm muscles of his thighs, curving around to his incredible butt. She heard him huff laughter as she squeezed him and grinned into his mouth. Now he was more naked than she was, and though he was pressed too close to her for her to be able to see his manhood, she could certainly feel it pressing against the shorts she was still wearing. As if he could read her mind, his hands were on her belt, tugging at the shorts—but he hesitated for just a moment, his blue eyes checking in with her for a nod of approval before he yanked the shorts down and discarded them.

  And then his hands were in places she hadn’t been touched in years. She knew, on some level, that they were still on the beach, that theoretically, anyone could walk up at any moment and discover them, but somehow, she just couldn’t bring herself to care. All she cared about was him, right now, holding her in his arms, drawing pleasure out of her she’d never thought was possible. Sure, she’d had sex before, but the way Harvey was touching her was making her feel as though she’d barely scratched the surface of what was possible. What was it about him that was making her feel so unbelievably good? So out of control? So full of joy, she thought she might be about to explode? His fingers dipped inside her, and she choked back a moan, the sensation building to an almost unbearable level, and she realized with a dizzy shock that she was close to climax. Incredibly close. It would almost have been embarrassing … if she hadn’t had her mind firmly on other things.

  But he seemed to sense how close she was, too, and he was determined to extend their pleasure for as long as possible. She whimpered and gasped in his arms as he kissed her, brought her closer and closer to the edge then eased off, sending waves of pleasure crashing and tingling through her body again and again until she felt completely out of control, her body thrilling to his touch like an instrument he was playing. She raked her hands across him desperately, caressing his body, moving further and further down to caress his manhood, which was stiff and hard. It drew a groan from him when she touched it, curled her hand around him, tried to urge some of the pleasure from him that he was giving her. Soon enough, they were both stifling moans as they caressed each other, and then, with a collaborative instinct that neither of them instigated but both of them were eager to follow, they shifted around until Harvey had lined himself up at the entrance to her sex.

  She could feel the hard flesh of his cock torturously close to her sex, knew that he could feel the heat of her against him, too, like a furnace, desperate to draw him inside. Still, he lingered, hesitant … tea
sing her? She rocked her hips, frustrated by his closeness, desperate to have him right now, immediately, already furious to have waited as long as she had. She ought to have taken him into her arms the minute they’d met, that day at the grocery store. She should have pulled him into the back of her car and made love to him right then and there.

  And then he was inside her, and her whole body exploded with light. She was completely lost in the throes of their passion, gasping and heaving with the impact of his thrusts, every muscle in her body tensing in the effort to draw him in deeper, to feel every fraction of him inside of her. Nothing had ever felt like this, nothing—he fit inside her so perfectly, every single stroke hitting her in a way that seemed to send pleasure exploding through her. And she’d already been so close to the edge with his teasing … she could feel her climax building, knew she was powerless to do anything against it. It was like the waves on the ocean behind them. All she could do was hang on and let it wash over her.

  But she did bury her face in his neck when she came, some half-forgotten instinct trying to keep her scream of pleasure muffled for fear of bringing the whole settlement running. Harvey, too, was clearly struggling to stay quiet, his thrusts growing ragged and frantic as his own climax neared, and he spent himself inside her with a hoarse groan, the last aftershocks of her orgasm keeping him company as he shuddered with pleasure. There was a long, still moment, and then Lori shifted her weight, giggling breathlessly as she blinked the sand out of her eyes. The towel they’d been lying on had been crumped and discarded behind them—they were both utterly covered in sand, the whole section of beach where they were lying looking like it had been attacked by a pack of maniacs with shovels.

  Harvey’s eyes followed hers to the chaos around them, and he laughed breathlessly, his smile crinkling the corners of his eyes as he looked down at her, still breathing hard. “Made a mess.”

  ”Your fault,” she replied archly, surprised by the flirtatious tone in her voice. Sex usually made her feel self-conscious and awkward. What was it about this guy that was making her feel like some kind of goddess of love?

  ”I’ll take it,” he shrugged, pulling her close and claiming her lips in a deep, lingering kiss that was far less frantic than their fiery kisses earlier but no less passionate. And to her shock, even in the post-coital glow of satisfaction, she could feel that kiss re-lighting a fire that she’d thought her orgasm might have put out for a few minutes at least.

  He could feel it too, she realized with a giddy rush. He was stirring, his breathing picking up as the kiss deepened, and she pulled away, laughing as she realized where they were headed. “It’s the middle of the night!” she pointed out, a little surprised as she realized how dark it had gotten.

  ”So?”

  ”I’m covered in sand.”

  ”So am I,” he purred, reaching out, and she fended him off, even though she was sorely tempted to fall back into his arms.

  ”I need a shower,” she said.

  ”I’ll do you one better,” he said immediately. “There’s a bath in my cottage. If you’d like to come and visit? Stay the night?”

  She took a breath, her heart skipping a beat at the low roughness of his voice. “I’d love to.”

  ”Let’s go.”

  She was reeling, her whole mind shrieking as it fought to acclimatize to all of this new information. This man she’d been daydreaming about … not only was he into her too, but he wanted her to come and stay with him. She stumbled a little as he helped her to her feet and steadied her, such care in the gesture and on his face that she felt an unexpected lump in her throat. They dressed quickly, Lori’s nose wrinkling at the rasp of sand on cloth.

  ”I’ll run back to my cabin and grab a few things,” she promised him, already resenting the idea of being parted from him for any length of time but knowing she’d need a change of clothes at the very least. He nodded, leaning in to kiss her before they parted ways. She moved fast, resisting the urge to look back at him. The quicker she got to her cabin, the quicker she’d be at his cottage.

  Besides—before she followed her heart any further, she had an important phone call to make.

  Chapter 8 - Harvey

  Harvey felt like he was walking through a dream. He’d always thought it was a cliché when people talked about pinching themselves to check they weren’t dreaming—but he found himself discreetly squeezing the skin on the inside of his wrist as he headed through the sand dunes towards his cottage, which was close to the edge of the forest. His body was still glowing with electricity from the time he’d just spent with Lori—it was as though her fingertips were still caressing him, stoking fires in him, driving him absolutely crazy with need for her … he grinned to himself, ducking his head, a little embarrassed by the storm of feelings that was raging through him. It was as though he’d been waiting for her for months … years, decades, centuries. As though having her in his arms was the reason he’d been put on the planet.

  She had to be his mate, right? There was just no other explanation for how absolutely over-the-moon happy he was feeling right now. The moonlight was dancing on the roofs of the sleepy cottages he was walking past, and he lowered his head, walking fast, trying to stop himself from screaming with happiness. He wanted to knock on every door, to tell every guest and resident that it had finally happened. He’d met her. He’d found her, finally—his soulmate, the love of his life, the woman he was meant to spend his days with … and he couldn’t wait. Would he move in with her right away, he wondered? Would she want to come and live on the peninsula with him? She seemed to like it here, but what about her family? Maybe she’d want to live with them, still. Well, he could make that work. Whatever she wanted, whatever she needed—he’d be there. He’d do whatever it took to stand at her side.

  God, he was finally beginning to understand how his friends had felt when they’d met their mates. He’d been supportive every time, of course, but a quiet part of him had felt they were being ridiculous when they made these immediate, lasting commitments to their mates. How did they know, he had wondered? How were they so certain this was a good idea? What if they fell out of love? But now that he knew what it felt like, he understood … and a part of him wanted to apologize to all of them for having so many doubts.

  Unlocking the door to his cottage, he winced a little as he glanced around the place. He’d never been the neatest of guys, and he spent so much time out of the cottage that it barely seemed worth keeping it neat. But Lori would be here soon. Lori, he thought with a grin spreading across his face, savoring the feeling and shape of her name. His soulmate. Lori, with those bright silver eyes and that jet black hair. Lori, who’d surprised him with her passion, her ferocious appetite for him. Making love to her had been … it had been everything he’d never known he needed.

  He just hoped she wasn’t too tired yet. He had a few ideas about how to spend the evening once they’d both had a bath to wash the sand from their bodies.

  But first, a quick clean-up. The place wasn’t dirty, at least—just messy. He loaded the dishwasher, tidied away the stacks of books, straightened the furniture and made his bed, wishing that he had a handful of rose petals or something to throw across it. At least it was a big bed. Bryce had insisted on building him something king-sized, even though he’d protested that he didn’t need that much space. Had his friend known, all those years ago, that one day he’d want to bring someone home, that he’d need the extra space? He grinned, remembering the feeling of Lori’s skin under his hands, looking forward to having her in his bed, the soft sheets caressing them as they made love all night …

  He tidied up a little more, fussing with the furniture, trying to make it look a little less like a bachelor pad. Was the bathroom clean enough? He’d changed the sheets a few days ago—was that too long? He knew the anxiety he was feeling didn’t actually have anything to do with his cottage—it was Lori. He so desperately wanted her to think well of him. But she must, right? She’d made love to him, right there
on the beach. And she was his mate. That was as clear to him as anything. Had she realized that, too? Was she thinking about it right now? Wolves had mates like dragons did, he knew that much.

  Strange, to think that he of all people would wind up with a wolf. He chuckled to himself, thinking of what his friends were going to say when he told them. They’d probably make fun of him. Well, let them. With Lori at his side, he could tolerate any amount of mockery.

  Where was she, though? He checked his watch, frowning to realize that it had been a good half hour since they’d parted ways. She’d just been grabbing a change of clothes, right? Had she changed her mind about coming to stay with him? His heart sank at the idea, but he dismissed those fears, gritting his teeth. She was his mate. He had more faith in that than he’d had in anything in his entire life. It was time to stop living a paranoid existence, to stop assuming the worst every time anything happened. Hadn’t he come to that realization the other night, when he’d seen the stray wolf in the forest? He’d chosen fear too many times. It was time to choose love.

  Still, he was a little worried about her. Could she have gotten lost on her way over? That was more likely than anything else, he decided. After all, he’d only described the location of his cottage—she’d never actually been here. And it was dark out there. He’d go and find her, he decided. Walk her over. It would be nice to walk together, to talk a little about what was happening between them, about how she felt. Was it too soon to bring up the subject of their being soulmates? Surely not. She must feel it the same way he did.

  He gave the cottage a last satisfied glance before he headed out. It almost looked like a functional adult lived there. He made a quiet resolution to be tidier in the future. After all—it wasn’t just his own company that he’d be spending most of his time in. Not any more. Not now that everything had changed.