“It seems I will have to learn everything again,” Malik growled. “This helplessness is not amusing.”
“You will be an expert in time, my lord,” she said, straightening his legs across the chaise before kneeling on the floor in front of him.
“Mm...” he hummed. He stared down at his limbs, fascinated by their structure. Raising a hand to his face, he seemed to examine the lines and shapes: the sinew connecting bone to muscle and the intricate arrangement of the joints. “My skin is smooth,” he said. “I thought it would be rough.” He held out his hand, and Thalia took it. She ran her fingertips along the veins at the back of his hand. The skin there was very smooth indeed, from the delicate bones at the knuckle to the pads of his fingers. She stretched out his arm and held it in front of her. She traced the purple vein at his wrist and followed it up his arm to the inside of his elbow. “You are extraordinary, my lord.”
“Hardly,” he said. “I am a useless collection of bones at the moment.”
“Lovely bones,” she murmured. It was almost involuntary as she picked up his hand and brought it to her cheek. She needed to feel the heat of his flesh against her own. To be sure that this time he was real. That he wouldn’t dissolve into ash and leave her awake and cold once more. He made no move to stop her as she brushed his fingers along her cheek. Finally he tipped her chin back, forcing her to look up at him. “I know you,” he whispered. “Thalia.” A strange flutter thrummed at her center as he said her name for the first time.
“Yes,” she replied, looking down through her eyelashes. “All our lives.”
He smiled, his eyes twinkling with a light she hadn’t seen before. “I warned you not to wander too far into your dreams, lest you become trapped.”
She nodded. “Is this your idea of a trap?”
“Perhaps.”
“Then I’ve no wish to be sprung.” Kneeling up to face him, she pressed his hand to her chest. “Let me warm your hands, my lord, so that they might find their strength.”
The sensation that a person has when touching another had always been a mystery to Malik. The cold, hardened scales of a dragon did not offer much in the way of feeling. The smoothness of flesh, the heat of blood or the thrum of a heartbeat was alien to him. Yet, when he was able to touch Thalia for the first time, it was like coming home. His cold, reptilian heart began to beat with a new rhythm in time with hers. A pleasing warmth set in, and before he knew it, his mouth was against hers.
Their kiss was awkward. Malik had no idea how to move this unfamiliar bit of flesh. It was small and eager. His teeth were no longer sharp; he had no breath of flame. He only knew that he wanted to breathe her in. He wanted to take some of her warmth inside of him and let it take root. For a moment he was still, merely acclimating to this new closeness, but before long Thalia took over. She was an excellent teacher, and he was ready to learn. Parting her lips, she caressed his between them. A gentle nibble that coaxed him to do the same. He caught on quickly, his body remembering so many encounters locked in Faerie. His palm cupped her cheek, and he pulled her in. This time he was assured and deliberate, teasing her mouth open with his tongue and invading with a slow persistence. She tasted of purity: rain and wind and sunshine. All of the things that had been so mythical to one as grotesque and hated as he. Finally, he was assured of their reality, and he wanted more.
Malik pulled back slightly, gauging Thalia’s reaction. She was barely breathing, her eyes still closed. “Open your eyes,” he whispered, his lips so close to hers. “I want you to see me.”
“I’m afraid,” she replied. “What if you dissolve in ash and smoke? Like all the other times.” She brushed her lips against his once more. “I can’t lose you again.”
“Open your eyes.” She gasped as he pulled his body upright, again towering over her. For a moment her fear flared once more, and she cowered. He would not let her escape so easily. Slithering and predatory, he stalked her as he slid down from his perch. He used his body as only he knew how, and Thalia moaned softly, unable to keep her arousal at seeing him this way at bay. Every movement and catch of breath gave her away, and now he was starting to enjoy it. Being the animal. He overtook her quickly, taking her wrist and pulling her up against him. The wisp of cloak around her shoulders fell away, and she was once again naked in his arms. “Am I real to you now?”
“Yes,” she stammered, brushing her cheek against his.
“Still want to be rescued?” he teased, winding his arms around her waist and crushing his mouth against hers.
“Rescue me,” she said when she was able.
He grinned and kissed her mouth again without a moment’s hesitation. Slowly his fingertips trilled along her spine and into her hair. The silken mess tangled around his fingers, and he tugged gently, using it as leverage to deepen their kiss. Every breath was his as he breathed new life into her. He kissed her until she was breathless and could no longer resist. Her arms wound around him, and she held him tight. “Thanks be to the gods,” she whispered. “I knew if I was patient, someday you would be here.”
“I never left you,” he murmured against her ear. “No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t leave you.”
“Then make me your bride. And we’ll never be alone again.”
Malik’s hands slid down to her hips, cupping her bottom and pressing her body against his. He was instantly overwhelmed by her softness, a quicksilver surge of arousal that fled straight to his cock. He groaned with its intensity. Thalia grabbed his hand, pulling it to her breast and closing it over the generous swell. She guided his hand, teaching him to caress it gently but with just enough pressure to draw a moan from her lips. His thumb brushed over the nipple, and she seethed. He stared at the tiny bead of flesh as it swelled and hardened beneath his fingertips. A stiff morsel of flesh like a tiny fruit. Malik’s mouth watered, and he needed to taste it. Gripping her breast gently, he brought it to his mouth, closing it over the center and lapping at the prickly areola. The taste was every bit as decadent as he’d imagined it would be. Thalia gasped, and for a moment he thought he’d done something wrong, but she brushed her fingers through his hair almost holding him against her chest.
Malik drew his hand along her collarbone and down the slope of her chest between her breasts. She arched her body backward until she was lying on the ground before him, her legs still straddling his hips. He wanted to look at her, to see her flesh for real this time. It was pale and perfect. There were old scars here and there. They had healed over, but as Malik examined them, he could tell that they had been made by the scratch of talons or the grazing of teeth. Just over her hip was a place where the skin was so thin that he could see the blue veins beneath. She’d been burned. Badly. By dragon fire. Malik’s heart clenched in his chest as he ran his thumb over the place. “Thalia… I’m so… sorry.”
“Don’t be silly. You’ve nothing to be sorry for,” she said.
“A dragon did this.”
“Yes,” she conceded. “And this.” She put an arm behind her head, showing a deep gash along her side. “And this.” She threw her leg aside to show him another streak of red at the inside of her thigh. “These are my battle scars, Malik. But you didn’t make them.”
“But my kind…”
“They are not your kind. Those beasts I hunted and fought for so long—those were animals. Fire lizards. You are a Dragon Lord. With a human heart.” As she said this, he leaned over, kissing the scarred flesh at her side. He followed the path of her ribs to another small scar just over her navel. “You’ve nothing in common with them,” she whispered.
“Oh, I don’t know,” he replied, lapping at the deep scar on her thigh. It was so close to her sex that he could feel the heat coming off of it. “The thought of eating you alive did occur.” With that he bit down into the supple flesh of her thigh. Thalia squealed as he nibbled gently at the marked skin like a hungry beast. “Devouring you slowly,” he growled, tracing the slope of her pelvis. “Until you’re begging for mercy.” He
was surprised to find that though his true form was weak and unfamiliar, every sense was heightened. He could smell and taste his delicate prey before he’d even attempted to touch her. Her scent filled him with desire. It was the smoke and ash of his heart and the bitter spice of his soul he could smell on her. She was a piece of him. The piece that he’d held deep in his dragon heart since the day she was born.
“It is not your mercy I seek, my lord,” Thalia whispered.
His mouth watered. The arousal burning within was almost disturbing in its intensity. As if he feared that he may actually eat her alive as she’d always feared. Just a small taste. A flick of his tongue across the fleshy bit that concealed her womanhood. Thalia gasped, jerking her body backward as if to get away from him. “Did I do something wrong, Mouse?”
“Yes… I mean, no…” She stammered, but this time was different. The shudder in her voice revealed fear but not a mortal fear. This was more of uncertainty. Embarrassment and the unknown. “No one has ever touched me that way before.”
Malik raised his eyebrow, amused by her confession. “No one?”
“I kept myself for you, my lord.”
“A lover in a dream?” he chuckled softly. “You are very strange, Mouse.” His words only made her more uneasy. Her cheeks positively glowed in the dim firelight. At once he could see that he’d hurt her feelings. “I’m sorry,” he said. Now it was his turn to be embarrassed. “I didn’t mean… it’s just that, you’re so beautiful, Thalia. The thought that you saved yourself for me… I fear I could never live up to your expectations of me.”
“And what of you?” she asked then clapped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry… that was rude.”
Malik smiled. “I think we can dispense with the niceties. And it wasn’t rude. Let’s just say that being a dragon doesn’t offer much opportunity for the joys of the flesh.” He bowed his head, unable to look at her. “Such a form. Who could love a dragon? That incongruous collection of scales and bone.”
“But in Faerie…”
“In Faerie, all I could do was think of you, lover. No one else would do.” He glanced up, their eyes meeting as she lay back once more.
“Then let us learn together.”
“Yes,” he said, his voice taking on a serpentine hiss. “Teach me every inch of you.”
In her most fevered dreams, Thalia had never imagined herself capable of such pleasure. Malik said to teach him every inch of her, but there was no need. He knew her body like his own soul, knew exactly where to touch, where to kiss, and where to whisper his breathy words. His tongue slipped over the swollen and sensitive lips of her sex until she mewled beneath him. They burst open like the petals of a morning glory, inviting him inside, but for now, he was content to tease at the gates. Over and over he brought her so close to the edge that it felt like falling, only to pull her back once more. So long ago, when she had first become aware of herself, she would wake from her dreams of him so humid and hot between her legs. It was a frightening sensation that would lay heavy in her womb all day, but his kisses promised that this time she would not go unrequited. This time there would be release, but not until he’d wrung every drop of slippery arousal from her.
“Malik,” she moaned, tangling her fingers in his thick, untamed curls. “Please don’t make me wait.”
“Don’t be impatient, Mouse,” he teased, crawling up her body. He blazed a trail of kisses up her midsection and around each breast. “I intend to hear you screaming my name over and over. But not until I am fully seated inside you. I want to feel every throb and shudder.” These last words he said against her mouth, offering his tongue so that she could taste her own essence. Thalia wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close. She could feel his cock pulsing and hard against the hood of her sex. Throwing her leg over his hip, her body moved almost of its own accord. Just one tiny push and she would be complete, but Malik was never one to be coaxed. He would possess her in his own time. With a snarl of dominance, he grabbed her wrists, pinning them down to the floor behind her. The cold, smooth stone was a comfort to her burning flesh.
Malik cupped her face gently in one large hand, his thumb brushing across her lower lip as he moved her head aside to gain access to the plump vein just under the jawline. He bit playfully, nicking the skin with the points of his teeth and then suckling gently. Thalia could hear her heart pounding in her ears. She could feel the dragon still hiding within him, and the danger was thrilling. It made her sex thrum and tingle that much more. Then his mouth was against her ear as he whispered to her in some strange language. She couldn’t understand the lazy, rasping words, but she didn’t need to. The way his body tensed and his manhood twitched was all the translation she needed. He pulled back, breathing heavily as he stared down at her. Those icy blue eyes darkened the longer he gazed. They were hypnotic, and Thalia knew that there was no turning back. She blinked slowly, reassuring him that this was what she wanted. All she’d ever wanted. Leaning in, he captured her mouth, drawing her tongue into his.
“Make me your bride,” Thalia gasped as he pulled back. Without thought or hesitation, he pushed inside of her. It was slow and deliberate. Thalia tensed, waiting for the sharp sting of lost virtue, but it never came. She was ready to be his. So ready to leave her old life behind and become one with the only man who could ever be part of her soul. When Malik finally broke past the thin slip of flesh, there was no blood or violence. Only a peace that Thalia had wished for all her life. For a moment he was still, breathing against her shoulder. His eyelashes fluttered against her skin, and she could tell he was holding back. “Is there something wrong?” she whispered.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Thalia.” The low snarl of the dragon was evident there in his voice.
“I am not afraid.” She crushed her mouth against his as she wrapped one leg around his waist. With her heel, she nudged him closer. She wanted him to move. She needed to feel the delicious friction of their bodies sliding slowly against one another. He obliged, sliding deeper inside until they were sealed together, hanging on to one another as if they might fly apart at any time. It was an awkward dance at first, neither really understanding what was involved. Then suddenly, their eyes met, and instinct took over. Slowly they made love in a pulsing rhythm, each allowing the other to learn just how the other wanted to be touched. Thalia stroked her fingers through his hair and down his spine as if to be sure that the smooth flesh was not a mere enchantment. He withdrew, nearly slipping from her folds and then thrusting back inside. Over and over he plunged deep into Thalia’s core, his passion growing with every intake of breath. She whimpered as a burning ache set in and gripped him tightly, pulling him closer. She wanted to hold him inside until he was part of her. Those secret muscles that throbbed within seemed to reach out, clutching and gripping his cock tight until they were both groaning with the sensation of it.
When she came, it was a shockwave that shook her whole body. She could only hold on to Malik tightly, whispering his name as she crested the wave of ecstasy. He made no noise, save for a low growl as he reached his own climax. They lay entwined, losing all sense of time and space as they panted against one another. His body was so heavy and warm atop hers, she didn’t want to lose the feeling of safety he offered. “Welcome to your new body,” Thalia said, then giggled.
“A warm welcome, to be sure.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Thalia rolled over on her back, smiling as the morning sun streamed through the windows and warmed her cheek. She was hesitant to open her eyes at first, afraid that it had all been a dream. A very vivid, sensual dream. Of course, as she stretched, the muscles in her thighs gave definitive proof of his reality. Once Malik had brought her upstairs, their evening had passed in a languorous blur of lovemaking, conversation, and finally sleep. Thalia thought that the sensation of falling asleep in the arms of one’s lover, talking until the words ran dry, was the ultimate bliss. She’d never wanted it to end. Even now she could still feel him moving between her
legs, his rough cheek brushing against the virgin flesh of her breast and his manhood filling her completely. Just the thought of it was enough to set off another shudder that rolled over her entire body and settled over her sex, making her long to have him inside her again.
Grudgingly, she opened her eyes and was relieved to find Malik still lying beside her. He lay on his belly, arms crossed under his head as if he were still a dragon. His long, unkempt dark hair fell over his cheek, moving as he breathed lightly. He was just on the edge of wakefulness but still fighting to hold on to some dream. Thalia wondered what he might dream about. Was he still a dragon, or was he wandering the green fields of Faerie? He seemed content, and she smiled to think she might have something to do with that.
Thalia brushed a gentle hand through his hair, smoothing it back from his pale brow. He stirred a bit but did not wake. She didn’t want to wake him, but the thought of his arms around her again was just too inviting. Leaning closer, she pressed her lips to his forehead and lingered a moment. She loved the taste of his skin. Thalia smiled when he still didn’t wake and began planting kisses along the arch of his neck and down the slope of his shoulder. He growled and rolled to his back, nearly hitting her with his elbow. The muscles along his side were a glorious configuration of living flesh. She couldn’t help but touch him, tracing the lines and trilling her fingertips over each rib. Examining his body this way only made her want to explore further.
Slowly Thalia kissed her way across his chest, pausing to roll her tongue around each flat, dark nipple until it beaded between her lips. With a sneaky glance, she noticed that he was still not awake, though he made a soft, growling sound as she nipped at his skin. “Are you awake, my lord?” she whispered as her lips fluttered across the line of hair below his navel. He only responded with a stretch that allowed the coverlet to slip down, exposing his belly all the way to where the soft line of hair became coarse and wild, just at the base of his cock. She chewed at her lower lip, wondering if she might dare to pull the covers away. Thalia sat up and crawled over him, straddling his thighs then sitting back on his knees. He made no move to stop her, so she slowly pulled at the fabric until he was fully exposed. Her mouth watered. She had been so enthralled with the new sensations he’d wrought upon her last night that she hadn’t really seen him until now.
Huntress: A Paranormal Romance Page 18