A groan filled the elevator. It rumbled through her, but it didn’t spark anything. It didn’t set her core on fire or beckon moisture between her legs.
Then, Wyatt jerked back. He went silent, perfectly still. Kennedy opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but he held a finger over his lips. Another groan rippled through the small room. The floor beneath them shook. She nearly fell, but Wyatt held her tight.
Her thundering heart filled her ears. The elevator was malfunctioning. Wyatt lurched toward the control panel to slap the red emergency button, but his movement only made the elevator drop. The sudden plummet sent Kennedy to her knees. She hissed in pain.
The elevator was going to fall. There was nothing she could do. She trembled on the floor, ready to scream to the universe that she wasn’t ready to die yet. Wyatt was the only one who would have heard her. He was the only one who could answer.
He carefully stepped to the center of the room and punched the door in the ceiling. The narrow exit popped open, the metal crunching and slamming against the roof of the elevator. A shudder rippled over the whole contraption. Wyatt paused. His eyes met Kennedy’s. In them, she saw a plea. Or, perhaps it was a confession.
In her panic, she wasn’t able to read whatever he wanted to tell her. It didn’t matter for the molten bronze of his beast flooded the warm honey brown of his eyes. Wyatt knelt before her and slowly, carefully helped her back onto her feet.
“Are you ready? I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.” His hands steadied her.
He tilted his head back and peered out the door in the ceiling. “I’m going to lift you through the opening. You have to be very careful.”
Kennedy swallowed and nodded. Fear still numbed her fingers, but she trusted Wyatt. He wasn’t going to let her fall to her death. He lifted her like she was weightless. His easy hold on her helped her to slowly climb through the hole in the ceiling. The elevator shuddered once more, making her stay on her hands and knees.
The shaft was dark. She could see the thick wires that made the elevator move. They groaned and the sound echoed through the narrow space. She wanted to close her eyes and hold her hands over her ears, but she didn’t dare move. Kennedy did nothing until Wyatt pulled himself through the opening.
He leapt and caught the edge of the opening, the impact making the elevator rumble once more. Kennedy squealed. She knew there was no other way for him to follow her, but it still scared her. She still fought against her own mind, nowhere near calm.
“I’m grateful we didn’t get any further in the elevator. Had we gone all the way, the damn thing would have dropped with us in it.” She tried to joke, but her words only rang with truth. Here, there was a chance she wouldn’t die. Had they not noticed the groan of the wires and continued with what they’d been doing, neither would have noticed until it was too late.
She pressed her head against the dusty metal, wishing it was cool enough to center her. Instead, all she managed to do was get dirt on her forehead. She was going to have to exfoliate if she made it through this.
“There’s still time for that,” Wyatt told her.
At first, she gawked at him. Her mind drew a blank until it slowly caught up. Heat washed over her cheeks when she realized he was referring to her suggestion of sex. Wyatt made it sound like they would make it out of this alive, and in one piece. The thought eased her racing heart.
“Certainly not in an elevator,” she mumbled. “I’m taking the stairs for the rest of my life.”
The crunch of metal echoed all around her. Her head snapped up and she saw Wyatt opening the overhead elevator doors with his bare hands. The mechanisms that held the doors in place snapped free and the panels slid apart to reveal the welcoming light of the fourth floor. Wyatt didn’t even break a sweat. He held a hand down to her, but when she tried to stand, her limbs refused to move.
“I said I won’t let anything happen to you,” Wyatt gently reminded her as he scooped her into his arms.
She pressed her face into his neck when he bent his knees. The elevator shook violently. The wires above rippled. It would go down any second. He leapt, and Kennedy screamed.
First, there was darkness. Then, there was light and the shouts of people.
Wyatt hugged her tight. He didn’t put her down, and Kennedy was grateful. She wasn’t ready to stand on her own two feet. Not the way she was shaking. The building shuddered when the elevator hit the ground below. A resounding thump echoed up the elevator shaft, the broken wire bouncing up the walls.
That could have been them. They could have died. Well, she could have died. Or, at the very least, been seriously hurt.
Kennedy whispered her room number as people began to gather around. Downstairs, people were screaming. The sound of firetrucks murmured softly through the walls of the building, but she and Wyatt waited for no one. He carried her to her door where she fumbled for her room key with shaking hands. Once she pulled it free, he took it from her. He had to angle himself awkwardly to insert it into the door but managed it without dumping her on the floor. She laughed at the thought of being dropped after what they’d just lived through. It was nothing in comparison.
Wyatt looked down at her with one brow raised.
She couldn’t help it; she laughed harder.
Kennedy had just lived through one of the most frightening experiences of her life. The only other time that even remotely compared had been her flight from California to Michigan in a snow storm, and even the pilot’s voice had shaken over the intercom. Clearly, she’d survived. Here, too, she’d managed to survive.
She’d been saved by the grace that they’d argued, that Wyatt had felt compelled to chase her down. His presence had been what allowed her to live through the failing elevator. Had he not been there, she wouldn’t have thought to climb through the door in the ceiling. Nor would she have been able to make it past the elevator doors and onto the fourth floor.
“Thank you,” she murmured into his shirt once her laughter had faded.
Wyatt stumbled toward her bed. He crashed onto it with her still in his arms and curled himself around her. She felt him breathe deep, his face hidden in her shoulder. They stayed like that for a long time.
“I don’t know what I would have done,” he said, quietly. “Had that elevator gone down and I…and I…”
She pushed him onto his back, throwing one leg over him so that she could rise and look him in the face. He wouldn’t look her in the eyes, so she grabbed either side of his face and forced his attention upon her.
“But you were there. And you did save me.” She smiled. “Maybe you do like me, after all.”
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back into his body. “Of course, I like you. That’s what I was trying to say before everything started to fall to shit.”
Elation made Kennedy feel like a million helium balloons. Had Wyatt not anchored her to the bed, she would have floated to the moon. Those were the words she’d wanted to hear. Okay, maybe not those exact words, but he’d gotten the message across. Wyatt liked her, the way she liked him.
She twisted in his arms. The hair growing along his jaw was soft beneath her hands. He closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. A soft rumble began in his chest. She knew it was the beast’s growl, but it reminded her of a cat’s purr. He was happy here, with her hands on him.
Kennedy let her fingers tangle in his hair. She tugged, pulling his head back. His eyes drifted shut and his lips parted. She watched the strong dragon man, strong enough to carry her to safety from a plummeting elevator, become pliable as warm butter in her hands. It sparked a hot thrill in her chest. One that raced low to pool in her core.
“I like you, too,” she whispered before pressing her lips to his.
As if that was the signal he’d been waiting for, Wyatt came to life in her arms. He gripped her and pulled her into his body. His lips parted wide and his tongue plunged into her mouth. She groaned at the ecstasy of it, at feeling her own desire echoed in hi
m. His hands snaked beneath her shirt and found their way to her small breasts.
She pulled back to apologize. She didn’t often wear a bra because there wasn’t much to be held down. Before she could say a word, Wyatt’s thumbs swept over her nipples. The sensation scrambled her mind. Her head fell back. He growled once more, a possessive sound that wrapped her in ties and pulled her further into him.
Kennedy would have melted in his heat if she hadn’t needed a body to experience this. It was so much more than the single kiss at the bar, than the small touches since then. If those had been fireworks, then this was the kind of explosion that could level cities. It shook her and reshaped her world until Wyatt was at the very center.
She knew, now more than ever, that it wasn’t just Grove that called to her, that begged her to stay. It was Wyatt. He was as much a part of this town as he was a part of her. What they had, it had the potential to grow into so much more. She could feel it. There was a pressure growing inside her, it wiggled and shifted.
Wyatt pulled her shirt over her head. She wanted to shrink, to hide her distinct lack of breasts, but his head dipped low before she could pull back. When his mouth closed around a nipple, drawing her breast into his mouth, she cried out.
Unable to stop herself, she began rocking back and forth. The length of his cock, hard and expectant, rubbed against the sensitive part of herself. Each stroke sent a small ripple through her. It snapped and crackled with flames. Kennedy didn’t worry that she would lose herself to the flames, consumed by the heat.
Fire wasn’t always a dangerous predator. It was a catalyst. The pressure inside her was growing and growing. She could barely handle it anymore.
Wyatt broke away from her. His voice was hoarse with need when he spoke. “I can’t get enough of you.”
She smiled, self-satisfied. The feeling was mutual, but she didn’t have the voice to tell him. All she could do was rip at his shirt, at his pants. She wanted skin to skin. She wanted all of him.
It was not the first time she’d seen Wyatt naked, but it was the first time she’d allowed herself to take him in. There was a dragon tattoo on his chest. She traced it with her fingertip, making him shudder under her touch. He licked his lips and looked up at her before his gaze raked lower. She watched his nostrils flare, most likely taking in the musk of their lust, and her core tightened.
Suddenly, Wyatt was rolling her over. She thought he would fill her with his cock, but he scrambled back instead. Cold air washed over her, nearly dousing the pleasure that had built.
Nearly.
Before she could ask what was wrong, his tongue traced over her folds. She cried out, hands fisting in the blankets beneath her. That was not what she’d expected. Not at all. Sensation rippled over her. She cried out, releasing it.
When she looked down, Wyatt was grinning. He gripped her hips and pulled her tighter to his mouth. His tongue slid inside her. He gently rolled it in circles. She could barely hold on, her body drifting away in the sea of pleasure he was creating inside her.
No interaction had ever been like this before. Her body seemed specially made for him. Each touch, each brush of his skin against hers created a spark that grew into a flame. He was flint and she was tinder. She would gladly let the flames consume her if this is what it meant to be consumed.
One. Two. Three strokes of his tongue had an orgasm billowing out from her core. She moaned, unable to suppress it.
“Say my name,” he growled as he crawled over her. “I want to hear it on your lips.”
The tip of his erection dragged along her skin. It was incredibly hot, nearly singeing. She thought she would combust all over again. While her orgasm faded, sending aftershocks through her body, she watched him raise himself over her. She watched his cock slide into her.
“I want you to scream my name. I want to hear it come from you.”
Kennedy bit her lip. She couldn’t find her voice. The way he filled her was so utterly complete that she barely had space to think. He touched places inside her she was sure had never been reached before. Every small movement, from thrust to shudder, sent ripples through her. Kennedy thought she might shatter beneath him.
His lips touched the mark on her neck. A whole new kind of sensation erupted. It was hot and golden, flooding her neck, her chest, and slamming into her core. She pulsed around Wyatt’s cock.
He groaned and hung his head for a long moment. She couldn’t help herself. She threaded her fingers through his hair and tugged. In one simple gesture, she owned him. Pliant in her hands, he let her force his head up. His eyes were bronze, the metal so dark she could lose herself in them.
When his lips spread in a smile, his canines were sharp. She shuddered, remembering how it felt when he left his mark on her shoulder. She wanted to do it again. And again.
While she held him and drowned in his eyes, he started thrusting. At first, he was slow and measured. His control began to slip. She watched it happen, watched the soft expression slip into something beastly. Her heart thundered with excitement, in time to the thrusting.
Her grip on him loosened, her arms weak while she sank into the pleasure inside her. Wyatt used the moment to lower his head. Once more, his lips touched the mark on her neck. A chill echoed out from the spot. His tongue lapped over it and she convulsed, so sure her orgasm would break any moment.
It held, still growing. No matter how she tried to say his name, she couldn’t draw in the air. She couldn’t get it out.
Then, his teeth sank into her skin. She groaned and tightened her legs around him. His thrusts became wild, bucking. She could barely hold on, to him and to reality. The bed groaned beneath them. It slapped the wall like rambunctious thunder.
She hoped no one was on the other side. She didn’t want to have to explain herself to strangers. Perhaps they wouldn’t hear. The hall was still filled with people around the elevator.
No one would hear them.
Not until her orgasm shattered her into a million pieces. His teeth were still inside her, his cock buried hilt deep. She tightened around him, trying to keep herself together. It was an impossible task. The pieces of her flew in every direction until her lips parted and his name escaped her lips.
She screamed it so loud, she was sure the people in the hall heard. They heard her claim him, all of him. Her fingers tightened on his shoulders, possessive. It was as if her own beast had appeared and made home inside her. The beast stated that Wyatt belonged to them. Nothing could tell her otherwise.
He hung his head as he slipped out of her, letting his lips trail down her front. She Leaned forward with him, eager to claim his mouth one last time before he retreated. He let himself be drawn back in. They kissed like two drunkards sipping one another until finally he pulled back.
His smile was sheepish, his hair falling over his eyes as they slipped back into brown. “It seems I’ve made a mess.”
Kennedy didn’t look down, but she could feel the warmth sliding out of her. Wyatt told her to sit still.
She felt remade. When she fell back onto the pillows, her body was still thrumming with what they’d done. Together, they’d made love like she’d never felt before. It was more than just two bodies coming together.
Kennedy watched Wyatt move about, watched him roll off the bed and walk to the bathroom. He walked backwards, his eyes on her, like he would never tire of the vision before him. She blushed. She knew it was ridiculous to be embarrassed after what they’d just done, but she couldn’t help it.
There, on the bed wearing nothing at all, she felt vulnerable.
***
He walked on clouds. Never before had he felt so invincible. The beast stood proudly but didn’t once try to break for the surface. It was pleased with the course of Wyatt’s life. He paused in the bathroom doorway and looked back at the woman on the bed. She let her head fall to the side. It revealed the fresh mark on her neck.
It was no longer a ploy to keep lesser dragons from bothering her. It was now a real ma
rk, one that conjured a number of feelings inside him. The first was pride. He held onto the sound of his name on her voice, hoping it wouldn’t be the last time he heard it. He wanted to hear it said every way possible, from a whisper to a shout of anger.
The hopes swirling inside him spanned wide, granting him a vision of the future he could see with Kennedy. It involved quiet dates and lazy mornings. Maybe, when all was settled with Jasper, it would involve travel once more. He’d love to see the world from her perspective.
Home was wherever she was.
He waited for the water in the sink to warm before wetting a towel. Kennedy was right where he left her when he returned. Surprise hit him, as if he’d been expecting her to disappear like a dream, to evaporate between his fingers into nothing more than a foggy cloud of memories.
But, no, she was still there. He gently spread her legs and helped clean the mess he’d left behind. A question rose to his lips.
“I, ah, didn’t think while we were doing this. Are you…” Wyatt struggled to give voice to his concerns. He furrowed his brows and fought his tongue.
“You mean the mess inside me?”
In an instant, he envisioned another life. In this one, they carried a toddler between them, a young dragon who would be loved by both parents, who would live in a house of love. But he shook his head because it was too early to dream of things like that. They would talk about it when the time came, but this was not that time.
“Yeah,” he said, scratching his head. “We should have used protection. I’m so sorry I wasn’t thinking.”
Kennedy shrugged. “I have the implant. This little thing in my arm keeps me from getting pregnant. I don’t have to worry about possibly forgetting it, either.”
He let out a breath. “Good. That’s good.”
Wyatt tossed the towel aside and crawled toward Kennedy. She let herself be enveloped in his arms. With her head resting on his arm and her neck bared, the scent of blood and musk mingled in his nose. He couldn’t avoid looking at the mark on her shoulder.
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