by Rinelle Grey
Excitement zinged along her veins, fanning the flames that were already smouldering there into intense heat.
Ostrian felt it too, because he groaned against her lips again and pulled her closer.
The old wooden chair they were sitting on was a little rickety and none too comfortable. Not that anywhere in the cave full of books and scrolls was what you could call comfortable. Mary called the room up in her imagination, not wanting to separate her lips from Ostrian’s, trying to figure out a better place to move to.
But none came to mind.
The table and every other surface in the room was covered in books and scrolls, and the floor had altogether too much dust for her liking.
For a moment, she considered suggesting they adjourn to her room, or his, where they could be more comfortable. But she knew without even discussing it, that if they paused this, they might lose their chance.
Both of them could reconsider this when their heads were cooler and there was distance between them.
She didn’t want that. She wanted to follow this passion wherever it led.
With that thought in mind, she pulled back a little, sliding off Ostrian’s lap, though not letting her lips leave his.
He gave a muffled protest and tried to pull her back. Mary smiled against his lips. She managed to twist herself, just a little, then climbed back onto his lap astride.
This time, her pelvis pressed up directly against his. He gave a murmur of approval.
Mary couldn’t help a moan as well. It felt so good, feeling him hard underneath her, even through all their layers of clothes. Mary ground herself against him, kissing him desperately at the same time.
For a while, the closeness was enough to satisfy the need, but the more she tangled her tongue with his, the more intense the need grew. It didn’t take long for the layers of fabric between them to become irritating.
And she couldn’t help wondering, what did Ostrian wear under these robes anyway? Long and dark, they did help give him an air of mystery. But she wanted to be able to see the muscles she could feel through the thick cloth, to lick his skin, and maybe to take a nibble.
Ostrian seemed to be having similar questions. His hands slid under the edge of her trousers and caressed her bare skin. He pulled her blouse out of her waistband, and slid his hands up her back, pulling her close.
Her clothes were much easier to find a way around.
Finally, the need grew too great to ignore. Giving Ostrian one, last, thorough kiss, Mary pulled back and slid off his lap.
Ostrian stared at her, his face slightly bewildered. “Is something wrong?”
“Yes,” Mary said flatly. “Those robes, take them off.”
The dragon elder’s eyes grew round. “What gives you the right to give me orders?” He stared down his nose at her.
What the hell? Had his kisses just been him playing with her? Leading her on so that he could jeer at her? Mary put her hands on her hips and was just about to give him what for, when she realised his eyes were twinkling and a smile teased at one corner of his mouth.
He was teasing her. An answering smile twitched at her own lips. That was the second time tonight. Whoever would have thought the grumpy dragon had it in him?
She took a step towards him, swinging her hips a little, enjoying the way his eyes widened. “I think the fact that I’ve helped you with your research all afternoon gives me the right to order you around a little. You did say you needed my help, didn’t you?”
Ostrian nodded. “I did. Maybe that entitles you to give me one order. But only one, so make sure it’s a good one.”
Mary was sure her eyes almost popped out of her head at that. Ostrian was agreeing to let her give him an order? Did that mean he actually intended to follow it? Her mind filled with all the delicious things she could order him to do. So many possibilities…
But the robes just kept niggling at her. She’d probably built it up to more than it was in her mind, but she was dying to see what he looked like under all that fabric.
So she pointed a finger at his robe, and flicked it up. “Off,” she said.
His eyes widened, and he muttered something under his breath. A smile tugged at Mary’s mouth. Probably something rather unromantic. But she let it slide, because he was pulling the robe up over his head.
Her smile widened in appreciation. She’d been right. Underneath his heavy, dark robes, was the body of a dragon. He wore no more than the other dragons tended to, tight, leather pants designed to cover his private area only.
But whereas Taurian and Verrian and the other younger dragons were lean and young, his body was the body of a man, strong and unyielding. His muscles had stood the test of time, and only grown in strength.
Mary stared at him hard enough that when Ostrian had his robe fully off and his eyes met hers, a blush stole across his cheeks.
But he recovered quickly. “Your turn.”
With that order, Mary was only too happy to comply. The sooner these clothes were gone, the better. She couldn’t wait until they were naked together.
Except that the way his eyes followed her fingers as she undid the first button were heart meltingly cute. She was sure he had seen a woman naked before, he did have a granddaughter after all, but he certainly was staring at her like it would be the first time.
So she took her time, undoing every button slowly, letting her hands linger on the fabric as she pulled it apart bit by bit, revealing a little more each time.
By the time she reached the final button, Ostrian’s breathing was heavy, and he’d taken several steps closer to her, though he wasn’t quite touching her yet.
She could feel his heat though, emanating from his bare chest, and she paused in her undressing to close the final step between them, and run her hands over his perfectly sculpted chest.
Ostrian met her with open arms and his lips lowered to hers. For a while, she forgot that she’d been in the middle of undressing as she explored his mouth with her tongue. His hands, sliding the blouse off her shoulders, reminded her, and she helped him by shrugging the garment off, not caring where it fell.
She let herself enjoy the feeling of his hands caressing her bra covered breasts, teasing her nipples through the silky fabric, not wanting to break contact to finish removing clothes. But after a few moments, her hands slid down to caress his butt, and the feel of leather reminded her that they were still there, blocking access, in the way.
She pulled back and tugged at the waistband of his pants. But remembering how he’d said she could only give him one order, she tried a different tack. “If I take more clothes off, are you going to take these off?”
“Ohh, negotiating now, are we?” Ostrian teased, with a raised eyebrow. He pursed his lips and stared at her. “I do want to see more of these removed, but I think one for one is a bit un…”
He broke off and his eyes widened as Mary undid her bra and dropped it onto her shirt, then stepped out of her slacks and undies in one move.
“That… uh… that seems…” Ostrian stopped trying to talk, and quickly removed the rest of his clothes too.
Mary stared at him in appreciation. She might admire those young dragons from a distance, but this was far more to her taste. Ostrian’s body showed age and experience. He wouldn’t be flighty, changing his mind on a whim, or rush into danger needlessly.
Once he’d made a measured, thoughtful decision to take something on, he’d do it with a strength and determination that those younger dragons lacked. And he wouldn’t give up until it was done. Even if the result wasn’t what he wanted to hear.
That was what she wanted, what she needed. Someone she could rely on, trust in.
Right now though, what she wanted was to be close to him.
She pushed him gently back onto the chair, then climbed on top of him. Hopefully this chair was up to the task. It did look a little flimsy, hopefully it wouldn’t give way under them.
Mary slid onto Ostrian, then promptly forgot all about the ch
air’s strength.
He filled her completely, his heat seeming to throb throughout her entire body. Mary closed her eyes and let her head fall back, focusing her attention completely on the dragon filling her.
Her dragon.
It felt like nothing she’d ever experienced before.
Amazing, exhilarating, and spine tingling, all at once.
Ostrian moved under her, rocking back and forth, his hands holding her hips, and the sensation threatened to send her immediately over the edge. She clung to him, wavering, torn between throwing herself into the moment, or prolonging the ecstasy.
Ostrian’s insistent rocking was her undoing. The desire rose up in her so suddenly, it overwhelmed her, crushing all rational thought as spasms of ecstasy rocked her body. Mary rode them out, gasping for breath, and after a few seconds, the world came back into focus.
She stared down at Ostrian, amazed and delighted by the way passion had washed over her.
He didn’t even pause. He continued rocking, his hips thrusting towards her, and to her surprise and delight, Mary felt desire rising again, just as strongly.
Or perhaps more strongly. It built slowly, surely, a slow heat smouldering through her body, setting every nerve ending alight with pleasure. Mary could have sworn she was melting, her muscles throwing away all semblance of control in favour of delicious passion.
The second explosion, when it came, was twice as strong as the first, blowing her away with its intensity.
Ostrian gasped simultaneously, thrusting into her with a force that shook the chair. Somehow, miraculously, it held as the they grasped at each other, clinging to each other as though the tide of passion was going to sweep them away.
And maybe it was.
As the peak of the passion ebbed, and Mary slowly came back down to earth, she couldn’t help marvelling at the experience.
If she’d known being with a dragon was going to be like that, then she would have tried it weeks ago.
But as she stared down at Ostrian, his eyes dark and mysterious, she realised that it wouldn’t have been the same with anyone else. It wasn’t just that he was a dragon that had captivated her so, there was so much more to it.
Ostrian seemed as thrown by all of it as she was. In fact, the expression on his face now was slightly bewildered. As though he couldn’t quite believe what had just happened.
Mary wasn’t sure she quite believed it either.
Sure, she’d admired the rugged elder’s physique for a while, but somehow, she’d gone from admiring to sleeping with him in only a few hours. She wasn’t sure either of them had been ready for that.
But this feeling hadn’t seemed to want to wait for them to be ready.
Chapter 10
As Mary spasmed around him, Ecstasy flooded through Ostrian, the feeling more intense and stronger than anything he’d ever felt before. His own climax throbbed through him, pulsing in time with hers. He felt a connection to her that he’d never felt with anyone before.
The whole room brightened, as though flooded with light, and in that moment, Ostrian felt greater clarity than he’d ever had before. He knew, without a doubt, that this was something special. Something so unimaginably beautiful and wonderful, that if anyone had asked him in that moment, he would have agreed that it was worth dying for.
The feeling both exhilarated him and terrified him.
He ran his hands over Mary’s naked body, pulling her close for another kiss, not wanting the moment to end. If only he could capture this feeling, this clarity, then he thought he might be able to stay in this moment forever. Not leave and return to the cold, hard reality of life.
The moment held uncanny similarities to the warmth and safety he’d felt when listening to one of the life dragon’s stories years ago. Her relaxing, calm voice had washed over him, and he’d felt that if only he could stay there, listening to her, he’d never be afraid again.
But just as that relaxation had faded once the life dragon’s story ended, so did the ecstasy of mating with Mary. Slowly, the intensity ebbed, at least enough for Ostrian to think, if not clearly, then more logically.
But the experience left him with a feeling of warmth and light, just as the life dragon always had.
The world felt right. Like nothing could go wrong. Nothing could be wrong.
But there was no escaping the truth.
He’d slept with Mary. As glorious, amazing, and wonderful as it had been.
He couldn’t quite believe it. Any of it. Not the fact that he’d done it, not the way it had felt. Not the way it had moved him.
No one else in the lair would believe it either. Which was a good thing, because he wasn’t sure he was ready to share this experience with anyone.
Quite aside from the fact that his granddaughter was going to think him a hypocrite, he wanted to keep this to himself for a while. To mull over it, and examine it in private, away from prying eyes.
And perhaps away from Mary.
His body stirred again as he stared at all her naked glory on his lap.
It certainly was hard to think when she was around. It was hard to breathe even.
His mind just refused to cooperate. All it seemed to be able to consider was the idea that they could do that again, and again, until she was his.
His body was in complete agreement.
The immediacy of the urge caused Ostrian’s heart to skip a beat. He tried to calm his breathing, to bring his body back under control.
He’d known this wasn’t going to be easy. For a while there, he’d even thought he wouldn’t be able to manage it. Right now, that possibility still hung in the balance. The temptation to ignore all his fears and let himself succumb was high. His mind wanted to ignore the ramifications of this event, the risks of repeating it.
He’d never had this much trouble controlling himself before.
Then again, he’d never had a gorgeous, naked human on his lap before.
Mary wriggled a little, reminding him that she wasn’t just on his lap.
His body responded instantly, informing him that it was more than happy to repeat that experience. Immediately.
Fear welled up in Ostrian, enough to dampen his ready desire. Not completely, he suspected it would never go completely, but enough for him to stay in control. He could do this. He was stronger than the desire.
Ostrian cleared his throat. “Um…”
He was stronger, but he wasn’t sure how far he wanted to test that. He really should get her off his lap. He needed to get to his clothes, which were well and truly out of reach, and get himself back into a position where he could think clearly. Where he could examine all the implications of this, before he made even more of a fool of himself.
He had been right, sleeping with her had given him a lot of information about this attraction between dragons and humans. A lot he could analyse, and he was sure there were conclusions to be drawn there somewhere. He just needed to be able to think about them, which he certainly couldn’t do with her in his lap.
He just wasn’t sure how to get Mary to move without upsetting her. And he couldn’t bear it if he upset her. She was amazing, special. It wasn’t her fault that he knew this could never be anything more than one, perfect moment.
It wasn’t her fault she was a human, or that he’d spent half his life waxing lyrical on how dangerous humans were to dragons, to the point where he found it hard to convince himself of the alternate reality, especially not when he could find any evidence to support that theory.
Even so, that evidence would only prove that humans weren’t dangerous, and that other dragons could mate with them safely. Not him. He had no plans to bond himself for life, to put his life at risk, no matter how amazing this felt. It wasn’t like he was going to produce any life dragons at his stage, even if the letter’s claims were true.
His experience had certainly hinted that there could be some truth to the rumour in the letter, but hints weren’t enough. If he were to take this to the prince, then wh
at he needed was cold, hard facts. That resolved helped Ostrian focus for a second.
Then Mary kissed him again, her soft, undemanding lips stirring even more uncertainty in his mind. He both wanted to do this forever, and wanted to run as far away as he could before he succumbed.
One thing was clear, he needed to do more research, try to figure out what was going on. He needed to go back to the records again. Maybe there was something he had missed, some other clue that he needed before he could fully make sense of this.
“I, uh, should get dressed,” he mumbled, and Mary gave a laugh, rumbling low in her stomach, the vibrations sending fresh waves of desire through him.
But she did get up and start searching around for her clothes.
Ostrian was momentarily diverted by the sight of her bottom in the air as she bent down to retrieve her undergarments, but he suppressed the urges that it inspired, and turned away to find his own pants.
How was he ever going to get anything done with her around?
“So, did that help you with your research?” Mary asked, her voice teasing.
When he turned around, she was just doing up the last button on her blouse. All that glorious nakedness was covered up. A need to rip her clothes off again, to see her body and mate with her again, surged through him. For a moment, the thought blinded him, and he could almost feel her soft skin and taste her lips.
What was going on with him? He’d never been so distracted before. And that wasn’t a good thing, when this was the most important work he’d ever done.
What had she asked? Oh yes…
Ostrian blushed at the memory of her words. A denial rose to his lips immediately, but when he looked at her face, so eager and full of desire, it stuck in his throat.
She had helped him, far more than she could ever imagine. He owed it to her to admit it.
“I can see why so many dragons are falling head over heels for humans, yes,” he said, his words carrying more heat than he’d intended.
The grin she gave him made the admission worth it. “So, does this help you prove that humans have some connection to your life dragons?”