by Kiersten Fay
All the while, she felt Tristan’s eyes on her as he sat nearby with Cale and Orik, sipping a goblet of ale. She tried not to glance at him often but found it difficult not to. Something about him was alluring, and it wasn’t just that he was a drop-dead gorgeous hottie with a lickworthy physique. She sensed an inner strength within him…and deeply scarred pain. The kind of pain that, after tonight, she realized matched her own. The kind of pain that even time couldn’t heal: the loss of a loved one.
During the ceremony, June had gleaned that Tristan’s father had died in a recent war helping the Faieara take back their freedom. And Tristan’s loss was more recent than her own.
Was his wound still fresh? Was it still tearing at his heartstrings? Making him bleed every second of every day? Suffocating him in grief until he thought he would be smothered by it? Was he still fighting to rebuild himself from the scraps that his loved one had left behind? Did he blame himself, like she did?
She caught his gaze and held it as if she could find the answers in his eyes. Could he see her own pain? Was it plain on her face? Would he care if it was?
As she contemplated all this, the music slowed to a softer tone, subduing the dancers and luring lovers onto the floor.
Her new friends paired off, Kira with her demon king and Zoey with another male June did not recognize. He too had horns. How many demons were on this planet? She was debating joining Tristan at his table when that handsome dark-haired male who’d promised to show off his magic approached and asked if she would like to dance. He was tall and slim, but there was a strength in his physique that was obvious. Was she really about to slow dance with an alien?
Suddenly Tristan was there. He took her hand and twirled her to face him, placing his other hand upon her hip. With a parting glare at the other male, he elegantly led her away, weaving them both through the other couples.
“Tristan, I didn’t take you for a dancer.” He was remarkably adept.
“As a young prince, I was forced to take lessons extensively.”
“But you don’t enjoy it,” she surmised.
“I am making amends for my thoughtlessness earlier. I apologize if I insulted you. That was not my intention.”
“Apology accepted, but only because it’s your first offense. Don’t assume I forgive easily. Behave like that again and it will take a lot more than a simple dance to earn my forgiveness.”
He grinned. “Duly noted. What did you think the ceremony?”
“You said that was blood magic. What does that mean exactly? What happened when that light surrounded you?”
“It was like making a vow that you cannot break. As the leaders of our people, Kyra and I agreed to continue the alliance originally created by her father and mine. The magic assessed us both and accepted the accord. We are allies now until it is time to renew once more.”
“So what would happen if you broke the alliance?”
“If done in intentionally or with malice, I would die.”
She gasped. “Just like that?”
“The magic would be swift and without mercy. But that does no’ mean I am a slave to the whims of the Faieara, nor are they to mine. If we can help each other, we are bound to do so, but if one asks for help and the other determines they are unable to help for whatever reason, there would be no punishment if the heart is true, and neither would hold a grudge. We understand that we are duty-bound to our own kingdoms above all.”
His arm wrapped around her waist tighter, bringing their bodies closer together as they moved to the music. His heat seeped into her and she was surprised how comfortable she felt in his arms, as if dancing with a dragon-shifting king was the most natural thing in the world.
“The statue they revealed is beautiful,” she observed. “So realistic and elegant. It reminds me of you, actually.”
“It looks more like my father.” A bit of joy dimmed in his eyes.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” she said, even though she’d hated it when others had said that to her. “It must have been difficult for you to return here.”
He glanced down at her as though surprised by her insight. “It was.”
She nodded. “When my brother died, it killed me to go into his room. To go through his things. Every time I did, it was like he died all over again.”
“How did he…
“Die? Heroin.” At his raised brow, she clarified. “A drug. He overdosed.”
“I’m so sorry. How old was he?”
“Sixteen. I had just turned nineteen. Still just a kid myself.” And all on her own.
“I wish I could have been there for you.”
She blinked up at his earnest sincerity. A tightness in her chest that she hadn’t realized was there relaxed, and some deep-seeded need for connection made her reach up and cup his cheek in her palm. He froze as if unused to the contact. “Same here,” she whispered.
He gazed down at her like she was an anomaly.
Realizing the imprudence of her actions, she swiftly lowered her hand and they continued dancing, but there was a new kind of tension between them.
Then his expression turned impish. “So, you think I’m beautiful and elegant?”
“What?”
“The statue. You said it was beautiful and elegant and that it reminded you of me.”
She pursed her lips. “Don’t let it go to your head. I also think you’re bearish and impolite.”
“Impolite?”
“Yes. You didn’t even ask if I wanted to dance with you. You just made it so.”
“Would you like to stop?”
“And you keep scaring away any man who looks at me twice.”
“That’s because you don’t know what you’d be getting yourself into. You don’t know what a man thinks when he looks at you.”
“Of course I do. It’s the first lesson every girl learns. Don’t act as if you’re any different.”
“Different? No. I’m the worst of them all because I’ve seen more of you than any of them. I’ve had you on top of me.” When her mouth parted, he leaned down to mutter in her ear, “And I want more.”
10
Tristan caught sight of a disapproving Belinda as he led June by the hand up the stairs and into the castle. Luckily his mother was distracted by Kyra and Zoey, attempting to coax her on the dance floor again. Who knew what she’d have to say if she’d spotted him sneaking away with the sexy little human.
By the heat wafting off her, June’s temperature had risen several degrees and she had the sweetest blush in her cheeks. She hadn’t spoken since he’d declared his intentions, but she wasn’t resisting either. The slightest tug from her and he’d cease this insanity and escort her back to the party. Part of him wanted her to. Part of him knew this was wrong. Women grew attached when things got intimate. Women gave their hearts too easily and expected the same in return. He thought of his would-be wife, waiting for his answer to her proposal. Soon the duties of his crown would consume his every moment, carefree days behind him. He just wanted one more minute. One more second where this weight was off his shoulders and he could just be Tristan. Whether wrapping June’s body around him would give him the mindlessness he craved remained to be seen, but he knew he wasn’t strong enough to forbear.
“Tristan, wait.”
Oh, thank the gods, she had more sense than he did. Still, disappointment burned as he came to a halt and faced her in the dark hallway.
“Before we go any further…I just need see something.”
Oh?
She moved toward him until their bodies were separated by only inches, and he knew what she intended. He eyed her full lips, already maddened by the desire to taste them, but he held himself in check, allowing her to set the pace…for now.
She placed her hands on either side of his face, once more surprising him with her touch, and raised herself up on her toes to sweep her lips across his. On contact, a feverish jolt sizzled over his skin. He reached out to pull her closer and slid his mouth over hers. Her
fingers threaded through his hair, and when her lips parted slightly, he swept his tongue out to circle hers. She met him with every stroke, deepening the kiss. Her nails scraping along his skull made him wild and he directed her up against a wall to sink himself in the curves of her body. Their kiss turned fevered, carnal, and soon they were both breathless, lost in a delirious ocean of need. If they didn’t cool it, he was going to take her here, now, right here in the hall.
He pulled back to gaze down at her, her expression exquisitely dazed. “You good?”
Eyes still half closed, she replied. “Yup.” Her lips popped so adorably on the last syllable, he was incapable of not taking her mouth once more, harder, more demanding.
Once more, her fingers slipped through his hair, encouraging him, inflaming his lust. A lurch of desperation had him swiping aside the slitted fabric of her dress and pulling her plump thigh over his hip so he could grab a handful of the soft, supple flesh of her ass. Hello old friend.
Her entire body responded on contact, her back arching, forcing her luscious breasts against him. She gasped for air around their kiss and then made the sweetest mewing sound he had ever heard. Her hips rocked as her heel spurred his backside. The combination clawed at his need, savagely stripping him of all thought but for the image of her writhing under him.
Feeling wicked, he skimmed his fingertips along the edge of her panty line and pulled back to watch her reaction. Drunk on arousal, she gazed up at him, her pupils blown so he could barely make out the color of her irises. A flush spread from her cheeks down to her chest. As he slipped past her panties and ran his fingers along her folds, she closed her eyes, bit her lip and let her head fall back slightly on a soft moan. On some level he realized the sight of her pleasure was a danger to him. Mesmerizing and seductive. Exciting and consuming. Fascinating.
An instant addiction.
Feeling her grow slick, her greedy hips undulating to the rhythm of his touch, he slid one thick finger inside, reveling in the delectable sound that whispered through her lungs, the delicate movement of her body as she surrendered to pleasure, the brightening of her eyes as ecstasy lit her up. He stroked her delicate flesh, finding the spot that made her writhe, that drove away her modest purrs and made her cry out. He kissed her then, swallowing the sound of her release and fighting his own ferocious need to tear away the barrier of her underwear to take his own pleasure, but a sliver of sense had managed to survive in his lust-addled brain.
He couldn’t have her. Not even for a night. The danger was too real. The risk too high. Humans lived but a short life while dragons lived for centuries. When a dragon fell, they fell hard. They fell with every molecule of their being. An affair with her could blow up his world…if he grew attached.
The weight of his crown gained several tons in a heartbeat. His responsibility was to his people now. Not to his own desires.
But surely the temptation of her body was not too much to resist. Yet some deep, instinctive part of him knew if he bedded her, he’d want more than one night with this adorable, passionate, fragile human.
Placing his forehead against hers and his palms against the wall on either side of her, he muttered, “I should no’ want you as I do.”
She planted sweet little kisses over his face. “I know what you mean. This has been the most amazing journey of my life, and this evening has been incredible. You have been incredible. I know I’ll be going home soon. I know this can be only one night. But I don’t want any regrets. I don’t want to return to Earth without burning every second of tonight into my memory.”
He nodded, reminded that she would be returning home, after which he would never see her again. The temptation removed. He was being silly. The liquor getting to him, maybe. There was no danger. And if he missed out on what could be an unforgettable night of passion with one of the sexiest women he had ever met, he would regret it.
One problem: they could not continue this here in the open.
Luckily, they weren’t far from his bedchamber.
11
Delicately, Tristan undid the zipper of June’s dress and the bodice parted, revealing the smooth line of her spine. He ran the back of his finger along her flesh and she shivered at his touch.
Holding up the front of her gown with her arms, she turned to face him with the cutest expression on her face: aroused, flirty, yet somewhat shy. How could that look make his blood boil?
He tugged his shirt over his head and tossed it aside. It landed on a nearby chair. She studied him for a moment, her gaze running over every plane and valley of his torso. Then for some reason she turned wary. “We are compatible, aren’t we? I mean, you’re not hiding some kind of monster alien dick, are you?”
He nearly burst out in laughter. Then a terrible dread washed over him. What if she could not take his size? Suddenly anxious, he undid the buckle of his belt, and her gaze snapped to the action as her breath sped. Dropping his trousers, his engorged member sprang free and he let her see how thoroughly she affected him, how stiff and ready he was for her. Had he ever been so hard?
He could practically feel her gaze on him as she assessed him. A bead of sweat formed at the back of his neck.
Finally, she glanced up at him with a coy curve to her lips. “Lucky me.”
He released a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. “I am acceptable, then?”
“Oh yeah.”
Her breathlessness was more complimentary than her words. “Now you. Let me see you.”
Releasing her grip on her gown, the fabric fluttered to her feet, revealing the most luscious body he’d ever beheld, clad in only black panties.
He felt as if something had just clobbered him in the chest. “You are beautiful.”
She blushed and looked away as if the compliment was too much to bear. He could tell her nerves were returning. Her shoulders cinched slightly and her arms folded around herself as if for protection.
He stepped forward and hooked his finger under her chin, guiding her to look at him. “Utterly beautiful,” he said. “The most beautiful creature I have ever seen.”
She placed her fingers over his lips. “You don’t need to say things like that. I’m already here.”
She believed he was giving her lip service. She didn’t realize how desirable she was. How devourable.
He’d have to show her.
After kissing the tips of her fingers, he hooked his thumbs in the elastic of her panties and slid them down her hips to join her dress. Then he steered her to sit on the edge of the bed, going to his knees in front of her and gently spreading her thighs.
The flush that was in her cheeks spilled down over her entire body. “Tristan,” she whispered.
“Shh.” He kissed her knee. “Lie back.”
She went to her elbows, still watching him as he kissed her inner thigh. He could feel her body begin to quiver. Her delectable scent filled his nostrils. He realized his own hands were shaking as he used them to spread her thighs wider and trailed his lips along her supple flesh, closer, closer, until he found her center with his tongue. She gasped and her body jerked, so he lightly teased her, and when she let out a sexy moan, the brittle binds of his restraint broke, and he set in to devour her.
As anticipated, she writhed and thrashed as the pleasure of his kiss assaulted her. Relentlessly he continued, his own lust sharpened by every ecstasy-laden scream he pulled from her. One of her hands came over his head, fingers digging into his hair, as if to guide him, or so he thought. Instead she pushed at him as tremors assailed her on the heels of her orgasm. Wanting to take this away? He wasn’t finished with her yet. Looping his arms around her thighs, he tugged her so that her ass hung halfway off the bed and then buried his face in her core.
“Oh, God!” she cried out, her thighs clamping around his ears, drowning out the sound, but he didn’t care. The muffled mews of her pleasure made him crazed for more and he was not satisfied until he made her cry out several more times, each more sublime than the last.
But soon his body demanded its own pleasure and he finally released her. Her legs hung limp over the edge of the bed, her breaths coming in harsh, short pants, her expression dazed. Her smile was breathtaking.
Hissing his way up her body, he stopped to pay close attention to her breasts, taking one taut nipple in his mouth while kneading the other with his hand. Her size fit perfectly in his palm, so soft and supple.
“That was incredible,” she panted.
“Not over yet, sweets.”
Her hands were suddenly on his body, caressing his shoulders, his arms, his scalp, and her touch was like physical bliss poured directly over his flesh. Every sweep of her fingers seemed to stimulate his nerves, bringing them to life only to leave a trail of longing behind.
He returned his mouth to her breast, teasing the peak with his tongue and teeth.
“Tristan. You’re driving me mad!” As if there were any sanity left in him. “I can’t wait any longer.”
His lust-addled mind understood that perfectly. They both needed relief.
He crawled over her and somehow remembered to take it slow, knowing his size was a lot to take. Struggling with all his might, to hold himself back. Apparently her patience was at an end. Gripping his ass and digging her nails in, she spurred him forward. Inch by inch, he sheathed himself inside her, groaning as her heat enveloped him.
When she gasped, he somehow managed to quell the need to move, because her face was pinched. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “Yes, just give me a second, please.”
One heartbeat. Two. Three…
Finally she began to relax. And, as if to reward him, she placed little kisses all over his face before drawing him in for a smoldering kiss that had his body matching the slow rhythm of their delving tongues. Soon, she broke the kiss to moan for him, tossing her head back.
“Feels so good,” he praised, placing kisses along her jaw. “Ready for more?”
“Yes…oh, God, yes! I’m close.”