“Is it me or is this scene scarier the second time around?”
“Now that you’ve acknowledged your power it wants out.”
“Out to do what?”
“That depends on you. If you give it a chance, it will take over your life. It will consume your body and own you. If you prove stronger it will work with you, the two of you will merge into one becoming stronger for it.”
“No third option? I was hoping for the; you can return the power and go back to living a normal life.”
“Is that what you want, Nadia? No power, no me?”
She opened her mouth to reply before she shut it and rethought about her answer. Was that what she truly wanted? She didn’t know about her power until recently, but it had always been there, and she had counted on it more than once to give her the strength to defy the odds in her life. When Mutufa decided he wanted her to betray her best friend, she leaned heavily on that power as she defied him. Why? Because she wasn’t brave, but her power made her think she could accomplish great things.
Then there was Maceo. Did she want to go back to a time before she knew him? Was knowing him that bad? Sure she was on the demon plane, and yes they tried to eat her as a tasty Nadia snack, but she was out of the kitchen and living life. If she was honest with herself, this was better than the dating agency she had been thinking of trying. Besides she was pretty sure they didn’t have any Maceo’s on speed dial.
“I don’t want that; I think I’m just tired and scared. Does that make me weak or disgusting in your mind?”
“It makes you strong and intelligent. I’ve been fighting Mutufa in all his various forms for centuries, and there are still times I feel fear. One of those times was recently when it looked like he was going to break free.”
Taking a deep breath, she focused on the door. “What do we do next?”
“We’re going to hijack a little of your power. You can’t run with a bum ankle, and we can't stay here much longer. Not only that you can’t fully integrate with your power until you decide to mate with me. I don’t think you’re ready to make that decision right now.”
“Don’t you mean have sex with you?”
“No. I mean become my dragon mate. That means to accept me to become one with me in a bond that can’t be broken. It takes more than an intimate encounter for that to happen.”
“So if we…?”
“Made love you wouldn’t be mated to me. You would have to voluntarily enter into the union to become my mate.”
She nodded because he just told her there would be no traps or waking up married like they had eloped to Vegas. A quick look at him confirmed what she already believed. He could be trusted; in fact, she was willing to trust him with her life.
“Let’s do this.”
He gave her a smile that made her heart beat fast and her secret places throb with need. She didn’t want to forget him. Together they walked to the door that had stopped moving. It looked like an ordinary door with nothing to fear from it. She knew better. When her hand reached out to touch the knob, it was hot daring her to turn it.
A quick look over her shoulder showed that Maceo was no longer there, he was standing right by her side willing to defend her if need be. A smile played on her face it had been a long time since someone had been willing to stand with her in the midst of a storm. A deep indrawn breath later she turned the handle opening the door.
Quickly she ducked waiting for an onslaught of her power, but nothing happened.
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know, but I think your power is stalking you.”
She laughed it could only happen to her. They walked further into the room until they could close the door. This wasn’t a kitchen, but it reminded her of the huge freezers she used to deal with when she was in school. The walk-in freezers in some cases reminded her of large apartments. There were compartments to it, places for hanging meats that were colder than other parts of it where vegetables were kept and even beverages to keep them cold until needed.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a streak of power like it was taunting her, turning she followed it limping across the room. It would show itself briefly before it disappeared again, but she kept following.
“Nadia, be careful it’s trying to—.”
A door closed behind her cutting her off from Maceo before he was able to finish warning her. She moved back to the door but it wouldn’t open and banging on it wasn’t helping. Wrapping her arms around herself because the temperature had dropped considerably she walked further into the room.
“Okay, you got me alone.” The power wanted her alone, and she had better figure out why quickly.
With a turn of her head, she focused on an orange bolt of power that was sitting on top of several boxes that were stacked on top of each other. She limped over noticing that her limp was becoming worse although she would have thought the cold of the room would have made her feel better.
“It’s just you and me.”
Her power flew off the boxes passing by her cutting her ankle with a sharp edge as it passed by her. While she was trying to steady herself, it flew past her again and knocked her off balance. She tried desperately to keep standing but fell on her rear. There was faint laughter in the room as her power, the thing that should be helping her came after her.
“You think you're funny.” She said more to herself as she stood up. “Let’s get Nadia by herself and show her that she doesn’t have what it takes. Let’s prove the world right. Let’s show her that she’s weak and that in the end; we’ll take over her body.” She continued to talk as she stalked her power around the room.
“Come to me,” she whispered enticing it closer. It darted by slipping through her fingers leaving them with a burning sensation.
“Maybe you're right. Maybe you should be in charge. I should give my life over to you allow you to rule my body.”
Her power came closer listening to her words. “Here’s the thing, I’m not ready to give up, to concede to your dominance. I’ve spent too long proving to myself and the world around me that I have what it takes to succeed and I’m not going to let one part of me that happens to doubt my ability stop me.”
Her power came up to her ready to slice anther part of her flesh to watch her fall on her ass one more time. When it flew at Nadia, she didn’t try to get out of its way. She opened herself up and allowed it to hit her in her chest. She rocked on her feet until she hit the ground, but there was a smile of victory on her face.
“Mine!” she crowed.
The power crawled through her body trying to take charge, but she held onto the reigns of her life and her brain. Slowly she came to her feet and watched as her swollen ankle that was throbbing began to decrease in size. This was just the first round, but she was the winner.
She walked towards the door to find Maceo waiting on the other side. Walking into his arms, she admitted for the first time that winning felt good.
Chapter Thirteen
Nadia opened her eyes to realize she was back in the cabin and Maceo was kissing her. Taking a risk, she snuggled closer to him placing her arms around his neck and kissing him back. Her tongue moved over his as his taste overwhelmed her senses. He was spicy and masculine; she couldn’t get enough of him.
He pulled away to kiss down her neck they were both panting one little kiss doing them in. She was hot and wanted to get hotter, needing to feel his hands on her body.
“Nadia?” He pulled back looking at her his eyes asking her the question he didn’t articulate.
“Ask me, Maceo.”
“Nadia, can I touch you, kiss you, love you?”
She smiled unable to help herself because she could see his desire written so plainly on his face. He wanted her it was in his eyes, in the tenseness of his body, his very fingers that caressed her arm but trembled just a little. Her eyes brightened because she wanted him to.
“Yes, Maceo, oh God yes.”
He crushed her to him pulling
her onto his lap as his mouth took her again. This time there was a desperation, a domination as his lips covered hers and his tongue dueled with hers. She placed her hands on his back feeling the flow of his muscles through his shirt. His heat reached out through his clothes to touch her just one more way he was making her his as he warmed her up.
Nadia was never warm enough, it wasn’t like she was cold, but she preferred the extra blanket or layer of clothes. Now Maceo was heating her up making her feel like she finally found that one place that she had searched for. The place where she belonged. Later she would argue that she didn’t belong in his arms right now she opened her mouth allowing a long moan of desire to escape her lips as he bit her between her neck and shoulder.
Her body convulsed and her legs pressed together. Maceo was going to make her lose her mind if he wasn’t careful.
“I want.”
“I want to,” He whispered in her ear before he stood up with her in his arms. “Not here, Zeno may come out.”
His brother wouldn’t come out his dragon hearing was far too sensitive for that, but Nadia would have a hard time dealing with the fact that she lost it in the living room. He allowed his long strides to take them back to the bedroom. The need to have her was clawing at his chest and now that she said yes nothing was going to keep him from tasting his dragon mate.
He sat her down on the bed her ankle catching his eyes. His finger touched it gently noting that there was no swelling.
“It worked. It wasn’t easy, but I won this round. We can leave whenever you want to.” We can leave now she thought, and you don’t have to love me, look at me.
“Not now.” His voice was thick with desire; his eyes were hot with passion, and he couldn’t stop caressing her with them.
The lump in her chest left. For a minute she wondered if maybe he was pretending to want her. She been there done that before and wasn’t willing to live that way again.
His hand came out and traced from her ankle up to her thigh. It was splayed over her like he wanted to touch as much of her as possible. She surprised herself by not thinking of how big her thighs were. She wanted her pants off so she could feel the pads of his fingers as they caressed her.
He stood back before he pulled his shirt over his head. She bit her tongue to keep from swallowing it. The play of his muscles as his arms moved fascinated her. It captured her, and she knew she could look at him all day and still wish she could see more.
“You’re beautiful.”
He gave a deep chuckle of appreciation.
“Thank you, but to me, you’re the one that’s beautiful. I’ve never seen anyone like you. Your chest is moving just enough to make my eyes stare at it in wonder. My hands and my lips want to touch your breast, touch you, taste you. The brown of your eyes make me want to drown in you while the red of your hair is like fire my fingers ache to touch. I know you will burn me, Nadia, and I want the burn. All this before you bare any skin besides your shapely ankles.”
Her breath caught. He enjoyed looking at her clothed. She licked her lips in the past she would demand the lights be turned off before she would get naked. That way if the guy had anything unpleasant to say he wouldn’t be able to see her body clearly.
Maceo was calling her out, asking her to meet him on a new level of intimacy. The right answer should be to ignore him, to protect herself. Instead, she was placing her feet on the floor as she stood up. Her hands went to the hem of her shirt. Her tongue came out to lick her lips. There were two types of intimacy. The kind where you unveiled your body and the type where you began to unveil your soul. She had no illusions, taking off her top would begin to unveil her soul. It would be a slow process, but it was one she knew she was entering.
She took the hem of her shirt and began to lift it allowing him to see every part of her as she slowly drew it over her head. She heard his breath catch as he struggled to breathe, and still she refused to look at him. The shirt finally made it over her head, and she dropped it on the floor next to the bed before she looked at his face.
“Beautiful,” he walked closer slowly as if she might at any time reject him. He placed his hands on her shoulders and slid them down her arms making her shake as little tendrils of fire followed his fingers waking up her skin, sensitizing it.
“Maceo,” she reached out to touch his chest to allow her fingers to play over the muscles that captured her attention.
“I never thought I would find you, Nadia. You were a dream I almost gave up on.”
Her knees shook a little because she had given up on him also. Her life was ordered, she knew what she would do until the day she died but it wasn’t this, and it wasn’t supposed to be with him.
He went down to his knees and placed his head on her stomach holding her close. Then he turned and kissed her belly making butterflies spring to life inside of her.
“I could never have imagined you would be this beautiful. Not just your luscious body but you. Your smile, your bravery, your ability to thrive in new and different situations. That amazing sense of humor.”
She laughed feeling free. “Maceo I think you like me because you’re the only person who sees all of that in me.”
“The rest of the world is blind.” His tongue flicked out and licked the edge of her belly button. She shook.
“Can I take the rest off?”
She nodded unable to make her suddenly dry mouth utter a word. He was going to see her, and she wanted to be seen. His fingers moved to the buttons at her waist. She was wearing a pair of jeans that hugged her curves. He undid each button one at a time until the jeans were open then he placed a kiss there. His hands tugged on the waistband drawing pulling them down.
The beat of her heart kicked up as she waited for him to say something. Instead, she felt the feather-light touch of him on her thigh as his hand caressed her. He kissed and caressed her skin as he unveiled it. The deep groans coming from his mouth touched her at her core making her wet. He breathed in deeply his voice tore out of his throat as his tongue licked his lips at her scent. He pulled the pants down to her ankles and encouraged her to step out of them. She was wearing nothing except her red bra and a scrap of red panties.
“Just when I think you can’t get any more beautiful, you do.”
He stood up and pulled her close to him wrapping his arms around her as his body tried to touch her everywhere. He rocked her in his arms.
She felt cherished. He was treating her like she was precious to him, more than just a female. More than just a mate to set him free. He was acting like she was the only person he could see. He moved them backward until the bed hit against her legs. He picked her up and laid her down on the bed. He placed a knee on the bed and came to rest beside her.
She should just enjoy this the thought popped into her head even as she was rising. Not this time she kicked it to the curve as her hands feathered over his chest tweaking his nipples. He hissed so she did it again. A feeling of feminine power sat on her shoulders as she leaned over and took a nipple in her mouth.
He reached up and held her head down to his chest sounds of passion coming from his lips. The wait for her had been long now all he wanted to do was devour her, but she needed freedom to express herself, and he was her mate. He needed to give her that freedom to allow her to see how passionate, strong and beautiful she was.
“Maceo,” She whispered his name as her hands caressed him not sure of where to touch first.
“I’m all yours, touch me, lick me, bite me. I want it all.”
She nodded as she bit him on his rock hard thigh and then sighed before she bit him again. His hand caressed her cheek before his fingertips caressed her neck.
She felt her hips moves against the hardness of his legs and a moan of pure pleasure rocked her as her pussy clenched in need.
“Not without me baby.” He lifted her up and turned her over so that she was on her back.
His took her bra clad nipple between his lips and bit as she called out his name then he s
ucked her nipple deep into the heat of his mouth.
A loud moan came from her as she tried to lift her hips making contact with him. He chuckled even as he held her down.
“I’m just getting started, love.” He took her other nipple between his fingers and tweaked it pulling on it while it got harder. The sweet music of her voice was asking for more.
He reached behind her and undid the hooks of her bra lifting it slowly until he revealed the deep brown of her nipples.
“Gorgeous.” His tongue came out to lick her nipple before taking it back in his mouth.
Small sounds left her mouth as her hands looked for anywhere to touch and caress. He was making her hot; her pussy was on fire as she tried to rub against him seeking sweet relief from the heat building up inside of her. She needed to touch him, rub against him, feel him deep within her. She thrashed trying to get closer to him.
“Soon, baby,” he promised as his fingers slid down to the hood of her clit.
His eyes locked with hers filled with passion and promise.
His lips tugging on her breast made her stomach clench in desire. Her pussy ached with an empty feeling and her toes curled because she had never felt this good at the hands of a man. Not a man she reminded herself he’s a dragon. Her dragon, she couldn’t keep him, but that didn’t stop her from never wanting to let him go.
He bit her nipple just hard enough to drag a ragged moan from her lips. Her fingertips played in his hair before she caressed his shoulders and arms. Her hips lifted when he slid down her body kissing her. He stopped to place the sweetest kisses on her belly as his hands stroked her making her hotter.
“Your beautiful Nadia.” He placed small bites on her making her skin tingle and drawing sexy laughs that ended up in sounds of desire.
When he came to the hood of her pussy, he stopped, pushing himself up on his arms so he could get a better look. She had a strip of hair going down the middle and was bare on either side.
“Fucking gorgeous.” He lowered his head and buried it in her pussy breathing in deep. “You smell good, baby.”
Nadia's Dragon: Nadia's Dragon: A BBW Paranomal Romance (Dragon Mates Book 2) Page 8