“I need that, too,” she confessed, scooting across the mattress to lie flush with him.
His sharp intake of breath mirrored her reaction to his proximity. His broad chest rose and fell hard.
Dragon turned to the side, coming ever so close to her without making contact with her shaking body.
His warmth enveloped her like a blanket, making her dizzy again. She tilted her chin ever so lightly, brushing his soft lips.
It felt familiar and right. Her tentative kiss deepened, and her hands found their way to his chest, exploring, caressing, tracing a path to his back. The pleasure Jade derived from the mere act of touching him startled her, and at the same time, the lack of his hands on her body pained her.
“Tell me,” Dragon said, reading her discomfort. “What do you want?”
Jade didn’t answer with words but took his hand and placed it against her chest. He pressed his palm, his fingers sneaking under the collar of her shirt, calloused pads rubbing her skin. His movements were slow and soft, etching his touch on her body as if he were branding her.
“I’ve missed you so much,” he said before taking her mouth for a kiss that started slow and gentle.
Jade would have none of it. After denying herself the pleasure of the flesh for as long as she had resisted Dragon, now she couldn’t wait a moment longer.
Her hands tugged the hem of his shirt, bunching the fabric higher to reveal the taut stomach and sculpted pectorals. She would feast on the sight later. Now, she wanted him naked under her.
Dragon hoisted himself up and helped in her endeavor, shrugging off the shirt as her fingers went to his belt. She had managed to jerk the strip of leather free from his pants when a series of raps on the door startled her.
“I’m back with the guards,” Valerian said from the other side of the door.
“I’m sorry—” Dragon’s voice was pained. His strong hand rose to cup her cheek. “I can’t send them away.”
Panting, Jade leaned against his touch. “I know.”
“Come in,” he said out loud, putting on his shirt.
Valerian waited a few heartbeats before entering, followed by five men who immediately stormed the bedroom. Holding long clockwork wands, they swept the place in a grid. The wands emitted chirping sounds every time they touched an object, and the guards walked around the perimeter of the room, listening to any variation in the noises.
Half an hour later, Valerian declared the bedroom safe and ordered the men to check the rest of Dragon’s quarters. During the search, Dragon never left Jade’s side, one part of his body always touching her. Valerian remained with them, going over the new security measures Dragon wanted implemented. The two men asked Jade’s opinion on more than one topic.
Two hours later, the guards had almost finished their job when one of them called Valerian. Jade and Dragon followed him into the parlor where the man held a second incense holder for them to see.
“I found it in the library, between two books,” the guard said, passing the small dish with an incense cone to Valerian.
“Give it to the doctor to examine.” Valerian handed it back to the guard, who carefully placed the dish and the cone in a bag.
“That was probably plan B,” Jade commented.
“We have a terrorist among our crew.” Dragon passed his hand across his jaw.
“I’ll check on the team working on sorting the garbage,” Valerian said.
Dragon nodded. “Go.”
“I’ll report back—” Valerian started to say.
“Only if you find something.” Jade gave him a long stare that made the lieutenant smile.
Dragon laughed unabashedly.
14
As soon as Valerian and his team left the room, Dragon grabbed Jade’s hand and pulled her to him.
“If I weren’t madly in love with you already, I would’ve fallen for you tonight,” he said, leaning low to catch her lower lip with his teeth. He nibbled at her soft flesh and brushed her breast, eliciting from her a choked moan.
“You are a vixen and a sorcerer, my most-daring desire and the mother of my child. My lover and my life,” he whispered before reverently kissing her mouth, coaxing her lips open with his tongue as he plunged inside into her warmth.
Blindly, he pulled her toward the bed only to stop when the back of his legs bumped against the frame. He started dragging Jade down with him but one glance at her belly made him pause.
“The baby,” he said, worrying he was being too forceful.
“We’re both stronger than you give us credit for,” Jade said, but her words had a soft quality, and a smile graced her face. She lay down beside him, her long fingers tracing his jaw.
“It’s our first child.” He leaned against her touch, closing his eyes to savor the moment. “I don’t know what to do and am afraid I’ll be a most anxious father.”
“I like that,” she said.
He opened his eyes to look at Jade. “I promise I’ll try not to smother you, but I can’t help it. Protecting you is my mandate as much as adoring you is.”
“I can live with that.” Jade moved closer to him. “I’ll have to learn my way around you again—”
“I’ll help you with that.” He took her hand and placed it against his chest. “Feel my heart.”
She pressed her palm against his shirt and nodded.
“It’s yours. Forever.” He dipped his head and whispered into her ear, “Take all the time you need. I’ll always be here for you. No matter what happens, we’ll face it, together.”
She moved against him, and their bodies aligned. He opened his arms and cradled her closer, inhaling a scent that changed with her moods. Now her aroma was sweeter, calling to the beast that paced in his mental cage.
“My dragon is driving me crazy.” He lay a small kiss on the shell of her ear, and she shivered against his arms, her reaction rippling through him.
“Why?” she breathlessly asked.
“Because your smell is divine.” His tongue rimmed her earlobe.
She moaned, burrowing closer, her nipples pebbling against his chest. Her hands started where they were before being interrupted by Valerian, tearing at the hem of his shirt and jerking the fabric up. Her movements were feverish, filled with raw need that perfectly matched Dragon’s emotions.
Jade’s hand rose to the back of his head and pressed, bringing him down to her mouth. Her lips were soft and wet when she kissed him. Her hands resumed their discovery of his body, descending toward his pants, her fingers dipping under the waistband, caressing the nest of curls before removing the belt with a hard tug.
He deepened his tongue inside her mouth, mimicking the thrusts and pulls of lovemaking, cupping her breasts that perfectly fit in his palms. When he pinched her nipple through the fabric of her shirt, Jade threw her head back, moaning. His other hand traveled across her slender body, lingering for a caress on her stomach before reaching the apex of her legs. He stroked her over her pants, and she pressed against his touch.
“This won’t do,” she complained, grabbing his hand and removing it to shimmy out of her pants. A moment later, she pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it out of the bed. Wide-eyed and panting, her mouth swollen and red from their kisses, she looked at him and pointed at his clothes. “These must go, too.” Her hands were on him next, pulling and pushing to strip him of his garments.
His shirt didn’t cooperate, though, and she grabbed its collar and tore it in two. “Better,” she said, lowering her lips to his naked chest, sucking his nipples one at a time, while her hand lowered between his legs. She stroked his manhood hard and fast before straddling him, centering him at her entrance. “I need you now.”
Jade’s assault drove his senses into a frenzy, making him forget his intention to go slow and tender for their first union. He thrust his hips up as she lowered herself onto him and filled her in one movement that had both gasping.
Rocking against him, she sheathed him in her warmth, her head thrown ba
ck and her back arched, pushing her breasts forward. He played with her nipples and was rewarded by her loud cries that spurred his passion to the next level.
His dragon roared, demanding Dragon bite her shoulder to mark her. Pushing harder and faster into her, he wound his arms around her in a tight grip, pressing her down to him, and his mouth latched to the spot where her neck and shoulder met. In a haze of pure visceral sensation, his teeth grazed her skin. Jade shivered and moaned, moving against him with renewed desire. He felt her channel tighten around him, driving him deeper into her. His teeth found purchase as her inner muscles started squeezing his hardness.
Her body convulsed, and he rode her ecstasy with long rolls of his hips that prolonged her pleasure. His teeth ached to sink into her flesh, but he forced his inner dragon back into the recesses of his mind, transforming the bite into a sensual nip.
Still shivering, she moved against him in languid rubs that caressed him intimately and brought him to the edge of his release.
“Jade—” he shouted when her tempo became faster.
His eyes locked with hers, his hands grabbed her hips, and he slammed into her, faster and faster, riding all the way down to a spiraling bliss. Heart-stopping pleasure filled him until he thought he would explode at the seams, and still he kept thrusting into her. His body tensed one last time and he released his seed into her. For a moment, reality disappeared. He floated nameless and bodiless in a sea of sensual pleasure.
Finally spent, he moved his hands from her hips to the small of her back, then caressed her slowly as Jade sought his mouth and kissed him thoroughly, her hands around his neck and head. They remained united, kissing, covered in sweat, stroking each other until she shivered on top of him.
Dragon gently rolled them both to the side and grabbed the coverlet to wrap her.
15
Jade raised one hand to trace the contour of his face.
“Was it like this before?” she asked, snuggling under the coverlet, but being careful not to separate them, because they were still united.
“No,” Dragon said. “When we did it the last time, it was great, more than great. We had great chemistry from the start, but this time, it was different.”
“How?” Her body tingled everywhere.
He looked at her intently, the azure of his eyes almost too bright to bear. “For a moment, I thought I was going to have a stroke.”
“That doesn’t sound good.” A small laugh escaped her mouth.
“It was the most intense experience of my life. I would’ve died a happy man,” he said, his lips curving up as dimples appeared on his face. “Was is it good for you?” His hand rested on her side, warming her up and, at the same time, spreading goosebumps all over her body.
“I’ve had good sex and bad sex, but none of my encounters can compare to what we just had,” she answered.
“I’m glad to hear that, I think—” His hand moved from her hip and trailed over her side, his fingers brushing the swell of her breast, teasing her nipple.
“It was… beautiful.” Her body stirred at his touch, the tingling intensifying where his hand moved.
“It was more than beautiful,” he said, leaning to kiss her. “It was divine.” His mouth left hers to brush her throat, then the hollow at its base, and farther down between her breasts.
As he ignited her senses, she felt him awakening inside her, and it fueled her passion anew.
“Lovemaking like that is the reason men and women go to war,” he said, his mouth drawing her nipple between his teeth. “You could ask me for anything right now, and I’d give it to you.”
“Anything?” She grabbed his sculpted buttocks and pressed his thighs against her.
“Anything,” he answered against her nipple before biting down.
She cried in pleasure. “Take me.”
He looked up from her breast, his eyes dancing with mirth as he thrust deep into her in one lazy movement. “Like this?” he asked.
“Any way you like,” she answered, crazy with need already, anchoring her leg over his back to give him easier access.
He took advantage of the new position and drove deeper inside her, keeping his pace maddeningly slow. He filled her completely, stretching her channel and reaching deeper yet. Soon, the entire world disappeared, and Jade’s reality became a bundle of raw sensations. Her emotions ranged from sensual aching to blinding pleasure. Like a powerful tide, Dragon’s body brought her close to the ecstasy of release only to halt and start again in an agonizing loop. His thrusts and touches varied according to her response. His hands caressed the swell of her breast one moment and pinched her nipple the next as his mouth and teeth alternated between featherlight kisses and bites.
Finally, Jade couldn’t bear his ministrations any longer and slammed a hand against his chest, commanding him to roll on his back. She needed to ride him and reach her climax or she would go mad with want.
Dragon’s eyes widened, and his mouth curled into a wicked smile. Separating them, he grabbed her hand and with a swift gesture turned her away from him. His hardness pressed against her back, making her wiggle from the need. He took hold of her hips and positioned her for his taking.
She cried his name when he entered her again, filling her fully.
“My precious jewel,” he said, his voice hoarse, finally giving her what she wanted with hard thrusts and rough caresses. His hands roamed from her breasts to the apex of her legs where his fingers stroked her core with tender touches at odds with their frenzied coupling.
The combination of soft and hard drove Jade mad, and it didn’t take her long to reach the edge of her release. This time, he complied with the frantic requests of her body and brought her to an explosive climax. She rode the waves of blissful pleasure for as long as she could, her inner muscles squeezing him, wanting more. He upped his tempo, following her cues until she slumped against him with a long-drawn moan. A moment later, he slammed into her hard one more time and roared his own pleasure as he spent inside her.
Neither able to talk, they remained in the same position for several minutes, taking time as their panting slowed. Jade relaxed in his arms, her back against his chest as he encased her possessively, his leg over her thigh, pulling her closer to him still.
His lips traced the ridge of her shoulder, his teeth grazing her skin.
“You didn’t mark me,” she said, her hand reaching for the spot where he had almost bitten her earlier.
“I’ve never wanted something as much as I wanted to make you mine in the true way of the dragon.” His voice was a hoarse whisper against her ear and made her shiver. “But we haven’t even had time to have a proper talk about the soulmate mark, and I won’t bind you to me without your full consent.”
“Thank you.” She brought his wandering hand to her lips and kissed it. “It’s too soon—”
“I know.” Dragon silenced her, placing a finger under her chin and tilting her face toward him. He leaned and kissed her, his mouth soft against hers.
Without breaking their kiss, he made love to her one more time, caressing every inch of her body with long, sensual strokes. They reached their peaks at the same time, shouting their pleasure before collapsing to the mattress, utterly sated.
Afterward, Jade fell deeply asleep in his arms.
16
The next morning, Dragon woke after the most restful sleep he’d had in a long time.
Jade was curled against him, her slender body and long legs intertwined with his, one of his hands on her breast, the other on the swell of her stomach. He brushed her nape, inhaling her scent that was now mixed with his.
He looked at her shoulder where his teeth’s round, shallow mark beckoned to him. His dragon cried and roared, and it took all of Dragon’s willpower to ignore the animalistic imperative once again. He meant what he had said to Jade. He would wait for her consent and work on their relationship until his soulmate accepted him completely and without reservation.
In the meantime, he w
ould take great joy in their physical union that went beyond pure pleasure and bordered into metaphysical with each new act.
Jade moved against him, wakening his dormant manhood that sprang proudly looking for her warmth. She turned toward him. A small smile appeared on her sleepy face as she slowly opened her eyes. Her hand reached lower between them.
“Good morning,” she said, caressing him lazily.
“The best of mornings to you.” A moan escaped his mouth, and he added, “But mostly to me—”
Her stomach’s gurgling was echoed by his own rumble, and they both burst out laughing.
“Maybe we should eat something first,” she finally said.
“I hate to agree but you’re right.” He pried her hand open and brought it to his chest, pressing it against his heart to let her feel his galloping heartbeats before raising it all the way to his lips for a kiss.
He helped her pull on a fresh change of clothes, and she dressed him, trailing kisses from his lower abdomen to his chest before she buttoned his shirt. Only the notion that she needed to eat prevented Dragon from making love to Jade. His need to satiate his powerful desire for her grew stronger instead of lessening, and until he marked her, it would only worsen.
He grabbed the gramophone’s horn and ordered a large breakfast.
“We can’t possibly eat all that food,” Jade commented when he hung up.
“Dragon shifters are a voracious lot.” He stole a kiss before adding, “I’m ravenous—”
Winding his arms around her back and under her knees, he lifted Jade from the bed and walked to the living room. His lips took hold of hers, feeding his sexual appetite with morsels of his soulmate. It was just nibbles before the main meal, but they would sustain him until he satiated his cravings.
He sat in one of the large wingback chairs at the oval glass table in the living room. The chair had been reinforced to withstand his weight and was spacious enough for two. Jade made to slide to the side, but he adjusted her on his lap and whispered in her ear, “I’ve been without you for too long and need to feel you against me.”
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