by Cecilia Lane
Adrien’s fingers crawled over her skin just as slowly. His heated touch contrasted with the coolness of the night and skipped another dose of desire to her core. His growls deepened, coming in rolling waves that matched his panted breaths.
Her dragon broke from their kiss, then dropped his face to the crook of her neck. His palms skimmed up her back to tangle in her hair and hold her closer still.
“You’re so beautiful.” Astonishment colored his tone. She felt it, too. She’d slept with men and felt the heartbreak of failed relationships. Adrien healed every single wound she’d taken and filled her with love. No one touched her as thoroughly as her dragon.
He trailed his mouth down, using her hair to arch her back. He growled again just as his lips closed around a stiff nipple and Rory shivered with the start of pleasure. A groan worked out of her throat. Her core tightened in anticipation of his touch.
Adrien continued to lick and explore the swell of her breasts. He took his time teasing her with soft touches and harder bites. She tried to rock her hips against the hard bulge between them but he stilled her with a hand on her hip. It was perfectly clear who was in charge in their bed, even if he allowed her the illusion for a time.
Her wolf howled approval. There was no fight in the beast when their mate touched them. She had no desire to turn tail and run. Adrien calmed her inner animal and rewarded her submission.
He didn’t deny Rory for long. Nimble fingers slipped between their bodies and his touch ghosted along her cleft. He slid a single finger between her lips and groaned with the arousal he found there.
“So tight and wet,” he murmured against her lips. “You love my touch, don’t you?”
“Yes,” she breathed and tried again to rock against him. He allowed the motion and added a second finger to his penetration. Dark eyes watched her with raw hunger as she fucked herself on his hand.
“That’s it, princess, take what you need. I’ll give you everything you want.”
His thumb swiped against her clit and Rory sucked in a sharp breath. His words, his touch, had her nerves afire. He wanted—no, demanded—she find her gratification with him. He stoked her pleasure hard and fast.
Her release blasted through her before she could prepare for it. Raw pleasure burned away the last of her worries. He was her mate. No matter what came for them, where they landed, they would have one another. He was hers.
And she was his.
Adrien twisted them over before she managed more than a breath. His cock pressed into her wet heat with a steady roll of his hips. Both groaned their need and enjoyment. It didn’t matter how many times they’d come together since the first, he was still big and filling her was pure ecstasy.
Rory met his first thrust with a buck of her own hips. She didn’t want to be parted from him for a second. His touch drove her mad with desire.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled his body closer to hers. She felt like her heart surged in size and the rightness of their pairing became clearer with every moment they spent together. He touched her body and it echoed in her soul.
Rory stared up at the dragon that claimed her heart. He denied the evidence littered around them and believed their story wasn’t over before it ever began. His eyes locked on hers and another growl rumbled in his chest.
Adrien dropped his face back down to the crook of her neck. He left a trail of biting, sucking kisses from her shoulder to her ear. His breath tickled with his wicked whisper. “Who do you belong to? Who makes you come harder than you ever imagined?”
“You,” she moaned.
The slap of his skin against hers, the rush of breath from lungs, even the scent of his love all worked to drive her toward another powerful release. Her muscles tightened around him and he lost his perfect rhythm. Need and hunger took control and she writhed under him.
He pounded harder into her, taking her to the heights she needed. Pressure, so much pressure. It was potent and addictive. She wished she could live on it alone.
Rory cried out his name as the earth dropped out from under her and pleasure rushed up to catch her. Adrien matched her cry with a deep, satisfied growl and warmth splashed into her.
For a long moment, he simply held her. Soft kisses dotted her forehead, her eyes, her nose, and cheeks. His fingers rubbed up and down her body as if he couldn’t get enough of her.
When she finally found sleep again, it was wrapped in the safety and warmth of her dragon’s arms.
Want to read more about the fire crew in Bearden?
Keep reading for a sneak peek of Forbidden Mate!
Forbidden Mate: Chapter One
The cheap motel door rattled with the continued pounding of knuckles. “I know you’re in there, Leah! Let me in. Now!”
Leah tossed a look over her shoulder and continued throwing her clothes into her duffel bag. “Not a fucking chance, Jamin,” she muttered under her breath.
“You know you can’t escape. We’re at your door!” He shoved that fact in her face with another round of blows that threatened to rip the door off its hinges. “Let me in and we can talk this out like adults.”
Ha. Funny, Jamin was. In a totally not sort of way. He’d rarely cracked a joke that didn’t have some other meaning behind it.
His words sunk in, though. We, he said. He’d only referred to himself in his tirade. She crept toward the door and tried to spy through the peephole. Too bad he’d covered it with his finger.
She forced herself to slow down her thoughts. She could pack. She could slip out the window. But Jamin wasn’t alone, so she’d need to be careful.
“You stole from me, you bitch.” Jamin hissed close to the door. Maybe someone passed in the hall and he wanted to get his threats done before the cops arrived. Unlikely, given the sort of place she’d picked to stay the night. “Give it back and you can walk away.”
That set her off. Her, the bitch? Leah ground her teeth together and laced up her shoes.
“Should have thought about that before you stuck your dick in everything that moved,” she shouted and regretted it immediately. Hot-headed actions would only make for cold regrets, her mother used to say.
“I’ll break down this fucking door!” Jamin yelled and slammed hard against the thin barrier. Shoulder, if her guess at the impact was correct.
“Asshole tax!” she shouted right back and angrily zipped up her bag.
Her eyes landed on the precious item Jamin had personally come to recover. A map to nowhere, as far as she could tell. It showed the entire North American continent and torn edges looked made it seem a small portion of a world map. Markers dotted the countryside and no amount of research had yielded anything. Those markers were placed over unused, uninhabited land.
Which meant he—or whoever made the map—probably had something hidden away there.
Maybe it was a petty move to steal the map and go after his buried treasure, but she’d been so angry when she left two nights ago. Asshole thought he’d been clever in keeping his latest side piece secret, but she knew. She’d dated the man off and on for years and knew his tells. The sudden burst of gifts followed by cold shoulders made her curious enough to dig for information.
He shouldn’t have left her alone in his condo. All it took was a quick picking of the lock to his office and she had access to his laptop. He didn’t even bother locking the screen. It was almost like he wanted to get caught.
Was she so terrible for extracting a price when she’d tried to give her heart? All she wanted as a little safety and a lot of loyalty. She didn’t even care if he wanted to spend the weekend watching games down at the bar. She just wanted someone she knew would come home to her at the end of the night and not try to reshape her face with his fists.
She thought she found that with Jamin. He’d plucked her off the streets and yeah, they dabbled in a little theft together. But that was to survive. It was them against the world until she decided she had enough of that world and wanted to go straight. Then it w
as Jamin against her.
At least she learned something from her mother after watching her being stepped on all those years. She’d never, ever let someone keep her down for long.
The door thumped again and speckles of wall scattered on the thin, dirty carpet. Shit. He really was going to break down the door to get to her.
She snatched up her duffel and stuffed the map in the outside pocket. She’d been reduced down to less multiple times in her life. Sneaking out the window with a few spare outfits in her hand was delightful compared to the first time she ran.
The screen popped out like it was made for quick escapes. Leah glanced at the bushes below her and threw her bag out first. Then it was her turn to slither through the opening to the constant thumping music of fists on her door.
She huddled down in the bushes. No one moved in the parking lot. She could see her rental car only a few feet away. That part of her brain that stayed vigilant forced her to leave her junker behind when she left Jamin. He couldn’t track what he didn’t know she drove.
She’d been careless and used her bank account two towns over. She was sure he’d found her from that mistake because no one lurked by the secret car she made sure to park far away from her motel door.
Leah sprinted the last few feet to her freedom. She gripped her keys hard in her fist, ready to stab anyone that tried to stop her, before she shoved them into the lock. No one did. No one even stuck their head around the building or peeked through curtains.
She shot one final look toward her motel window. Shit. Jamin glared out at her and mouthed words she couldn’t hear. She rolled down the window and shoved her middle finger at him.
Then she peeled out of the parking lot like her life depended on it. Maybe it did. She’d never seen Jamin so pissed. Angry enough to throw a punch or smash a bottle over someone’s head, sure. But he kept the rest of that anger locked inside.
She drove for a good half hour before pulling over on the side of the road. No one followed her. Hell, no one even seemed to use the road at that hour in such a small town.
Think, Leah. She blew out a long breath and urged her heart to stop racing. Cards and bank accounts were out. He knew her car, so she’d need to ditch it as soon as possible. She’d worked so damn hard to stop running, and he forced her right back into that life.
Fucking Jamin.
She flicked on the overhead light and tugged the map out of her bag. She’d been close enough to the first marker when Jamin found her. Leah traced her fingers over the map. She was even closer now. With nothing left to lose, she pulled back on the road and drove toward the spot Jamin wanted to keep secret.
Maybe she’d find cash buried there and not need to worry about him finding her again. She could take his money and disappear to some tropical island where she’d drink cocktails on the beach all day.
Yeah, right.
Thoughts she didn’t want swirled in her mind. Mostly of her mother. The woman let her father do as he pleased. Leah swore from an early age that wouldn’t be her life. And yet, she’d let Jamin off the hook far too often. No more. Asshole tax, she shouted at him, and meant it. She wasn’t going to wait around for him to strip her of her safety just like he’d stripped her of loyalty. Daddy had no loyalty to Momma, and there was no safety once the words started to fly.
Not. Her. Life.
Lights appeared in her rearview and Leah let loose a cloud of curses. Panic clawed at her throat. No one else used the road. She had Jamin and an unknown number of thugs after her. She couldn’t even taste hope that some lone farmer was heading home from the bar.
The lights zoomed closer and her panic jumped even higher. He wouldn’t hit her, would he? Not like this. He’d want it personal, and he’d want to take back what she stole from him.
The lights were bright and close enough that she couldn’t see anything beyond the glare.
Leah swerved to the other empty lane, then back again. A trio of vehicles, if she counted correctly. All coming too fast.
“Fuck,” she chanted under her breath. She pushed her foot on the accelerator and urged the little car faster. The engine groaned with the effort but the hand on the speedometer jerked just a bit higher.
Still, the lights shined ominously in her mirror. Two behind the lead car fanned out to block both lanes.
The road veered suddenly into an incline up the mountains. She twisted the wheel hard enough to avoid hitting the guardrail and rolling off the edge, then sped into the next straightaway. She was glad of the dark. She couldn’t peer over the side and imagine tumbling down.
The churning gears of the engine behind her raised her attention. She glanced up long enough to see the lights of the front vehicle shooting closer.
“Son of a—!” Her rental jerked with the force of the blow. She slammed her foot hard on the brake and skidded to a stop.
Eyes wide, she glanced through the window and saw death coming for her.
Lights grew in size as the other vehicle drove straight for her. She didn’t have any time to escape. The impact crunched into the passenger door and sent her car rolling over the side of the road.
A scream ripped from her throat as the car flipped. Thank God and Shiva and Odin and every other deity ever worshipped for the creator of seat belts. Death wanted to claim her and those straps holding her down tight kept her in the world for just a little bit longer.
Leah drew in a shaky breath once the car rocked to a stop, thankfully sitting upright. Her entire body trembled with the adrenaline dumped into her veins. She needed to move. Jamin was still up top, and he was out for blood.
She clutched at her shirt and scraped away glass from the door handle. But it wouldn’t budge when she tried to pull it. She tried again and again, and it still stuck.
Crunching and scraping reached her ears. Fuck. They were coming for her.
Desperate, she unlocked her seat belt and kicked at the door.
“Shit. Someone’s coming. Get out,” Jamin whispered into the night. Rustling and curses faded away as the bastards hurried away from their crime.
Leah wanted to shout at them and call them cowards. But the shock of the night stole her voice and left her shaking. She’d survived, but for how long? And who was scary enough to drive Jamin away from his prize?
A large, angry animal roared in the night.
Forbidden Mate is available on Amazon!
New Series
Forbidden Mate: Shifters of Bear’s Den Book One
An Alpha Bound by Duty
Bear shifter Callum Strathorn has a job to do. With his father’s health declining, it’s up to Callum to take over as Mayor of Bearden.
When Leah Arden crashes her car near Bearden, Callum leads the first responders. He pulls the lovely woman from the wreckage, but as her wits return, she sees things that humans should never see. Forbidden things, like a mysterious town and a man shifting into a bear.
Callum has no choice. To protect his town and his clan, he keeps Leah captive in Bearden while he figures out damage control. He soon finds himself with a fiery and furious female on his hands. And if things couldn’t get worse, the stubborn and aggravatingly sexy woman smells and tastes just like his fated mate.
A Woman on the Run
Leah Arden lives a life haunted by secrets. She can't stay in one place for long or her past will catch up with her. With nowhere to turn, she doesn’t trust anyone, not until she meets Bearden’s gruff but handsome mayor.
Callum’s slow, sexy smile and quiet strength make her yearn for more. But when he lays down the law and forces her to remain in Bearden, she grows desperate to find a way to escape. Even if that means betraying the one man who makes her want to put down roots.
As Leah’s secrets unravel, the danger grows, looming over her and all of Bearden. Callum's enemies are looking for weakness, and he handed them one on a silver platter. Can the town’s alpha keep his people safe, especially the woman who is fated to be his?
Step into the world of Shifting Des
tinies, where the men and women you meet might just be a little more than human. Their towns are protected by magic, and their hearts are open and ready for love. But watch your step - more than darkness lurks in the shadows.
Forbidden Mate is available on Amazon!
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About the Author
Cecilia Lane grew up in a what most call paradise, but she insists is humid hell. She escaped the heat with weekly journeys to the library, where she learned the basics of slaying dragons, magical abilities, and grand adventures.
When it became apparent she wouldn’t be able to travel the high seas with princes or party with rock star vampires, Cecilia hunkered down to create her own worlds filled with sexy people in complicated situations. She now writes with the support of her own sexy man and many interruptions from her goofy dog.
Connect with Cecilia online!
www.cecilialane.com
Also by Cecilia Lane
Shifting Destinies: Shifters of Bear’s Den
Forbidden Mate
Dangerous Mate
Hunted Mate
Runaway Mate
Stolen Mate
Shifting Destinies Standalone Stories
Her Christmas Wolf
Wanted by the Bear
Cursed Dragons