Dragon Heart

by Susan Arden

  “Beautiful temptress.” He grunted, then leaned over her stomach and took hold of one wrist, flicking his thumb along the sensitive underside, surprising Shay by lifting her hand and kissing her palm. His lips were sweet. Tender. And yes, searing as though she’d touched an open flame.

  She could hardly speak and when she did, her voice came out husky. “You mentioned binding my wrists.”

  “Ah, yes. Speaking of leather. We’ll need a belt. Several.” He still held her hand and frowned, staring down at her arm. “Too fragile. Silk for your lovely skin. The sash of your robe will do, but we’ll need more.”

  “Silk scarves. They’d work,” she offered, hypnotized by his fingertips. When his shimmering eyes met hers, she forgot her thought and the blistering burn of his body. “You’re the beautiful one,” she murmured.

  He returned her unblinking stare. “I don’t know if this will work. I’ve never been with a leopardess. Your skin is so sensitive.”

  She roused herself with his sobering words. “You must.”

  “There is a way,” he murmured.

  “Magick?”

  “Not the type you might be accustomed to.”

  “Is it true about dragons?”

  “Oh brother,” he said, giving her the look that indicated she’d said something off-the-wall in his book. “Which myth shall I debunk?”

  “I heard that when a dragon desires a woman, his mystical eyes can bend her will. But first he has to mate with the girl and then he owns her mind … body … soul.”

  “That’s more fairy tale than truth—first a dragon must connect physically to form deep mind link. I was referring about binding you to maintain my concentration instead of shooting out scorching fire.”

  “Fire? As in flames that could burn my skin?”

  “Trust me, Shay. I have no intention of injuring you … the opposite in fact. If I can concentrate for more than two seconds in your company. I have the ability to release a cool flame. They’re highly erotic. Pleasurable to human and non-dragon shifters.”

  “Oh,” she said, studying his full lips.

  “Oh … I need more of a reply than that.” He scowled darkly down at her before he rose off the bed, crossing to her closet. “Scarves?” he called out.

  “What about the women, emphasis on the plural?” she asked, not wanting to imagine him with another woman and his cool-flame-throwing ability.

  “That’s not my style,” he retorted wryly. “Now, how about giving it up on the location of the scarves, Shannon.”

  “Inside. The center island. The top set of drawers.” She tried to rise but felt lightheaded from staring into Drake’s eyes as he watched her from the closet doorway.

  It was the dragon’s way and since he was a draconian lord by birth, he had the power to possess—fairy tale or not. Every shifter knew shifter facts. A dragon by his very nature had to procreate with several women … draconian women from his own clan—no, rage. Who didn’t know that … but it was true, Drake wasn’t like anyone in his ability to live a life on his own terms.

  “Jesus. How many clothes do you own?” he asked from inside her closet.

  She rolled her eyes and instead of answering, she called out, “Promise not to steal my will. I’m giving you something that is worth a bundle. I don’t understand why men’s egos are so incredibly vast and fragile, but all I can say is thank you. Come tomorrow, I’m a free woman.”

  Silence, except for a few harsh mumbles as she heard drawers opening and slamming shut. He suddenly appeared at the threshold of her closet, and she gasped, captivated by the countless shadows crisscrossing his body, marking the contours of his flexing sinew, and her eyes widened. Widened a whole lot more when her gaze lowered to his swollen shaft.

  From across the room, his hard-on appeared long, thick and perfectly formed but there was no getting around one painful fact: Drake was built in huge dimensions.

  “Kitten, before tonight neither one of us was looking for long-term, but you do realize that this might get much more complicated than just sex. If we do this, I can promise we’ll both be leaving. Your idea of getting far away from here may mean traveling farther away from Denver.”

  What was he talking about? She intended on returning to Denver and getting her own apartment and living on her own terms.

  “Surely, you can return home and explain that I left. I’ll leave tomorrow night. Won’t be the first time I’ve gotten away from my keepers.”

  “The last time, I gave you room to roam, but I was well aware of your whereabouts,” he said. “I won’t return to Denver and act as though nothing occurred.”

  Oh. Shit. What was she asking of him? This would cost him and yet he made no excuses and didn’t throw the truth in her face: after tonight, he would be the man who’d fucked the daughter of his boss. The sister of his friend. None of that should matter—it didn’t in her book if she’d stop being a flippin’ worrywart. The facts: his body, her body. Sex. She refocused on his cock, which swayed as he walked toward the side of the bed.

  “You’re letting your principles color your vision. You’re giving me my freedom. One day, my parents will understand.”

  Drake set the scarves down next to her and captured her hands. The tantalizing feel of his fingers encircling her wrists as he lifted her hands made her stop talking. He placed her palms in a prayer position upon her chest. She watched him loop the silk, each swipe of his fingers making something inside her chest flicker like the wings of a caged bird about to be set free.

  “Your freedom,” he murmured, knotting one of the scarves. “I wish I could as so noble, but baby, it’s not your freedom that has me grinding my teeth.”

  “Drake, whatever your reason, know this. You are helping me maintain my absolute independence. I want to forge my own destiny.”

  “The irony that to do so I must bind you hand and foot, notwithstanding ravishing your body, isn’t lost on me.” His chest rose and fell as he moved off the bed and gingerly repositioned her ankles, then secured her legs, spread-eagle to the footboard of her bed.

  Fully exposed to him, she didn’t feel ashamed; instead she bowed her body, anticipation making her tremble and moan. “Please, come to me.”

  Drake climbed in between her legs, his body a rippling work of muscular art as he knelt in front of her, lowering his shoulders between her legs.

  “Your pussy is so pretty.”

  “What are you—” Oh. My. God. The first lick of his forked tongue across her sex made her cry out. He spread her and returned again with his tongue, the twining tips trailing up her lips, dipping into her opening, and she fought to keep from shattering. “Please. Yes!” she begged before he made her lose all sense of reason.

  Tonguing and sucking on her, he pressed his face against her as heat danced across her folds. Swirling jolts of pleasure and arousal swam in her body and she opened her legs wider as he plunged his tongue into her faster and deeper. When he sucked on her flesh without mercy, she moaned his name. The ends of his tongue wrapped around her clit and stroked her, intimately. He fucked her with his mouth at full throttle—she cried out until she thought she’d burst apart. The feeling of falling coupled with a glowing pleasure filled every corner of her being, and she tugged on her restrained wrists, wanting to wrap her arms around him. Drake swiped her pussy then drove his tongue into her as she bucked against his mouth. “Oh God. What’s happening?”

  “So sweet. You’re coming,” he said before he returned to licking her. He stopped and slid his finger inside her, pumping his hand, and she matched his tempo with her hips. Riding his finger, she felt the coil of tension and pleasure unravel and flow through her body, leaving her floating on a river of bliss.

  “Drake. So good,” she moaned, clawing her own palms with her leopard nails.

  “That’s it. Come for me,” he groaned, plunging his finger into her harder. He lifted his head and roared. Several blue-tipped flames exited his mouth.

  A blast of heat shot past her thigh and
in seconds, Drake was up and over the side of her bed. “Don’t move,” he snarled. He grabbed a blanket and covered the charred linens. He wasn’t joking about the need to keep out of the line of fire.

  “Flailing arms surely could get scalded.”

  “That’s why yours are tied,” he said and returned to the bed. This time he rose and knelt between her legs without bowing down. He moved, positioning one of his hands by her shoulder as he swiped the head of his cock over her sex, and throughout her body a storm of tingling jolts erupted.

  “Drake, more,” she whispered, rubbing against him. They moved in harmony as he grazed his crown to her opening and pushed forward. He was hard. Hot. Huge.

  Leaning down, he brushed his lips over hers. “Kitten, there’s no way to stop the discomfort.”

  “Just do it,” she whispered, wishing she could reach out to him and wrap her arms around his neck.

  “I want to … but you’re so tight,” he said, changing position, cupping one of her hips and drawing her closer. “Relax for me.”

  He flexed upward. The muscles over his shoulders clenched, and arduously he slid inside her, incrementally at first, and then he surged forward a few more inches. The slice of pain expanded and shot through her when he plunged inside. She cried out as he pumped his hips, thrusting into her all the way, and groaning her name. Drake fused his body to hers in a jolt of stinging pain.

  Red-hot tears fell from her eyes; she roared, bucking her hips, but he pinned her body underneath him. He held onto her and she fought to stifle a sob by biting her lip until she drew blood.

  “Ssshhh. Baby, no more pain.” He covered her lips softly with his finger.

  She inhaled as he traced her mouth, murmuring soothing sounds for long seconds.

  “Better?” he asked, meeting her gaze.

  She faltered, staring into his incredible eyes. In that second, she felt lost. This was just supposed to be sex, yet the flickering twinge in her chest felt foreign … No. This was just sex. Only sex and if she didn’t act like her brain cells were working he might stop.

  “Yes,” she exhaled, completely conscious of his cock deeply imbedded inside her body and how much she longed to ride him. Her leopardess nature demanded to be mounted, and now that the stinging pain had passed, she purred, rubbing her cheek against his chin.

  He chuckled, tipping her face and brushing his mouth over hers. “Is that a hint you’re ready for more?”

  “Yes. Please.”

  Drake held her chin up to his face, plunging his tongue into her mouth, and kissing her deeply until she whimpered. He moved his hips, sliding out of her, and simultaneously groaning. Was he going to stop?

  “Drake,” she moaned, blinking up at him, a pang in her chest pinching. “Are you leaving?”

  “No one could get me to leave you now. It’s time for your pleasure.” He shifted his hips and drove his cock back into her. Over and over, Drake gyrated his hips forward and back, powerful pumps that plunged his cock farther and harder into her.

  Unrelenting.

  Purposeful.

  Pinned under him and to the bed, she arched to meet his thrusts. Rippling pleasure drizzled through her. He stopped moving, stared down at her and smiled. “Can you take more?”

  “Yes. Don’t stop.” She reached for him, encumbered by her bound wrists, but still she managed to trace her fingers over the rippling muscle bunched along his chest.

  Gracefully, he pushed upward, planting his palms next to her shoulders and pushed his length inside her. Oh. Holy. Holy. His cock stretched her folds tight and she groaned, squeezing her muscles around him.

  “Kitten,” he growled above her and she met his jade eyes. “When you do that, I’m ready to burst.”

  “Is that a bad thing?” she asked, her brows drawn together. Shifting onto one hand, he held himself aloft and wiped his fingers across her forehead. He leaned down and kissed her. “Do it again.” The raw heat emanating from his body skyrocketed, but she didn’t feel the burn. Hot, yes. Insurmountable pleasure. “Sooo, so good,” she whispered.

  Grunting, he took hold of the headboard, leveraging his body, and when he slammed his cock, he ground himself against her, burying his length inside her body, forcing her to cry out his name. The headboard shook and the bedsprings squeaked in harmony, an erotic rhythm, punctuated by their breaths, their groans, their murmured words. “I’m close,” she said.

  “Fuck. You feel incredible around me. Get to the edge, baby.”

  “Drake, I’m there. Don’t hold back.”

  They were so close to the brink of shattering and coming undone, yet with skin-on-skin contact, she held back, relishing the moment. His heartbeat was so loud, so forceful, she felt the echo threading in her veins, her breath, her very soul. Mesmerized, she watched his shimmering eyes, full of dragon magick, drawn to his power.

  “I’m going to explode. Take me all the way, Shay. Now.”

  Holy goddess! She threw back her head, clenching around him, arching and giving him access to pump his cock deep into her body. “Oh … ” she whimpered as he drove his length full force into her.

  “Perfect. Unbelievable,” he grunted, droplets of sweat dripping down the sides of his face, his muscles contracting into rock-hard ripples as a spasm overtook him and he bellowed, snapping his head upward and releasing a stream of fire that charred the wall black behind her bed.

  Drake hoisted her hips to him and she couldn’t hold back, releasing a feline roar mixed with the cry of his name as she came hard in a splintering surge of fiery pleasure.

  He lowered her hips to the bed, leaned down and kissed her belly. Drake undid her ankles and pulled her to him, enfolding her in his arms. He expelled hot puffs of air as he kissed the side of her head, so tender in how he held her and murmured her name against her neck. Far from what she’d imagined having sex with him would be like … well the sizzling part, yes. But this side of him, the snuggling, made her breath hitch, and she played with the idea of how he’d be beyond one night. No. Don’t go there.

  When their heart rates subsided enough to stop gasping, Drake traced the edge of her jaw, nuzzling her neck. “How would you rate your first experience?” He shifted her on top of him, holding her to his chest as he stared up at her.

  “Yummy,” she replied, wishing she could reach out and entwine her arms around his neck. She settled for lowering her head and kissing his chin.

  “Ride me, baby,” he said, suddenly sitting upward and arranging her legs around his waist. He hoisted her hips, aligning the head of his cock with her and easing her downward along his length. Inch by delicious inch, until she stretched around him. He thrust hard, pumped fully into her, making her ride his cock.

  “Faster. Please, Drake.”

  “You feel so fucking incredible.” He flipped her onto her back as he returned to wedging his hips between her legs. “Gotta take us to the edge. Again.”

  When he began flexing his torso, their skin slapped together hard and loud; she felt her eyes roll back in her head. Glittering pleasure, dark, swirling, and decadent as the heat in his magickal eyes swam through her. Rocking her hips, she met him thrust for thrust and savored the rumbling groans spilling from his beautiful mouth. He pushed upward, capturing her shoulders, hauling her to his body and moving farther into her, owning her completely.

  He pumped his hips, slamming his body against her, ramming his cock into her in a pounding rhythm. A primal tempo. Raw. Rough. And perfect. Shannon arched her neck, her body simmered as if searing, and between her legs, she contracted tight around him.

  “Drake,” she cried out uncontrollably. Oh. Soooo deep. This is what it means to multi orgasm!

  “That’s it. Come all over my cock. Now, Shannon.” All of his muscles went rock hard. A spasm thundered through him and he roared, filling her with a sensation of fiery wet warmth. The effect of his release was like glowing embers that blazed through her body, bathing her senses from the inside out.

  Again, he pummeled her hips w
ith his own, his cock plunging deeper, and he filled her by cupping her bottom and hauling her up to meet him. He ground his dick into her, bowing his body over hers, and burying his face into her neck.

  “Fuuckk!” He shuddered and came again. More this time. Hotter. And the cresting wave of pleasure that accompanied their mutual orgasm blew her mind.

  Droplets of sweat dripped from his face as he lowered his hips between her legs and lifted up to meet her gaze.

  “Baby, you’ve just been fucked by a dragon.”

  “Twice,” she added and he flashed a sexy-as-hell smile that reached up to his jade green eyes. His expression had the power to set off fireworks within her bloodstream.

  “I stand corrected. Twice. Care to do it again, spitfire?” He crushed his mouth down on hers before she had the chance to answer, alternating soft sucks on her top and bottom lips. He whispered over her mouth, “I have plenty of positions in my arsenal.”

  “You drive a hard bargain.” So powerful, she couldn’t deny him. She blinked, swallowing. Was she succumbing to dragon magick?

  “May I have my hands untied this time?”

  CHAPTER 3

  “Miss Barclay.” Shay’s maid rapped softly at her bedroom door. He exchanged a quizzical look with Shay.

  Gathering her robe off the side of the bed, Shay motioned to him remain silent while she cracked opened the door. “Yes?”

  “Mr. Necrodemas is downstairs,” the young woman announced.

  Dammit. What the heck was Dimitri doing here? He rose from the bed, looking for his shirt.

  “I’ll be down in a few minutes. See that he’s offered something by the pool,” she replied to the maid.

  Shutting the door, she swung around to him, her face ashen. He crossed the room and came up next to her, curling his fingers around her arms. “Forget it. You don’t need to speak with him,” he snarled. “I’ll go down and deal with him.”

  “And what will you say?” she whispered, searching his face with her golden eyes.

  He lowered his gaze down her incredible body and frowned. “More than you could by wearing a robe and nothing underneath.”