Dragon Heart

by Susan Arden

  “That’s it. God, I want to take you over the edge.”

  “Please. Just a taste.”

  “Fuck yeah! Feel what I feel when I'm buried inside you.” She felt the shift between leopard to dragon as soon as he nipped her neck, infusing her body with a tinge of dragon magick. The walls of the suite dissolved and they were hurled into a timeless chasm as Drake pounded his cock into her, linking their souls together. The tiny flickering spark of their children wove a tendril of light into their now joined energy source and Shay was filled with unimaginable ecstasy. All at once they returned to the material world and it was Drake’s commanding voice that filled her. “Eventually, you will give yourself to me and we’ll be united.”

  He slipped out of her and carried her around to the front of the sofa, laid her down, and positioned her with her legs wedged wide open. He looked huge—all parts of him—and she stared in awe at his engorged cock. Definitely he was under the influence of dragon magick when he lowered and thrust back into her.

  She moaned, opening her arms, and she felt a different set of canines erupt from her gums. Sharper and longer and when Drake presented his neck to her, by instinct she knew exactly what to do, but held back. To give into him meant he’d possess her from now until kingdom come. “No. I’m not ready,” she groaned in frustration.

  “Shhh. It’s okay. I want you to come to me of your own accord. One day, we’ll take the final step, baby,” he murmured and she stared up into his endless eyes, darkened to the color of deep emeralds, swirling fire in their depths.

  “God,” she clenched around him, heeding the pull on her core.

  He pounded into her, forcing her to the edge of a cliff where she longed to leap. But that would mean linking with him on all levels and what about her independence? She clawed her talons down his back as he pumped his cock into her, over and over, and she was so near to diving.

  “Fuck, Shay, come for me.”

  “Please,” she moaned, her body filled with a golden light and she released as Drake tensed, his body going granite hard, bands of rippling muscle corded above her as he shuddered, roaring out a breath hot as fire without the flame.

  He lowered himself next to her on the sofa, and pulled her close to him. “Well? Will you let me claim what’s mine? Don’t be scared.”

  “I trust you. I-I—” she stuttered against his lips, unable to free the words she longed to say. What was wrong with her?

  “That sounds perfect,” he replied and then devoured her mouth, and she kissed him with all that she felt but couldn’t relay in sensible words.

  They snuggled, and then as Shay stretched her muscles she caught sight of the clock on the mantel. “It’s nearly three in the afternoon. We were making love for hours.”

  “Mind rush, wasn’t it?” he questioned her.

  She flashed him a look. “Have you ever done that before?”

  “Why, are you jealous?”

  “Answer the question and I’ll let you know.”

  “That experience is part of claiming, so no. Of course not. But it’s not like a dragon doesn’t know it’s out there waiting. And you, kitten, were worth the wait.”

  “Is that why dragons have more than one wife?”

  “It might make the prospect easier to swallow, but I wasn’t pulling your leg. That’s all male dragons of mating age do from sun up to sun down during their wives’ mating cycles and I bet when it’s business as usual, that type of sex isn’t as mind-blowing for my brothers. Unlike you and me. This is a secret doorway, baby.” He enfolded her with his muscular arms. “I love you and I’ve never wanted to do this with anyone else.”

  Her heartbeat thundered. He loves me? He just said the ‘L’ word. Her mouth went dry and she gaped as if frozen. Don’t just stare at him. Shay, say something!

  “Never?” she asked.

  “Never!” He laughed and arched a brow. “Now give me a date.”

  “I will when you return from your family and I’m assured they aren’t going to hold me hostage,” she replied, her heart tripping wildly. “Soon enough?”

  “Baby steps.” He snorted before a smile curled his full lips. “We’re making headway. No argument.”

  • • •

  He ordered their lunch from the restaurant below, going downstairs to personally speak to Marcel as well as scope out the security while Shay made some phone calls. He found Quinn on his way out and stopped him.

  “Dude, I need to clear something with you.”

  “Walk with me,” Quinn said, slipping on a jacket. “I’m on my way to court.”

  “Weapons. I need to have my own. Problem?” He wore his gun in his waistband and wasn’t going to stop. Hopefully, this wasn’t going to be a snafu.

  Quinn fixed him with a look and nodded. “I’ll take care of it. Sure. But this goes both ways. Understand that if you think for a second that someone is here who shouldn’t be, don’t go all Navy SEAL and think you’re a one-man team. Agreed?”

  “I’ve got no problem in that regard. I’m fully willing to check my ego. Not my Glock .40.”

  “Anything else?” They were standing at the side-entrance of the club.

  “Yeah. Where can I get a ring?” He scratched his fingers along his neck. “A really good one.”

  “Holy shit,” Quinn replied and punched his arm. “Boy. Tiffany’s. Ask for Anastasia. She’ll take real good care of you if you tell her I sent you.”

  They fist bumped and he returned upstairs, nodding to the two sentinels and accompanying the wait staff with the tray of food. He tipped the waiter and carried the tray inside. “Where do you want to eat?” he asked, not seeing Shay in the living room.

  “In here … if you don’t care.” Her voice rang out from the bedroom. “We can have a picnic on the bed.”

  Walking into the room, he whistled at the show of her long legs, displayed on the bed. She capped her bottle of nail polish and wiggled her toes.

  “In bed it is,” he agreed.

  After eating a leisurely lunch composed of an herb-roasted chicken, a Greek salad, milk—he insisted that Shay drink it—and an assortment of fruit, she agreed to shower with him.

  He undressed her, nearly groaning, unable to wait as his cock got harder and harder with each layer of clothing he removed. “I need skin on skin with you. Now as much as possible, to get us through being apart. Same for you.”

  “What will happen?”

  Rapidly he disrobed and pushed open her legs, wiping a solitary finger between her lips as he dripped pre cum from his dick. “It feels like an itch you can’t scratch. An echo in your ears and it makes concentrating difficult.” He glanced down her naked body. Her tits were full and pink-tipped, her belly rounded with his babies, and her pussy tormenting him to sink slow and deep inside her.

  “Like what I feel right now?” she replied, holding his cock and stroking up his length.

  Fuck. His eyes rolled back in his head and he channeled all his lust, aware he was at the point of no return and he’d have her legs over his shoulders in a second flat if they didn’t move toward the shower. “Come on, or I’m going to fuck you here on the bed.”

  They walked into the bathroom and he turned on the double-shower heads, enjoying the steam that filled the bath, swirling the scent of their mutual arousal, and coloring her skin a rose-golden.

  Once inside the shower, he wrapped her legs around his waist and pumped his cock into her, their skin slapping and echoing off the tiled-walls until she screamed his name and on the next breath, he jetted hard and fast into her pussy. He could fuck her for hours … days … in this state. He’d make sure his business with his family was concluded and he’d be back as soon as possible. By then he’d be a wreck. He slowed his breathing, setting her down carefully, and backing her up against the tile wall, and burying his head in her shoulder, sucking a point in her skin. He kissed up her neck, stealing a final kiss from her lips. “Let me bathe you.”

  He took the bath gel and soaped her back and bot
tom, running his palms over her smooth skin, over her taut belly, and firm breasts. The mother of his children, and instinctively he released a possessive dragon growl. In turn, she lathered his body with her soapy palms; the feel of her touch soothed him. When they finished, he wrapped her in a fluffy towel, convinced he’d never get enough of Shay.

  “Yowza. Pretty impressive,” she remarked as they stood at the sink and his cock was still as hard as steel.

  “I’ll probably have to jerk off if I’m near you and you’re naked. It’s my natural state.”

  “Let me help you deal with your natural state. C’mon cowboy,” she said, removing her towel and dropping it onto the stone floor, then sinking down onto it.

  Shay wrapped her lips around his cock and gripped him at his base. She kept her lips tight as she worked her moist mouth up and down his rod. He dug his fingers into her hair and cupped her head as he pummeled into her mouth. When she sucked him hard, every muscle in his body reacted and constricted. His balls hiked up toward his body and that was it. Electrical darts flared along his spine as he watched Shay suck his crown into her beautiful rose-colored mouth. “Baby, I’m there.”

  She nodded and sucked him harder, sucked him faster and held onto him, taking him farther down her throat. He hammered between her lips, chasing the skittering pleasure that raced in his veins like a voodoo chant … held him until it ripped through him as a torrid blast of need and bliss, and barreled out of him along with an excruciating roar. He held onto to Shay’s face, relishing how she swallowed his release, sucking the head of his cock, and licking a lingering drop.

  “Mmm,” she hummed and he lifted her upward, covering her mouth with his and sucking her tongue still slick with his orgasm.

  “Mine,” he grunted, squeezing her ass cheeks, and recapturing her mouth for one more kiss.

  CHAPTER 17

  Together, she and Drake were seated in a corner of the bar, listening to soft jazz music and they held hands, his gaze lingering on hers. Except now, the intensity in his eyes jolted her. What the dickens was he thinking? She could always mind link and find out, but then he’d have that freedom with her. Bad, bad idea!

  A waiter appeared at the table. “The front desk called. Your car is waiting out front.”

  “Thanks,” Drake nodded, standing up. “Ready?”

  Mercy, when the man put on a tailored suit, he looked good enough to drool over. Not that she’d ever admit that pricy bit of ego kibble. She picked up her purse, and wasn’t prepared for the masculine swoop of her body up and out of the seat.

  “Okay. I think I heard you. Not fast enough?” she gasped, breathless this close to him and his good looks.

  “Just an excuse to get close to you before I’m forced to keep my distance,” he whispered, feigning helping her on with her wrap.

  Gone was the rough and ready badass and in his place was a man who appeared at ease in a dark suit and silk tie. Earlier he’d gone out to where she had no idea and returned dressed and ready to escort her to any number of upscale possibilities. Obviously he remembered how her mom served dinner and she wondered to what degree things had changed in that regard.

  “You know, it might be sandwiches and sodas. Or maybe just water … I don’t know what to expect.” She tried to pull away but he kept their fingers interlaced, slowly tracing his thumb against her palm.

  “Relax. I’m prepared to lose this tie,” he replied. “But not just yet.”

  “Drake, don’t,” she rapidly shot back, then countered. “Okay fine. You look gorgeous. Are you happy? Now don’t trip all over your ego.”

  He laughed, his eyes glinting. “You had me wondering. It’s been a while since I wore one of these.”

  “Why’d you ever stop?” she asked, searching his face. “Christ, it’s easy to forget, you’re the real deal when it comes to names and titles. All this time! I must be bonkers.”

  “I would have been if I’d kept up this charade. But every now and then, I’m up for going the distance. Like tonight.”

  “This isn’t the first time you’ve sat at Mom’s dinner table,” she scoffed, arching her brow. “Are you trying to win her good graces?”

  “Not exactly,” he said, and all the arrogance vanished from his face. Boyish uncertainty replaced the hard lines he normally wore, and he held out his hand. “I wanted to give you something. Try a different tack and maybe going this route won’t be so over the top. I took your advice. Baby steps.”

  She glanced down to his outstretched palm and her heart leapt into her throat. “Is that what this is about?”

  “Yep. A very special occasion.”

  She tried to lift the box from his palm but her hand shook terribly. “I’m all thumbs. It’s not that I don’t want to, but I’m so nervous. Can you help with the box?” The aqua box had a white silk ribbon and she watched him untie the ribbon and remove a smaller velvet box.

  He set the outer box down on the table as her knees wobbled. “Guess I should have done this while you were seated,” he said.

  “I guess I need to remember you follow your own drummer.”

  He got down on one knee and took her hand, “Shannon Marie Barclay, marry me. Be my wife. You have my heart and let’s take this step to form our own little family.”

  “Drake, you sure know how to sweep a girl off her feet.” She stroked her fingers along her jaw and when tears threatened her eyes, she no longer tried to hide them from him. She trusted him completely but still she couldn’t let go of the words on the tip of her tongue.

  “Is that a yes or a no?” he asked.

  “A yes. Definitely, yes.”

  “Baby, you had me sweating bullets.” He rose and opened the box, displaying an emerald-cut diamond that captured the lighting and shone brilliantly as an array of tiny rainbows burst from the stone and off the platinum setting. “Do you like it?”

  His brows knitted together as if anyone in their right mind could possibly say this wasn’t the most gorgeous engagement ring. “It’s so beautiful,” she replied.

  “Not even close to your beauty.” Drake kissed her cheek, gliding his warm lips over her skin. He was incredibly handsome when he shared this side of him and she threw her arms around his shoulders, hugging him with all her might. A round of applause rose in the bar. People tapped the sides of their glasses and whistled.

  “Thanks,” he replied, squeezing her waist. “You can’t imagine the chase this one put up.”

  More whistles and applause and she felt her face blush hotter. She waved and someone called out, “Put the ring on.”

  She laughed and looked at him. “Let’s see if it fits,” he said.

  As Drake slipped the ring on her finger, the novel weight expanded in her awareness, and her smile stretched her cheek muscles. She met his gaze and a flame ignited inside her chest setting fire to her heart. The words she longed to tell him remained fixed within her.

  All she could get out was a hoarse, “Drake…” Shay stared up into his eyes, absorbing the radiant energy rippling off him in undulating waves. Reaching up and feathering her fingers on either sides of his face, she finally replied, “The ring fits like a dream.”

  “You’re mine. To have and to hold, and especially to cherish and fuck,” whispering the last part, he wrapped her in his arms and she melted in his embrace, savoring each of his words.

  She felt his back being pounded and rose on her tippy toes to look over his shoulder. “Hey, Mr. Zimmer,” she gulped. “Guess who just got engaged?”

  Fin chuckled and shook his head, making his dread locks shimmy. “Don’t tell me, you accepted this SEAL’s offer.”

  Drake laughed. “Why are all jarheads jealous? Never a good word.”

  The guys shook and Fin leaned over and gave her a quick hug. “How you doing?” he asked. “We were all worried about you. Don’t you do that again!”

  “Get engaged or disappearing?” she retorted.

  “Funny. I know you won’t be getting engaged again, so that leaves disa
ppearing. Shawn wasn’t a happy camper.” Fin rolled his silvery mercurial eyes that changed color. He was a beta wolf, same as his partner Tristen Morrison, her brother’s official backup.

  The drive took less than forty minutes and during that time, she watched as Drake took call after call. Apparently once his family had been informed that he was on his way back, everyone was calling him to welcome him back into the fold … or rage. What would he have to do to claim his inheritance besides male bonding? She’d seen it before. The runs up the Rockies. Then they’d gather, smoke cigars, talk about the good ole days. And the endless paperwork, and more so for Drake with his titles and land all over the world. Family talk and meeting with attorneys.

  Dreadfully boring things and maybe it was better that she remain here. Her balance was off now that her center of gravity had shifted and she didn’t feel as light on her toes as she’d been just a week ago. As it was this dress wouldn’t fit her next week and she desperately needed some clothes. While Drake was out of town, she’d treat herself to some things that were comfortable, feminine and a little sexy. Since she didn’t need to hide her pregnancy, she could even investigate some of the maternity shops. She rubbed a hand over her belly and smiled while gazing out the passenger window on her side of the car.

  “What goes through the beautiful mind of yours?” Drake said, pulling her to him and kissing the side of her head.

  “I might do some shopping next week. Visit a maternity store or two … I’ve never been to one yet.”

  “Well, you’d better hurry or you’ll be giving birth and have to wait until the next time.” He stiffened. “If there is going to be a next time.”

  “Are you asking or suggesting it might not happen?”

  “It’s your body, your choice.”

  “I’m happy we both agree on that point, Mr. O’Connor,” she quipped, her heart steadily beating.

  “I may be old as time, but I’m not stuck in the Middle Ages. Not where you’re concerned.”

  The car turned onto a driveway and went through automatic gates that rolled open. Trees lay on either side of the car, and up ahead her old home came into view. Her heartbeat quickened, and she sunk in deeper next to Drake when the car turned along the circular drive. They pulled up to the expansive front porch complete with stately colonial columns where she’d played as a child. Topiaries sat in huge terra-cotta pots flanking the massive oak doors and a gray-haired woman stepped outside, waving down to them.