by Rinelle Grey
Maybe that was it? Maybe she was counting on him to stand between her and her grandfather as a buffer?
He wouldn’t blame her. Standing up to someone, especially someone in a position of authority, both as her grandfather, and as a clan elder, wasn’t easy. It not only required a lot of conviction, it required courage.
Trouble was, he knew Wayrian had a lot of both, he’d seen it in the way she’d faced up to Ted, and the way she’d stood up in the back of the ute even when Ultrima’s life dragon was projecting fear. So why couldn’t she stand up to her grandfather?
Did it really matter?
Even if she was one hundred percent committed and ready to give up everything for the relationship, that wasn’t what he was looking for.
He was quite happy on his own.
He bit back a sigh as his mind objected to that.
Okay, he wasn’t quite happy, but he wasn’t willing to risk the happiness he did have in his life for the potential pain letting himself love someone could bring. Relationships were all sunshine and roses when things were going well, anyone watching Karla and Taurian and seeing how much they loved each other could tell that.
Of course he wanted that.
He just didn’t trust it is all.
He’d seen the pictures of his mum and dad on their wedding day. They were smiling and laughing as much as anyone. He’d seen the love in their eyes.
And it didn’t compute with the screaming and crying he’d experienced as a child. They may have started out happy, but along the way something had changed.
Love was no guarantee of happiness.
He wasn’t sure what was.
“Is this where we’re going?” Wayrian sat forwards in her saddle as the little bark hut appeared through the bush ahead of them.
Chase nodded. “I thought you might enjoy seeing it. My great grandfather lived here when he first settled on the station. It’s part of our history.”
As he’d expected, Wayrian was interested. “Your great grandfather built this?” she asked in awe.
Chase nodded, and slid off Stocky’s back and tied the horse up to the hitching post nearby. He helped Wayrian down off Missy’s back, and showed her around, kind of glad to have his thoughts disrupted.
Somehow, he didn’t want to think about what he was doing too much. No matter how he examined and analysed the situation, he couldn’t convince himself that getting close to Wayrian wasn’t a mistake.
But he wanted to do it anyway.
“It’s only small, just the one room, but he didn’t need much back then. It doesn’t really keep the rain out much anymore either.”
The little hut wasn’t much bigger than his bedroom back at the main house, and the beams of light through the gaps in the strips of bark the walls were built from shone on the dirt floor.
Chase couldn’t imagine living like this. His great grandfather must have been determined, to build what he had out of nothing. A challenge indeed. Chase and his father had it easy by comparison, no matter how much his mother had always complained.
Echoes of their fights, intensifying until his mother had left abruptly one day, floated through his head. Why was he thinking of that now?
Chase heaved a sigh, and as Wayrian looked at him, her head tilted to one side, he felt the need to explain.
“I used to come and hide out here as a kid when my parents were fighting.” He waved to the dusty pile of blankets and an old wooden box in the corner. “It’s not particularly comfortable, but it was better than listening to them.”
Her eyes were sympathetic and understanding. She put a warm hand on his arm. “That must have been hard.”
Chase shrugged. He didn’t want to talk about it. “Anyway, I thought… well, your grandfather will never find us here.”
Time seemed to stand still. They were apart from the world for a few moments. Her grandfather, his father, the other dragons, reporters, no one would look for them here. They were surrounded by acres of bush.
That was what he’d always loved about this place. As a child, it had been a refuge, a place to pretend he was living alone, having adventures and that his life was happy.
Now, as an adult, he was wondering if he wanted to live alone.
Maybe, he could take this moment frozen in time to explore whether this was something he wanted. Stepping away from the fear of a relationship ending, he could take a chance to figure out if it was something he wanted to take the risk for.
Wayrian’s eyes met his, and their brilliant blue swirled. She didn’t move, almost as if she was afraid of spooking him.
He didn’t blame her. He spooked easily.
It was silly really, how nervous he was about making a move. He’d been willing to sleep with one of the dragon princesses, this wasn’t any different. Not yet. Sleeping with her once didn’t mean making a commitment. They were still in the 'seeing if this could work' mode.
“I wish I had somewhere like this,” Wayrian said, her voice wistful. “There’s no way to get away from everyone in the lair. Everyone’s all squished into one space, and everyone knows everyone’s business.”
“Well, you’re welcome to come here whenever you want,” Chase offered, before he’d even thought it through.
Wayrian smiled. “That’s very kind of you,” she said. “It’s just a pity it’s so far away from the lair. It’s not like we can even really fly off to find somewhere private. We were worried enough about a human seeing us, this reporter has only made it worse. I expect we’ll have a lot of young dragons who will never have a chance to fly in their dragon form.”
For some reason, that made Chase feel immeasurably sad. And it made him realise something. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen your dragon form.”
Wayrian shook her head. “You wouldn’t have. I have only transformed a few times, once when I came of age, it’s a formality as part of the clan, and a couple of times I joined hunting parties.”
Chase tried to imagine what her dragon form might look like. Obviously she wouldn’t be gold like Taurian or silver like Ultrima. What colour would she be?
Then he realised, he already knew. He took a step forwards, and brushed her hair back out of her eyes, looping it behind her ears, and stared into her deep blue eyes.
Blue like the sky. Blue like the ocean.
That’s the colour her dragon form would take.
He wished he could see it.
Her breath caught, and she stared up at him.
It would be so easy to lose himself in those eyes. They were like nothing he’d ever seen before, even before the pupils narrowed into slits like cat eyes.
So tantalising.
He knew he shouldn’t. He knew that falling for her was risky, and that the chances he could get just close enough to taste, but not to become addicted, were slim. But he couldn’t stay away. He couldn’t resist this pull he felt whenever he was around her.
He needed to know.
What would it feel like to make love to her?
That question set his whole body on fire. Chase groaned, and lowered his lips to hers.
He didn’t care anymore. It was going to hurt if she left. It would rip his heart out and tear it into little pieces and he didn’t care. The risk was worth it.
Chapter 12
As Chase’s lips touched hers, it was as if something burst inside of Wayrian.
She’d been holding it all in, not even realising it, afraid that he was going to hold back.
Afraid to let herself get close, in case he backed away.
But his lips, firm and demanding against hers, said he wasn’t backing away. They were going to do this. The thought sent a delicious shiver down her spine, all the way down to her toes. Her breathing hitched, and she felt almost giddy with anticipation.
Everything was still so nebulous. She had no idea how long this would last, if she really could continue to defy her grandfather, or if this one, stolen moment would be all she had. But right now, in this moment, she’d take what she cou
ld get.
She didn’t know if the goddess was right and that Chase was her fated mate. The whole dream could have been in her imagination, but she’d take this chance to find out.
Goddess or not, she felt something for this man. Something she’d never felt for anyone else.
Chase pulled her into his arms, his body firm and strong against her. A need welled up in Wayrian, a need she’d only ever caught glimpses of before.
Was this what love felt like? Was this what mating was about?
Did Chase feel it too?
Even though she wanted this kiss to go on forever, as soon as the question entered her mind, she had to know the answer. She pulled back a little, and stared up into his eyes.
He met her gaze, unflinching. His expression was serious, his eyes dark and full of desire. “Are you okay?” he asked immediately. “We can stop if you want.”
Wayrian shook her head immediately. “I don’t want to stop.” Then a thought occurred to her. “Do you?”
Chase considered that seriously for a moment. Then he shook his head too. “I said I wanted to see how I felt about this, and I don’t see how we can if we don’t give it a proper go. I can’t say I love you, or that I believe we’re fated mates…” He hesitated, then took a deep breath. “But I want to find out.”
He looked surprised at his own words. And a little scared.
Wayrian could understand that. She was nervous too. She wasn’t sure if it would be a disappointment or a relief to find out that this all meant something, and that Chase was her fated mate.
If he was, it would disrupt her life completely.
She had no idea how she would deal with her grandfather’s objections, if she would live here on the station with Chase, or if he would move to the lair with her, she couldn’t even think about whether the goddess would ever tell her if she’d got it right or not.
All that would be enough to make her hesitate.
So she ignored it.
What she wanted, right now, was for Chase to kiss her again. But he just kept staring at her, as though she hadn’t answered his question.
His body up against hers was a continuous reminder of how close they were. It kept nudging at the need that overwhelmed her.
She wanted him. She wanted all of him.
Why wasn’t he kissing her already?
She couldn’t stand the suspense any longer. What if she kissed him?
The idea froze her for a minute. She’d never done anything so bold before. But it wasn’t really such a big deal, was it? He’d said he didn’t want to stop. That he wanted to find out what this meant too. So he wouldn’t mind if she kissed him, would he?
Before she could freeze with indecision, Wayrian stood on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his.
Chase’s arms tightened around her waist, pulling her firmly up against him. Wayrian could feel his hardness pressing into her stomach, and almost blushed, realising what it was.
She had a rudimentary understanding of how it all worked. It was hard not to when dragons lived in such close quarters. She knew that meant he wanted to mate with her.
She’d just never actually gotten this far before.
Would Chase realise she didn’t know what she was doing? Would that bother him?
Hopefully, it would all come naturally. If she followed his lead, she’d figure it out, wouldn’t she?
Then Chase’s tongue flicked into her mouth, and she forgot all about her fears in the desire surging through her. This felt good. Very good. She experimented, letting her tongue taste his lips, and he groaned and pressed his hips against her, which in turn sent another wave of passion crashing through her.
Chase’s arms loosened around her, and a pang of disappointment hit her. He was going to back away. But he just ran his hands up the side of her body, under her tunic, his fingers stroking her skin. The movements stirred her body deep in her belly, making her want something she didn’t even understand.
She wanted to make him feel the same way, so she brought her hands up, sliding under his shirt. It was softer and more flexible than her own, giving her access to a great deal of skin to stroke. His warm, hard muscles felt just right under her fingers.
Chase pulled back to stare at her, his breathing slow and heavy. “This probably isn’t the place for this,” he said, his voice low. “It’s not exactly comfortable.”
For a moment, Wayrian wasn’t quite sure what he meant. Then she remembered the soft places in his home. She could see how they’d be perfect, but she wasn’t quite ready to stop simply for comfort’s sake.
“It’ll be fine. I live in a cave and sleep on the floor, remember?”
Chase’s fingers kept stroking, creeping up bit by bit under her tunic, making it hard to think clearly. “But that’s sand, not dirt. And you have furs.”
Did he really think something like that was going to stop her? Wayrian glanced around, and her eyes fell on the blankets. “We have those?” She pointed.
Chase’s nose wrinkled. “They’ve been sitting here for fifteen years or more. They’re dirty, dusty, and probably full of spiders.”
“I can fix that.”
Chase didn’t remove his hands, keeping hold of her hips as she crossed the few steps towards the pile of blankets. He rested his head on her shoulder, his body pressed up against her back, watching as she picked up one of the blankets and shook it out. A cloud of dust swirled around her, making her sneeze. He was right, very dusty.
Chase’s hands tightened on her hips, and he breathed a disappointed sigh into her hair, his lips nibbling slightly, sending chills running through her. “See, I told you.”
Wayrian didn’t let his doubt deter her. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on her surroundings, not just on Chase’s hardness pressing into her back and his lips nuzzling at her hair.
The air here contained far more moisture than it ever had in the lair. It was a simple job to condense some of it on the blanket, more and more until it was running over the surface.
Chase’s hands stilled, and he stared in disbelief at the puddle forming on the floor. “What the..?”
Wayrian forced the water through the fabric of the blanket, collecting the dust and dirt as she did so, until she’d removed all of it. Then she evaporated the water back out into the air around them. “There, a nice, clean blanket.”
Her body hummed with need, and she twisted around in his arms to face him, but Chase was still staring at her, obviously with other things on his mind.
“How did you do that?”
“I pulled some of the water out of the air, and then sent it back, taking the dust and dirt with it,” Wayrian explained.
The expression on Chase’s face didn’t change.
She’d found his technology amazing, apparently he felt the same way about her magic. While she appreciated the fact that he was impressed, she wanted to get back to what they’d been doing. But he seemed to be waiting for a more detailed explanation.
“Dragon, remember?” she said lightly.
Chase gave a slow chuckle. “Good point. I just… didn’t expect that.” He leaned forwards, his lips brushing her ear. “But I’m very impressed,” he whispered.
A shiver ran through Wayrian. She was pleased, of course, that he was impressed with her dragon magic. But right now, there were other things she was hoping would impress him. She moved just enough to spread the blanket out on the ground, then had a moment of awkwardness, wondering what to do next.
Chase solved it by sitting down on the blanket and patting the ground next to him.
Wayrian sat as close to him as she could, their thighs touching like they had in the ute. Somehow, it didn’t feel close enough, but she wasn’t quite game to climb into his lap.
Chase’s arm went around her, which helped a bit, but his other hand was feeling the blanket. “That’s amazing,” he said, shaking his head.
Wayrian wanted him to focus on her, not the blanket or her dragon magic. She leaned in close, remembering how it
had felt when he was nuzzling her hair, but he was a little taller than she was, so the best she could do was to reach his neck.
The skin there was soft and warm, and felt just right under her lips. Chase froze when she touched him, then as she began to gently kiss and lick, his hands tightened on the blanket, bunching up a handful.
“I guess you don’t want to talk about that?” he said breathlessly.
Wayrian paused her kisses for just long enough to say, “Nope.”
Chase gave a short laugh. Then he pulled her close and kissed her lips firmly.
That was better.
Wayrian’s body arched towards him, and she was half wishing she had climbed into his lap, when he moved up onto his knees, and eased her back onto the blanket. He covered her body with his, resuming his kissing.
This felt good. Much closer.
Still not close enough, but a definite improvement.
Wayrian let herself enjoy the position for a while. Chase’s lips teased and sucked hers, and his hot body set her aflame.
He ran a hand up under her skirt, his eyes widening when he encountered nothing but bare skin. He gave a grin. “I suppose I should have realised that dragons didn’t wear underwear.”
Wayrian wasn’t too sure what he was talking about, but she didn’t want to stop and ask for an explanation, so she just smiled, and he resumed his exploration. He moved his weight to the side, so he lay next to her rather than on top. At first, Wayrian was a little disappointed, but as his hand slipped to the inside of her thigh, and his fingers brushed across her mound, she let out a soft gasp at the feelings it evoked.
She’d never felt anything like this.
Was this what she had been missing all this time? Did it always feel like this, or was it because they were fated mates?
“Is this what you wanted?” Chase asked, his voice low and husky.
Wayrian didn’t trust her voice to speak, she was pretty sure she couldn’t form coherent words right now, especially as his hand kept alternating between stroking her inner thigh, and randomly flicking higher. So she just nodded eagerly.