"Oh gods, it's so good. Your cock is so hot, Tsang! Like fire, branding me inside."
He growled again.
Odd. The sound came from deep in his chest, rumbling like thunder in the distance. How did he do that? She didn't know, didn't care, because when she heard it, something deep inside her answered.
It was primitive, carnal, and she knew it was centuries old.
It was like…
Mattie stared down at him as he pumped into her, his mouth latched onto her breast, his hands stroking everywhere they touched. He drove her crazy, wild with sex and wanton in her need for him. That's it—it was crazy. Insane. Fan-fucking-tabulous.
With each thrust, he pushed her closer than she'd ever been with a man to having an orgasm. She'd relied on her vibrator for years and, before that, her fingers to bring her relief. No man had done it to her, but here was Tsang, taking her there without even trying. It was like he was the key to her lock.
She let herself go, pushing away those nagging thoughts, to experience all he offered her. She wanted to take it all, every bit of him. Hold him in her arms, keeping him deep inside her forever.
Huh? Mattie blinked, forcing herself out of the haze of sexual desire. She cupped his face and pulled him up to gaze into his eyes.
"Mattie…" He breathed, warm air puffing in her face.
Mattie inhaled. Sweet wood smoke. Familiar.
She focused. There, in his eyes. His pupils elongated…flames danced in them.
"Tsang," she cried out in a moment of clarity, pushing her body against his.
How could she have been so foolish? How could she not have known? Guessed?
His thrusts grew harder, pounding her, reaching with each one to touch her inside, to slide at just the right angle to rub against her clit and bump her cervix, and again Mattie went under, forgetting everything except this mating.
Mating?
He looked down at her, and she saw him for what he truly was. And she wanted him. Against all she'd sworn, she wanted him. Mattie closed her eyes and told herself, just this once. Oh gods, she was so close.
Tsang lowered his mouth to hers, capturing it, claiming her, and she opened to him, to the inevitable, to what she couldn't really ever run or hide from—destiny.
With a sweep of his tongue, he filled her completely. He broke away from her and whispered, "Come for me, my love."
Mattie came.
Her pussy clenched, then exploded, and the multiple spasms wrenched everything out of her. Tsang groaned, threw his head back, and roared. The hiss and steam that issued from his mouth didn't surprise her. So caught in the moment was he, he didn't realize what he'd done. How he'd given himself away.
She knew his truth. Knew he owned her. And knew it could never be.
∙•∙
Tsang collapsed to the side and pulled Mattie into his arms, cradling her on his chest. Never had he been so lost in lovemaking, so on fire with desire, so complete.
Mattie, her arm wrapped around his waist, pulled away. He wanted more of her closeness. Without her, his body, his world grew colder.
"Something wrong?" he asked. He turned on his side to see her face.
She frowned. "I have to go."
"Now?" He didn't understand. Did she really plan to rush off? Didn't women like to cuddle? He did.
"Yes." She sat up on the side of the bed, searching for her clothes.
Tsang watched in dismay as she dressed. "But…" he began, but didn't know what to say. "Forgive me if I've done something wrong." He sat up, reaching out to her, but she didn't take his hand.
"You did everything right, Tsang. It's me. This isn't what I want. You're not what I want." Mattie stepped into her shoes and turned to face him. Her face was wet with tears—her eyes so sad, as if leaving him pained her.
"You don't really want to go, do you?" he asked. Even he could see that.
"Look…this isn't going to work out, Tsang. It just isn't." She shook her head. "I left home to get away from someone like you, and now…" She bit her lip. "I have to go."
She strode to the door, opened it, and stopped. "Forget about me, Tsang."
And then she was gone.
Chapter Eight
Tsang stared out the window of his bedroom, his arms wrapped around himself as he shivered. Not even the double-pane, insulated windows could keep out the cold that had settled into his chest and around his heart. It had been two weeks since Mattie left, and he hadn't been outside since. No point. The weather had turned colder, the skies seemed perpetually gray, and sitting on the bench at their little park had become too painful, physically and mentally.
His entire life now was pain and regret. Not Mattie. He'd never regret her. Those few memories of their time together were all that kept him going now. He regretted how it had ended with the fear on her face and the tears.
Tsang glanced at his bed. Soon, he'd slow down, climb into his bed, pull the covers up and sleep until spring. He'd already handled his business affairs, shutting his website down, sending out emails to his customers. Most had been with him so long they knew of his vacations during this time of year and didn't think twice about it.
The pain of losing Mattie crippled him, and he was far too weak to fight it. He wallowed in it like a hog in mud. Finally, after replaying that night over and over, he guessed at what had happened. He'd let the beast slip, and she'd seen…something.
Enough to scare her…to send her running. At first, he'd worried his slip had caused his end, that she'd tell others about what he was and they'd come to destroy him. But no one ever came. His heart warmed a bit knowing she hadn't told his secret.
He'd tried calling, but she wouldn't answer or return his messages.
Tsang wanted to explain to her, tell her the truth of what he was, but she'd never given him a chance and now, as winter closed in, it was too late.
He glanced up at the sky. Gray clouds hung low over the city. The weather report had warned of ice. A storm had built up north and the winds had pushed it south. Probably not to Houston, but it could happen.
Tsang shivered again. He should turn the heat up, but truthfully, he just didn't care. Nevertheless, he dragged his feet down the hall to the kitchen and stared at the thermostat. He adjusted it up a few degrees, then opened the refrigerator to make his evening meal.
The microwave rang and he took out the cooked noodles and broth. It would fill him and warm him, at least.
As he sat at the table, he thought of what it might be like with Mattie here with him. They'd have a proper meal, both sharing the cooking, working like a team. They'd spend the winter keeping each other warm, making love, cooking.
Tsang raised the bowl and sipped at the broth, then lifted noodles to his mouth with his chopsticks, barely tasting the food.
»»•««
It had been three days since Tsang had last called her. She'd stared at the phone, his name on the readout, longing to hear his voice again.
Man, she had it bad. She'd fallen for him, jumped into it with both feet, and now she paid the price. The one man she wanted and he was what she'd sworn she'd never accept for herself.
The old gods were cruel. They were probably up there, laughing at her, smirking, and pointing at her foolishness to think she could escape her fate.
But Mattie was stronger than that. She'd faced it and turned away.
Tsang was all wrong for her. She wasn't like the others. She wanted more—he wanted out of that life of traditions and old stories and old glories. Times had changed, the world had moved on, and so had Mattie. The others just couldn't see it, but she could.
Staying apart would only destroy them. It was time they began to integrate into the world's society, give up the old ways and forms, and reach for a new future. It was why she'd left home in search of her future with a mortal man.
So how had that worked out for her? Not so good. She'd been alone for years and years and when she finally met the man of her dreams, he was one of them.
; The irony of it nearly choked her and she snorted. "You set me up, didn't you?" she said to the air. This had all the touch of Loki, the little bastard. "But I showed you, didn't I?"
Sure. And now she was miserable, dying inside, longing for Tsang. For his touch, his voice, the way he looked at her, filled with desire and lust and longing. As if she were everything he'd ever wanted and needed.
There wasn't an hour that passed in the day when she didn't think of him, wondering what he was doing. How was he getting by? Did he still sit in their park on that same bench?
Probably not. The weather had taken a turn for the worse, and he hated the cold.
Mattie opened the back door to her house and stepped out. The cold wind hit her and she threw her bare arms out, welcoming it. It lifted her hair all around her head, whipping it, and she inhaled lungfuls of the icy air.
It was her nature to love the winter, but the north was the land of her people. This winter, the weathermen all said, would be the coldest in years. They might even see snow again and that got her heart pumping just a little. More than it had in the two weeks since she'd walked out of Tsang's bedroom and out of his life.
Good thing the neighbors couldn't see her or they'd think she was nuts.
Maybe she was. Maybe she'd lost it completely. Over a man.
Over a dragon.
Laughter from next door drifted over the fence. The kids ran around, chasing each other. Their mother yelled at them to get out of the cold, so they tore back inside, and the door slammed behind them.
Maybe she'd made a mistake.
Maybe if she weren't so pigheaded, like her mother had always told her, she'd realize Tsang was the best thing ever to happen to her. That she loved him. That he had loved her.
Mattie was pigheaded. Stubborn to a fault, and she knew it.
But she'd always been smart. And right now, the way her heart hurt just thinking about the look on Tsang's face when she left, hearing the aching in his voice when he called, she wasn't so sure she'd been smart this time.
If he really loved her, though, why did he give up on her so quickly? He called her every day, at first a few times, then gradually less and less often, until she hadn't gotten a call from him in days.
That's it. It's over for him. He'd moved on.
Served her right. Again her mother's voice spoke to her.
She crossed her arms and headed inside. She didn't deserve to enjoy the weather. She'd been stupid and stubborn and stupid…
Mattie closed the door and wandered into the living room.
"The radar shows a mass of cold air moving fast, and it should hit Houston by midnight tonight. Bring in all the pets and plants if you want to save them. We're looking at the possibility of ice, folks," the weatherman on the television said.
Ice. Mattie smiled. How long had it been since she'd felt the sting of ice on her skin? Too long.
Tomorrow morning it would be like Christmas had come early. Ice everywhere—maybe even some snow!
She curled up on the sofa, put her head on the pillows and tried not to think of Tsang and the wreck of her life. She'd looked him up on the Internet…well, not him in particular, but his kind.
From what she could tell, he was a Chinese fire dragon. They guarded treasures, both their own and their emperor's for centuries. Tsang had said he had an import business, and she wondered if he'd used his treasure to start it. She had no doubt he had money, but that hadn't been what pulled her to him.
It was him. She'd known it when she'd first seen him on the bench. He belonged to her, was meant for her, and she for him, and now she'd pissed it all away. Her happiness, her future, and she'd hurt Tsang.
She rolled onto her side and buried her face in the pillow, letting a few tears fall. Then she decided she'd call him in the morning.
If he still wanted to talk to her.
»»•««
Mattie woke, stretched and shivered. The cold air circulated over her skin, sending little frissons of pleasure dancing across it. Nice and cold.
And dark.
She sat up. The living room was dark. She'd fallen asleep to the hum of the television, but only darkness filled the room. Listening, she heard nothing but the wind.
Weird.
Her feet hit the floor and immediately cold seeped into them. Colder than her house had ever been, she knew. What could have happened?
Mattie stood, hands outstretched, and fumbled her way to the kitchen, where she kept a flashlight in a drawer. After hitting her toes on a table leg and a chair, her hands slid across the smooth surface of her kitchen countertop. She went around the island and opened the first drawer, rifled in it, and pulled out the flashlight.
The beam of light cut a narrow swath across her house. It had to be either very late or very early in the morning. She found the light switch on the wall and flicked it.
No lights.
No power.
Not good.
Mattie wasn't worried about being without power. The cold didn't bother her, and the power company would be around eventually to fix things, whatever needed fixing.
She sighed, her breath fogging in the light beam.
Wow, it had to be really cold for that to happen. Mattie went to the window and looked out.
A full moon shone in the night sky and illuminated the landscape.
Mattie sucked in cold breath and it froze in her lungs.
"Shit!" The word and the air burst from her.
Ice covered everything she could see—trees, bushes, patio furniture, wires, fences, all if it. Every surface had a coating of ice, in every shade from pale blue to pure white to dark navy.
Her first thought was to throw open the back door and dance in the frozen grass, letting it chill her feet like she had when she was a child.
Her second thought, the one that stopped her with her hand on the doorknob, was of Tsang.
If the power was out here, it would be out at his house also.
She had no idea what the effect of severe cold would be on a fire dragon, but she'd bet it wouldn't be good.
Chapter Nine
Tsang knew he was in trouble. He was weak, so very weak, and the cold dragged him deeper into stupor. He'd never been so cold before in his long life.
The power had to have gone off. He prayed to the ancestors to bring it back on, work their magic on the power lines, but as time crept by, he knew it was no use.
The old ones weren't around any longer. Very few of his kind even existed nowadays.
And now he would be gone also.
Tsang knew he would not survive this. Not the depth of this cold. His bones ached, his teeth chattered, and he could only hug himself under the covers of his bed, curled into a small ball to preserve body heat, but that was failing fast.
What had he been thinking about pain and regret?
He'd hurt Mattie, scared her, and now he'd lost her. He regretted that, but their mating had been glorious. So much promise of a life together.
Now, his would end.
Hers would continue.
Tsang hoped…had he planted his seed in her? Had she been receptive? Could humans and dragons even create life? Probably not, but it would be so nice to think a small part of him would survive in her.
That she would give their offspring the future he couldn't have with her.
Tsang smiled as he shivered. He peeked from under the blanket. All around him was darkness and silence. How long had the power been off? Minutes? Hours?
How long could he last?
Not days, that much he knew.
The moonlight from the bedroom window gave him some small source of light, but the rest of the house would be dark, illuminated only by whatever light the moon cast through the windows. He should get out of bed, find his cell phone and call for help. He could get extra blankets for the bed.
He should call Mattie.
Tsang reached for the edge of the bed under the covers, but it took forever for his hand to start moving, to grasp the matt
ress, and that done, he had to rest. He panted, and his breath came in an icy fog in front of his face.
Not good.
With one hand on the edge, he reached the other to rest beside it. That done, he pulled his body toward them. Muscles straining, he managed to move a few inches until he collapsed.
He was too weak. Already the cold had sapped his strength and his mind could barely think clearly. Where was his phone? He'd left it…on the table in the kitchen.
So far away.
He tried again, but only moved a bit more. It was no use—he couldn't get out of bed and if he did, any warmth he had left in him would be sucked out in a few heartbeats.
Tsang let go of the mattress, pulled the cover over his head, and wrapped his arms around his body, tucking his hands in his armpits.
"I love you, Mattie," he whispered.
»»•««
Mattie listened to the phone ringing. Tsang didn't answer. She stuffed her phone into the jacket of her pocket, pulled on her boots, and wrapped a scarf around her head.
If she met anyone, at least she'd look normal.
With the flashlight in her hand, she opened her front door, made her way down the icy steps and headed for the street. No sense taking the car…it would be more dangerous than walking.
Her footsteps crunched, the sound loud and echoing. Other than that and the occasional snapping of ice-laden branches, it was silent. Eerie.
Mattie didn't let fear stop her, though. She had to get to Tsang and fast. She didn't know how she'd get inside his house, but she'd worry about a way in when she arrived. She had the flashlight and she could break a window if she needed to.
Perhaps he'd just open the door, surprised to see her standing on his doorstep.
She'd rather think that than the alternative. That was unacceptable. She would reach him in time. Tsang would be fine.
"He'll be fine," she told herself, her breath ghosting in the air.
Mattie slipped and slid down the sidewalk toward Bellaire. The ice was tricky, but the cold had little effect on her. In fact, she felt better than she had in ages.
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