“I can protect myself.” She tried to wriggle free of his arms but he held her tighter, crushing her against him, and she gave up and settled for glaring at him instead.
“Can you not let me protect you?” he whispered and she faltered as he gave her a boyish look that made her want to sigh.
She didn’t mean to trample on his male pride, and she wasn’t saying that he couldn’t protect her too, but she was a big girl and she was used to taking care of herself.
It had been a long time since someone had wanted to take care of her.
It felt strange.
She sighed. “Fine. You can protect me too… but you have to let me in. I need to know what you see.”
“I see your death. Is that not enough?” He looked away from her and the pain in his eyes clawed at her, making her feel awful for pushing him. “I will tell you soon. If the visions come again… I will tell you. I swear it.”
She nodded when he looked back at her. She could go along with that, because part of her hoped that he never had another vision, and therefore she wouldn’t have to worry if she ever found herself in a similar place or situation to what he had seen.
“Let us focus on finding your friends.” He smiled at her, flashing straight white teeth, his attempt at charming her not failing to hit its mark.
He had realised that her friends were important to her and she could see that he was going to use it to place himself in her good book and score some points with her. She didn’t mind. She needed help and he was the best there was. He knew the local dragons, could fly around the forbidding terrain and cut travel time down exponentially, and he was strong enough to convince whichever dragons had her friends to hand them over.
Sable would probably love him and she was sure her leader would appreciate his help when she came to save them.
“Sable,” Anais muttered as she realised that her leader would be coming for her and the others.
“The other huntress?” Loke said and she nodded. “What of her?”
“She’s the leader of the Archangel team that came to Hell to fight in the battle. I know her. She won’t leave us behind. She will come for us all.” Even though part of Anais hoped that Sable never found her, because that part of her was happy here with Loke.
Loke’s expression turned grave. “You desire to be rescued?”
Anais wasn’t sure how to answer that question. There was a part of her that wanted to stay here with him, but the rest wanted to return to her world and her job.
“No,” he barked and his face blackened into a scowl. “It cannot happen. I will not let it happen. I must stay with you to protect you. I must save you.”
She smiled and shook her head. “You’re making no sense. You can’t save me from yourself.”
He looked blankly at her and then frowned again. “I was speaking of saving you from the foe in my vision.”
Foe? There was someone he kept seeing then? Someone who was going to kill her. An icy shiver blasted through her and she wished he would tell her about the things that he had seen. His gaze flitted between hers, a flicker of fear in it that she knew came from the thought that she was going to press him to tell her about the visions. She wanted to know what he had seen that had left him so shaken, but she didn’t have the heart to ask him, not when she knew it would hurt him.
She would wait for him to tell her as he had asked.
His handsome face softened and his blue eyes warmed, turning tender as he brushed his fingers through her hair and held her gaze. “You are safe with me, Little Amazon. I swear it. I will keep you safe… with me.”
She knew that, but she also knew that she didn’t belong in this world. She wasn’t sure she could stay as he clearly wanted, and part of her also wanted. The thought of leaving him didn’t sit well with her. It turned her stomach and sent her thoughts churning, filling her with dread and making her want to wrap her arms around him and hold on to him.
She didn’t want this time with him to end, even when she felt deep in her heart that it would.
No matter what they did to stop it.
They would end up parted.
Ice formed in her veins and she did the only thing she could to make it go away.
She pulled herself up Loke and kissed him.
He was quick to respond, wrapping both arms around her as he craned his neck and returned the kiss, his lips dancing softly across hers and filling her with heat that melted the ice.
Anais didn’t resist him when he rolled her onto her back, his right leg wedging between her thighs and pressing against her mound. She slipped her arms around his neck and ploughed her fingers through his blue hair, clutching him to her as he kissed her breath away. She moaned and he followed her, groaning as he slid one hand down her side, tracing the curve of her waist before stroking her hip and then her left thigh.
She raised it and he nudged it with his hand, pushing it open. A soft gasp escaped her as he trailed his fingers down the inside of her thigh, tickling and teasing her. His lips left hers to blaze a path down her cheek and she tilted her head back as he devoured her throat, his mouth working magic on her as a thousand hot shivers tumbled through her.
His right hand slipped between her thighs and she gasped louder, arching up to meet his touch as his fingers eased between her folds, seeking her nub. A fiercer bolt of desire shot through her as he found it and rolled it between his finger and thumb, torturing her with a touch of pain before giving her pleasure. He lowered his hand and stroked the entrance of her sheath, drawing moisture from her and cranking her desire higher.
She closed her eyes and gripped his head as he kissed her throat, pressing his tongue in hard to the line of her artery, and drew his fingers back up, swirling them around her aching nub. She tensed her muscles, desperate for another hot blast of pleasure. It came swiftly, sending her rocketing higher as he stroked and teased her.
“Loke.” She couldn’t hold back as she rocked against his fingers, flexing her body beneath his.
He grunted against her neck and then he was kissing her again, fiercer this time, his mouth dominating hers as he ground against her hip, rubbing his hot hard length between them.
She moaned and unleashed her passion, trying to match him as he took her mouth. His hand dipped lower and tore a gasp from her as he plunged two fingers into her sheath and began to pump her. She gave up trying to match him and surrendered to him instead, giving him control over her and letting him master her body, sure that he would give her another earth-shattering climax.
She moaned as her passion hijacked her body, making her roll her hips to meet every wicked thrust of his fingers. She breathed harder, straining for the one push that would send her tumbling into bliss.
Loke denied her.
He withdrew his fingers at the critical moment and snatched his lips away from hers.
She growled in frustration and tried to pull him back to her, but he easily resisted, her strength no match for his. She flicked her eyes open and moaned, heat sweeping through her as she saw him kneeling in front of her, a glorious vision of pure unadulterated masculinity.
Thick ropes of muscle coiled tightly beneath pale skin. His hard cock rose from its nest of curls, dark with need that made her body yearn in response to the sight, aching for him to fill her and to give him pleasure.
Anais shifted before he could make a move, coming to kneel on all fours in front of him, her hand seizing his cock. He grunted and then moaned as she stroked him, the guttural sound filling the cave. She wanted to hear him making that noise when he was in her mouth and she was tasting him.
She lowered her head and wrapped her lips around the blunt head of his cock.
He grunted again and his hands seized her shoulders, his nails pressing in hard as she swirled her tongue around the crown, seeking his sensitive spots. He moaned whenever she found one and went to war on it, not relenting until his hands trembled against her and he was as hard as steel in her mouth.
“Anais,” he hu
sked, his passion-drenched deep voice commanding her to give him some relief from the torture.
She took him deeper into her mouth and began sucking him, pressing her tongue hard into the underside of his cock on each withdraw and swirling the tip around the crown. She raised her right hand and played with his sac as she sucked him, ripping a feral grunt from him. He gripped her shoulders harder and began to rock into her mouth, shallow thrusts accompanied by soft grunts of pleasure. She moaned, the sound of his pleasure giving her a shot of it too, drugging her and making her hungrier for him.
When he was on the verge, she pulled away, giving him a taste of his own medicine. She looked up the height of him and met bright blue eyes that swirled with gold flecks of fire. His handsome face turned deadly serious, a dark edge to it that thrilled her.
She had pushed too far and she had a feeling he was going to make her pay for it.
He clamped his hand down on the back of her neck and pulled her up to him, searing her with a kiss that sent an inferno sweeping through her. His other hand delved between her thighs and she moaned and shuddered as he thrust two fingers into her, spearing her and making her quiver with a need for more. His answering groan was deep and guttural, more beast than man.
It thrilled her.
It made her want to climb up him and impale herself on his long hard cock.
Loke had a different idea.
He grabbed her behind her thighs and pulled them upwards, sending her flat on her back with her bottom in the air. She lay at a diagonal, her eyes on his, goading him into doing it. She needed him inside her again, filling and completing her.
He snarled, flashing twin rows of sharp white teeth, and grasped his cock.
He gripped her hip with one hand and fed his cock into her with the other. He didn’t take things slowly this time. The moment the head was inside, he drove home, filling her with one deep stroke. She cried out as her body stretched around him and he struck the deepest point inside her.
He paused only long enough to catch the desire in her eyes, the passion and need for him that commanded him not to stop, and began thrusting. His hands clamped down on her hips and his eyes locked with hers, dark and hungry, making her burn for him. She moaned in time with him, the sound tearing from her lips whenever their hips met and he filled her.
The cave filled with the sounds of their lovemaking, their wild noises and each hard meeting of their bodies drowning out the crackle of the fire.
Anais threw her hands above her head and clutched the furs, twisting them in her fists as Loke took her, hard and fast, every delicious inch of him tensed. The sight of him only added fuel to the fire as she stared up at him and he stared back at her.
He was incredible.
A perfect blend of danger, sensuality and lethal beauty.
One hundred percent male, and that masculinity spoke to her feminine side, filling her with appreciation and need.
She moaned and tried to hold his gaze, but it was impossible as her desire reached a crescendo. She screwed her face up, lost in her passion and her spiralling need. He grunted and thrust harder, leaving no part of her untouched with each powerful stroke of his cock.
The universe detonated in a shower of stars across the darkness of her closed eyes and she cried out as fire swept through her and her entire body quaked from the force of it, her limbs trembling as it pulsed through her, each wave growing stronger rather than weaker. She breathed harder, her heart pumping faster as Loke kept thrusting, driving her towards a second climax. It came in a blinding rush as his cock jerked and began to pulse inside her, shooting hot jets into her core. She cried out with him, her hoarse shout matching his as they shook and found Heaven together.
Awareness of the world slowly came back, the thick sound of her rapid breaths and Loke’s panting filling her ears at first. The feel of his hands clutching her hips, his grip so tight her bones ached came next, followed by how big he still felt inside her, filling her completely.
She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him.
His eyes blazed blue fire at her, his expression still deadly serious, and she had half a mind to ask what that look was for, but he took her back out of her head before she could get the words out.
He eased back, making her think he was going to withdraw completely and release her.
He didn’t.
He slowly rocked into her, filling her again, the fire in his eyes growing hotter. Each slow thrust stirred passion in her veins again, reawakening her desire for him and driving the last two climaxes to the back of her mind as her body came alive to seek a third with him.
Anais had the feeling that she had seriously underestimated the power and stamina of a dragon shifter and she was about to find out just how high Loke could take her.
He leaned over her, not breaking his rhythm, and his lips crushed hers in a kiss that seared her right down to her soul and left her in no doubt of what lay ahead of her.
Heaven.
She had found Heaven in Hell.
And she never wanted to leave.
CHAPTER 14
Loke beat his broad leathery wings, the slow methodical rhythm and the feel of the breeze against his face soothing him and giving him something to focus on other than the fears crowding his mind. At the forefront was the terrifying thought of dropping the precious cargo he held tucked in his huge front paws, close to the broad blue plates of armour that protected his chest. That precious cargo was stroking her palms back and forth over his talons, the steady consistent tempo of her caress only adding to the calm front that battled the storm of his emotions.
He could feel her disappointment and he wanted to reassure her that their scouting mission tomorrow would go better and they would locate some of her friends. The journey today had turned up nothing, but they had only checked ten caves from a distance, using his superior senses to see whether the dragons residing in them had a mortal with them. There were many more in the area and he felt sure that they would discover which dragons had taken a huntress soon enough, and then they could set in motion her plan to save them.
He angled his head to one side and dropped his blue gaze to her, the vertical slits of his pupils narrowing as he watched her as he continued to fly over the valleys and mountains, carrying her home.
Over the past two days, his cave had begun to feel different, but it was only now that he realised what that difference was.
Anais had made it feel like a home.
A home for him and for her.
He snorted at that feeling, knowing deep in his heart that her home was many miles away. Ice filled that same heart as the most constant of his fears pushed forwards to fill his mind and flood his veins—the fear that she would leave him.
The other huntress was coming for her.
Anais’s words had played on his mind for the past two days, throughout all the time they had spent planning the route they would take in order to scout for her fellow huntresses and discussing the dragons of his clan and their locations, and all the time they had spent in each other’s arms, lost in bliss. They plagued him and he couldn’t shake them. She had told him with such confidence that Sable would be coming and there had been a look in her blue eyes, an edge to her emotions that warned him she wanted her friend to come and she wanted to return to her world.
She cared for him. He felt sure of that. She had revealed a hint of her feelings for him when he had suggested they fly to Zephyr’s cave first to see whether he really did have one of her friends.
Anais had rebelled against that idea, quickly gripping his arms and forcing a promise out of him, a vow that he would avoid Zephyr’s cave until they knew of the locations of all the other huntresses. She hadn’t pressed him to promise that because she feared the other dragons would discover what they were doing and would hide the females they had taken.
She had pressed him for that promise because she feared he would fight Zephyr again.
She wanted to keep him safe.
He could
understand her concern and it warmed him right down to his aching soul.
She cared for him.
As deeply as he cared for her?
And what if she did?
Loke carefully adjusted his paws, holding her close to him, so she was sandwiched between his paws and his chest, locked to him and safe. Perhaps he could convince her to stay. He would do whatever it took to make her see that she belonged with him, even when he feared what would happen if she agreed.
The need to mate with her was already growing stronger, increasing in ferocity whenever they made love, and it was getting more difficult to hold back that urge. It was primal and powerful, stronger than his will and his desire not to hurt her. It controlled him and left him feeling weak, vulnerable in a way he didn’t like. He was used to being the master of his body and his mind, but the instinct to claim his fated female kept pushing and breaking through, seizing command of him.
He fought it as hard as he could, battling to suppress it and somehow mastering it, but each time it swept over him, it was a longer fight and a harder battle, and he feared that next time he would lose the war and his ability to hold back his instincts.
He would claim her, whether she was willing or not.
He would kill her.
Loke closed his eyes and beat his wings harder, a growl rumbling up his throat that tore a startled gasp from Anais. He silently apologised to her, and vowed once again that he would never allow his instincts to control him like that. He would find a way to master them so she would be safe with him.
Her steady stroking started again, this time against his chest, offering him comfort that he drank down, greedily stealing every drop of it because he needed it. He needed to know she was safe and she felt something for him. He needed her, close to him like this, touching him with love in her caress.
He held her closer to him, fearing that something would take her from him and there was nothing he could do to stop it from happening.
Whether it was the one called Sable or the grim shadow of death he kept seeing in his vision.
Taken by a Dragon Page 15