by Celia Kyle
“Why?” She frowned at him. “I’ve said no as creatively as I could, Egan. Just… Why can’t…” She growled and turned her attention to the locks on the Sugar Shack’s front door.
Egan stood guard while her back was turned, conscious of his surroundings and any threats to his fire companion. Not that there had been threats, but a man couldn’t be too careful with his woman.
She poked him, and her touch seared through the fabric, zinging through his body and going straight to his groin. Damn, but she was potent. Egan growled at her. “Move it, missy. It’s cold out here.”
“You move it.” She giggled. Giggled! Like it was funny that his cock was suddenly hard enough to pound nails. And it almost sounded like the flirty giggle that Selena and Sky made around his brothers. Huh? Maybe she wasn’t as disinterested as she appeared.
Once inside the bakery, he followed her to the back office, placing his cup of coffee on the desk while he worked on the buttons of his coat. Mireya did the same, tossing glares at him the whole time. He didn’t really care. Not when he got to watch her unwrap the packaging around her body.
She started at the top, first revealing the ample curves of her breasts. The top was lower than he liked for a fire companion, but more than low enough for him to love as a man appreciating a woman. It showed the smooth brown expanse of her cleavage, and his mouth watered with thoughts of burying his face between her breasts, licking and nibbling her nipples through the fabric of her blouse.
Her hands continued south, showing him the small curve of her stomach, the dip in her waist and the widening of her hips. Child-bearing hips, his mother would call them. He called them perfect. They were nice and wide and he knew she had an ass to match; perfect and bubbly, big and round. She wore her usual skirt that almost looked painted on, accentuating her hips and hiding her thick thighs. The gorgeous thighs he’d imagined wrapped around his waist night after day after night. Or his head… He couldn’t wait to taste her from top to toes and stopping everywhere in between.
He wanted her. He couldn’t deny it.
—
Mireya wanted him. She couldn’t deny it.
She plucked at the buttons of her coat, surreptitiously watching Egan remove his jacket. All of the Lisander boys were made big and strong, but something about Egan spoke to her like a shiny object just waiting for her ferrety self to snatch it away. She saw him and wanted to follow the first of their ferret laws. Find. Take. Mine.
Unable to resist, she started her perusal at the top and worked her way down. His midnight-blue hair always entranced her. It glinted in the overhead lights, looking blue and black and then blue again with the shift of his body. His eyes bore the same shade as his hair, his dragon making itself known. His forehead was wide, jaw chiseled, nose strong, and the pale pink of his lips reminded her of the sweetest icing she’d made not long ago. She wondered if he’d taste as good as he looked.
She flicked her attention to his fingers, his hands. They were large, capable and strong, and she ached to have them on her, in her. Beneath her gaze he unzipped his coat, revealing the wide, lean chest she’d been staring and lusting after for months on end. He had broad shoulders, firm pectorals and a smooth, flat stomach with a slim, tapered waist. Part of her misgivings about dating him related to those parts of his anatomy in particular. She wasn’t vain, but she knew the difference between a hard body and one that was… not. She was definitely of the “not” variety.
Shoving her worries aside, she focused on the semi-striptease going on in front of her. The jacket opened fully just below his hips, showing her his jeans-clad package. And what a package! Those Lisander boys always wandered around in clothes that seemed meant to arouse and tantalize women.
Mireya slipped her jacket from her shoulders and dug deep inside herself for her frustration at finding Egan on her doorstep at three in the morning. But for some reason her anger was proving difficult to find. Damn it. Sorta.
She’d been using his invasive tendencies as her reason for rebuffing him for so long that she didn’t know what to do now that her aggravation had disappeared. With her step-brother Mika gone, she didn’t know how to protect herself.
Ferrets weren’t solitary creatures and she sure as hell didn’t want to adopt the first man who showed interest. Most of all she didn’t want that man to be a dragon. She’d heard of humans being bound to dragons, and forced to do as a dragon pleased due to their bound status. She wasn’t sure if a ferret could become bound, but she didn’t want to find out the hard way either. She liked her freedom, thankyouverymuch. Well, except for the being alone part. If only she knew his attraction was true attr… No. Better not to wish for something she couldn’t ever have.
Well, she’d been staring long enough now, time to kick him out and be done with it. “Egan…”
He spoke at the same time. “Mireya.”
She chuckled, couldn’t help it. They always seemed to be thinking the same things. “You first.” He needed to say his piece and then hurry scurry his way out of here.
“I’ve got someone from Bound for Freedom coming by today. Her name’s Jacqueline.”
Okay, that was unexpected.
“She was bound to one of my cousins, Kennet, and he released her recently. She needs something to do. A job. Mika’s been gone for a while and from what I’ve heard he’s found someone special, so I doubt he’ll be back anytime soon. Jacqueline really needs some way to be productive.”
She wasn’t sure about this. “Egan…”
“If money’s an issue, I can subsidize her salary for as long as you need.”
Arrogant, no good, not all-knowing… “I can cover her salary. I covered Mika’s just fine,” she snapped.
“Well, then why haven’t you hired help? I offered to work here, you said no. I offered to put up a sign and advertise so that you wouldn’t run yourself ragged. You said no. What does it take to get you to say yes? She needs a job, you need help. Isn’t that enough?”
“It’s presumptuous.” And appreciated, but she wasn’t about to say that.
“Too damned bad. Because I’m about to presume a hell of a lot where you’re concerned.” Without waiting for an answer he turned on his heel and stomped from the room, the front door slamming in his wake, glass rattling in their grooves.
“What the hell does that mean?”
She didn’t have much time to puzzle out the meaning behind Egan’s words. Within minutes of his departure a girl arrived, declaring that she’d been sent by Egan. Jacqueline was wrapped in a winter coat, warm drink in hand. Well, it looked like she’d be keeping her new assistant after all. The woman looked way too thin and way too desperate to turn away.
Damn Egan, damn him to hell and back.
—
Well, damn her truck too.
After a long day in the bakery, teaching Jacqueline how to run the counter while she worked in the back, baking, Mireya just wanted to go home and take a nice long, hot bath.
Of course, her truck wouldn’t start no matter how many times she turned the key. And she did. Repeatedly. Somebody had vandalized her car. She banged her hands on the steering wheel. “Damn it, damn it, damn it!” This was not what she needed. Her confrontation from the morning still rang in her ears while she tried to figure out Egan’s cryptic words.
A knock on her window, a quick rap of knuckles, startled her and she nearly screamed. Her attention flew to the man standing on the other side of the door and she immediately relaxed. It was only Egan -- with a satisfied, smug grin on his face. Bastard probably knew exactly what’d happened to her truck.
She rolled down the window, thankful that she’d never sold the old truck that still had manual hand cranks to pull them down, otherwise they wouldn’t be working for her now. “What are you doing here?”
“Kidnapping you.”
And he looked serious. “The ferret, you are, Egan Lisander.” She began rolling up her window, arm turning the little lever just as fast as she could.
&nb
sp; Except Egan was faster. With lightning speed he darted his hand through the open window and unlocked the door before opening it to let himself in.
Oh. Shit. No, no, no. She wanted him, wanted him more than she had ever wanted another, but she didn’t want to become some mindless Boundling, forced to do his bidding for the rest of her days. “Egan…” She scooted back, away from the open door. “Let’s talk about this…”
Blue fire burned in his eyes, and she knew her time of resistance had come to an end. She’d been pushing him away for over a year, refusing to accept his claim or even discuss their mutual attraction.
“I’m done talking, Mireya.” He grabbed her calves and tugged her so that her ass rested on the edge of the truck’s bench seat. He insinuated himself between her spread legs, inching her skirt up until it was almost around her waist, panty-clad cunt revealed. His hard cock, encased in denim, rested at the juncture of her thighs. He ground his hardened erection against her cloth-covered pussy, the hard press causing a bit of pinching pleasure and pain to shoot through her, zinging straight to her cunt. Her cunt clenched and became wet with desire, preparing her for him… only him.
The visits and gifts and sweet smiles he threw her way over the months had worked their magic no matter how resistant she’d tried to be. The walls surrounding her heart crumbled a bit more with every flower and sweet note left on her windshield.
His lips a hair’s breadth from hers, he whispered, “I’ve talked and wooed. I coasted along like the rivers, trying to ease into your life, your heart. The river has all but dried, Mireya… But a flash flood has arrived.”
She closed her eyes eased forward, the tiniest of movements and the distance between them was gone. His silky lips brushed over hers in the barest of caresses, and then he was there: dominant, demanding… sexy. He tasted like the ocean, heat scorching and burning her mouth until she didn’t know if she could stand being the focus of his desire. His tongue dipped and flicked, licking her mouth, tasting and discovering. She reacted in turn, absorbing all that she could of his flavor, relishing the fire, the sweet water and the wild tastes of Egan. He called to her in a way that no man had ever before.
Egan nipped and nibbled her lips, his mouth never stopping. He gripped her hips in a punishing hold, guiding them, forcing her to rock against the ridge of his cock, and she shuddered with each damning ripple of pleasure shooting through her. Back and forth, he guided her with ease, and she moaned against his mouth. “I’m taking you now, Mireya. Yes or no?”
She couldn’t think, could only feel… “Yes.”
Egan hissed, and she barely heard the rip of cloth through the pounding of her heart in her ears. A cool draft bathed her pussy, and then he was there, the head of his cock prodding her entrance. She leaned back, tilting her hips, adjusting the angle to ease his way. Her nerves sparked and sputtered to life, her body on the edge of something great.
He wouldn’t move, just rubbed his cock around her heat in small circles. “Egan…”
“Say it.”
“What?” she whined. She could see his scales shimmering beneath the surface of his skin, shades of blue dancing for her.
“You accept me. Say it.”
“Egan…” Worry churned in the pit of her stomach.
“Say it,” he demanded, undeterred.
“I accept you, damn it!”
Egan thrust forward, fully seating himself in her cunt in one swift movement. Her pussy stretched around his cock, the burn sending shards of pleasure through her from head to toe. She screamed his name, her back arched, head thrown back. She rocked her hips, shaking both the truck and her body.
He rubbed her clit with tiny circles and rapid flicks, tugging her orgasm along, urging it to come closer to the precipice. As if he was leaving a trail of promises of unimaginable pleasure for her. She wanted to cash in on every one of those pledges.
He pushed harder, the truck shocks squeaking and groaning with each of his thrusts, hips banging against hers while he fucked her hard and fast. He pushed down on her clit and then flicked it with his nail. She screamed. Deep and low, loud yet soft, she screamed like she’d never screamed before and didn’t think she ever would again.
Pleasure, the purest of pleasure, built within her, starting at her toes. Her muscles tensed and convulsed as her orgasm built speed, shifting through her body in wave after wave of ecstasy, and still it didn’t crest.
“Please…” she begged, uncaring of how it made her look. Harlot? Absolutely. She was fucking a man in the parking lot for ferret’s sake.
“Now.” He scraped his nail against her engorged nubbin and pulled her forward into a scorching kiss while slamming himself home one last time. His tongue mimicked the motion of their bodies, licking and tasting, and she reveled in the flavor of him, the oceany, fire-scented, clean taste.
Mireya came, burning outside and within. Wave after wave after wave of pleasure and love coursed through her veins, skittered along her nerves and burst through her pores.
Egan tore his mouth from hers, and she whimpered at the loss, missing him after bare moments. “You’re coming with me.”
Mireya couldn’t do anything but agree. She whispered against his mouth, “Yes.”
Chapter Three
She’d said yes. Mireya, fire companion, souler, soon to be mate, said yes.
Every word he’d spoken, every thought he’d ever had, had all been true. He loved the woman more than his scales and wanted nothing more than to care for her, make her happy for all of her days. And she’d accepted him, had said the words he’d longed to hear for days on end. Twice more. He had to make love to her twice more in twenty-four hours and then they’d be mated forever, loving forever. She’d take on his lengthened lifespan, and he would gain a lifetime of happiness with his souler, his soul lover. The one true woman for him.
He truly had been moving like the rivers… biding his time until she would see his love for her. It seemed she reacted better to a tsunami.
Egan hefted Mireya higher, cradling his woman in his arms, a feeling he didn’t think he’d ever get to experience. He could scent his seed still within her, and his cock grew hard with the thought of pumping even more into her sweet, delicious depths.
“Put me down, you’ll hurt yourself.”
“Ha!” He tossed her a few inches in the air and caught her, Mireya’s screech ringing in his ears.
“Egan! You’ll drop me! I’m not one of those hundred pound bimbettes you normally date,” she grumbled. He let her slide to the ground once they’d reached his car, curve after curve of her pressed against his body. He held her there for a moment, relishing the softness of her so close to him.
She reached for the door handle, but he stopped her, gripping her hand in his. “You.” He kissed her palm. “Are.” He kissed the back of her hand. “Beautiful.” He kissed the inside of her wrist. “I love everything about you, including each one of your luscious curves. All of them. And I can’t wait to explore you thoroughly.” He winked and then pulled her away from the car. “But we’re not taking the car this evening. I’m just locking it up. Maybe you should strip, and we’ll get going.”
She whimpered and shrank back. “Tell me you’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking.”
He could see the smidge of fear on her face, so he leaned forward and kissed the worry away. “Yup. Better get undressed and furry. You’ll need the warmth up there.”
“Egan…”
He stopped listening to her protests and simply locked his car before handing her his keys. “Hold these while we fly, baby.” He’d carry their clothes in one of his claws. She then seemed to notice his nakedness and squeaked before whirling around to face the other direction.
Egan closed his eyes to give her some shifting privacy, and called on his magic, willing his body to shift and reform into his dragon shape. Scales danced and unfolded from his skin, and his face and neck elongated into that of a dragon. A tail emerged from his backside while his legs thickened
and lengthened, giving him the power of dragon legs. His muscles bunched and stretched and grew as he shifted, becoming one with the spirit that rested inside him twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Always and forever it would be a part of him, just as he hoped Mireya would be.
Shift complete, he opened his eyes to see a tiny ferret with black, blonde-tipped fur staring at him. He smiled and she shrunk back further.
Mireya, do not be afraid. I’d never hurt you.
But, you’re so big.
Every man in the world wanted to hear such a compliment. And you’re so small. We’re perfect for one another. He held out one claw and eased it to the ground, several feet from her. Please, Mireya, join me? Grab my keys and let me take you to my home.
A new light danced in her eyes at the sound of the word “keys” and he knew he’d gotten to her. Ferrets, even ferret shifters, couldn’t resist shiny objects. It was a fact of nature and he’d just appealed to her very being. Whatever it takes, he thought.
Within moments, she dashed across the parking lot and then approached him with the keys in one paw and apprehension on her tiny ferrety face.
Come, my souler. Come to me.
She seemed to come to a decision and scurried toward him, jumping into his paw. He closed his claws carefully over her. Cradling her now with both claws, he shot straight up into the air with a single beat of his giant wings, soaring through the air with his souler, his soul lover, his very being, in hand.
He contemplated an evening swim with Mireya, pulling her through the ocean on the back of his dragon, letting her feel the water on her skin as he felt it along his scales. Then again, she didn’t have scales to keep her warm in the near freezing water.
He decided on the land entrance to his home instead. Though, if someone asked his brother Kyden, it was his “lair,” not his home. He still got a kick out of teasing his brother about his “lair” in the mountains. They weren’t living in the medieval ages any longer. A home was a home, regardless of who inhabited it. Dragons did not a lair make.