by Sam Crescent
Luckily, he was keeping her busy enough that all she was capable of was launching quick blasts of energy and not something more devastating. Neither of them looked as if they were tiring. She had no desire to see who would first.
She hurled another chunk only to have it bounce off whatever shield Lavinia had put up around herself. Cammi searched for something, a thought, an item, anything that could be used to distract her focus on Aldric.
Mind working overtime, Cammi’s gaze shot to the stairs as an idea hit her.
She needed an ice orb.
Confident she could get around without being noticed, Cammi gave up trying to keep cover and ran for the stairs. After seeing how the other ones had worked, she hoped her hunch would be a good one.
Carefully undoing her knots, Cammi grabbed the closest one and ran back to where the two ancients were doing battle. That Lavinia had the ability to keep Aldric at bay was frightening, to say the least. The realization she was toying with him chilled her as if she’d used the orb on herself.
She couldn’t be more powerful than Aldric. Wouldn’t logic dictate he was toying with her as well?
It didn’t matter. There were two of them against her.
Cammi watched for a moment, tried to gauge movement on both their parts to figure out the best angle of attack. It took a fraction of a second for her to act.
Thanking the gods for wet English weather, she activated and threw both the fire and ice orbs simultaneously. The water in the air froze just as quickly as the fire melted it, providing a wet path from Lavinia to the electric wards guarding them from the outside world.
The charge blasted along the newfound path, through the witch, knocking her off her feet and throwing her backward into the puddle. The current continued to use her as a conduit but didn’t prove powerful enough to keep her incapacitated for long.
She fought the electricity charging through her and was strong enough to push herself up a short way and aimed what was sure to be a ruinous assault at Aldric.
Cammi dove on top of her, shoving her into the water and holding her there even though the current tore through her as well.
She fought to get a scream past her locked jaw. “Aldric! Blast us!”
Aldric had spun to rivet her with his electric gaze. But Cammi could barely see him as the pain of the charge lanced through her, seizing all her muscles. Luckily, her added weight was enough to keep Lavinia from moving.
But not from hitting Cammi with a debilitating spell. Combined with the pain from the voltage from the water, Cammi’s vision started to narrow. But she was still aware enough to note that the witch’s power began to swell. Whatever attack she planned was going to be a powerful one
“Do it!” she screamed through her gritted teeth. Whatever happened, she would have protected him.
Her dragon did as he was bid.
His eyes locked to hers, he unleashed his electrified fire at them.
The world exploded into a sea of agonizing blue-white before collapsing and enveloping Cammi in blissful darkness.
Chapter Seven
Cammi could see the blinding white before she even opened her eyes. It didn’t matter. What she couldn’t help but focus on was how there wasn’t a single ache in her body. Not a niggle at her neck. Not a crick in her back. No pain. Anywhere. She’d never felt this good before. Surely this was the afterlife. There was no way she could feel healthy and whole after what she’d been through.
Unless it was all a dream?
That had to be it. The only place she could feel this good and have found her mate was in a dream.
But since when was the ramshackle cot she called her bed so comfortable?
Almost afraid of what she would find, Cammi cracked open one eye.
The room was pristine white and blinding in its brilliance. She lay on cloudlike pillows and the biggest bed she’d ever seen.
Definitely unlike any hospital she’d ever encountered.
So, where was she?
Cammi stretched cautiously, even eventually wiggling her toes, and found everything in working order. Not only that, but she felt as if she’d slept a week and could now conquer the world.
“It’s about time you woke up.”
The familiar voice put a smile on her face as she turned toward it.
Aldric sat on a chair next to the bed. He looked as calm and cool as ever, though more serious than she’d thought possible. How could he get more serious?
“How long have I been out?”
He muttered something that sounded like too long but he gave her a shake of his head. “Why did you do that?” he growled.
He was angry at her? “Do what?”
“In effect, you sacrificed yourself for me. You had no idea what my dragon fire could do to you and yet you all but begged me to flame you both.”
“We had to get rid of her somehow.” It had worked, hadn’t it? “She’s gone, right?”
“Yes.” His voice was still tight.
“Then it was all worth it.”
“You could have died with her, Cammi.” His voice was tortured.
“But I didn’t.”
“You’re just so damned smug, aren’t you?” Aldric unfurled his long, lean body from the chair and started pacing. “You have no plan, no idea, you just jump in half-cocked and hope for the best.”
Pointing out that she’d made it through just fine didn’t seem like a great idea at the moment. Cammi flipped her hair over her shoulder. “I figured since we’re mates your fire wouldn’t hurt me too much. Like your ward didn’t.”
“So careful thought, testing, and consideration went into your hypothesis, did it?”
The scorn in his voice wasn’t lost on her. “You know as well as I do that there wasn’t time.”
“No, there wasn’t.”
“So I was right in what I did.”
“No.”
The triumph that swelled her pride withered just as quickly as it had appeared. “We made it out just fine. In my book that’s a win.”
He whirled around to stand before her, using his imposing size to intimidate. “You don’t get it, do you?”
“What’s there to get?”
Aldric exploded. “That I could have lost you! For all you knew, you could have ended up a smoldering pile of ash like Lavinia is now. She could have killed you even if I didn’t!” He scrubbed his hand over his face. “I have spent millennia looking for my mate and this is what fate has given me.”
Cammi shot to her feet, standing on the bed to take away his height advantage, wholly unconcerned she was once again stark naked. “And what’s that?” she asked, knowing he could probably list her imperfections. A ridiculously long litany, without a doubt.
He moved closer, his gaze wandering over her nude form before meeting her eyes. “A tiny, maddening thief who cares nothing of her own safety.”
She stepped forward, jabbing him in the chest with her finger, ignoring the heat coming off his body and the pleasurable zaps she received with the fleeting contact. “And I got a starchy, stuffed shirt who cares more about his things than anything else.”
“Wrong!” he roared. Aldric gripped her head. “All I care about is you!”
Tangling his hands in her hair to hold her tight, Aldric tilted his head and devoured her mouth with shattering sensuality. Cammi immediately pressed herself against him as if her body couldn’t stand being apart from his any longer. She gleefully threw herself headfirst into the pleasure his kiss gave her.
What was she doing?
She shoved at his shoulders, forcing him to break the kiss. Breathless, she stated, “But you hate me.”
Aldric was just as starved for air but managed to breathe the words, “I never hated you.”
“I tried to steal from you.”
“A mistake. Besides, you never got a thing.”
“I would have.”
He brushed his lips against hers. “You wouldn’t.”
“I’m a halfling.”
“So?”
“But…”
He leveled his gaze at her. “Cammi, I have no doubts, I want this. You. But I need to know that you are willing. That your reservations can be silenced.”
Could they? She’d been against this all her life, but now that she’d found her mate, found him to be intriguing, and formidable, and gorgeous, and infinitely desirable, she began to doubt the wisdom of her old oath. He’d fought to protect her. Even after what she had tried to do.
With Aldric, she felt whole. Like puzzle pieces. He was her serious, solid, other half. That part of her that would keep her grounded.
Did he feel the same about her?
Was she his other half? The part of him that had been missing?
That he was giving her the choice made her heart swell. Deprived of their mates, Others would slowly wither away crazed, as surely doomed as if they faced a Cull while in a trance.
“If it’s time you need…” Aldric forced himself to give her space. The trembling in his body told her just how hard it had been for him to do so. “I will endeavor to give it to you. Whatever you need…”
She tugged him close again, enjoying the heat radiating from him. “I’m not the one I’m worried about needing time. Are you sure you want to hitch yourself to this?” Cammi motioned at herself.
He laughed roughly. “I’ve thought of nothing but hitching myself to this”—he ran his hands up and down her sides—“since I first saw you.”
Shocked at his innuendo, Cammi burst out laughing. “So, you do have an improper side after all.”
****
Cammi’s tinkling laughter was an incredible sound. Especially after watching her nearly roasted alive by his own fire. It was a nightmare that flashed through his mind in a constant loop. Watching the sorceress burn away until there was nothing left but ash had been satisfying, but witnessing Cammi’s skin incinerate had been just short of demolishing his sanity.
It had taken over a week of single-minded dedication from some of the finest healers he could find to patch her up. Had she even noticed her pristine new skin? He hated that he could see her tattoos being burned away with her flesh when he closed his eyes.
He opened them again.
For a tiny halfling, Cammi was resilient. Strong. And probably right about being somewhat immune to his abilities because they were fated to be together. If they had been bonded, would she have been hurt at all?
Aldric would never forgive himself for not searching harder for her in the first place and perhaps forgoing this whole ugly scene altogether. If he had, Cammi might have been spared the life she’d obviously endured all this time.
But she was alive and well and in his arms.
His mate.
Finally.
Cammi could be exasperating, sure, but she was strong, smart and so very sexy. And so naked.
Having her so close was ravaging his self-control, but he refused to give in to the dragon clamoring inside him just yet. Aldric needed to know Cammi was willing—not just willing—but as eager as he was to be claimed. That she wanted him and wasn’t just giving in to fate. Not that he believed she would just give into anything.
“Cammi…”
“Yes?” She blinked her big, silvery eyes at him innocently. If he’d only just met her he wouldn’t think butter would melt in her mouth.
But he knew otherwise, didn’t he?
His dragon tore at him from the inside as Aldric fought him back. “Cammi,” he rasped. “I need to know this is what you want.”
“It is.” She peered into his eyes and he saw something glowing there that warmed his heart. “I never thought I’d find my mate. And when it took so long to find you, I convinced myself that I didn’t need you.”
“And now?”
“There is a very specific need I feel right now.”
He would wager it was the exact same thing he was feeling too. “Tell me it’s not just because we’re fated to be together.”
She seemed to think about it but shook her head. “It might be part of what I’m feeling, but I think we both know that nothing could compel either of us into doing anything that we didn’t want. Otherwise, wouldn’t we have sought each other out ages ago?”
“Don’t remind me,” he muttered. “Because of my stubbornness, you were stuck thieving to survive.”
Cammi pressed her lips against his, effectively silencing him. The sensation of her tracing her tongue along the seam of his lips chased all thoughts from his mind.
When she pulled back, her eyes were heavy-lidded and smoky. “Let’s forget about all that.” Cammi brushed her lips against his. “Do you want me? Because I want you.” Another gentle kiss. “Just you.”
Her soft declaration snapped the last remaining thread of his control. Aldric tipped her head back so he could plunder her mouth to his satisfaction. Hunger he’d never known raged through him. Everything he was made of was on edge with need for her.
Cammi wrapped one leg around him, then the other until she had wound herself around him with the same apparent need as she kissed him back. The blast of desire that hurtled through him was nothing short of cataclysmic. That this tiny female had the power to bring him to his knees was both awe-inspiring and terrifying. For a dragon who’d been alone for so long, it was humbling. Exhilarating.
Aldric trembled as he lowered her to the bed. Nothing had ever felt this important.
For the first time in his long and illustrious life, there was a twinge of performance anxiety. What if it didn’t work? Even worse, what if she didn’t like … it? Him?
Cammi didn’t allow him to dwell. Lying back on the bed, she smiled up at him. “It’s not fair that I’m completely naked and you’re not.”
Aldric didn’t need asking twice. The appreciation and unabashed lust in her eyes as he peeled away his clothing spurred him on. By the time he stood before her just as naked, he was more than confident she enjoyed what she saw.
Her gaze raked over him from head to toe and back up again, her expression rapt as her eyes dropped back down to his groin.
She sighed with what sounded like appreciation. “Every inch of you is beautiful.”
“No more than you.”
Cammi blushed but held out her hand to beckon him closer.
Aldric took it and let her tug him over her. Let her set the pace. Her earlier admission that she’d had no interest in men before him both pleased and alarmed him. He needed to be gentle not only because she was so much smaller than him, but because he figured it was more than likely her first time being intimate with a male.
An honor she bestowed upon him that he wouldn’t take lightly.
She arched up against him as he dragged one hand over her skin, mentally cataloging every inch of her flesh. Every scar, every bit of her that made her giggle or sigh. Aldric wanted to know all of it.
The taste of her, the scent of her, what made her scream in pleasure.
And he would.
Lowering his head, he took the peak of her breast into his mouth.
****
Cammi breathed his name as the pleasure threatened to swamp her. She’d read books, seen movies, and heard tales whispered about how magical just a touch or a kiss from the opposite sex could be. Not to mention the pinnacles of ecstasy that could be attained by the act of sex itself.
She thought it all swagger and hyperbole.
Until now.
Being close to Aldric alone was a heady experience.
His touch sparked all sorts of wondrous sensations that crashed through her. But the flick of his tongue over her hardened nipple sent a streak of purest pleasure pin balling through her.
Cammi’s head swam and her senses clamored as she experienced so many new and incredible sensations all at once. Then he let loose a spark of electricity that zapped into her breast and darted through her to explode low in her belly. Dazed, she lifted her head to look down and found him watching her reaction carefully.
“Do that again,” she moaned
.
Aldric grinned and lowered his head once again, to do as she bid.
He randomly alternated between infinitesimal shocks and breaths of hot and cold air as he sucked and licked, keeping her in a constant state of awareness and winding her body tight with pleasure.
Until Cammi couldn’t stand it any longer. She couldn’t stop the cries of delight as her body detonated in orgasm.
It was a long while before she could focus her eyes again. Cammi was aware of him at her side, watching her, gently pinching her nipples and sending tiny jolts of electricity into her breasts each time he asserted pressure.
The way the electricity raced through her body, ricocheted, and collided with one another before slowly dissipating was incredibly erotic.
She wanted more.
Wishing she could reciprocate with something as amazing, she dragged him closer. “I want more Aldric. I want everything.”
His eyes darkened. “I’m trying to be gentle. I’m not wrong in thinking this is your first sexual encounter, am I?”
“You’re not wrong.” She kissed him, hoping it would tell him what she wanted. What she couldn’t articulate. Cammi drew back to gaze at him. “But I want my mate to enjoy himself too.”
He chuckled as she writhed against him. “Believe me, I am.”
That put a smile on her face. “I think I’ve proved I’m tougher than I look.” She insinuated herself under him, loving the deliciousness of his weight on her. “I don’t need gentle. Make me yours, dragon.”
The low growl that came from him rumbled through her. Now they were getting somewhere.
His hands grew rougher, more demanding as he slid them down her body. The currents flowing from him streamed through her in electrified waves of sensation until every cell in her body felt energized. When he parted her thighs and delved between them with his fingers, she thought he would hit her with another bolt. Aldric grinned at her wickedly.
Cammi barely had a chance to register it let alone try to figure out what it meant before she felt the power drawing out of her. It coursed ever faster toward his fingers, leaving tingling trails in its wake. To pool buzzing in her clit.