“But—” The thought that she was rejecting him flashed into his mind and the creature inside him rumbled. The sound echoed in the room. Kei jerked back and Lorran flinched.
“Was that…Nekane?”
Kei nodded. The creature had sent mental messages but never a verbal noise.
“Well, now we know he can make sounds.”
“And that he’s irritated at the thought of you sleeping alone.”
“Right. The dragon’s irritated.” She sounded a little annoyed herself but didn’t say anything else. She nodded. “Fine. We’ll both sleep here.” She indicated the alcove that had served as their shared bed. “It makes sense, of course. No need for one of us to sleep on the uncomfortable cot when there is a perfectly good bed.” She straightened her spine and smoothed her skirt.
She was stiff and strained but underneath it, he saw a tiny glimmer of relief.
Kei kept his distance through dinner and as they worked companionably to clean up. Years traveling with a band of warriors had taught him to clean up after himself. Lorran seemed pleased with the assistance and it gave him an excuse to be near her—even if he couldn’t touch her.
As the final evening light disappeared and cradled the world in darkness, Kei tossed down the towel he’d used to dry the plates.
“Are you ready for bed?”
Lorran tensed at the seductive tone of his voice. She’d been on the verge of screaming all night. First, with the prostitute in her house, then Kei’s rejection of her seemingly “perfect” plan, which she didn’t understand, and now this—all night, he’d lingered near, never touching but never letting her out of arms reach. It was like a seduction with no possibility of a climax. Overall, quite frustrating.
She started to protest.
“Come to bed,” he said. He didn’t touch her or pull her toward the sleeping alcove. He simply turned away, leading her in the direction he wanted. He pulled off the heavy shirt he wore and hung it over the edge of the chair. Lorran felt the responding flicker in her heart at the sight of his bare chest. She wanted to touch him, feel him. Her breath stuck in her throat as his hands dropped to the waistband of his leathers. With a few notable exceptions, she hadn’t spent much time watching Kei undress. Their clothes usually got torn off in a haphazard fashion while they were straining for each other’s bodies.
She watched as he opened the flap of his trousers and shoved the soft leather down his strong, powerful legs. When he straightened, he looked up at her and smiled. She barely noticed the smile, so intent as she was on the erection that stood from the nest of pale hair between his thighs.
“It’s late. Come to bed.” This time, there was a command to his words, a sound Lorran’s body couldn’t resist.
She stopped by the bed and changed quickly into a soft flannel gown. She turned her back to Kei but the attempt at modesty was wasted. She could feel his gaze on her skin, a hot caress she felt in the center of her body.
Embarrassed, keeping her eyes lowered, she turned and climbed under the blankets. Kei’s warm body met hers and molded to her shape without words. She tensed waiting for him to begin touching her in a sexual way but while his touch was sensual, it wasn’t seeking. He cuddled her close and snuggled into the blankets, like a child holding his favorite toy.
“Kei—” She didn’t really know what she was going to say. She found no will to protest. It felt too wonderful to be wrapped in his arms this way.
“Hush, sweet. It’s late. We’re both exhausted and sunrise is early.”
She looked at his face. His eyes were closed and a slight contented smile lingered on his mouth. What more could she do? She relaxed down onto his chest and moments later drifted off into a dream-filled sleep.
Kei felt the moment she succumbed to slumber. His mind and body were screaming yet strangely content. He didn’t understand the beast inside his head. The creature’s understanding was extremely limited. He wanted to fuck Lorran. That much Kei could tell. But having been denied the pleasure of her cunt, the dragon seemed content, as long as Lorran stayed near. It was when she moved away that the beast grew agitated.
Kei opened his eyes and stared into the darkness. Or what should have been darkness. Every item in the room was visible. The ever-increasing dragon senses made him aware of the normally invisible world. A mouse scurried under the larder door, searching for bits of food. Lorran wasn’t going to like that. He’d set some traps in the morning. She kept a clean house but the forest nearby made it a constant battle.
Go.
The little creature lifted his head as if he heard Kei’s mental command. Go, he repeated with a mental push. The mouse spun around and raced to the door. Kei chuckled softly in the dark.
Lorran stirred. “What?” Her sleepy eyes blinked open.
“Nothing, sweet, go back to sleep.”
She nodded and rested back on his chest. She settled herself and her hand slipped down until she held his hard shaft in her palm.
Kei tensed and waited but Lorran’s breathing slowed to deep sleep. By the Gods, she was doing this to torture him. He was in for a long night.
* * * * *
Lorran woke up as she always did when the sun peeked through the window. She was warm and comfortable. As she opened her eyes and re-gathered her wits, she saw why—she was practically on top of Kei. She smiled up at him. He glowered back. The darkening of his eyes wasn’t from the dragon’s presence.
Kei—the human—was upset.
Tense.
“What’s wrong?”
“Be very careful how you move your hand,” he ordered, his voice strung like a wire.
“Why?” She asked the question, and then realized where her hand was—wrapped around his cock.
And from the look of it, it had been there awhile.
She felt her lips curl upward. “Poor baby,” she teased. “This looks uncomfortable. How about if I do this?” She slid her hand up the line of his staff. Kei groaned. “Oh? You didn’t like that? What about this?” She tightened her grip and retraced the path. His hips thrust upward, forcing his erection through her palm.
“You little witch,” he growled through clenched teeth.
“Do you want me to stop?” She kept her movements light, just the flicker of her fingers, avoiding the hard pumps she knew would finish him off quickly. She pushed the blankets further back and stared at him. His cock stood proudly before her. She was intimately acquainted with it inside her but she decided then and there she hadn’t spent nearly enough time exploring it. She ran her fingers lightly across the smooth, hard shaft. Finally, unable to resist, she leaned forward and placed a light kiss on the tip.
Kei made a choking sound she’d never heard him make before. She glanced up. His eyes were closed, squeezed tight as his body stretched beneath her touch. He wanted this, had maybe hungered for it but he’d never asked. She opened her mouth and flicked her tongue against his skin—just a taste, enough to capture the warm masculine flavor.
“Have you ever taken a man’s cock in your mouth?” he asked, his voice strained.
She didn’t answer him but the image tempted her. She’d heard tales of course. The maids had talked about pleasuring their men that way, but she’d never considered it. Until now.
He opened his eyes and watched her intently, his gaze darkening with lust and the strength of the dragon. She reached up and ran her fingertips down the center of his chest, tracing the taut muscles that held him bound to her. She let her hand wander over his flesh, random patterns until she reached the full erection. He was thick and long. Her mouth wouldn’t hold him all. But she wanted to try. She wrapped her hand around him.
He groaned and sat up meeting her in her crouched position next to his hips. He stared into her eyes for a moment then kissed her, his tongue slipping softly into her mouth and twining around hers, as if he needed her taste to survive.
Lorran fell into his kisses, addicted to the power of his mouth, to the soft manipulation of his lips. She let the world f
ade and savored each caress. Finally, Kei jerked back, his chest moving in long deep pants.
The same intense stare focused on her, heating her deep inside.
“Do you want to taste me?” he asked. He brushed his finger down her cheek. Lorran felt the question in the center of her stomach.
“Yes,” she whispered in reply.
“Your eyes are so expressive. I can see every desire before you speak it.”
“Yes.” She watched him just as closely. “You always know just how to touch me, just what I want.” She looked down at his thick erection. “Now, I want you in my mouth.”
Kei’s chest rose and fell in one long, constricted breath. He paused for a moment, as if he were gathering his strength, then reached out and took her hand in his. He guided her forward, placing her palm along the hard, warm cock. The very idea of it amazed her. She’d done this to him. She had the power to make this man hunger. Something deep inside her mind released and she smiled. She slid her fingers down his erection and felt him strain beneath her touch.
She whipped her hair over her shoulder and pushed lightly on his chest.
“Lie back,” she commanded. Kei paused for a moment then slowly sank onto the bed. He was spread before her. How many times had she been in that position—her pussy open, hungry, aching for the feel of his mouth? It was his turn now. And hers.
Lorran pushed up on her hands and knees, crawling until she straddled his legs. His erection rose in front of her.
He watched her with an intensity that made her shiver. Barbaric. He looked barely human. And how close to the truth that was.
Lorran couldn’t stop her slight smile. He wanted her mouth on him. But first she would indulge herself, just a little. The flood of power pushed her forward. She placed her palms on his strong thighs. The muscles were hard beneath her fingers.
She slid her hands up his thighs and beyond his hips to his flat stomach. She spread her fingers wide and lightly brushed her fingertips across his skin, absorbing his heat. Kei inhaled sharply.
She looked up and was lost for a moment in the pull of Kei’s hungry gaze, but her hands never stopped. It was the control—the ability to hold himself apart—that made her want to drown him with need, have him before her pleading.
She’d learned much about Kei’s desire. But he’d always been in command, always leading her to pleasure. Now, she wanted him begging for it. Instead of moving forward, she sank back on her heels.
Kei swallowed deeply as he watched the corner of her lip curl up. What in the Hells was she up to? Though she never spoke of her husband, Kei somehow knew she’d never performed this service for Brennek. Only Kei. Only he would ever feel her mouth on his cock.
A shudder of possession wracked his body as he stared at her. She was stalling. Maybe changing her mind. He curled his hands into the light sheets beneath him, fighting the sudden urge to grab her and shove his cock into her wet mouth. The strange desire to overpower her shocked him.
The creature inside him didn’t seem to understand. It struggled against Kei’s control—filling the human mind with erotic images of Lorran’s mouth swallowing him. The almost tactile fantasy of releasing his come down her throat. He groaned and forced the pictures away.
He opened his mouth, ready to tell her to stop. Then he looked into her eyes. She wasn’t backing away.
Her smile sent tremors of masculine terror down his spine. A confident woman’s smile was a threat to be heeded. She had power and now she knew it.
Her fingers lingered near the row of buttons holding the prim nightgown closed.
“Would you like me to open this?” she asked, knowing he loved to look at her breasts, had spent hours sucking on them.
He nodded. His eyes fell to her hands as she opened the buttons along her bodice. She undid the tiny catches until she reached her waist. She was bare but still hidden. And she knew it would drive him crazy.
She slipped her hands up, cupping her breasts and slowly massaged them in soft, shallow circles. She closed her eyes and let her head drop back as she moved her hands over her own skin, reaching inside the nightgown to pinch the tips of her breasts.
She could feel Kei’s eyes watching her every movement. Long drugging minutes later, when her breasts ached to feel Kei’s mouth, she raised her head and opened her eyes. Kei reached down and took his cock into his hand.
Lorran slapped his wrist and shook her head.
“Mine,” she said.
It was the word that had filled his loving. But now, he and that deliciously large cock, belonged to her. Kei reluctantly pulled his hand back. She waited until he’d reached up above his head before she moved.
She wasn’t quite sure how to proceed but Kei had taught her the power of a light touch of the tongue and long slow licks. She bent forward, hovering above his straining staff. She opened her mouth and swirled her tongue around the head of his cock. When she heard his shocked hiss, she repeated the motion before lifting her head. She couldn’t stop her smile. His jaw was clenched so tightly she was sure the sounds of teeth cracking could be heard.
She took a deep breath and opened her lips taking the full thick head into her mouth. He was silky and so hard.
She relaxed and took as much of his length as she could, wanting all of him inside her. There was too much for her to take. She slid her hand around the base of his shaft, cupping the twin sacs that hung down. His hips jumped up, pushing his cock deeper into her mouth. Then finally, she pulled back and twirled her tongue around the end.
“Mine,” she said again.
She bent forward and sucked as much of his length inside as she could take, holding him deep before drawing back and flicking her tongue along the underside of the head.
Kei groaned. He’d been hard all night and now her teasing mouth was more than he could stand. The wet lick of her tongue, the steady suck of her mouth drained the blood from his head. It wasn’t talent that tempted him—it was pure desire. She loved what she was doing and the power she had over him. It should have startled him, even frightened him, but he knew he was safe. In her control, he was safe.
He braced his legs and watched her pink mouth slide the length of his shaft. The dragon’s voice resonated in his head as she tasted him, as she stared up and the smile of pleasure glowed in her eyes. This was the image that had allowed him to come at the waterfall that first night—the reality was way beyond the fantasy.
Her fingers gripped his thighs, tiny pinpricks of sensation as she increased the stroke of her lips, moving him deeper into her mouth.
She pulled back for a moment. He opened his mouth to growl a protest but stopped at her words. “You taste so good.” Lorran licked her lips. “I love the feel of you on my tongue.”
He punched his hips upward, desperate to return to the moist heat of her mouth. He couldn’t seem to control his hips.
He groaned as her lips once again closed around him, sucking him deep. The sounds of her mouth pulling on his cock only made the deep aching need worse and better. And her groans. She moaned like a woman caught in her own pleasure.
The rise of his orgasm was sharp. He was coming. He thought to warn her, give her time to pull back, but the words were tangled in his mind, wrapped around the need to come in her mouth and have her take him. Moving without thought, he buried his fingers in her hair and held her. He convulsed as the climax burst on him and he released his seed into her welcoming mouth. His head fell back against the pillows.
She kept sucking, draining him. A light brush of her tongue tickled the end of his cock.
Long moments passed before his eyes uncrossed. As his breathing returned to normal, he pushed himself up on his elbows. Lorran sat between his thighs, the material from her nightgown flowing over his legs.
She smiled as she traced random patterns across his thighs. As if she sensed his observation, she looked up. And licked her lips.
Chapter Seven
Kei watched Lorran as she prepared dinner. He loved watching her. It w
as in these quiet moments, after the lust had been satisfied, that he was able to consider the future. And was strangely content. He would die. That was the one inevitable part of his future. It gave him a certain freedom. He’d worked on his final papers, instructions to his brothers and advisors, including a nice stipend to Lorran. She didn’t know about that but she deserved compensation for everything she’d done.
She’d reject the money. He knew her well enough to know that but he also knew what Riker needed to say to get Lorran to accept it. He’d written explicit instructions to his brother to promise Lorran the Kingdom’s support in her dragon studies if she’d accept the stipend. She would take it.
He no longer considered finding her a husband or lover to take his place. The dragon in his head refused to allow Kei to even think on it. The screams inside his mind and the gut wrenching pain the dragon created became so torturous, Kei dropped the idea. Though he felt the dragon gloating, Kei admitted in the silence of his mind that he hated the idea of another loving Lorran as he had done.
He was amazed at how well he had come to know her. He’d known her for less than two weeks and he could predict her reactions. Though there were still times when she surprised him. He knew her intimately. Not just sexually. He knew her mind.
They’d talked, in the quiet, when even the dragon’s urges couldn’t make his body respond. He’d told her of his own startling rise to royalty, how he’d been trained as a warrior—never expecting to inherit the Kingship. His older brother should have succeeded their father, but he’d chosen Kei instead. He’d told her about Riker and his hopes for him as a King.
She’d talked about her childhood, her marriage and the time she’d spent with dragons. She told him about her research and that of others across the land. And he could see the pity and sympathy she had for the creatures. And for their victims. She truly wanted to find a way to stop the transition.
He’d finally asked her why she’d stayed with Brennek after the change. She’d shrugged.
“It was my fault.”
“What?”
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