The Snow Leopard's Christmas Surprise

by Emilia Hartley

  Her lips closed around the offered berry, plump and ready for him. His pants tightened uncomfortably around him.

  “I think you could make me forget myself entirely,” he said, his voice hoarse with need. He couldn’t hide it. He couldn’t hide it anymore.

  She laughed nervously, holding up the back of her hand to hide her berry stained lips. Slowly, so as to not frighten her, he reached to pull that hand away from her lips. His touch on her arm was feather light. His body was drawn to hers, magnetized by their bond. He leaned in, eyes on her lips.

  Gwen squeaked. It was a keening, choked sound that made Cameron snap back abruptly. He’d let his lust for her override his senses, his rationality. She was terrified of him. That was clear.

  Seducing her to fight for them was going to be impossible. It sent a crack through his heart to know that he could never love his mate. She would not trust him. It was not his fault, but the doing of another dragon. His rage had him shooting up from the couch they shared.

  Cameron paced, trying to bank the flames that were burning inside of him. They were hotter than he’d ever felt in his life. Was this what his brother felt? Cameron’s feet led him to the kitchen where he could lean against the counter with his back to her and try to control his breathing. He could barely stop the flood of violent thoughts directed at whoever had hurt his mate. It made his fingers curl into hard fists.

  What he didn’t notice was Gwen, slowly coming around the counter to face him. She looked up at him with wide eyes. He held his breath for fear of scaring her away like a young faun.

  ***

  Gwen tried to put a tight hand around the fear that churned inside her. It overpowered something she would much rather feel, unbridled lust. She wanted this man between her legs. She wanted to know the touch of his lips on hers, on her neck, or across her back. She refused to let old fear deny her what she wanted today.

  This dragon male was unlike any other she’d met before. If he wanted to forget his life in her body for a little while, she did not want to tell him no. She had an awful lot of forgetting to do, too.

  It was what helped her push herself from where she cowered on the couch. Cameron, the dragon male, had hidden himself in her kitchen to fight away his frustration on his own. She felt a small amount of guilt tumble through her. She would see how far she could get. She would try to bridge the gap between them.

  Only for the night.

  Then, she would disappear. He would never see her again.

  She rounded the corner into the kitchen and slowly approached him. He looked at her from beneath lidded eyes, unable to hide the fire burning in them, aware of her every movement.

  “Let’s try this again,” she whispered. She closed the distance between them. Her magic wrapped hand fisted in the front of his shirt, she sent a burst of it through him. A moan slipped out from between his lips and his eyelids fluttered. She smiled with satisfaction. His knees bent, dropping him to her height. “I shouldn’t be as afraid if I’m in control.”

  She pulled him to her. Her lips fell upon his, soft at first, testing the waters. She would not force herself upon him. That was not what she wanted. Her lips gently pushed at his, in case the dragon male had changed his mind and decided that he did not want her after all. The fear that he had filled her chest while their lips brushed one another.

  Then, his lips parted for her and joy soared through her heart. She pressed harder, her fisted hand yanking him into her body while her magic wrapped around his wrists and held him. He could fight it with his dragon strength and break the binding if he wished. Instead, he let her hold him down while she explored his mouth.

  He growled into her lips, his teeth nipping and reaching for whatever they can. She pulled back, teasing as she quickly licked his lips. He growled and reached for more. She was all he wanted in that moment. The dragon man allowed himself to be bound when he would have rather pounced her. That kind of abandon thrilled her. It put her at ease, allowed her to lower her lips, dragging them across stubble toward the lobe of his ear. She pulled it between her lips and suckled it while he moaned into her ear.

  The moan morphed into a growl as his body arched into hers.

  “You like that?” she whispered into his ear. Her warm breath fell over the sensitive parts.

  “More,” he growled, so unlike the man that had entered her home. Desire had devoured him whole.

  She pulled back and met his eyes. His face was twisted by desire. He flexed his fists, possibly fighting the urge to break her binding. He was trying for her. Who was this dragon man she’d let into her life? Why did he make her feel so many things she’d thought impossible.

  Gwen almost felt… safe.

  She tossed aside the thought and returned to the fun they were having. Her nails pulled down his shirt and grazed over the exposed flesh. She leaned in and her lips touched the soft skin of his neck. Her teeth dragged over his skin before she pulled it into her mouth, tongue flicking and teasing.

  “Tell me what you will do when I let you go,” she whispered into his skin. “Tell me how you will please me.”

  He growled, almost as though he had to find his humanity beyond the beast in order to speak. His eyes flashed from gold to a gray-green, the sign of his beast pushing toward the front. Gwen should have been afraid, but looking into this man’s face as she held him in place, she couldn’t find her fear.

  “I am going to break these bindings,” his beast purred. “And once I do, I’m going to flip you onto your stomach so that I can take you. You are mine and I will make you scream until your magic shatters.”

  Gwen felt a shiver run up her spine, one of anticipation. Her core warmed at his words and she could feel the space between her legs moisten.

  “You won’t take any time to please me?” she asked, voice hoarse with the effort it took to find it.

  He raised molten gold eyes to hers. “Like I said, you will cry out. I will please you until you cannot take more, until you know that you are mine.”

  The beast’s words should have frightened her. It should have made her turn and run, but there was something about it that rang like a truth in her ears. She was not a witch that could separate truth from fiction like sifting for gold, but this felt too real for her to ignore.

  “Then take me,” she whispered and released the magical binding on his wrists.

  He didn’t pounce on her like she thought he would. Gray-green swirled through his eyes, a sign that he and his beast were together as they moved. Slowly, so slowly, he approached her. His hands slithered over her hips before gripping her, hard. He spun her around and pressed the length of his body tight against her. She could feel the hard length of his cock pressing against her buttocks.

  Warmth pooled between her legs. She heard the dragon man scent the air behind her, taking in the desire that she could not hide, either. Then, before she could react, his arms slipped behind her knees and he swept her off her feet.

  Chapter Seven

  “I will not fuck you on a hard surface,” he growled with her in his arms. “Direct me to your bed.”

  All Gwen could do was point toward the closed door. He kicked it open, breaking the lock. She didn’t have time to mind. She would be leaving soon, anyway. Beyond the broken door lay what felt like an indoor garden. Plants in pots of all sizes filled the sunny room. Amidst pots of lavender and peppermint sat her wide, white covered bed.

  Cameron and his beast set her gently down onto the white duvet before abruptly gripping her hips and flipping her over. His hands ran up the back of her legs, earning a small moan out of her mouth. How long had it been since anyone touched her at all? Even the small gesture had her closing her eyes to savor in the feeling.

  There were things a man could do that the battery-operated boyfriends could not, such as gripping the waistband of her long skirt and yanking it down over her legs. She laid there, bare assed for his viewing pleasure.

  He growled, his hand moving toward the soft flesh of her buttocks. Lo
ng fingers kneaded her flesh. How long had it been for him, she wondered? Had it been just as long? Was he aching for her the same way she ached for him?

  She squealed when his teeth descended upon her skin. He bit the tender flesh of her buttocks, interspersing kisses between small nips and nibbles. She writhed beneath his grip. He laughed, deep and resonating through her. She felt it rumble through her core and she knew what she wanted.

  “Take me,” she breathed.

  His tongue slipped between the gentle folds of her. She let the bed swallow her moan of pleasure. She had not expected the quick flick of his tongue there. She had not expected this gentle patience.

  “Take me,” she growled.

  His finger slipped inside of her and she called her pleasure into her bed sheets. “You’re not ready,” he whispered.

  She rocked her hips back and forth, enjoying the feel of even a finger inside of her as it touched places that had been lonely for far too long. The silkiness of his skin was nothing compared to the feeling of the tip of him as he pressed it against her opening. She moaned with surprised delight.

  She had been with a dragon before. She knew what it meant to lay with one and what they hid in their pants. Her battery-operated boyfriends should have ensured that she was ready for the smooth shaft to slide into her, but as he guided himself in, inch by inch, it felt like nothing she’d known.

  Once he was hilt deep, his hips began to work. He thrust, hitting deep each time, while his hands explored every inch of her body. They shoved her shirt up so that he could cup her aching breasts. His soft thumb flicked and pinched her nipple, sending a jolt of pleasure through her core. The other hand moved further south, the tips of his fingers sliding between her folds to touch her most sensitive place.

  His hand worked in unison with his cock, pushing her closer and closer to the precipice. Waves of pleasure coursed through her core with each thrust of his cock. It seemed to fill every available inch inside of her, stroking her pleasure into a slow burning fire.

  She could spend a lifetime in this moment, she thought. She tightened herself around his cock in rhythm with his thrusts. Behind her, Cameron moaned. His grip on her tightened possessively. His thrusts came faster as he lost a bit of control.

  He leaned forward and teeth scraped her shoulder. She cried out from the sheer pleasure it sent through her. His teeth pressed into her skin, pleasure mingling with pain while her orgasm rocketed through her. She cried out, unable to keep it inside.

  It was her cry that sent him over the edge. He spasmed inside of her. His roar of pleasure mingled with her soft cry. Their magic whipped around them, a whirlwind that left the room in disarray. Neither of them care. They fell forward in a heap, breathing heavily.

  Gwen wriggled into the soft sheets, sated after their long bout of lovemaking for the first time in… maybe her life. It was an experience like none other she’d ever had before. He lasted for as long as she needed to climax, which turned out to be quite a while. She turned her head to the side, eyes studying the face of the man lying beside her.

  He looked back at her with half lidded eyes and a soft, content smile on his lips. She leaned forward and claimed them in a slow kiss. He returned the favor, his hand reaching up to cup the side of her face. Affection. The realization sent a sharp jolt through her.

  He was showing her affection.

  Then, suddenly, he scrambled out of the bed and bolted for the door. Her mouth hung agape. That had been unexpected. What should she have foreseen? A long night of cuddling? A happy future. She cursed herself for being ever hopeful when reality seemed all too happy to squash her into the ground. She fell onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, fighting back hot tears.

  “You have to be starving,” Cameron’s voice drifted back to her.

  Her head fell to the side and she nearly choked on her laugh of relief. Completely naked, the dragon man stood in her bedroom doorway, board of meats and cheeses held between his hands. She pressed her lips together, warning herself not to become attached, and nodded. She was, indeed, starving.

  Cameron climbed back atop the bed to sit with her and stationed the board so that it sat before them, not between them. He adjusted himself so that his knee touched her bare thigh and reached forward to claim rolled meat and slivers of sharp cheese. He, too, it seemed, was starving. Their love making had been nearly frenzied.

  “Can I…” Cameron seemed to trip over his words. “Can I feed you?”

  She let herself fall back into her plush pillows, feeling, for a moment, like a goddess. “Feed me,” she commanded.

  Cameron laughed, that bright sound that reminded her of sunshine. His fingers claimed a cluster of grapes from the board and hung them over her lips so that she had to reach for them. She caught the glint of mischief in his eyes before he snatched them away and popped a grape into his own mouth.

  Gwen turned a pout toward him and he broke down, feeding her several grapes by hand before insisting she also eat some protein. The night went on like this, happily teasing one another. It was her last night in this apartment, her last night in this town before she became someone new again.

  What name would she choose this time? This time her name was too close to the truth. Next time, she would have to decide upon something wholly new and different. She could become Rose or Delilah. Or, she could become something fresh and new like Teagan. That was a name that she admired. It would make her seem young.

  Teagan sounded like a great name.

  Chapter Eight

  Cameron wondered what his luck was. He had found his mate and secured his mission all at once. It was beyond believable as he looked down at the slim, naked body of his mate. He wanted nothing more than to bury his face in the scent of her and refuse to come up for air.

  Her screams of pleasure had driven him into a mad frenzy, a feeling that he’d never known before. Both, he and his beast, swarmed to the forefront while they were inside of her. His scent would soon mingle with hers, warning others that she was mated and claimed.

  Somehow, she had allowed him to stay with her for the past week. Their days were spent playing music or basking in the sunlight. Their nights, as soon as the sun even hinted at diving toward the horizon, they retreated to her bedroom. Each morning, he would wake to her staring down at him as if she might bolt at any second. But, she would slowly make her way toward him and their day would start all over again.

  The only thing he wished he’d considered sooner was the chance of conceiving a child while in this new stage. It was something his brother and Rhiannon were learning to deal with, but was not one that Cameron wished to risk in this uncertain time.

  Feeling his stomach churn with fear and shame at his own stupidity, he pulled open the bathroom mirror. His fingers hovered over the bottles and tubes of cosmetic solutions, wondering why Gwen needed any of them. He wasn’t sure what it looked like, but he wanted to make sure. He needed to know if she was on modern birth control.

  He’d left his phone in the bedroom, or else he would use the internet, a wonderful source of information brought about by recent technology. After a long moment of fruitless searching, he closed the bathroom mirror. He couldn’t do what Gareth was doing. Gwen already stirred a bevy of protective emotions that would most likely spin out of control if she became with child too soon.

  They couldn’t risk that.

  ***

  When she woke, part of her was alarmed to find the other side of the bed empty. Her hand ran across the still warm sheets and her heart calmed. Frowning, Gwen told herself she cannot get attached to this man. This dragon man that she let stay in her home for nearly a week. Each morning she told herself to run and never look back. Each morning her feet pulled her back toward the bed.

  A handful of nights of great sex was not going to change anything. He was still a dangerous dragon and she was still the Witch of Caernarfon, betrayer to some and belonging of others. She swallowed hard as the memories struck her, as the emotions stirring inside o
f her warred with one another. Cameron had not seemed like the other dragons at all. The only time he seemed in any way vicious was when he expressed anger over what happened to her, over her pain.

  That was not like any dragon she knew. Gwen ran her hands down her face.

  A muffled vibrating sound came from within her room. Curious, she sought the sound and found it in the pocket of Cameron’s pants. It always amazed her that even while seemingly incarcerated in the Territories, dragons had access to technologies such as cell phones. She dug the vibrating cell phone out of his pants pocket, glancing toward the closed door as her heart rate picked up.

  A message flashed across the screen, readable even though she could not unlock his phone.

  Have you found the witch? Complete the mission and bring her here soon.

  She chucked the phone back toward his pants as though it burned her. In many ways, it had. Her heart was ever so slowly attempting to open up to this dragon man that wandered into her life. She wanted to believe that he was different, that he would be gentle and patient with her.

  Truth was, she was nothing more than a mission to him.

  Anger roiled through her. It gripped her magic, the kind that she shoved dark and deep, and lashed out in every direction. Her magic was a thorned vine that cracked in the air and dragged across her skin. Cameron’s forgotten clothing disintegrated into nothing more than fiber remnants. His phone screen cracked in several places, spider webbing as though something were crushing it.

  The door to her room cracked open to reveal a smiling façade. She threw a dark glare in his direction. A ceramic mug on his tray shattered. Hot tea ran down his arms. His face fell and confusion tumbled through his eyes.

  “You didn’t come here on a rutting night,” Gwen hissed. She pulled her sheet up to her bare chest, feeling more vulnerable than she had in years. But, she would not be the victim. Her magic wrapped around her.