Nathan's Heart (Brotherhood of Bandits (Mating Fever) Book 1)

by Minx Malone

  “It’s all going to be fine. I would never harm you and I promise I’ll get you home safely. Just not right now.”

  She glanced up at him, the tears on her cheeks making a silvery trail against the soft honey shade of her skin. “Because of the weather? I don’t care if it’s raining. I just want to go home. My mom is going to be looking for me.”

  She said the last part defiantly and Nate got the sense that the opposite was actually true. Was she all alone in the world? Who was there to protect and care for her?

  “It’s not just the rain. Evie, the men who did this to you are powerful. And they’re still out there.”

  Her eyes widened slightly before she nodded. “What are we going to do?”

  “My brothers and I will handle it. But I don’t want you to worry about any of that. Nobody will get to you here.”

  He became aware all at once that her face was pressed against his neck. She brushed her nose back and forth against his skin, then inhaled deeply. His cock stirred, desire snaking through his veins with every soft touch.

  “You smell so good. I just want to taste…” Her tongue against his skin sent fire racing over every inch of his skin.

  “Evie, you don’t know what you’re doing.” He tried to disentangle them but her arms locked behind his head, pulling him down on top of her when she fell back on the bed.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “No, you really don’t. Dragons go through an extremely fertile period. I never realized our Mating Fever could affect humans so strongly but I think that’s what’s happening.”

  “Fever? Yes, that’s what it feels like. Ever since I saw you a few weeks ago, your face is the one I see when I’m alone at night wishing for someone to hold me.”

  Nate could barely breathe since her long legs were now wrapped around his waist holding him firmly in the cradle of her soft thighs. The words penetrated in a slow drip. A few weeks ago? Alone at night?

  “You thought about me?”

  “Yes.”

  She breathed the words on a soft sigh that made him think of all the other decadent ways he could coax that sound from her lips.

  His dragon rumbled triumphantly as the words took shape and meaning. If she’d been feeling this way for weeks, then her attraction to him wasn’t because of the mating fever. It was because she truly wanted him. The knowledge thrilled and spurred him. He looked down at her face. She looked like an angel with her long lashes resting gently against her cheeks and her full lips set into a small pout. He finally did what he’d been trying to hold off on for so long.

  He kissed her.

  As her taste flowed through him, his dragon roared blasting him with the truth he could no longer deny. Evie affected him so strongly because she was his mate, his heart, his reason for existing.

  My treasure. Mi tesarik.

  His dragon instincts clamored at him to take her, satisfy her and spread her open to take his seed. His human side struggled for the composure to take things slow and not scare her. The thought of her being afraid calmed him enough to keep him from flipping her on her stomach and sinking deep with no delay.

  Need to take our mate. Bind her to us. Claim her.

  He took a deep breath and buried his face in her neck. She smelled so sweet that his fangs itched to descend and bite her. But he wouldn’t mate her until she understood what that meant. First he had to woo her gently and make her love him.

  Take her now. Claim her now!

  Nate ignored his dragon screaming for total domination but he wasn’t able to stop his hands settling on her hips in a rough, possessive grip. Evie moaned at the pressure and rolled her hips.

  Fuck.

  His lips covered hers completely, dominating her and forcing her to open for his possession. She whimpered beneath him and locked her legs behind his waist, pulling him closer.

  Her enthusiastic response only fueled his desire, stoking the flames higher and higher and sealing her fate.

  She wasn’t leaving this bed until he’d shown her what it meant to be loved by a dragon.

  chapter five

  “I was drawn to you the first time I saw you. Just the sight of you, the smallest glimpse would stay with me all day. And all night.”

  Evie felt like she was watching herself from afar, hearing the words pouring from her as if observing something happening in a movie. The tiny rational part of her brain was screaming at her to shut up.

  Why are you telling him these things? You don’t really know him.

  The part of her governed by her heart shoved rational Evie into a mental closet and locked the door. Emotions she’d never experienced stormed her defenses, leaving her raw and ravaged. It was such a scary thing but for some reason, she was calm. A sense of rightness settled over her as he cradled her closer. When their bodies met, everything that had ever been wrong in her universe ceased to exist.

  All she cared about was him.

  “You dreamed about me?” His deep voice, colored by wonder, weaved through her senses.

  There was something hypnotic about it, compelling her to spill what was in her heart, making her feel even more tightly bound to him. She couldn’t have lied to him in that moment even if she’d wanted to.

  “You were what kept me going when I was cold or hungry or just tired. I need you, Nate.”

  Her confession hung between them and her breath stuttered in her chest as she waited for his response. His eyes drifted closed briefly but then he looked up at her directly.

  “I need you, too. You don’t even know how much. Mi tesarik.”

  His lips slanted over hers, the kiss more like a reclamation than a caress as he held her so tightly she could barely breathe.

  My treasure.

  The word echoed through her head and somehow she knew that was what he’d meant. It was a truth that she didn’t even question. She was his to take, to pleasure and to cherish. It was something she knew with certainty.

  Suddenly she was clawing at his shoulders, trying to hold him tighter. She needed him inside of her, showing her what it meant to be truly wanted. At her touch, he growled.

  The deep, sexy noise aroused her instantly and Evie squeezed her eyes shut, ashamed at how wet she was just from the sound.

  “Open your eyes. Never hide from me.”

  His voice was different and Evie instantly obeyed. Brilliant gold-slitted pupils gazed back at her. She was no longer with just Nate. His dragon wanted her, too.

  “Yes, I see you understand. You are my mate, the reason I exist. My dragon is very possessive of what’s his.”

  His eyes lowered to take in her breasts straining against his shirt. The sight of her curves confined seemed to enrage him.

  “Your beauty should never be hidden.” He pulled at the bottom of the material until it ripped clean up the middle.

  “Oh wow, I could have just taken it off.”

  Evie cried out loudly when his lips latched onto one of her nipples. Those magnificent gold eyes stayed on her the whole time as he rolled the stiff tip between his lips. He bit down slightly harder than she was expecting but the bite of pain sent a sharp jolt of pleasure through her.

  “Yes, just like that,” she whispered.

  He continued down, kissing over the skin of her belly before he stopped and then bumped her clit with his nose. He closed his eyes. “Your scent is magic.”

  Evie gulped, unprepared for the intense way he was staring at her most intimate place. Most of the guys she’d been with had treated foreplay as something they had to do. No one had ever looked like they wanted to dive in before.

  “I want your fingers,” he growled.

  Stunned, she held out her hand automatically. He drew her fingers into his mouth, sucking deeply until her fingers were thoroughly wet. Then he tugged them lower.

  “Put your fingers on your clit. I need my tongue deep inside you. I need your taste.”

  “What? I don’t–“

  Her eyes practically rolled into the back of her head when
he licked her pussy roughly a few times. Need coiled deep in her belly and her fingers started a slow, awkward rhythm. With every stroke of his tongue deeper and deeper, her fingers swirled and rubbed until the tight coil of need snapped and left her shuddering amidst a storm of emotions.

  She barely registered him sitting back until he pushed her thighs wide open. Evie blinked through her tears. God, he was watching her. Sitting there watching her pussy as it clenched from the aftershocks of the most intense orgasm she’d ever experienced. The intensely possessive way he watched her pleasure, like he was internalizing it, caused another shiver.

  His eyes lifted to hers. “You’re my mate, Evie. Do you know what that means?”

  Unable to speak, she shook her head. He crawled over her, his eyes on hers the whole time. Their lips met in a gentle kiss.

  “It means this is mine.” His fingers curled into her, pushing deep. “It means you are mine.”

  His fingers plunged again and Evie moaned as another orgasm threatened. Nate looked down and she did too, watching as he took his fingers from her body and used her moisture to coat the length of his cock. She shivered anew as he stroked himself to his full length. He was beautifully shaped, long and thick, and her muscles clenched again at the thought of taking all that inside. Of being possessed by him completely.

  “It means you’re my treasure. My heart. Mi tesarik.”

  He whispered soft words that didn’t make any sense to her. She recognized that he must be speaking another language but it all just rolled over her, she was so drugged by the pleasure still running through her veins. Suddenly it was all too much and she clung to him weakly, needing something, anything to stop the ache.

  “I need you, Nate. Need you.”

  A low growl permeated the air between them. “I know what you need, my heart. Me.”

  He settled himself between her thighs, his hips spreading her thighs wide. She was so wet that when he entered her, she took all of him in one thrust. Her back bowed and her mouth fell open at the shocking pleasure of being so filled with him.

  “You’re so beautiful. So perfect.”

  He flexed his hips again, sliding through her sensitive folds to notch against a spot deep inside that made everything go dark. Evie wrapped her legs around him, the change in angle keeping him right where she needed him. She bit her lip as pleasure ripped through her again but this time he didn’t give her any time to recover. Just kept rocking against her, pushing through her clenching muscles to hit that same magic spot over and over.

  “Fuck, Evie. You’re so tight.” He threw his head back and growled as he came, the muscles and veins in his neck standing out in stark relief.

  Evie watched him, greedily taking in the sight of him in the throes of his own release. It was so deeply satisfying to know that she had done that. He sighed and then looked down to where they were joined. She followed his gaze to where he was buried between her thighs. Her eyes drifted closed and she succumbed to another rolling wave of orgasm, triggered by the sight of him rooted deep.

  A wave of fatigue followed, dragging her into that place between asleep and awake. Nate lowered himself slowly until his face was in the crook of her neck and rested there, just breathing her in. Content to stay where she was, she curled her arms around his neck and held him close. She wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that but jolted awake when he pulled out of her gently.

  Panic rose up from her core, clawing at her insides as he climbed from the bed. What the hell was wrong with her? Just the thought of him being out of her sight made her shiver.

  “Please don’t leave.” It embarrassed her as soon as she said it but it would have taken more strength than she had to keep it in.

  “I’m not leaving, mi tesarik. I just want to clean us up and then make you something to eat. I need to feed you. What would you like?”

  Relief made her feel light as air. “I’ll eat whatever. I don’t need anything fancy. You know, whatever you have handy.”

  He shifted from foot to foot, suddenly looking so bashful that she had to smile. “I don’t really have anything you can eat here. When I’m hungry, I go hunting.”

  It was such a strange thought to imagine him hunting something down and probably eating it raw. After being so close to him, it was a startling reminder that he wasn’t human. Not even close. As if he could read her mind, he lifted her chin gently with the tip of his finger.

  “I may look like you, Evie, but I’m not. I’m a predator through and through. My dragon kept you in bed so long because he likes the thought of keeping my seed in you.”

  Evie blushed. “Your dragon sounds like a Neanderthal. Does that mean he plans to keep me chained to the bed as his sex slave?”

  Nate didn’t answer. He kissed her gently, the soft brush of his lips against hers sending a rush of warmth though her. When he finally lifted his head, his eyes were almost sad.

  “You should have run faster.”

  After cleaning them both up with a warm washcloth, Nate left his mate curled up content in his bed. There were several missed calls on his phone but he wasn’t in any shape to deal with the outside world right then.

  His concern and entire focus was on the woman who’d suddenly become his entire existence. Every step away from her had been a struggle. Even now, his dragon pushed him to hurry through gathering food so they could get back to her.

  It was an unfamiliar feeling, this urgency, but he found it didn’t make him feel tethered or confined as he’d always assumed it would. Instead he felt… complete.

  Nate yanked open the refrigerator and then the freezer. The food situation wasn’t as dire as he’d assumed. There were still a few microwave dinners from the last time Jonas, Gavin’s apprentice, had gone shopping for him. He would have preferred to hunt something for her and cook it himself but there was no time for that.

  At the insistent knock on his door, his scales came out. He walked back to his room and then pulled out a pair of jeans from his dresser.

  Evie watched him curiously. “Are you going out?”

  He leaned over and kissed her. “Someone is here. No matter what you hear, don’t come out. No matter what, do you understand?”

  She nodded quickly. He hated the worried look on her face, so he kissed her again.

  “Don’t worry. It’s probably one of my brothers. But even if it isn’t, I would defend you to the death. You know that?”

  Her eyes softened. “I know.”

  The knock sounded again. This time it was followed by Ian’s impatient, “Nate, open the damn door already. I know you’re in there.”

  His relief that it was only his brother was short-lived since he was hiding a pretty big secret from him. It wasn’t that he thought Ian would try to give Evie over to the king but every time he thought about telling him, his dragon went crazy. He couldn’t handle the idea of any risk to his mate, no matter how remote.

  “I’ll be back.”

  He pulled the bedroom door closed behind him. His brother would be able to smell her on him. There was no hiding the scent of sex, especially not to a dragon’s sensitive nose. But Ian could be very single-minded and if he was coming to bitch at him about the botched delivery, he probably wouldn’t worry much about the girl in his brother’s bed.

  It was a good thing Gavin was always tucked away in his den because fooling his intuitive and extremely observant youngest brother wouldn’t be so easy.

  Nate pulled open the door to a very wet, very pissed off, Ian. Then his brother shifted to the side and he saw Gavin standing behind him.

  Shit.

  Ian pushed past him. “What the hell took you so long?” Then he stopped and took a deep inhale. He pinned Nate with a hard look. “Tell me you haven’t been blowing off my calls because you’re too busy boning that chick?”

  “Fine, I won’t tell you.”

  Gavin came in and closed the door behind him with an apologetic smile for Nate. “Sorry to intrude.”

  He waved away the apology
. “I know how he gets.”

  Ian grunted. “He is trying to keep our clan from war. I told Kavan that you never checked in and that I believe you might have been injured in the storm. It’s strange though.”

  “What’s strange?” Nate asked.

  “He kept asking me all of these questions. I don’t think he believed me.”

  Ian paced back and forth between the kitchen and the living room. Every time he got close to the hall leading to the bedroom, Nate tensed.

  Other males are near our mate. They will try to take her from us.

  His dragon screamed for him to put his body physically between the other two males and his mate, who lay unsuspecting and vulnerable a few feet away. She was so much weaker and had no scales to protect herself. Even though it was just his brothers and intellectually he knew they would never try to take a female he’d claimed, his dragon didn’t like their scents being in the same space she was.

  Gavin leaned against the wall near the kitchen, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. He was also much closer to the bedroom than Nate would have liked. Why couldn’t they sit in the living room like civilized creatures, anyway?

  Pain in his hands drew his attention and he looked down to see blood dripping from his closed fists. His talons had come out unconsciously. It took quite a bit of effort to force them to retract. The gouges in his palms started healing instantly.

  When he looked up, Gavin was watching him.

  “What’s up with you? Every time Ian moves toward the hall you look like you want to go for his throat.”

  Caught, Nate folded his arms. He hadn’t been planning to hide his mate from his kin but it was harder than he’d expected to tell his brother, who’d lost his tesarik so young, that he’d found his mate.

  “I wasn’t answering your calls because something happened. I found my mate.”