Day of the Dragon

by Katie MacAlister

  And she had. Through everything life threw at her, she’d survived. She’d overcome the worst. Now he only wanted to give her the best.

  After he sank his fangs into that pretty shoulder and marked her so one and all knew she was taken.

  Abby’s shift was effortless, a flowing retreat by her cat and a gentle emergence of her human form.

  “Abby,” he murmured, and held out his hand, waiting for her to make the next move. He knew he didn’t deserve her—not after the life he’d led. But if she’d let him, he’d take her and never let her go.

  “Declan”—she took one hesitant step and then two—“what if…?”

  “I’ll kill ’em.”

  Her lips quirked into a tiny smile that had an extra dose of need sliding into his blood. “You threaten to kill your team an awful lot, but I haven’t seen too much of that going on.”

  “You just have to bust my ass.” He shook his head and kept his gaze trained on her. On the sway of her hips, on the subtle bounce of her breasts while she approached. The moment her hand touched his, he curled his fingers and enclosed her hand with a firm grip. He wasn’t losing her now that he had her in his grasp.

  Declan tugged, and then he had that damp body flush with his own, and her tempting scent surrounded him, blocking out all other aromas in the area. She was wet for him already, anxious for his possession. Her need spurred his, desire stirring in his balls while his shaft hardened.

  Her hips wiggled slightly, just enough to caress his quickly hardening dick. She smiled wide, lips pulled back to reveal a hint of her cat’s fangs. Then she bent her head and scraped a single fang over his chest.

  “Fuck,” he rasped, cock reacting to her whisper, her tease. “Abby, I won’t be able to control myself if you tease me like that. I’ll lose it, and I want to make this good for you. If you…”

  She repeated that scrape, and Declan was man enough to admit that he whimpered.

  “Just being with you will make it good,” she said.

  The wind picked up. It swirled around them, bringing forward more of the flavors of her arousal. Hot. Slick. Salty musk.

  He ached to taste her, touch her, fuck and claim her.

  Declan lowered his head, resting his forehead on hers. “Gonna rinse this sand off you, and then I’m going to claim you. Got that?”

  “Better get started, then.” With those teasing words, she tore from his arms and darted to the water’s edge.

  She splashed into the low waters with a joyous laugh, one that was so lighthearted and carefree that it washed away more of the darkness in his heart. She’d been brushing away those spots minute by minute, hour by hour. Even as he killed, it was on her behalf so dark stains on his soul never formed.

  If he had a purpose, if it was for her, he didn’t suffer. Further proof that she was his and his alone.

  With a growl, he followed, baring his fangs and adding a snarl. The chilled water lapped at his heated skin, but it couldn’t diminish his desire. Not when her hands slid over his body.

  He did the same, tracing her form, exploring her with a desperate touch. He wanted to learn all of her. He wanted to know the meaning behind every sigh and each moan. He was desperate to understand what each groan meant and exactly what could be done to make her shatter in his arms.

  And when he washed away the last streak of mud, he knew it was time. His wolf spurred him into action, encouraged him to sweep her into his arms and cradle her against his chest. He turned and strode to the water’s edge and worked to ignore her tempting lips wreaking havoc on his neck and chest.

  Abby nibbled his wet flesh, tugging on his skin and nipping him with her cat’s fangs. She released a soft whine and wiggled in his arms, the feline asking for more. More than he’d give to her. Soon.

  “There’s a blanket over here with our name on it. Once I lay you down, you won’t be getting up again for a while.”

  Chapter Forty-five

  Abby didn’t think she’d want to get up for a long, long while. And then his words penetrated her passion-glazed mind.

  “You planned this.” She murmured the words against his shoulder, then licked away the nearest drop of water.

  Declan snorted. “Can you blame me?” His deep tenor slid through her and caressed her spine from inside out. “I want you to be mine, but we’re surrounded by the team twenty-four seven.”

  She grinned and nipped his shoulder blade, licking away any sting as soon as she was done.

  His pace slowed, and she lifted her head from his shoulder, turning her attention to her surroundings and the plush blanket resting on a sun-dappled patch of grass nearby. A few colorful pillows added to the alluring picture, along with a basket she hoped contained food…for later.

  For now she wanted to gorge herself on Declan.

  He lowered to his knees in a smooth move and then laid her on the soft blanket before taking his spot beside her. They remained close, his heat searing her nude body, yet she still had room to look her fill.

  “Can’t stand having those unmated males near you.” His words were gruff and low. Almost so garbled she couldn’t understand him, but the message came through.

  “They weren’t ever going to take me from you.” Abby lifted her left hand and caressed his biceps, stroking him from elbow to shoulder and then across his collarbone before slipping behind his neck. “From the moment you caught me, I’ve thought of nothing but you.”

  That was only a tiny lie. She’d thought about pain and death, too, but Declan had always been at the top of her thoughts.

  His eyes darkened, a deep amber overtaking his vision. “No one will ever hurt you again.”

  She ran her fingers through the hair at the base of his skull, soothing the growling beast. “I know.”

  “No one will take you. No one will scare you.” More of the wolf came out, his obvious fury still present.

  “I know.” She tugged, but he didn’t budge, so she pushed to her elbow and went to him instead. She inched closer and brushed her lips across his as she brought their bodies together. His thick hardness nudged her hip, proof of his desire.

  For her. Only for her.

  Her core ached, her own body making its need known. She wanted him just as badly, wanted to be possessed and taken by him. Their hearts beat in time, their souls calling to each other, and their bodies were desperate to tie their futures together.

  Now.

  “Mate me, Declan. Mark me so everyone knows I’m yours,” she whispered against his mouth, carefully slipping her fingers from his hair. She ghosted the tips over the flesh at the juncture of his shoulder and neck. “And I’ll make sure everyone knows you’re mine.”

  He shuddered, and his length twitched, throbbing, while a drop of moisture escaped the tip to decorate her skin. He was on edge, not far from finding that ultimate bliss.

  A bliss they needed to discover together.

  “Abby…” All he said was her name, but there was so much more in his tone. A warning and a plea in one.

  She hooked one leg over his, sliding her knee higher and foot along the back of his thigh. She opened herself more and more to him, not stopping until she was wrapped around his hip, heel coming to rest at his lower back.

  “Come to me, Declan.” She nipped his lower lip, but he remained motionless.

  “We…” He shook his head. “I’m…” The cool scent of his doubt drifted to her, suffusing her with the flavors of his emotions.

  “Perfect for me.” She gave him a gentle, openmouthed kiss. “Everything I’ve ever wanted.” And another. “My mate.”

  He shuddered once more, and she sensed his control faltering. He acted like a demanding, grunting male who wasn’t about to give her a choice, but he still fought to give her a chance to deny him.

  As if she ever would.

  Abby tightened her grip just enough to hold him, to pull him atop her when she rolled to her back once again. This time his hips settled between hers, skin to skin, bare hardness nestled to her sli
ck heat. He shuddered with the new, intimate contact and she did the same, that single touch enough to push her near the edge of release.

  Declan stared down at her, eye color flickering between amber and blue, his two halves battling for supremacy.

  “Claim me, Declan Reed.” She forced herself to remain immobile, to cease teasing him and give him a chance to move away.

  “Last chance to run, Abby. Once I make you mine I won’t let you go.”

  He growled the words as if they were a threat, and it sent a tremble of need dancing over her nerves.

  She quirked her lips in a soft smile. “And once I make you mine, I won’t let you go.”

  She rolled her hips, rubbing her slick, bare center along his firm length. She shuddered with the caress, the feel of his veined shaft stroking her intimate flesh, and whimpered as the pleasure gathered inside her.

  “Fuck.” He spat the curse and shifted his hips, that hardness changing position while he lifted away from her. He stared down at her body as the head of his length nudged her opening. “You’re so beautiful. So perfect.” He rolled his hips, gently sliding no more than an inch of his cock in and out of her.

  The shallow penetration drew moans from deep within her chest, her whole body aching for more, aching for him. And then he gave her exactly what she craved.

  Declan didn’t stop with his next thrust, didn’t cease penetrating her in a slow, tormenting slide until their hips met. “So mine.”

  Abby moaned deep and grasped his shoulders, the cat’s claws emerging to scrape at his damp flesh. “Ahhh!”

  Her sheath rippled and squeezed him, trembling around his thick, pleasurable invasion.

  “Tight. Wet.” He adopted a steady pace, a gentle glide of his length in and out of her center. The rough and tumble assassin made love to her, his passion a series of gentle rolling waves.

  Not the rough, feral passion she’d expected from him.

  She met his stare, and the reason was quickly visible in his eyes. He worried for her, worried about her response to his rough need.

  “Declan, give me all of you.” She scratched his back, knowing she left bright red lines in her wake. “Everything.”

  “Abby.” His eyes seemed to glow, his wolf tugging at the end of its tether.

  Next she broke skin, piercing the hard flesh of his shoulders with a small prick. “You won’t hurt me. You never could.”

  She met his every thrust, bodies moving in a gentle glide and careful passion. She tightened her grip on his shoulders and lifted herself from the ground, then captured a bite of his flesh between her teeth. She bit down, not piercing him but showing him she was just as much an animal as he was. She had a cat inside her. A cat that was desperate to be his.

  “Mate me.” She murmured the two words against his chest and then repeated the harsh nibble. “Take me or let me go.”

  It was the push he needed, the final nudge that sent him over the edge into the uncontrolled passion she craved.

  “Mine.” The voice was Declan’s, but the harsh rasp and growl was all wolf. The wolf who refused to let her go. Good thing she wanted to stay.

  Abby fell back to the blanket and let Declan take control. She allowed herself to be swept away by his punishing pace, by the bliss he gifted her with each and every flex and relaxation of his muscles. His thrusts increased in power and rhythm, the slap of their bodies echoing through the clear forest air as they both sought release.

  A release that would soon come. Her body shook, nerves alight with impending ecstasy and overwhelming pleasure. Her sheath rippled and squeezed his long length and hard thickness. His veined shaft caressed the most intimate part of her, the head stroking her G-spot with an accuracy that drew cries from her with every thrust and retreat. She sobbed his name, begging and pleading for more and more from him.

  And he gave her what she craved. His pace turned into a punishing race, their fight to the ultimate pleasure increasing with every beat of their hearts. She whined, begged, and pleaded for more, aching to reach the pinnacle with Declan at her side.

  With Declan inside her.

  He gripped her hip with one hand, holding her steady and forcing her position to alter just enough to…

  “Declan!”

  Enough to give her G-spot a hint more pressure, to give her a hint more ecstasy that had her hurtling toward the edge. She stood at the brink, at the delicate line between need and possession.

  “Give it to me, Abby.” He growled and bared his fangs, the long white lengths of his wolf’s teeth shining brightly with the sun’s rays. “Now.”

  He wanted her—all of him wanted her—and she was prepared to accept him.

  Accept and take him.

  She released the thick leash she had wrapped around her heart long ago, during her life of turmoil and pain, and let it fly free of her body. Now she embraced Declan, drew him to her chest, and accepted every battered and bruised inch of his soul. He was her mate.

  Hers.

  With that acceptance, she cried out his name, head thrown back and shoulder exposed as the ultimate pleasure overtook her. It suffused her blood, stroked her nerves from inside out, and stretched to possess every inch of her trembling body.

  Then he gave her more, he gave her everything. Declan struck in that moment, in that very second she flew off the cliff of pleasure. A vicious pain tore through her, the jolting stab of agony breaking through the rising pleasure. But only for a moment. Only for a split second that stole her breath while he gave her what she’d craved for so many years. Fangs sank through flesh, teeth tearing into skin and muscle until he’d bitten as deep as he possibly could.

  And he remained there, his body still drawing out her final release, his teeth in her shoulder and his mouth sucking at the wound he’d caused. Her cat roared in joy, the beast purposefully refusing to heal the damage. It had more important things to do. Such as copy Declan’s actions.

  Just as soon as she was done coming. Her orgasm continued on and on, his every thrust and every suckle spurring the ecstasy to rise higher and higher. And she embraced it. Embraced the pleasure and the pain and the extra pleasure the pain gave her. Her body tingled and throbbed with the overwhelming joy, with the maddening, ultimate relief until…

  Until his strokes faltered, until his rhythm stuttered and he whipped his teeth from her shoulder. Blood and saliva dripped from his lips, the ferocity of his beast right beneath the surface of his skin. Wolf’s eyes met hers, nothing but the beast in his gaze while he whispered a single word.

  “Abby.”

  He wanted it—wanted to be claimed—now. His body was there, dancing on the precipice just as she had. He held himself back, watched and waited for her, and she couldn’t help but give him what he craved.

  Her cat rushed forward, fangs dropping in an instant as she rose and struck. Between one heartbeat and the next, blood filled her mouth, the bitter, coppery fluid pouring from his wound and sliding over her taste buds. Hints of his animal’s muskiness and the man’s pure sweetness flowed down her throat, coating her from inside out just as…

  Just as his hips jerked once, twice, and with the third, he froze. His hips remained flush to hers, his roar filling the air while his seed filled her body.

  The cat purred and chuffed at the idea, at the thought of carrying his cub or pup. It made her grip him tighter, pull him more firmly against her center so she didn’t lose a drop.

  Abby slowly withdrew her fangs and lapped at the wound, licking away the trickling droplets that swelled along the wound. Now they could never be separated.

  Ever.

  Declan slipped out, and she whimpered with the loss just as Declan groaned. His breathing came in harsh pants, his chest heaving and brushing her breasts with every inhale. Finally he fell to the side with a groan, dragging her close as he dropped to the blanket. She curled against him, body slick with sweat and coated in his scent.

  “Damn,” he wheezed, and lifted his head, kissing her forehead. “Just…” H
e inhaled deep and slowly breathed out. “Damn.”

  Abby hummed, unable to say anything just yet. She would. At some point, she was sure. Just…not yet. For now she wanted to glory in the feel of his damp body on hers, the aroma of their passion, and embrace the knowledge that she had a mate. She had one person dedicated to her and her happiness just as she was dedicated to his.

  No matter what the future held, they had each other.

  A bellowing roar split through their content quiet, the bear’s fury followed by a chorus of barks, and then came a lion’s objection as well.

  So, they had each other and his SHOC team.

  “I’m gonna kill ’em,” Declan slurred, a hint of a growl in his threat, but she knew he was just as drowsy from their lovemaking as she was.

  “After.” She sighed and snuggled closer.

  “After?” He tightened his hold with a hum.

  “Uh-huh. After a nap. And then after you claim me again. Maybe after you claim me twice.” She nuzzled his chest and then relaxed with a sigh. Yes. A nap and a couple more rounds of claiming sex sounded like a very, very good idea.

  He squeezed her tight and hauled her atop him, tugging until they were nose to nose. “Wolf has never wanted anyone other than you, Abby.” He lifted his head slightly and brushed his lips across hers in the softest of kisses. “He never will.”

  Declan looked at her with smoky eyes that promised her the world. The same way her father had always looked at her mother.

  Everything was okay—everything would be okay. At least until Unified Humanity decided to strike again. For now she’d take her joy—and Declan—and hold both close to her heart.

  Epilogue

  It looked like Birch was going to let Declan’s post-mating glow last only until eleven. He’d roused Declan and Abby fifteen minutes ago—ordering Declan to get his furry ass moving. Now the team alpha had a look in his eye that said the team was about to be smothered by a load of Unified Humanity–Shifter Operations Command bullshit.