“What are you doing?” I protest, but part of me—a big part—really wants to see where this is going to go.
“The water’s cold. I’m going to heat it for you.”
He crouches, his body catching light and shadows all at once, making him look like every fantasy of mine come to life. Then he places a palm on the water and a golden glow begins under his hand. The water heats instantly, turning from cool to warm, to perfectly hot. I sighed and smiled. “That’s handy.”
“I should have thought about it before you got in, but I’ve been the only person to use this pool until now.”
He’s taken off his dressing, the wound completely gone. “You’re healed?”
“Aye. Thank you.”
“Do you…want to get in?”
His brows rise. “With ye?”
Oh, what the hell? I went to Scotland for an adventure and with the hope I might find myself a highlander to have some fun with. Valor looks like a sexy romance novel hero and he sounds like a highlander. I want to have some fun. “Yes. With me.”
His fingers are unlacing his breeches without another word, and before long, the fearsome dragon I nearly slayed is slipping into the water with me, naked, hard, and sexy as fuck.
Chapter Six
Joss
My breasts are bountiful. It’s a truth I’ve never been able to hide. Right now, I’m more than thankful for them, because the way Valor watches them bob in the water makes me tingle. He wants me. That much is obvious from the hunger in his eyes and the massive erection I caught a glimpse of when he stripped out of his pants.
“I thought you wanted free of me,” he murmurs, striding closer to me in the water.
“I have every right to change my mind. You’ve done nothing but keep me safe. I see that now.”
“There’s something you should know, lass.”
I reach for him, sliding my fingers over his shoulder and pulling myself closer. “What is that?”
“I want ye.”
My lower belly tightens at the husk in his voice and the thickness of his brogue. “I want you too.”
“Nae, not just for sex. I want ye for my own. I can feel the call of your heart to mine. You’re special. I can control my beast, I can be a man again, and it’s because of you.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls you rescue from rapey faeries.”
He chuckles and wraps his hand around my nape, pulling me until I’m firmly planted against his chest. Instinct takes over and I spread my thighs, my legs going around his waist. His hot, hard length presses insistently at my already aroused entrance. I want him inside me right the hell now. Foreplay be damned.
“Can I have you?” he asks, his words rough and demanding.
“Yes. God, yes. Have me every which way.”
His lips claim mine, soft and firm all at once. My breasts are heavy, aching for him to touch them. But when he reaches down and guides himself inside me, I forget all about everything else. He spears me deep, his cock bigger than anything I’ve ever experienced, and I cry out.
“Did I hurt you?” His whole body stills, eyes searching mine.
“No. You feel so fucking good. Keep going.”
Large, rough palms cup my ass, holding me as he thrusts up into me over and over. He walks us back until I’m pressed against the cave wall. I reach out behind me, arms raised to find two handholds to grip, my hold the only thing keeping me steady so he can focus on filling me. When his hot mouth finds one of my nipples, I cry his name, my body clenching as an orgasm toys with me, keeping me on the very crest of release.
“That’s it, lass. Give me your pleasure,” he growls before biting down on my nipple.
That does it. I shatter. My vision goes temporarily white as unbridled waves of pleasure slam into me and wash over every cell in my body. He releases my ass and presses his own hands against the rock behind me as he hammers home until he calls out my name and I feel him pulsing long and hard inside me. When he opens his eyes, they flash burning copper, but the pupils aren’t human, or fae, anymore. They’re dragon’s eyes.
When he pulls out of me, I miss him immediately, but I’m also sore. Never in my life have I been fucked so thoroughly. I want to do it again. And again. As long as I have him.
Chapter Seven
Joss
Valor releases me as though I burned him, his eyes going wide. He backs away, breaths coming in fast gasps, the water near him steaming.
“Lass, get out of the water.” His words are a harsh growl, the timbre deeper, rougher, more…animal.
“Why?”
His skin takes on a glimmering pallor, the strange iridescence looking like patterned scales. “I said, get out.” His throat begins glowing, orange like flame, and he twists his head, an inhuman growl leaving his throat. “Run.”
I climb out of the water, the pool beginning to boil shortly after. “Valor?”
I watch him fight with his dragon, his skin darkening until black scales coating the form of a man. I should run. I know he’s right. He’s dangerous. Instead, I kneel at the edge of the pool, my body shaking. He grunts and writhes, but I don’t give in to my fear. I reach out and press my palm to his back, feeling the ridges of scales, the heat of his body.
“Valor, come back to me.”
He stills, his breathing heavy, but more controlled. His body is shaking, skin hot, the growl in his chest quieting until it turns to a groan. Then silence. The water stops boiling. The steam dies down. And my dragon whispers, “Stubborn woman.”
I let out a nervous laugh. “Stubborn?”
“Aye. I told you to leave. You’re stubborn.”
“Well, I’m not going to leave you to become trapped as a dragon again.”
I sit on the edge, my legs dangling into the water. Valor’s eyes are back to normal, and he stares at me with wonder. “You stopped it.”
“You said everything changed because of me. I had to try.”
He walks through the water until his palms rest on my thighs. “I didn’t intend to keep ye, lass, but now I don’t think I can let you go.”
Strong hands grip my knees, parting my thighs. His thumbs rub slow circles on my skin, sending electric pulses straight to my clit. “God, Valor.”
“Yes, lass, call my name and say you’re mine forever. Stay here with me. Stay in-between.”
That stops me. “You said I couldn’t go home. Why would I have to make the choice to stay?” I sit up, pushing him off me.
“I…there may be a way to get you home.”
“So you lied.”
He shakes his head. “No. The fae can’t lie directly. We can speak around the truth.”
“So when you said I couldn’t get home—“
“It was true. I can’t breach the gate, none of us can here in-between. But, the Queen can send you back.”
“I can get home?”
Sadness fills his eyes. “You can.”
“Then take me to her. I need to see the Queen and get my ruby slippers or whatever so I can go back where I belong.”
His face crumbles, but his expression turns stony almost instantly. “Tomorrow, after sunrise, we’ll go.”
I reach for him, but he jerks away. “Come, let’s get you some food and then you should sleep. It’s a long journey, you’ll need your strength.”
We barely speak for the rest of the evening. He leaves for a good hour, and when he returns, I’m sitting in the middle of the bed, dressed in his tunic and wondering if what I said that upset him so much because he wanted me or because I could help him.
He tosses me a piece of fruit before turning away and putting as much distance between us as possible. “Why are you doing this?” I ask.
“Doing what?”
“Giving me the cold shoulder. What did I do between the pool and helping you stop from turning?”
“Nothing. That’s exactly the problem. You don’t belong here, and I should never have let myself hope…” He trails off and I hear the pain in his word
s.
“Hope what? That I’d stay with you?”
“Yes.” He turns toward me, hands balled in fists.
“I can’t. I don’t belong here.”
“It doesn’t make it any easier to accept.”
I reach out and run my fingers across his forearm. “We always want what we can’t have. Forever doesn’t exist.”
His eyes go dark and stormy as he stares at me. “Then give me tonight.”
Linking our fingers, I pull him closer. “Tonight.”
Chapter Eight
Joss
I’m warm. Intensely, deliciously warm. Strong arms are wrapped around my waist and I can smell the perfect scent of Valor. Smoke and spice. I don’t want to wake up, but I know we have to. It’s time to see the Shadow Queen and break the spell the faerie stones have put on me. I don’t belong here. I can’t stay.
My heart gives a painful lurch at the thought of never seeing Valor again. What will happen to him if he can’t control his dragon once I’m gone?
I wriggle in my spot, my ass brushing against his long, hard cock in the process.
“Mmm, lass, don’t wake the dragon if you’re not ready to play,” The low rumble of his voice vibrates from his chest and into my back. It sends shivers of longing through me.
One last time won’t hurt anything. I can have him once more before I return to reality.
“Who says I don’t want to play?”
His large palm presses to my sternum before he shifts it until he’s cupping my heavy, aching breast.
“You’re so perfectly made for me. You fit in the palm of my hand, sheathe me like you’re the missing part of me. I want to spend my last breath making love with you, lass.”
God, I wish we could. Alarm bells ring in my head. What am I saying? I didn’t go on this vacation in search of another man who wanted to control me. I came to find myself. Staying silent, I roll to face him, my breath catching at the earnest longing in his eyes. His beautiful copper eyes.
“Then make love to me again, Valor. One more time before this dream is over.”
Fire burns in his gaze. “I’ll take my time with you. Make sure you never forget. You’re mine whether we’re together or not. I’ll plant myself inside you so deep you will never want another.”
Is that what I want? To compare every man to Valor and know they’ll lose?
“Yes,” I whisper, because as soon as I ask myself the question, I know the answer. He is the only one I’ll want, and the one I can never have again.
His lips crush mine, big body hovering over me as he fits his hips between my thighs and kisses me like I’m the only thing keeping him alive. His tongue begs entrance, and it’s all I can do not to moan at the need rolling off him. His length brushes at my opening but doesn’t breach me. He’s going to wait, tease, and tantalize me. I’m here for it.
Breaking our kiss, he slides down my body, spreading my thighs farther to accommodate his broad shoulders. “I’ve neglected to taste you, Joss. I can’t live another moment without your honey on my lips.”
Anxiety blossoms in my chest. I’ve only experienced oral sex a few times, but they’ve gone badly. I could never relax enough to orgasm, and my ex had a real chip on his shoulder about it. So I stopped asking and he stopped offering.
“What’s going on in your head? You’re tense.”
Taking a deep breath, I try to push it out of my mind. “Nothing. It’s fine.”
“Do ye not want me to taste ye?”
“I just…I don’t think I’m good at this part.”
A low chuckle rumbles through him. “Good at having your cunt licked? I didn’t know that was a skill women needed.”
“I can’t…come this way. I think I’m broken.”
He traces his finger over my clit and the light touch sends shivers through me. “Oh, lass, I think you’re absolutely perfect. You were giving yourself to the wrong man. I’m not afraid of a wee bit of work. I’ll stay between the treasure of your thighs until the sun goes down if that’s what it takes.” He looks up at me with devilish eyes. “And rest assured, I’ll enjoy every fucking minute of it.”
Then he slides a finger deep into me and I buck under him. “That’s it, lass. Let me love you the way you should always be loved.”
One finger becomes two, and I’m already a writhing, moaning mess. But when he puts his mouth on me, sucking my clit, nipping lightly with his teeth, I see stars and I haven’t even found my orgasm yet. He toys with me, curling his fingers inside me, flattening his tongue and rolling it over me, groaning like a man who is eating his favorite meal. His hips move into the bed, rhythmic thrusts against the mattress as he feasts on me. And when he lets out a shuddering moan against my clit, the golden edges of orgasm all come together inside me before they culminate into an earth shattering explosion of pleasure that I feel all the way to the roots of my hair.
He backs away slowly, my pleasure glistening on his lips, before crawling up my body and pushing his rock hard cock inside me. I am so wet he sinks in with ease, but my nerve endings are alight with the ghost of the orgasm he’s just given me.
“Fucking hell, lass, I came all over the sheets but I want you more than I did a moment ago. I want to fuck and fill you every damned night and every morning when I wake. I never want to leave this bed.”
He thrusts long and deep, sweat glistening on his body, brows furrowed with concentration. His arms tremble, and with each roll of his hips, he tenses, eyes flashing with the dragon inside.
“I need to…” he begins, but trails off.
“Come inside me, Valor. Mark me as yours.”
With a pained groan, he does. He jerks inside me, but he also bites down on the top of my left breast, hard enough it hurts. All that serves to do is send me rocketing into an unexpected climax right along with him.
I should care that he’s spilled inside me twice now without protection. That I could end up pregnant. I don’t. I just want him.
The two of us lie there, him resting his head on my breast, me trailing my fingers through his hair. He’s still inside me, and I think both of us want to stay that way until we absolutely have to move.
We must fall asleep like that, because I wake up to the sensation of him getting off the bed. “Where are you going?” I ask through sleepy lips.
“To change. You should get cleaned up and dressed. Meet me outside. It’s time to visit the Queen.”
Chapter Nine
Joss
“Are you sure you want to do this? What if you can’t change back?” I stare at Valor, my stomach in knots at the thought of him being stuck as a dragon again.
“I know I’ll be able to shift with you here. Besides, it’s the safest way for us to get you to the Queen. By wing I move faster than any creature in faerie.”
“And the fae who tried to take me when I arrived? What if he sees you?”
He shakes his head. “He’s nothing to worry about. He may want to have you as his possession, but he won’t take you from me. I’ll burn him where he stands.”
A chill runs over me, and I wrap my arms around my chest. “So, I just, ride you?”
He grins and I laugh at the naughty glint in his eyes. “You’re quite good at it, I assume.”
“I haven’t ridden you yet. You have no idea.”
“There’s nothing about you and me together that you could be unskilled at doing.”
My cheeks heat, and I lean close to him, giving in to my need to kiss him. “I could fall in love with you, Valor.” Tears well in my eyes. I don’t want to say goodbye to him.
His response is a sad smile and a nod, then he begins to glow, the light so bright I have to close my eyes against the burn. When I open them, a black dragon with massive wings and scales that have a blue and green iridescent sheen is in his place. His eyes are the same though with slitted pupils. I see the man behind the beast in those irises. He nuzzles my cheek with his snout before nudging me. Kneeling, he lowers his wings. I climb up his warm bod
y and find a good place to sit, hanging on tightly as he readies himself to take flight. “This is going to be terrifying, isn’t it?”
He grunts in response, then dives off the cliff.
The Shadow Court is a beautiful place, trees covered in green leaves, rolling hills, perfect temperate weather. It’s a dream. Everything glows with a hint of magic. No one who sees us seems afraid of the huge dragon flying overhead. They go about their business, and we fly until Valor lands in the courtyard of a large castle.
I step down to the cobblestone ground and watch him change back into the handsome man I’ve fallen for. He’s clothed in a tunic of black with leather breeches that have the same blue and green shimmer as his scales. He looks dark and dangerous and I want him all to myself.
Two men approach, one with black hair shot through with blue, cheekbones that could cut glass, and a devilish glint in his eyes, the other pale and striking, moving with a fluid grace that should be impossible.
“Valor,” the blue-haired one says. “We thought we’d never see you again. Maeve said you’d exiled yourself.”
Valor reaches out and shakes the man’s hand. “Things have changed, Rhys. But in some ways, they’re meant to return to the same as they were. I’ve come upon this human woman. She breached the gates of the in-between.”
The pale man frowns. “How? Unless she has fae blood.”
“I have tasted her. She holds no trace. Queen Maeve is the only one with the power to send her home.”
That confuses me. When had he tasted me? “What are you talking about?”
Valor’s eyes trail my body until they stop on my chest. My cheeks heat as the realization hits me. When he bit my breast. He wasn’t marking me as his, he was testing my blood to see if I was fae. “She’s a miracle, and a risk.”
“But you brought her here? The last human we had in the Shadow Court—“
“Christian, stop. We wouldn’t have Maeve if it hadn’t happened that way.” Rhys takes Christian’s arm and stares hard into the man’s eyes. “We wouldn’t have what we have.”
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