by Zoe Chant
Jonathan wanted the same thing she did. Which wasn’t just the sex—although the sex was mind-blowingly good.
If we both want the same thing anyway, then why not put an end to all this yearning?
By the time they stumbled into their bedroom, she could barely focus on anything but the way her body ached for his touch. She was wet even now, from nothing but the thought of him touching her. Her entire body was on fire with need.
“So, when you told me about what it would take for the mate bond,” she murmured.
Jonathan, who’d just turned around to close the door, nearly dropped the little basket of cookies they’d taken with them.
“Yes?” he asked, his voice rough as he looked at her from eyes that had gone dark with need.
Angel felt a smile tug on her lips. “I think I’m tired of waiting. I want you—now. I love the house, crazy turrets and weird butter churning collection and all—but I’d love you even if we had to spend the rest of our lives in a little mountain hut.”
“Really?” he said teasingly as he slowly came closer. “Because I know that I, for one, am really looking forward to a house with central heating. Anything that’s not a cave, really.”
She tilted her head at him. “And if I told you that I’ve always wanted to live in a cave?”
He was close enough now that he could rest his hands on her hips, then slide them slowly upwards, lifting her sweater.
“Then I think you’d change your mind after a day or two,” he said huskily. “Because as much as I love the beauty of the ice, there are definitely times when all I want is a soft, warm bed.”
He pulled off her sweater, then took a step forward. She took a step back, swallowing as his hands kept sliding up her back, finding and opening the small hooks of her bra.
Her nipples were already tight and aching when he pulled it off. She took another step back as he moved further forward—and then the back of her knees hit the bed.
With a gasp, she felt herself fall backward onto it.
Not losing a single second, Jonathan came after her, one of his hands to each side of her face as he kissed her.
Her heart was racing in her chest. She wanted him so much it was difficult to breathe. She was nearly dizzy with need, her heart thudding faster and faster, as if something inside her wanted to break free.
Dimly, she could hear something echo her heartbeat, like a distant drum.
Is that Jonathan’s heartbeat...?
Then he released her mouth to kiss his way down her breasts, and she forgot all thought. He took his time as he teased her, his tongue circling her nipples until she was gasping, his hands cupping her full breasts.
She squirmed beneath him, her panties already soaked—and at long last, he stopped teasing her.
Instead, he pulled down her pants, discarding them together with her panties on the floor.
Breathless, Angel used the moment to move further up onto the bed. When she looked up again, Jonathan was getting rid of his own clothes, flinging his shirt onto a chair.
Her mouth went dry as she watched the flexing of his powerful arms. The thudding of her heart was even louder now. Her need was a tight coil inside her, her inner walls already throbbing, remembering what it was like to feel him inside her.
And then, at last, he stripped off his trousers as well.
He was hard, and the sight of him took her breath away. He looked beautiful in the golden afternoon sun that fell in through the window. It glinted on his pale hair, his muscles shimmering with a light sheen of perspiration. Every ridge and muscle of his body was shown in sharp relief, like an ancient warrior hewn from marble.
But he wasn’t cold stone. He wasn’t ice—not anymore.
Right now, her dragon warrior ran as hot as dragon fire, and when he came towards her, her need for him was so intense it felt like a sharp pain.
“Claim me,” Angel said as she held out her hand.
She laughed softly as he took hold of it, then pulled him closer until he landed next to her on the bed.
The next moment, he had rolled them over. His hand ran down her body, his fingers finding her wet folds.
She gasped when he parted them, then ran his slick fingers back up to find her swollen clit.
“Impatient,” he murmured against her ear. She could feel him smiling.
She wanted to reply, but then he flicked the pad of a finger lightly against her clit, and instead she found herself crying out instead.
He kissed her again as his finger gently caressed her. Overwhelmed, she buried her hands in his hair, holding him close as she writhed beneath him.
No one had ever driven her wild as he had. With his wet fingers, he kept stroking her slowly, driving her higher and higher, then releasing her clit to slip inside her.
Breathlessly, she arched against him, her inner walls trembling around his finger.
Again he pulled out, teasing her again, her wetness clinging to his fingers. His mouth released her lips, slowly kissing his way down again while he caressed her, circling her clit again and again.
His tongue found her aching nipple. Suddenly she found that the wave of need she’d ridden was building higher and higher, carrying her further and further—and then, at last, it crashed.
Her climax came flooding through her with the force of a storm, carrying her away. She could hear herself gasping his name even as her body pulsed in ecstasy, again and again and again.
His finger was still on her, teasing her even through her climax. He didn’t even give her time to recover before he moved further down, at last taking his hand away—but only to replace it with his mouth.
Where his fingers had been demanding, his mouth was relentless. While she was still shuddering, his tongue found her oversensitive clit, circling it while she clenched her fingers into the sheets.
Crying out once more, she arched into his touch—and then he sucked around her clit, and she found herself flying once more.
It felt as if the pleasure would never end. She hadn’t known that it was possible to draw out orgasm that much.
When he moved over her at last, she wound her arms around his neck. She could hear her breath escaping in little gasps. Her body was still throbbing with the pleasure he’d been giving her.
Still, there was an even greater pleasure in feeling him hard and hot against her thigh. This close, skin to skin, she could feel the pounding of his heart in his chest, hear his own labored breathing.
And when he finally slid inside her, she could feel the way his body tensed.
More than that—through the connection between them, she could feel a dim echo of his own pleasure.
The drum of his heartbeat resounded in the distance. At every thrust it became louder and louder.
Pleasure ran through her once more, the tight coil of need in her stomach aching despite her earlier climax. With every thrust, waves of pleasure ran through her—but it wasn’t enough. Not yet.
His mouth found her throat. His lips were hot against her skin, the scent of his hair surrounding her. He smelled of the wild, free wilderness of snowy mountaintops, of crisp, clear air and white-blue glaciers. He smelled of warm, masculine musk, the heady spice of male desire.
Where their skin touched, she could feel little pinpricks of heat, like energy sizzling between them. His heartbeat was so loud now that it drowned out all other sound, the maddening pleasure within her throbbing in time to his pulse.
She clung to him, gasping, her nails raking across his skin as his teeth grazed her throat, his entire body tensing.
At his throat, the opal on its silver chain was glowing. It was as brilliant as his eyes—and there, right before her eyes, the small crack in it began to vanish. Instead, the light shone even brighter, until she realized that it was swelling together with the overwhelming pleasure she could feel through the bond.
It grew and grew, until she had to close her eyes at the intensity of it.
And then she felt him coming inside her. Diml
y, she heard him call out her name, but her body was already helplessly pulsing around his, the pleasure of the climax that flooded through her so strong that she had to close her eyes and hold on to him.
Even with her eyes closed, she could still see him—and in her ears, she could still hear the beating of his heart. Loud and fast, it carried her with him.
And when it finally began to slow down, she realized that she could still feel him.
Right there, inside her heart.
There was a warmth there that hadn’t been there before. It burned like an ember, a small kernel of heat.
From its center, she felt a wave of Jonathan’s love rush through her. It wrapped around her like a warm blanket.
And the small crack in his dragon’s heart stone had completely vanished. The opal was flawless, gleaming like sunlight on ice.
Exhausted, breathless, and completely, utterly satiated, she snuggled against him when he gently pulled out and turned to his side.
She could still feel him in her heart.
It was as if before, there’d been a veil in place that had kept them apart. Now, that veil had been lifted. Now she could truly see him.
Not just face to face—but heart to heart.
And down to the bottom of his soul, Jonathan was hers. Just as she was all his, and would be, forever.
Chapter Twenty-Two: Jonathan
The remaining days until Christmas passed so quickly that sometimes, it still felt like a dream.
Mona and Clara had left again to continue their press tour for Millennium Woman Three—or maybe it was Four, or Five. Jonathan still wasn’t quite certain, and by this point he was afraid to ask.
They’d made an offer on the house, although they hadn’t heard back yet.
Which meant that right now, there was absolutely nothing else for them to do but to enjoy the holidays.
It was the night before Christmas, and this evening, there was a big party for all the families who were staying at Snow Castle over Christmas.
“There’s a special surprise,” Dara had said, winking at them. “It’s mostly for the children, but you might want to make sure to stay close to the windows when the band starts playing White Christmas.”
So far, that hadn’t happened yet. And surprise or no, Jonathan was happy enough spending the evening dancing with Angel.
It had snowed again in the morning, and they’d spent an hour out on the frozen lake. Now, inside where it was warm, in the large ballroom filled with excited children and adults, he was happy enough just to hold Angel close again.
“What are you thinking about?” Angel asked softly when the song faded away.
He was still holding her in his arms, gently swaying together, enjoying the feeling of her soft curves that fit so perfectly into his embrace.
“Nothing, really.” He smiled at her, admiring the way the chandelier above them gave her skin a golden glow.
She’d dressed up for the night in a gown that Dara had given her as an early Christmas present. Made of soft, golden fabric embroidered here and there with purple flowers, it clung to all of her curves.
Angel looked like a queen.
She always would—even if he had no kingdom to lay at her feet. He didn’t have a hoard either—but he did have enough for a home.
And that, in the end, was all they wanted. Even if it wasn’t the quirky old mansion with its nooks and turrets they’d fallen in love with.
“I’ve been thinking about how happy I am,” he said honestly. “And how incredibly stupid I was ten years ago to retreat into the ice. To seal my heart in the cold. Nothing’s worth missing out on this. On Christmas. On friends. On life. On you.”
She leaned in, winding her arms around his neck. “Don’t worry, there’s no way I’d let you take even the smallest nap in icy caves from now on. As beautiful as you looked when I found you, I prefer my ice dragons alive and warm.”
As they smiled at each other, still gently swaying while the chandelier gleamed above them, the band started in on the next song.
All around them, the adults returned to the dance floor as the first, yearning notes of White Christmas filled the room.
Jonathan’s eyes widened as he remembered Dara’s message.
“Let’s take a break for this one,” he said hastily, tugging Angel with him towards the windows.
In the little nooks, children had gathered in the window seats, faces pressed against the window.
“Look, it’s snowing again!” a young girl announced.
Behind them, the adults swayed to the music, no eyes for the windows.
Except for Dara, who gave Jonathan a wink and an encouraging nod.
Curious but still not quite sure what exactly was going on, Jonathan claimed an abandoned window in the corner of the ballroom for him and Angel.
“Are you tired already?” Angel laughed. “I could dance all night like this.”
“I just wanted to watch the snow for a moment.” Jonathan pressed his own face to the window.
The little girl had been right. It had begun to snow again. Big, fat snowflakes were gently drifting down, illuminated by the tiny lights that decorated the balcony outside.
Jonathan found another smile tugging on his lips. For a moment, the music behind them seemed to fade away. He could taste the falling snow on his tongue as his dragon gloried in the beauty of the season they’d been made for.
He drew Angel even closer. She rested her head against his shoulder as they both followed the dancing snowflakes with their eyes, watching as more and more snow fell.
And then, seemingly from out of nowhere, a shadow appeared.
A heartbeat before he came into view, Jonathan felt the presence of another dragon shifter. A second later, large wings appeared out of the veil of snow.
A dragon was slowly descending. But he wasn’t alone.
All around them, children gasped, pressing their noses against the cold glass in joyful disbelief.
“Look! It’s him! It’s really Santa!” a girl to their right whispered.
The dragon slowly descended—and in his talons, he carefully carried a sleigh piled high with presents, and a reindeer shifter in front of the sleigh.
No—that wasn’t a reindeer.
A stag, Jonathan realized and had to hold back sudden laughter.
“Wait... Is that—” Angel began, then fell silent as the children gasped again.
None of them could see the dragon.
Jonathan grinned against Angel’s hair. To humans, dragon shifters were invisible—which meant that all the children around them saw was Santa in his sleigh, drawn by a reindeer. Only Angel could see the truth, because she was herself the mate of a dragon.
Angel giggled softly in delight when the false reindeer shifter’s nose began to light up in a brilliant red.
A false reindeer with a false nose.
Jonathan stifled a laugh. He watched as Santa left the sleigh, carrying a heavy sack of presents across the balcony.
Jonathan turned away from the window for the moment to find Dara grinning at him. Laughing, he shook his head at her, then gave her a silent thumbs-up.
To their right, children kept pressing their small faces to the window, too awestruck to make a single sound as they watched.
Angel was silent as well, although he could feel her amusement through the bond.
A moment later, Santa returned to his sleigh, his bag now empty. The dragon beat his wings, lifting sleigh and stag shifter, then vanished back into the snow that kept falling from the sky.
“Did you see that?” a boy whispered excitedly. “He’s really real!”
“And he brought so many presents!”
“Do you think he found my letter?”
“Don’t be silly, Santa reads every letter. My mom told me he does!”
Angel turned around in Jonathan’s arms, her lips quirking as the nearby children started excitedly discussing the event.
“Did you know this would happen?” Angel as
ked.
Jonathan shook his head. “All Dara told me was that there’d be a surprise. But I have to admit, I’d never have guessed that we’d get to see Santa himself today.”
“I really liked Rudolph’s shiny nose.” Angel’s grin widened. “Do you think we can rent their Santa and Rudolph? Maybe in a few years’ time, when we’ve got a horde like this to impress?”
“A horde, huh?” Jonathan teased. He couldn’t help but feel warmth fill him at the way the children now gathered in small groups, eyes shining with excitement as they gestured to each other. “Are you sure you’re up for that?”
“As long as you are.” She met his eyes, completely earnest now. “I’ve always wanted a large family. I love holidays like these, with everyone coming together.”
“So do I,” he admitted. He swallowed painfully when he thought of the way he and his sister used to try and wait up for Santa when they were little.
He missed his family. He’d thought that he could live without them, because it was the only way to protect them... But on this day of all days, he desperately missed his sister. They’d always been so close.
But how do I fix this now? It’s way too late. And I still can’t undo what I did. I disappointed them all...
Behind them, there was a sudden lull in the conversation as the door to the ballroom opened.
Angel gently nudged him. He turned around, expecting to see Santa pay them an early visit, or perhaps the cook to roll in a giant cake.
Instead, the sight that awaited him there nearly made him drop his glass.
Coming into the ballroom was a couple—a woman and a man close to his own age. The woman had the same ice-blond hair and pale-blue eyes as Jonathan himself, which she wore in a festively braided updo.
“Maya,” he said, still so shocked he could barely believe what he saw.
His sister, and Vincent, her mate.
Here! Together!
He swallowed heavily, shaking his head in disbelief even when instinct took over and he took a step towards her.
When their eyes met, a smile spread over Maya’s entire face.
He hadn’t seen her in a decade, and yet that moment was enough to bring back all the memories of how they’d played together in the snow as children.