“You’re going to make me come all over you if you keep talking. Not because you’re talking, but I can’t understand a word that you’re saying. You’re naked right now.” She wrapped her legs around his hips and pointed out that he was as well. “Yes, well, I didn’t want to have you be embarrassed because you were and I wasn’t.”
“Good save.” She rolled her hips, and he caught the moan spilling from her lips with his mouth. “Do you have any idea how much I can feel with you over me right now?”
“Oh yes, I can. I can feel you too. And smell you. You’re very aroused right now, aren’t you?” She nodded and giggled again. “Usually giggling while in bed with your lover is frowned upon. Why don’t you explain to me why you’re having such a good time, and I can join you?”
“We’re going to have sex.” He shook his head and laughed when she pushed out her lower lip at him. “Really, we’re not? I have to tell you, we’re in a perfect position to have sex right now. All you’d have to do is stick yourself in me.”
“Stick myself in you? My God, woman, I hope it comes to more than that with us.” She laughed again. “I’ve changed my mind. I love your laughter. By the way, we’re not having sex; we’re going to make love to each other.”
“Oh, that does sound so much better. And I laugh when I’m nervous. It’s very inappropriate, but that’s me.” He nuzzled her neck and licked across the pounding pulse there. She pulled his head up from her skin and glared at him. “I’m no longer nervous, as you can tell. But needy. Can’t you just play later and take me now?”
Tristan wanted to play and take her, but he was beginning to ache with the need to make her his. Moving along her body, tasting and nipping at her as he made his journey to her thighs, he could hear her moaning, almost taste her need to come with him. When he was on the floor, sitting on his knees, he watched her as she sat up a little, lying on her elbows.
“Are you going to eat me, Tristan?” He blew a breath over her pussy and watched her eyes roll to the back of her head. “Oh yes, that’s wonderful. Make me come, Tristan. If you do then I’ll agree to anything you want.”
“You’ll marry me as soon as I can get it arranged?” She nodded as he toyed with her clit. “You’ll be my wife and partner in all things, even with our money and lands that we own?”
“Yes.”
He smiled when she came just as he pinched her clit hard. Her second scream had her calling out his name, begging him for more. Burying his mouth over her, Tristan tasted every bit of her, taking her clit into his mouth this time and suckling hard on the nubbin.
Wynter flooded his mouth with her hot creamy juices. Each time she came she didn’t just scream, but she whimpered and cried for both more and less. She wanted him to make her come again, but she also told him that she was finished, that she could take no more.
When she yanked his head up, she was covered in dew that made him want to devour her. To take her into his body so that he’d not miss a single drop of the liquid he’d made over her. Pulling himself up to her body, he cried out himself when she wrapped her hand around his cock.
“I’m so needy, Tristan. Not just for you to finish me, but to love me. I need that more than I need to breathe. I love you, with all that I am, all that I’ll ever be.” He started to speak, but she continued before he could. “I will be your mate in all things, human or dragon. I will support you as you will me. I will have your children; raise them to be good dragons and humans. I will love you with my every breath, with every beat of my heart. I will love you beyond the grave and this world. Tristan Manning, I love you.”
He took her then, no words necessary now, as they were bonded as dragon to dragon. He didn’t know how she knew the words, but she’d said them as if she’d been taught them from the beginning of her life. Tristan loved his mate more than he did himself, and he would prove that to her every day for the rest of his life.
Tristan touched her where he could, marveling at not just the way her skin felt beneath his fingers, but also the way that it responded to his breath, his touch. Making love to her was something that he’d dreamt of all his life—with this woman and only her.
“You’re my heart; you make it beat for us.” He kissed her over her heart and felt it beating there as he moved in and out of her. “You are the reason that my blood moves through my body, to keep you safe and out of harm.” He kissed her throat, and then licked the pulse there. “I will now and forever hold you above all others. I will never leave you, never harm you. I will be the man that you can be proud of. The father of our children that they will cherish as much as I do you. I, Tristan Manning of the Manning dragons, claim you, Wynter Snow Dawn Manning, as my wife, my mate, and my dragon.”
Coming with her was an experience that he’d never had before. Sex with other women had always been more of a way to release tension, to have some fun. This, what he was doing right now with his mate, was something that he knew would be theirs and only theirs for the rest of their life.
Biting into her flesh when she came too, he could taste her love for him. His dragon roared around his mouth, shouting to every other dragon in the world that he’d found his mate, that she was his forever.
Dropping atop her, Tristan was having a hard time breathing, but he did manage to roll to his back, taking her with him. When she moaned, Tristan smiled. This, he realized, was what his parents had. This right here was what had made them so happy all the time, even in the darkest of hours. His parents had loved each other as he did Wynter.
Closing his eyes, he held her to him as he felt his body shutting down by degrees. He was both excited and exhausted to be here with her. Their declaration to each other had been the best part of his life. Well, second best, he thought, as his mind started to swirl around the drain to go to sleep.
Tristan wanted this for them every day. He knew that on some level that would wear them both out to the bone, but he did want her to be in his arms forevermore. Letting sleep take him, he thought of all the things that he wanted to show her. The things that he wanted to share with her too.
“Go to sleep. I can hear your mind working too hard.” He laughed and held Wynter closer to him. “Remind me to tell you about my dream. It’s not bad, but weird.”
“All right, I will. I love you, Wynter.” She mumbled something and he smiled again. “I will love you forever.”
~*~
Tristan stretched out in his bed, and barely remembered that he had a mate in time to keep himself from shoving the person next to him out of the big bed. Instead of getting up and letting Wynter sleep, he watched her.
“You’re very noisy, has anyone ever told you that before?” He laughed when she looked up at him, her lips slightly swollen from his treatment of them last night. “And you snore. If anyone did tell you that before, I don’t want to know about it.”
“I wouldn’t know. I’m usually asleep when I supposedly snore. You, however, are very beautiful when you sleep.” She growled at him and pulled the pillow over her head. “I don’t know if you realize this or not, but we didn’t tell anyone where we were. I mean, would your mom be upset with you for spending the night with me?”
“She’d probably jump for joy. Mom’s been telling me for weeks now that I needed to get laid. By the way, I love this bed. It’s nice and huge to share.” She got up and made her way to the bathroom. “I have a meeting today with your brother Hudson. And then I have to find me a job. I am not one to sit idle for very long.”
He thought about joining her in the shower, but realized that he had a list of things to get done this morning as well. One of them was to put a restraining order out on Anna James, the teacher that had come to see him yesterday. Going into the bathroom, he heard Wynter going over her list too.
“Do you know where Raiders Road is?” He said that he did. “I’m supposed to go and look at a piece of property out there for my mom. She said that she wants a home of her own. I have no idea why. I told her that this house.... I just realized that
I can talk to my mom as I do you. Why is that, I wonder?”
“You more than likely could all along, but it never came up. Raiders Road is a nice place, but I think it’s about forty minutes from here. Why doesn’t she want to live here with us?” She told him what her mom had said. “I can see that, but there is no reason for her to think she won’t be welcome to stay here. Tell her that we’re going to be honeymooners for the rest of our days. Also, she’s an immortal like us. If you really want to tell her, go tell her.”
“I did. She doesn’t believe me. If you’d ask her, since she thinks of this as your home, then she might say yes. I think she’s sort of sweet on you too. She said that she couldn’t have picked a better mate for me if she’d tried. I told her that you’d do in a pinch. I wish I could be a mean person—well, not mean, but an ass kicker like the other people in your family. I would have told Mom right off that she was living here. Right before she kicked my ass.” Wynter snorted as she turned off the water. “She’d just come back with something logical and throw me off again.”
He tickled her until she screamed for him to stop. When he decided he was going to join her in the shower after all, Cooper reached out to him. Tristan thought he might well murder his brother.
There are two things that I want to make you aware of first thing. By the way, Tristan, I wanted to congratulate you on finding your other half. Tristan thanked him and asked if it could wait. One of them can, but the other cannot. Ms. James has gone to the police, saying that you attacked her.
She came here to do that very thing to me. Tristan laughed, but Cooper didn’t. I didn’t touch her. Even Wynter can say that. She was fine when she left here. I have a video to prove that she left here on her own two feet if it’s needed.
You might want to take a copy to the station house. Ms. James is in the hospital with a lot of marks on her body that she is claiming that you did to her, after you lured her to your home. Tristan was headed down the stairs, disappointed that he’d not been able to take a shower with Wynter now that she was done with hers, when he asked Cooper what Ms. James was there for. Broken arm, for one thing. It looks as if someone put a bat to her back a few times. Do you know if she’s ever come to work at the school beaten up? Winnie said it’s her ex-husband that is doing the deed, and he’s after you next.
Tell him to come on down. Never mind. I don’t know what Wynter will do if he comes here. She is a copy of my dragon, by the way. But I worry about her temper. Not that I’ve seen it, but if someone comes here accusing me of something, she might not be able to hold her dragon. Cooper asked him if he’d go to the station first thing, that he’d meet him there. You or one of the women are coming with me? I might stand a better chance of coming out alive if they come.
Why is that? Tristan told him. You think I’m a pushover? I’ll have you know that I take a stand on a great many things. I’ll stand up for you.
What do you think Carson will say when it comes out that I’ve been accused of beating a woman?
Cooper didn’t say anything at first, then when he did answer, he was laughing. I’d say that the police station had better have their insurance up to date, as well as their life insurance policies taken care of. Cooper laughed again. Since she had the baby, I swear she’s a mixture of a hell cat and a Madonna. She’s scary.
I think they all are. Tristan entered the kitchen and found Wynter there having herself a platter of food. Stealing a piece of bacon off her plate, he went to pick up his own plate. I’ll meet whoever you send there. But I’m bringing the recording, as well as Wynter, with me. I’m hoping we can get married this morning.
Sitting down, he told her everything that Cooper had said to him. By the time he was able to retrieve the security tapes from yesterday, Wynter was on fire mad. He might have laughed, pointing out her earlier statement of not being all that mean, but he really had things to do today. Recuperating wasn’t on the list.
~*~
At the moment, Anna James was hurting in places that she didn’t know she had. Paddy had done this to her, but she needed help. It was the reason that she’d gone to see Tristan yesterday—to try and convince him that they should get together. In turn, since Tristan was so much bigger than her ex, he’d be able to warn Paddy to leave her alone and everything would be great for her. But that had gone to hell quickly. How was she supposed to know that he was married? People needed to tell someone about stuff like this.
The woman from yesterday came into her room. Anna tried to remember her name, not that she could remember much of anything today, to tell her how sorry she was. But at the very last second, she remembered that Paddy was still sleeping in the chair next to her bed. Mrs. Manning took her hand into hers and licked it. She nearly called out for her to leave her alone when the woman spoke to her.
Winnie, a friend of mine, has just told me that Paddy James is the one that is knocking the shit out of you. I was all ready to knock you into the other room when she told me what you’d been doing in coming to our home. Anna looked at the bastard next to her bed, then back to the woman. You can speak to me the same way that I’m talking to you. He’ll never know that we’re talking. Winnie, my friend, she’s made sure that he’s in a deep sleep. But she also told me that he’s a drunken bastard, and her magic might not work as well as it usually does on men.
He beats me all the time. And he plows right through the restraining order I have like it’s nothing at all. I don’t even know why he’s in here now with me. This is less than five hundred yards. She started to cry and was handed a tissue. Before she could remember to be quiet, she thanked Mrs. Manning.
“Who the fuck are you? You get on out of here if you’re one of them women’s groups that she’s always talking about. That man, that Manning person, he’s beaten my poor wife to near death, and I’m going to deal with him too.” Mrs. Manning said that her husband would do no such thing. “Sure he wouldn’t. And I no more believe that you’re his wife than that he isn’t guilty of nearly killing her. I heard that he took her check, too. You’ll be giving that back to me before you leave here.”
“It’s my running money.” Wynter, she told her to call her, said that they had a plan to get her to safety. “I have a son. He’s hiding away at my house. He won’t come out until I tell him to.”
The bed shook hard and Anna whimpered. Just as Paddy drew back his hand to no doubt hit her—Paddy hated when she whimpered or whined—his hand was drawn back and behind his back. Tristan was standing there holding onto him.
“Anna, I’d like for you to go with my wife, please?” She nodded and stood up, only to have Paddy tell her to get her ass back in the bed. “You don’t have to listen to him anymore, Anna. Go with Wynter and things will be just fine.”
She didn’t know how that was going to be possible. Anna had left her husband four times now, and had so many restraining orders against him that all she had to do was show up at the station house and they’d start filling out the paperwork.
Anna was standing in front of the elevator when she realized that she had nothing—not even a pair of shoes to put on. As soon as she stepped into the yawning opening, two other women were standing there with several bags in their hands. And her son.
“How did you know where to find him?” Hugging Philip, she told him how much she loved him while waiting on the woman to answer her. “He’s not supposed to trust anyone. But I’m so glad that he did this time.”
“I’m Carson Manning. This is Winnie Manning. Wynter is our sister-in-law. I so wish we could have helped you sooner.” Carson handed her the bags as she continued. “Here is some clothing to wear until you get to a safe place. Your son, he helped us pack everything up for you and him.”
Winnie spoke then. “He’s a good kid, and didn’t let me come into the house until I told him that you were in the hospital and that you’d sent me to get you. You’re leaving town tonight.” The ride down the elevator was quick. “I’ve already packed up your home and had every trace of you taken out. Y
ou’re going to go with a friend of mine, and once you’re where she’s taking you, your things will show up soon after.”
“My paycheck, it’s in my clothing that I left in the room.” Winnie handed her a thick envelope. Opening it, Anna tried to hand it back. “I can’t take this. It’s too much. You can’t hand this over like that, it’s not right.”
“No, what’s not right is that no one helped you when you needed it a long time ago. This is to help you get settled in your new home. There is a job for you as well when you arrive. Everyone here, your colleagues and others, are very happy that you’re getting away. They’ve all been worried about you for a while now.” Carson smiled at her. “They won’t tell him where you’ve gone because they didn’t ask. You have some very loyal friends.”
“Not that I care, but what happens to Paddy?” The three women looked at each other, and she wasn’t sure that she wanted to know. “Is he going to jail? I hope so.”
“He’s going away for a very long time. You won’t have to worry about him. But in the event things don’t go as we planned here, you’ll be safe, and that’s all we care about. That you and Philip will be far away and living a good life.”
The three of them hugged her, and she felt a bond there that she’d never had with another woman before. “Thank you so much for this.”
Two other women were there when she stepped out of the hospital. One of them wrapped their arms around Phillip, then around her. “What’s going on?”
“They’re magical, and they work for me. You don’t have to worry about them either. They’ll protect you with their life. This is Hailey, and this is Pansy. They’ll be around should you need them. I don’t believe you will, but they’ll be there in the event that you do. Good luck, Anna. Wynter will be in touch to keep you updated about Paddy.”
Hailey told her to close her eyes, and when she felt movement, she nearly opened them again. But again, she was told to keep her eyes closed. When she felt earth or something strong beneath her bare feet, Anna was told she could look now. She was in a place she’d never been before.
Tristan: The Manning Dragons ― Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance Page 5