Where his fingers went, his mouth followed with tiny bites of kisses that woke nerve endings and left her tingling with need. In return, she kissed Leo, tested the hard muscles of his arms and shoulders, and pressed herself close to his powerful torso. So good. So decadent. A gasp escaped her when he took a nipple into his mouth. He drew on the tight bud, and the sensation arced down her body to land between her thighs. She twisted in his arms, her legs splaying in a silent demand, a wordless enticement for him to do more.
“Leo,” she gasped, her hands tugging at his hair. “I need you. Please.”
“Let me feast, wife. Let me explore and savor.” His avid gaze met hers.“Please.”
The yearning in his voice grabbed her, threw her into something unusual. She’d never experienced this desperate desire for another man—the need to become one, to get as close as possible. At least, it seemed new. Momentous.
She jumped as he released her nipple and ran his tongue down the middle of her chest. To her relief, he signaled his intentions by moving farther down her body. He explored her bellybutton, the irregular scar on her hip that she’d received the time she’d fallen off her bike as a child.
Yet another memory. It seemed as if time might heal the gaps in her mind.
Leo halted his explorations and glanced up at her. “What is it?”
“I remembered how I got the scar on my hip. The second you licked it, the memory appeared.”
A strange expression came into his face. Was that a trace of fear?
“That’s good, right?”
“I worry you might reject me, that all this has happened too fast,” Leo said, still frowning.
His honesty was a slap to the face. But he’d shared his fears, and that brought warmth to compensate for the initial wallop.
Her heart squeezed out an extra-fast beat. “No matter what or if I remember things from my past, I will never regret you. Our marriage. You’re a dragon worthy of knowing. My mind wants this marriage, wants you. My body aches for you, so I guess that means I wholeheartedly approve of this union.”
“Since we’re adults, we are free to marry where there are no impediments.”
But what if there were obstacles? The notion drifted into her mind and took root like an insidious weed. Fear galloped behind.
“If you’re uncertain, we can stop. We have time,” Leo said.
“No.” Her reply came swift and sure. “I want to celebrate our marriage. Being close to you in this way makes me happy. I wasn’t joking when I told you I ache for you. That I desperately want to make love with my husband.”
“Thank you,” Leo said, his tone fierce. “I didn’t know what I’d do if you wished to stop. I would’ve honored your request, but it would’ve been difficult.”
Gwenyth smiled and held out her arms, a silent plea for him to return to his explorations.
“Just a quick taste,” he said. “I want to memorize everything about you.”
His words gave her pause and raised questions, but this time she didn’t voice them. The last thing she wanted was to drive him from this bed.
Leo pinched her inner thigh, sending a jolt through her. “Pay attention. I want your mind and body focused on me and my dragon.” He sounded strained, as if he was exercising impressive control.
So, she’d push him and break that control until they both burned in a joyous celebration of their marriage. Doubts and hesitation, she’d kick to the curb.
Leo breathed in and out, an audible expulsion of air that heated her feminine flesh. Every part of her stood to attention. She cupped his head until his gaze met hers. “Leo, you’re taking too long.”
“Making memories,” he said, and an instant after he uttered the explanation, his tongue journeyed down her slit.
Her entire body jolted, and pleasure licked across her flesh. One touch and she lit up like a set of fairy lights. Once again, her mind supplied the comparison without a hitch, so she went with it, accepting the knowledge and embracing it.
“Do you like that?” he whispered.
“More than anything except how I imagine you’ll feel inside me.”
“Don’t put too much pressure on me,” he said with a trace of humor. “My dragon and I might fail.”
“It’s possible,” she conceded, trying to appear thoughtful and failing because of the smile that kept slipping free. “But I know that the second time, you’d whop butt spectacularly.”
