“I have to.” I know he wanted me to say I did and mostly, I really did because the mate bond was wonderful, but it wasn’t real in the same way that not all of me felt like a shifter. Even though I was a dragon. There was still an element missing. That couldn’t be his bite, could it? Did I really have to put myself in the literal jaws of a giant beast to seal this thing? After everything that happened so far, it shouldn’t have been that big a deal, but when Ward finally did mark me, he wouldn’t just have my body in his teeth.
He would have my soul.
Chapter20
Ward
Her soft lips parted on my name, or a prayer. I couldn’t tell which because I was just as lost in her body and thoughts rolling through mine. It was heady to share my mental space with her. The bond was so strong. I surged into Evie again, her greedy pussy sucking me down into oblivion.
Harder, please, Ward,she whispered into my mind. The image she placed there almost faltered my control.
My hand gripped her waist. I didn’t worry about her breaking a rib anymore, so my hands explored everywhere I could touch.
“I don’t want to hurt you.” Licking her neck had me preoccupied with the texture of her skin.
“You won’t,” she said. Her kitten claws lengthened to grip my shoulders. “But I might hurtyouif you don’t give it to me right now.”
My cock flexed hard inside her, and she moaned. My bear pushed our own claws into the tree behind her. I’d never had so little control over him, but he pumped and growled into Evie with abandon as I took her nipple into my mouth and sucked those berries to tight peaks I lashed with my tongue. Her sweat tasted like candied oranges. I would never tire of it.
“Reach with me, love. I want you to make a mess all over this cock.”
My words and some strokes over her clit had her doing as I asked, and her spasming channel sent me over the edge with her. Screwing my eyes shut, I gritted my teeth against biting her. My bear chuffed in annoyance. We were inside her, for Godds’ sake.
“So good. Good girl. Just like that. Yes, my love.” I couldn’t have stopped the words if I tried. I didn’t let up on her clit and it rolled her into another orgasm stronger than the first. She screamed into the morning. I could watch that blissed look come over her face every day because I put it there. I wanted to take her to a private den and do this for a few centuries.
Evie collapsed into my arms, my spell that kept her skin from the bark of the tree dissipating as I sat down hard. I wasn’t sure how my legs stood us up as she drained me dry, other than sheer force of will. We both blew heavy breaths into the cool air.
The early morning mists rolled through our part of the campsite. Maybe we could just forget all about the Harrowlands and I would kidnap Evie again. No one would ever find us in my den.
“Loud, happy couple!” Declan called into the mist.
The weather gave us some privacy, but Evie stiffened in my lap. “Go away, wolf,” she said. “Or Ward’s going to show me how to magic all your fur off.”
I smothered my laugh in her hair. She felt so right against me. I would shatter into a million pieces if this quest ended, and we ended. After everything, I couldn’t get rid of a small worm of doubt that she was mine forever. Our missing bite still hung over my head. Perhaps Evie would take it when all of this calmed down. I didn’t plan on our normal lives together to involve so much death and destruction.
“I wish I could,” Declan replied. “But there’s an evil force to stop and no one can get Greg to calm down enough to get a saddle on him.”
She looked at me like I had an answer for that.
I shrugged. “He’s your horse.”
“Coming,” Evie called back. She backed off my cock and I couldn’t resist sliding home into her one more time.
“Again?” I asked cheekily, enjoying the humor shining in her eyes. “He can wait for another five minutes… or an hour.” I kissed her shoulder.
“Cute.” Evie smiled up at me and stood.
I quickly cleaned her off, ignoring how my bear grumbled about wiping away our scent. I just wouldn’t wash her’s off me and he maintained some amount of control. Evie smiled through it and ambled off toward Declan’s voice.
I stood, got dressed and walked back to our bedrolls to pack up while Evie dealt with Greg, mind already on what we might find at this Brad’s shrine.
“Are you decent?” Noth called into the thick mist.
“Hardly ever,” I repeated our old joke back to him as he came striding forward. He didn’t offer to help pack, of course, taking a seat on a nearby stump to watch me fold and stuff. Noth had a lot of talents, including fighting, but manual labor wasn’t one of them.
“I just want to make sure that we’re agreed on what we’re walking into. You chose well in a mate—mostly. She’s strong, but helpless, and will just as likely torch us all to death if we let her battle in dragon form.”
“You think this will be a battle?” I tightened the strap on our bedroll just a little too hard. Losing Evie in a fight would be too much. She wasn’t exactly battle-ready. My only consolation was the mate bond would ensure I wouldn’t survive, either. I wouldn’t want to.
