Fourteen
VANDER
Larellin sleeps, her soft breaths tickling my chest. Her dark hair fans out across my scales, the golden color the perfect backdrop for her dark strands. Beautiful little mortal. Every time I close my eyes, I see her standing in the bath, water sluicing down her pale skin.
My cock is still hard. Even after I worked myself over in the bathing room, I’m still ravenous for Larellin, to feel her hot cunt squeezing me tightly. I stifle a groan and run my fingers lightly along her side. Impossibly soft skin. Delicate. Fragile. I was too direct with her, too forceful. I can’t find it in myself to regret it, though. Not when I can still taste the slightest hint of her sweetness on my tongue. A treasure waiting for me.Onlyme. I want more. I want all.
I breathe slowly, doing what little I can to calm the raging beat of my heart. Dragons aren’t known for their ability to stifle their desires. I’m certainly a stranger to the sensation, but for her, I must take care. I must be gentle when I want nothing more than to sheathe myself inside her and make her come all overmy cock. Another groan rustles in my chest, my cock straining against the bedsheet.
There’s no way I can sleep like this. Being close to her like this, her scent in my nose, her taste lingering in my mouth. She’s bait. A shiny lure that speaks to the beast I truly am. But she’s content. I feel it like a lullaby in my blood. She slumbers without fear, without care. I close my eyes and settle in. My cock can wait. Our borders can wait, too. My brothers will have to fly my route under the cover of dark clouds and scant moonlight. I won’t leave my mortal. Not until she’s ready.
She taps my chest,the morning sun falling in long rays along our bed. “Vander?”
I dozed for perhaps an hour in the night, but that’s all. My aching cock woke me the moment Larellin shifted, drawing her leg up higher and pressing her hot sex against my upper thigh. It was an acute torture, and there was a moment when I almost gave in and flipped her to her back. But I counselled myself that true treasure is worth the wait. And that’s exactly what Larellin is—the rarest prize.
“Yes, pet?”
“I’m not a pet.” She yawns. “And I need you to leave so I can get up.”
I stare down at her, her adorable cheeks highlighted in shades of pink. “You can get up with me here.”
“I’m naked.”
“I know.” I slide my hand down her bare side to her hip.
“Hey!” She smacks my hand away. “This isn’t …” She sputters. “We’re not. What happened last night?—”
“Could happen again right now if you ask nicely.” I squeeze her firm little ass.
“Vander!” She scoots back, all the way to the edge of the bed. That’s when her gaze lands on my cock tenting the sheet. “Is that—that’s your—that’s …” She doesn’t finish the sentence, her mouth lax as she looks. Gods, the way she stares, it’s almost like a touch.
I grip the edge of the sheet and yank it away.
She squeals and slaps a hand over her eyes.
I shake with stifled laughter. “You can look, pet. Look at what you could have.” I tuck my hands behind my head and lace my fingers together. “All you have to do is get astride me and slide down. Your honey will ease me inside you, stretching your slick cunt.”
“I’m not going to do any of that.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time you’ve ridden me.” I grip my cock, the sensation nothing like what I imagine her small hand would feel like. My callused palms can’t come close to her whisper-soft skin.
She peeks between her fingers then scoots back again. I reach out and grab her arm, keeping her from toppling off the bed. Another squeal from her and she’s off the bed entirely and limping quickly to the bathing chamber.
“Let me help you, pet. I?—”
“No!” she yells and slams the doors.
I lie back, unable to stop smiling. She’s scared, but more than that, she’s aroused. I can smell it, can almost taste it. Her heart is pounding in tandem with mine. I’ll have her soon, and she’ll come with my name on her lips.
Chapter
Fifteen
LARELLIN
When I come out of the bathing chamber, Vander is gone. My knees go weak with relief. I don’t know how I’m ever going to be able to face him again. I dart to the closet and pull out one of the plain shifts I’ve been wearing. They’re comfortable and warm, far warmer than they should be given their lightweight. I’m just glad to be covered. When I think of Vander between my legs, his eyes on me as his tongue … I have to take a deep breath.
Face hot, I run my fingers through my hair, then whip it around to the side and do a loose braid, tying off the bottom with a scrap of leather. How can I explain what happened last night? I don’t think I can. What Vander and I did—it’s not something I even knew was an option. I press my hands to my hot cheeks. Mother never spoke of such things other than telling me that letting any man between my thighs was a sure way to get banished. She didn’t even have to say that much. I saw how Kanelden treated the maidens he was able to lure to the castle, the ones who weren’t wary enough. Or perhaps they thought they’d be different, that they’d become the mistress, the next Lady Rayid.
