Conversation faded as I leaned down, knowing that if I didn’tfinallytaste her, I would spew enough fire to burn the city around us. Emme gasped once more, and the sound was absorbed by my lips pressing against her. My first kiss.
Our first kiss.
My dragon heat filled the apartment and Talon’s surged as well, even as he backed up a step to give me this moment with Emme. When her lips parted under mine, her sweet taste filled my mouth, and with a roar of need I wrapped an arm around her waist to bring her closer to my height.
Hunger was an avalanche. I’d never been swept away by anything before.
But today my need crushed me.
As my tongue tangled with hers, I wanted to be closer. I needed more.
I wanted tofucking devourher.
I pressed her into the wall, her dress hiked up over her tights, and she gave herself into the kiss as she arched against me. Her scent and those small mewling sounds she made drove my beast insane.
Very quickly, I learned what she liked as I kissed her, what pressure of my lips had her scent spiking, and the way I could use my tongue to bring about a tremble in her limbs.
She was soaking through my pants as she rubbed against me, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to stop touching and tasting her. How I’d lived without Emme was beyond my understanding. Not even death could steal this bond.
“Slade,” she cried, really arching into me. My dick throbbed in my pants, and all I could think about was slamming into her, claiming and possessing. “I thought you said you hadn’t done that before.”
“I haven’t,” I said, licking up her throat, my jaw aching as I fought the urge to bite her.
Not yet.
Her pulse beat hard and fast under my touch, reminding me how delicate and soft she was.
Anyone who wanted to hurt her would have to go through me. I’d tear them into so many pieces that not even DNA would identify them.
Dropping her head back, she breathed out a reverent sound. “If this is you without experience, I might not survive experienced Slade.”
It was all instinct. “Experience isn’t important when my soul knows you better than I know myself.”
Her sob was ragged as I dragged my tongue and teeth across her jaw. “Slade, please,” she begged, and the rush of fucking power I felt wasn’t safe when dragons craved that above all else.
“Patience, Snow. Not even if the witches were standing outside our fucking door would I rush this moment.”
Her eyes rolled back in her head; small cries and moans spilled from her lips. She moved with wild abandon in my embrace, chasing her pleasure, and I had to admit that she was more than strong enough to survive this bonding. She’d been strong enough all along.
I would finally claim my mate.
By the time I set her on her feet, her pupils were blown out, and her legs buckled under her. I kept hold of her until she pulled herself together.
“That was…” She shook her head. “Honestly, I don’t have words to describe it, but high fucking five on a perfect first kiss.”
The flushed pink in her cheeks slowly dripped down her throat and under the neckline of her dress. “Take it off,” I ordered, my gaze dragging along her body. “I want to see my mate.Mine.” The last word was guttural and all dragon.
Emme’s eyes widened, but she didn’t argue, slowly lifting the blue dress to reveal a black bra beneath. “Good girl,” I murmured, and was rewarded with more pink tinting the exposed skin on her arms and chest.
As her body shuddered, she closed her eyes. “You’re going to control everything that happens here today, aren’t you.”
It wasn’t a question.She knew me.
Despite the brief time we’d truly been in each other’s lives, Emme had seen the real essence of who I was, and she was well aware of the beast and our needs.
“Will you fight my control, little one?” I asked. “You should be well aware that you’re the sole reason for my existence. I will deny you nothing. But my beast is all instinct in this claiming.”
The blue of her eyes was piercing, and she didn’t flinch away from my gaze. “No,” she said, her expression filled with a dozen emotions, but none of them fear. “I will not fight you, Slade Riverson. I want your control, because I know it won’t be for your gain. It will be for mine.”
