Sorry, he murmurs through the mental link. Didn’t mean to. You’re just… so beautiful.
Stop that, I hear Valen say sternly. I told you not to get too excited! She doesn’t think of you that way—her people think you’re a beast!
Guilt stabs through me. He’s right. I was raised to think of dragons as monsters.
But in this moment, looking into those golden eyes, I don’t see a beast—I see another thinking being who wants to be near me. Who longs for me. And how can I be upset about that?
“I was just surprised,” I say quickly, feeling my cheeks get hot. “It’s… it’s all right if you get, um, excited. I guess.”
The Drake lets out a low whuff, curling his tail around his feet.
Forgive me…so beautiful, he sends.
Stand back, Valen says. I’m going to Shift back.
“Wait,” I say.
I stroke the Drake’s head one last time, cupping his long muzzle in my hands.
“It was very nice to meet you,” I whisper.
He leans forward and nuzzles my cheek gently, then steps back.
“Do I need to cancel the spell?” I ask the Sorceress.
“No, my dear—it will dissipate on its own when he returns to his human form.”
Even as she speaks, it happens.
The dragon shimmers… ripples… and Shifts so rapidly it almost looks like a magic trick.
Then Valen is standing there tall and naked and?—
Oh Goddess—he’s fully hard.
And every inch of him is glorious.
54
VALEN
I can’t believe what I just witnessed.
I thought for certain my Drake form would scare her. That she’d flinch and shrink away—maybe even scream. But Irena…accepted me. All of me. Not just the man I am around her, but the beast I feared she would reject.
Even when my Drake got a little…overzealous—and let her see exactly how much he wants her—she didn’t recoil. Her cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink, but she wasn’t mad. She was embarrassed, yes, but not afraid. Not repulsed. And most importantly, not angry.
She didn’t run. I can feel the beast inside me churning with raw need, wings spread wide in triumph. She saw us. And she didn’t flee. She could be ours.
No. I grit my teeth.
She is not ours. We’re not here to Bond her. That’s not what this is.
My Drake doesn’t care. He pumps heat through my blood like a drug, thick and heady, and it ensures that my cock stays hard and aching—throbbing like I’ve been on edge for hours. Which is going to make putting my trousers back on so much fucking fun.
I look down, grimacing at my blatant erection. Irena’s still flushed, her gaze darting anywhere but directly at me. But I see the way her thighs press together…the way her breath comes faster whenever she glances my way.
Gods, I can smell her. That sweet, spicy scent of female desire, magnified by the magical honey of the bath flowers still clinging to her skin. It’s making me fucking crazy.
