“I warned you,” I snap at him, every ounce of reason and patience sapped by the overwhelming drive to have him in me, under me, on top of me, and dripping out of me everywhere. But if I can’t have that right now, I can at least take the edge off.
I snake my own hand between our bodies as Aeson slips through another one of those side hidden doors that I had no idea was there until it’s opening.
“Claws, what do you think you’re doing?” he demands, and it’shisvoice now that rings with a subtle note of hysteria.
My only answer is to moan as I dip my fingers inside myself. I get them nice and wet and then I pull them out and start stroking my clit just the way I like it. I put a little extra oomph in the satisfied sounds I start making, and a string of very colorful expletives spills out of Aeson’s mouth before he starts down a flight of stairs at a breakneck speed.
“Don’t you fucking dare, Ever,” he barks as I plunge my fingers back inside my pussy and wiggle them around a little so he can hear how obscenely wet I am. “I swear, if you come on your own hand instead of my di—”
An extra loud moan cuts off his threat, and I throw my head back like I’m on the cusp of a life-shattering orgasm. “This could have been you, Spare,” I taunt as I ride my own fingers. “Don’t worry, I’ll send awish you were herepostcard to your blue balls when I’m done.”
I press my tits harder against his chest and pant hot staccato breaths against his shoulder. I have no idea where he’s taking us. The stairwell is dark, but there’s a faint glow to the smooth gray stone all around us that washes us with enough light that I can still make out every detail of Aeson’s pained face and taut body.
Another exaggerated mewl slips out of me when I start back on my clit, and I notice a strange sparkle of light ripple through the surrounding stone in an unmistakable wave that quickly fades.
The beginning of an orgasm starts to take root, and all my attention is sucked away from wherever we are and zeroed in on the building release my fingers are eagerly coaxing from my body. My muscles start to tense and I rub my clit even faster, chasing release.
Out of nowhere, Aeson spins us. I yelp and am forced to try to grab onto him with both of my hands when my weight shifts back and I’m pretty sure I’m about to fall. Strong arms keep me pinned to Aeson’s chest, but then the smooth edge of the stone steps cuts into my back, and I realize he’s now pinning me against the stairs.
Aeson hovers over me, and the look on his face is menacing. He snatches my hand so fast I flinch and brings it to his mouth, while his fiery blue eyes do their best to smelt me. His lips close around the two fingers that were just inside of me, and his face morphs into a look of pure ecstasy. His groan is sensual satisfaction in its rawest form as he sucks my arousal from my skin, tonguing my fingers like he’s giving me a taste of what his mouth intends to do in other places. He meticulously licks every last drop of desire from my digits, and then he pulls them out of his mouth and looks down at me with a punishing glare.
“From now on, you will only come on my cock, my fingers, my hand, my mouth, and my tongue. Every orgasm, every moan, every gasped word, and every drop of cum is mine. And do you know why that is?” he asks as he pulls the tatters of his jacket and shirt off.
My mind stalls as I take in the wide expanse of hard muscle that’s intersected by the black flames of his dragon mark on his chest, shoulders, and upper arms. He reaches for the clasp on his pants, and I’m all but drooling from multiple places as muscles flex and strain in time with his hurried, jerky movements.
My chest heaves even faster and my heart pounds excitedly against my sternum in anticipation of what I know is coming. Desire floods my core, and every inch of me grows hot and sensitive. I suddenly want my dress off, but as I run my hands across my chest and down the sides, I don’t feel a zipper or a clasp or anything else that will help me get it off.
“You asked me what your dragon felt like, but I didn’t answer the question. Ask me again, Claws.”
I tug on my dress, my movements growing more and more frantic, but it still doesn’t budge. Aeson lifts his hand, and a small orange flame flickers to life in his palm. At first I think he’s trying to illuminate the stairwell to help me figure out how to take this thing off, but then he flicks the flame at me. I yelp and try to scramble back in panic.
“It’s okay, it won’t burn you,” he hurries to assure me as he keeps me pinned against the stairs. “I control the flame. I decide what it consumes and what it doesn’t.”
“Burners can do that?” I ask, aghast, my wide eyes jumping frantically from his calm face to the flame that’s flickering on my stomach like it’s waiting to be given orders.
“Not all of them, but I can,” he tells me evenly like it’s no big deal.
I shove at his chest, but he doesn’t move so much as a centimeter. “How ’bout you clue me in to the wholeI’m not trying to immolate youthingbeforeyou start chucking flames at me next time.”
“I can agree to thatifyou agree to my previously stated terms.”
My brow furrows with confusion.
“Your pleasure is mine. Your orgasms are mine. If you play with yourself, it’s either because I want you to or because I’m not there and you’re thinking of me.”
His demands are ludicrous. He’s being domineering in the most absurd way. Who agrees to hand over the reins of their pleasure like that, especially to someone they barely even know? So why am I dripping on the steps below me at the thought of it?
“You want to own my orgasms?” I dispute. “Then earn the privilege. I’m not agreeing to shit unless I know I’m ingoodhands. Then we can talk.”
He smiles like I just said exactly what he was hoping I would. With a flick of his hand, the stationary flame on my stomach starts traveling up my torso, and I realize it’s burning the gossamer fabric of my dress away as it goes. It’s hot but not painfully so. The solitary flicker of fire doesn’t hurt me as it trails its way up my body, but I still hold my breath, worried I’ll feel a bite of pain seconds before my skin starts to scorch. However, Aeson’s control on his affinity must be second to none, because the fire doesn’t so much as singe a hair on my body; it only burns a line up my dress like a fiery zipper.
Aeson kicks off his pants and lifts me off the stairs. My dress falls away with the motion, and the flicker of flame dancing across my chest instantly dies out. We’re skin against skin now, and there’s something about it that’s so intimate and erotic that the haze of manic lust clears for just a breath, and the impact of what we’re doing registers.
I’m about to fuck my mate for the first time.
Not too long ago, the thought of a mate, let alone the reality of being bonded to Aeson Noctis, second son of King Noctis and Scion of The Dragon Horde, would have made me laugh my ass off, becausefuck no, that wouldneverhappen. I know this will change things, shift things, and as stupid as it is, as selfish as this choice will undoubtedly be, I’m making it.
Aeson carries me into a large room that’s made up of the same smooth gray stone as the stairs. He lays me down on what feels like a floor made of sparring mats, and I hiss at the cold touch of the semi-spongy ground. The noise makes flashes of sparkles detonate like glittering fireworks on the ceiling, and I pause to watch it.
