ROARK
Ihold her against my chest. “Very good, Duchess.” I thrust my hips up again.
When Evander said Kieren hadn’t taken the car to town with Raine as planned, my dragon and I went on a scent hunt. Which is how I ended up standing in the dark at the end of the bed three hours ago, watching the two of them slowly slide closer and closer to each other. They’re not supposed to touch. Well, I was the one who wasn’t supposed to touch her until the ceremony. But I am fucking tired of all the rules that the others are putting on us. Not touching the candidates hasn’t produced our mate. And with this candidate? Our last candidate? Yeah, she’s too fucking delicious to not touch.
Now, my unconscious friend is on the other side of the bed. Rules mean something to that unfortunate not-bastard. It would be a hell of a lot easier if he was a bastard, though. We wouldn’t have much work to do if he was. No endlessstring of candidates. No royal court. No king or queen. Just a good life of plentiful pleasure until we found our mate.
My scent hunt found her soaking in her own juices—sound asleep. They both needed sleep. Leopold let me in on the secret that she’d been up all night. I need to talk to that ancestral about taking better care of our lovely candidate here. But then, that’s our job. Evander’s been watching from the other side of the room for the last hour.
“Are you awake now, Duchess?”
A half groan escapes her lips. “How did you get in here?”
“You didn’t lock the door.” It wouldn’t have mattered if she had. I was coming in. The two of them in here? Not a great idea. Not before the ceremony.
There’s a push from my dragon. We’re one, but he still flares up with his own ideas, like a devil on my shoulder. Never an angel. He likes the idea of before the ceremony. After the ceremony. He wants to smell her, roll in her—better yet, taste her.
“But—”
“But what?” Her shirt’s pushed up, and I skate my finger around the waistband on her leggings, my right hand finding the warm skin of her glorious ass. “I followed your scent. It’s not hard, not when you scent of chamomile and need. So much need.” I push my fingers over her butt cheek, past her lips. “So wet, but I suppose that’s for the prince there.” I’m an asshole for being jealous of my own thunder mate. I don’t care.
“You feel so good.” She’s breathing me in the same way I’m breathing her in.
My chest vibrates. I’m happy that she doesn’t lie, fucking dichotomy of being in a thunder. Fate gives you one mate—one mate that you all want—with your best friends. More rules, though you can’t share anyone until your mate. Oh,you can all have the same female. Otherwise it would have made it a hell of a lot tougher to get laid at the academy. Just not at the same time.
Bullshit. I don’t care anymore. “You smell amazing. I don’t care who you were thinking about that made you this wet, Raine. I’m the one who’s going to take you over the edge now. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she says with a breathy laugh. Her hands are at my shirt. “Off.”
Fuck. She’s either forgotten or doesn’t care about Kieren. Makes me even harder. I pull my fingers out of her and tug her leggings off before removing my shirt.
Her fingers are uselessly fumbling with the closure of my trousers. I’m wearing ones from the realm, and they’re made with ties and buttons instead of human zippers. I cut the ties with a shifted talon. My dragon surges at my skin when I do the smaller of partial shifts. Smoke comes from our nostrils.
Raine sniffs the air. “I love that smell.”
The bed on the other side shifts. Kieren’s awake and watching. Evander stands from the day bed.
“Do you? Good.” Because that’s the scent of my dragon. And more than a few women have turned their noses up at it.
I tug off her sweatshirt, and there’s a T-shirt beneath it. She pulls it off. A light tan bra is in my way. My talon slices between the two cups. The fabric splits open, leaving her breasts hanging near my face.
Her beautiful blue eyes aren’t focused on me. It’s too dark for her to see. I cock my head to the side to Evander and raise my chin an inch. His teeth gleam in the night. He hits the button for the blinds, lifting them an inch off the floor. Light floods in.
Raine’s chest freezes.
“I want those beautiful eyes of yours on me.” I try not to growl it out. My dragon’s too close to the surface. “Just me, Raine.” Yes, I’m an asshole. She should know that by now.
Her head turns slightly enough that I know she’s looking at Kieren. “Only you.”
I can practically hear her thoughts. She’s replaying the conversation from the town car, remembering what I said about the thunder. “Good,” I say and flip her. My legs are between hers. Because again, asshole. She’s less likely to be looking at Kieren. And I don’t know what she’ll do when she realizes that Evander is sitting on the sofa, taking in every move she makes.
She’s fucking glorious. Her hair spills across the pillow. In the afternoon light, her pale skin glows against her dark hair, and dilated blue eyes stare at me. I could stare at her all day. My dragon’s like that—he likes to play with what he’s going to eat.
Our lips collide hard. Her fingers are in my hair, dull little fingernails scratching at my scalp. Fuck, I love it. I want her to mark me up. Give her a knife and let her carve her name into my flesh.
Damn. I can’t let her mark me. Fucking rules–––rules to protect a future mate. A female I’m not thinking about, not now. A female I never want to think about again. I break the kiss, only to have the soft skin of her neck under my lips.
She moans and grinds up against me.
