“Still not managing proper words, hm?” she teased breathlessly, then choked off as he drove into her, seating himself impossibly deep. His answer was a savage bite at her mate mark, sending white-hot pleasure spiraling through their bond.
“Ohhh,” she gasped, clutching at his shoulders. “Demanding, aren’t we?”
With a growl, he pounded into her, his fingers strumming her clit, wringing cries from her until she broke apart under him. Her orgasm tore through her, dragging his with it?—
Except his body didn’t release her. His cock thickened at the base, swelling inside her, locking them together.
Ash’s eyes flew wide. “Oh. Ohhh, you’re knotting. Race!”
A snarl ripped free, her mate more beast than man. She rolled her eyes, rasping, “Then take it, you bloody beast. I’m not going anywhere…”
His dragon roared in triumph, rut-drunk and relentless. Lightning split the sky, illuminating the cave in jagged bursts.
With no idea how much time had passed, Ash flopped back onto the furs, her limbs like jelly, while Race braced above her. She hadn’t known a body could survive that many orgasms.
“Next time,” she panted, running a hand down his sweat-drenched back, “a bit of warning before you decide to bolt me up like a bloody padlock, hmm?”
His flushed face dropped, and he muttered something about instinct.
She only smirked. “Don’t look so guilty. I rather enjoyed it.”
He grunted, his expression a tiny bit remorseful, but the rest of him was full-on possessiveness.
Bloody lethal, impossible dragon—all mine.
He licked the sweat from her throat and murmured, “Guarantees a babe.”
Oh, boy.While she didn’t mind a baby someday…Thank you, Bregga, for the elixir.
The storm eased late the next afternoon as Race’s fever finally broke. Between bathroom breaks and hunger, they never left the furs.
Exhausted, drowsy, Ash lay against him amid shredded furs and scattered supplies. His chest still burned beneath her cheek, but the desperate edge had faded.
“You’re thinking proper thoughts again,” she murmured, feeling his mind settle through their bond. “That’s new.”
A rough laugh rumbled through his chest—the first real sound he’d made besides growls in days. His arms tightened around her.
“Heart-fire,” he rasped. “I?—”
“Don’t you dare.” She lifted her head and pressed her fingers to his lips. “No apologizing. Not for this. Not for any of it.”
He rolled her to her back and braced himself above her. His hair, that she’d partially braided somewhere between yesterday and last night, was a tangled mess once more. But the look in his eyes stole her breath—so open and tender, it undid her.
“I love you,” he rasped.
Her heart tripped, then slammed against her ribs. “You don’t have to say?—”
“I do,” he growled, gently brushing back her sweat-dampened hair from her cheek. “Don’t interrupt when I’m declaring myself to you.”
Her laugh caught in her throat as she searched his gaze. For once, there was no feral edge, no shield of cocky arrogance—justhim.
“My wild, beautiful heart…” His throat worked. “You took on a messed-up male like me. And every time the nightmares dragged me under, your warmth pulled me back. How could I not fall? I’m completely and utterly in love with you.”
His gaze filled with tenderness. “I’ve never said that to anyone but you. You consume my thoughts. You’re my only, my forever. You stopped believing in love—that’s all right. I’ve enough for both of us.”
Her eyes burned, her throat tight. She swallowed, tried for humor, and nothing. Her voice trembled. “I was just so mad at you back then when I said that, but I do—I love you, too. So hopelessly, in fact.”
A smile broke over his face, boyish and unguarded, one so achingly rare it undid her all over again.
