Ladon rubbed his back. “I didn’t know you were afraid of your school.”
Kirin turned again to face the table. “There were so many kids there when we visited. Plus, I didn’t want to take the bus without you.”
“Maybe everything happened for a reason,” Ladon whispered.
“Does that mean you’ll live here with me?” My dragon and I waited with bated breath.
“Yes.” Ladon nodded as his bottom lip quivered. “I need to give notice and pack up everything, but okay.”
My dragon rejoiced as I tried to hold in my own elation. Even with the curveballs life had thrown at both of us recently, we were going to be together. I couldn’t wait until it all had been finalized and we got to come home to each other, share a bed and a house, and grow our family.
Chapter Seventeen
Ladon
One month later...
“Another box unpacked.” I carried the cardboard out to the kitchen by the stairs where Blaze had started a pile.
“Give that here.” He took the box from me and tossed it behind him before grasping my hips with a deep fire behind his eyes. I knew exactly what he wanted. The same thing I’d been craving for weeks. “Come here.” He pulled me into him and kissed me hard, my body simmering from his one-on-one attention.
“Mmm, we’re supposed to be unpacking.” I didn’t object to his ministrations as his lips traveled down my neck, only stated the truth, or what we’d told our neighbor.
“We don’t have much time.” He fumbled with the button of my jeans, in between me pulling his shirt over his head. “And I’ve been wanting to do this for so long.”
“Me, too.” I cupped his cock through his gray joggers then took his clothing down with me as I lowered to my knees.
“No time for that.” Blaze grabbed me under my armpits and lifted me onto the kitchen island, with my hips barely on the edge. The only thing keeping me from falling off was him, his waist and thick cock between my spread legs. “We don’t know when they’ll be back. We have to do this now.”
I knew we’d have other chances in the future, but it seemed hard to get a moment alone lately with Blaze. If it wasn’t Kirin interrupting us at night as he got used to sleeping in a different place, it was Blaze’s firefighter friends staying late on our couch after helping us move the heavy furniture. When Winslow, the boy next door whom my son had made fast friends with, came over with his father to see if Kirin had wanted to go with them toplay at the school playground, I hadn’t objected. But Blaze had been so intent on unpacking a certain number of boxes that day, I didn’t think he’d noticed the absence of my son.
I wrapped my arms and legs around him, reveling in his kisses and heavy breaths. It never took him long to be ready for me, and lately, just his scent alone was enough to send my desires into overdrive. I knew I wasn’t in heat, had been sure to take my suppressants every day. Yet every part of me was anxious to be one with him, to officially be Blaze’s mate and to wear his mark.
He reached around my thigh, spreading my slick over my puckered hole. “I love how ready you are for me.”
“Do it.” I leaned back on the countertop, anxious to feel him deep inside me. From the day I decided to move to Cloudhaven with him, sex for us proved plentiful and gratifying, but it was always that next step we never made it to.
With gentle pressure, he pushed his swollen tip past my tight ring. I gripped his arms. The sensation of having him deep inside me always made my mind hazy. I longed to be his mate, for everyone to know we were together, whether a friend or a complete stranger.
Holding my hips on the edge of the counter, he rocked in and out with a determined rhythm. The familiar rush of desire started in my groin until it reached every part of my body.
Blaze moved faster, his thrusts more erratic as he gripped the counter with one hand and clung to my hip with the other. “So close,” he grunted.
I closed my eyes, focusing on the sensations, the deep-seated pleasure every time his cock hit my prostate. It quickly became too much. My balls tightened and I knew I wouldn’t be long.
“Yes.” Blaze pulled me toward him, holding me tight against his chest as he continued to thrust. “Let it go. Release for me and I will make you mine.”
The promise in his words took me over the edge. With a flash of lights behind my eyes and a sharp inhale, I shot my load between us. I clung to him and my chest heaved as I tried to catch my breath.
He didn’t let me go, didn’t stop grinding inside my channel until I felt him swell.
“Oh, fuck. I can’t stop this.”
When he sucked in a breath, I caught his elongated fangs right before he plunged them into my trap muscle.
Fire lit up the tips of every nerve in my body. Sharp ringing filled my ears. But my only thought was Blaze, that he was mine and I was his. Forever. I wasn’t unlovable, a reject everyone left once they got to know me. I had a mate. Finally.
Blaze slowly pulled his teeth out and kissed my neck. “I love you. I’ve wanted you to be mine since the moment I met you.”
