And because of that, she was damned to an eternity of solitude. It was so unfair to her. No one should be degraded like that. Denied a future or any prospect of love or partnership because of some random asshole who’d taken what he had no right to.
He’d seen far too much of it when he’d lived among the centaurs. They gleefully used rape as a way to break their captives.
Used it to break their own.
Sex should never be weaponized.
He would never understand how anyone could do that to another, and it sickened him that someone could have done it to a female as precious as his dragon.
“I would never hurt you, Tanis.”
“I know.”
Brushing the dark red hair back from her cheek, he smiled at her, then pressed his lips against the hollow of her throat so that he could inhale the sweet rose scent that was his dragon.
She had seen him in ways no one ever had. When he looked into her kind, dark eyes he didn’t see the bastard unicorn king who was hated by all, he saw himself as he wanted to be. Kind. Heroic. Noble.
Most of all lovable.
The one thing he’d never been...
Accepted.
Lifting his head, he touched her lips with his fingertips. “Thank you,” he breathed.
“For what?”
“For seeing the best inside of me instead of the demon.”
She smiled at him. “I only see what’s there.”
Not believing that for a minute, he leaned forward and kissed her.
Tanis surrendered herself to him with a gentle moan of pleasure. He tasted of warmth and wine while his whiskers prickled her skin.
Nibbling her lips, he toyed with her top. “I’ve never seen anything more incredible or frustrating than you, Dragon. Except for the laces of your corset.”
She laughed at him as he used his magick to remove it and leave her bare to his gaze. That sobered her as she felt completely naked.
Not just physically. She couldn’t explain it. He made her feel exposed in ways that defied logic. As if he could read her soul.
As if sensing her discomfort, he quickly conjured a fur blanket for her to wrap around her shoulders. Then more pelts for the ground.
And that was why she wanted to be with him. He was forever considerate.
As if he knew her thoughts, he enveloped her with his arms and held her close to the heat of his body.
Tanis trembled. For some reason, she felt as though she’d come home after a long absence. Something about being with her unicorn just felt so very right.
She looked up to see if he felt it as well. She didn’t know, but his emerald gaze burned into hers.
He dipped his head toward her lips, and she welcomed his kiss. Tanis growled deep in her throat as their lips met. This was what she’d been aching for, and she hadn’t even known it. Someone in her arms who treated as if she mattered.
With a boldness that astounded her, she took his lips between her teeth and tugged gently. She wanted to devour thisbeast, to feel every inch of him against her and to never, ever let him go.
His clothes vanished beneath her hands, and his powers should frighten her, but she was getting as used to them as she was to him.
Dash’s head swam as he tasted the sweetness of his dragon’s mouth. She clutched at his back, pulling him so close to her that he feared he might actually hurt her.
