He didn’t. If anything, his movements became more focused and determined. His fingers pumping into me and his mouth working me over was too much. I shattered with a cry, my body clenching around his fingers as waves of pleasure washed over me.
Lucan eased me through the aftershocks, his movements gradually slowing until I was a boneless heap on the counter. He pressed a gentle kiss to my inner thigh before standing.
The sight of him wiping his mouth with the back of his hand nearly set me off again. His jeans did nothing to hide his arousal, and the hungry look in his eyes made me want to clench my thighs.
“Come here.” I reached out to him.
Instead of stepping into my arms, he scooped me off the counter as if I weighed nothing. I yelped in surprise, instinctively wrapping my arms and legs around him.
“Where are we going?” It was pretty obvious as he carried me toward the bedroom.
“Somewhere more comfortable, because I’m nowhere near done with you.” He set me down gently on the bed, then straightened to undo his jeans.
I propped myself up on my elbows to watch as he pushed them down his legs, stepping out of them and kicking them aside. My mouth went dry. He was impressive in every way and clearly very ready for what was coming next.
“Like what you see?”
“Very much.” I felt no need to pretend otherwise.
He climbed onto the bed, covering my body with his. The weight of him pressed me into the mattress in the most delicious way. His skin was hot against mine, his hard length pressing insistently against my thigh.
His mouth found mine again, the kiss deep and thorough. When he pulled back, he positioned himself between my legs. I felt the pressure of him at my entrance, and then he was pushing inside, stretching me in a way that left me gasping his name. He paused, giving me time to adjust.
“Okay?” he asked, his voice strained with the effort of holding back.
“More than okay.”
He moved with long strokes, and the drag and pull of him inside me built the pressure again, my body still sensitive from my first orgasm.
Lucan buried his face in my neck, his breath hot against my skin as he picked up the pace. His lips traveled along my throat, pausing at a spot below my ear.
“Here,” he murmured, his tongue darting out to taste my skin. “This is where I’ll mark you. When you’re ready.”
“Mark me?” I managed to ask through the haze of pleasure.
Instead of answering, he scraped his teeth over the spot, and my entire body jolted.
“Yes,” he growled, repeating the action. “Right here.”
Something about the combination of his teeth on that spot and the way he was moving inside me sent me careening over the edge again. I came with a shout, my body clamping down around him.
He followed me over, his rhythm faltering as he buried himself deep with a groan that vibrated through both of us. For several heartbeats, we stayed locked together, our ragged breathing the only sound in the room.
Eventually, he rolled to his side, taking me with him so we remained connected. His fingers danced on my back as we both caught our breath.
His lips found my neck again, and my skin broke out in goosebumps. “It’s a claiming mark that only other supernaturals will see.”
“Excuse me? What do you mean by other supernaturals?”
“Other shifters.” He laughed as my eyes widened even more. “None here. This is our territory.”
I didn’t know why it surprised me that there were others. My brain had barely had enough time to reconcile the fact that there were dragons and that I was the mate of one.
Mate.
Lucan was my mate.
I felt sure of it. Something had led me to Ashford and to him. Some invisible thread of fate that was woven through every moment since I’d arrived in this town. It wasn’t a coincidence. It couldn’t be.
