“Then why haven’t you made any effort to see me after we got back?”
“After what happened with my brother… I couldn’t control this thing inside me… it wants rage, only rage and destruction. I could never allow it to hurt you.”
And now, watching Damien, I realized he carried that same battle inside him again. The dragon part of him wasn’t born from destruction, but from an overwhelming desire to defend the people he loved. And that’s why he tried keeping a distance between us, why he didn’t want us to share more than a kiss when we were in the Ancient Springs. Because he knew if I let him all the way in, if we truly bonded, there would be no goingback.
Damien’s rage, his growls, his sharpness... it wasn’t senseless violence. It was fear. A primal instinct, fighting to protect himself from a world that had always tried to cage him.
“Gwendolyn, if I bond with you, you’ll be bound to me and my dragon forever. Even if you beg me to, I would not be able to let you go. I don’t know what my powers will do and how much they will heighten when I bond with you.”
He took a shaky breath, his hands clenching at his sides as if he was restraining himself from reaching out.
“I’m afraid of hurting you,” he whispered. “Of losing control.”
The vulnerability in his voice shattered something inside me. Because he wasn’t afraid of being hurt. He was terrified of hurtingme.
I placed my hands lightly on his chest, feeling the thunder of his heartbeat under my palms.
“Damien,” I whispered back, voice trembling, “I’m not afraid of your dragon. Or you.
I’m afraid of losing you before we even have a chance to bond.”
His whole body tensed as he pressed a kiss against both of my hands.
“You don’t know what you’re asking for Gwendolyn,” he murmured against my skin.
“Maybe I don’t,” I replied with a smile. “But I do know one thing for sure. I don’t want to carry this feeling ofmissing youaround me. I’d rather have you here with me.”
Something flickered in his eyes then, something raw and ancient andhungry. And for the first time, I didn’t see just the man standing before me. I saw the dragon too.
Both of them were protectors and predators, and they wanted me. And both of them were afraid they didn’t deserve me.
I tightened my hands against his chest, grounding him, groundingus.
“Bond with me, Damien,” I whispered. “If you’re ready. I trust you. All of you.”
For a heartbeat, he stayed still, trembling under my touch.
Then he dropped his forehead against mine, exhaling a long, shuddering breath that felt like a surrender and a promise all at once.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Damien didn’t hesitate as he ravished my lips like a moth drawn to a flame. I barely had any oxygen left in my lungs when he abandoned my lips. His gaze was capturing mine, searching for any signs of regret. He gripped both sides of my face in his hands and brushed his lips against my forehead, my cheeks, my nose and ultimately my lips again while he carried me into his bedroom, closing the door behind us.
“You are perfect, my love,” he said as he laid me on his bed.
Then he slid his blouse off, and I could see his dragon tattoo shimmering silver on his chest. I watched raptly as he unbuttoned his jeans, and lowered the zipper, revealing abs I never knew existed. His fingertips brushed against the material of his waist band and then he shoved his pants, along with his boxers, down.
That man was the most ethereal creature I had ever laid my eyes on, like he was crafted by immortal hands. His features were godlike and unique, from the shape of his scar to the sharp lines of his chin. Then I remembered, he had controlled the water and wind to save me.
He was a God.
Damien stood directly in front of me, presenting me his body in its entire glory. Although I’d already caught a glimpse when I came to the Ancient Springs, I hadn’t been able to see everything as he sadly noticed my presence at the same time. But, now seeing him right in front of me…
His body was mastered to perfection, slender but toned and the tail of his dragon tattoo ended down by his right thigh. Damien was painfully, cruelly beautiful. There was no other way to describe him. I didn’t want to ogle him, but my eyes forgot how to close themselves.
Then I felt his fingers trailing all the way down from the jaw to my neck. “Look at me.” I heard him say and turned my gaze to him.
