His brow furrowed. “For me?”
“GenCon isn’t like anything you’ve faced before. They’re not warriors you can fight. They’re bureaucrats with bottomless resources and absolutely no conscience. If they catch you, they’ll spend the rest of your life studying you. They’ll take samples of your blood and your scales and God knows what else. They’ll keep you alive long enough to extract everything useful, and then—” Her voice cracked. “I can’t let that happen to you.”
“It will not.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know that I would die before I allowed them to cage me.” His hand cupped her face, his thumb tracing the line of her cheekbone. “And I know that I would kill before I allowed them to harm you. These are certainties, Jaz. The only certainties I have.”
“That’s not comforting.”
“It is not meant to comfort. It is meant to be true.”
She covered his hand with hers, pressing his palm against her face. “I wish there was another way.”
“We will find one.” He shifted closer, his breath warm against her skin. “But tonight, we have this. Whatever tomorrow brings.”
“Whatever tomorrow brings,” she echoed.
He kissed her then, and it was like coming home. His mouth was warm and firm and already so familiar that her body relaxed into him without conscious thought. His tongue teased her lips open, exploring her with a tenderness that made her chest ache, and when she met him stroke for stroke, he growled his approval into her mouth.
The sound vibrated through her, waking nerve endings and igniting a slow burn low in her belly. She shifted, trying to press closer, and his wings came around them, creating a private world of darkness and heat.
“I cannot promise you safety,” he murmured against her lips. “I cannot promise you an easy path. But I can promise you this.”
His mouth traveled down her throat, finding the sensitive spot that made her gasp.
“I will fight for you.” Another kiss, this one at the hollow of her throat. “I will protect you.” His hand slid beneath her shirt, his scales warm against her skin. “I will love you until my last breath.”
She’d spent her life avoiding exactly this kind of declaration, but coming from him, in that deep, certain voice, it felt like freedom rather than chains.
“Show me,” she whispered. “Please.”
His growl was louder this time, the sound of a predator given permission to feast. He stripped her with efficient movements, baring her to his hungry gaze, and the cold air against her skin made her shiver. Before she could feel the chill, his body covered hers, his scales radiating heat that seeped into her bones.
“You are beautiful,” he said, and there was awe in his voice, as if he couldn’t quite believe she was real. “Every inch of you.”
His hands explored her with reverent thoroughness, and by the time his fingers found the heat between her legs, she was already wet and ready, her hips lifting instinctively to meet his touch.
“Adjar,” she gasped as he slid a finger inside her.
“I am here,” he promised, adding a second finger and curling them to find the spot that made her see stars. “I will always be here.”
She clung to him as he brought her to climax, her body arching against his, her cries muffled against his shoulder. Before she could recover, he was moving between her thighs, the heavy length of him pressing against her entrance.
“Look at me,” he commanded, and she forced her eyes open, meeting that intense blue gaze. “I need to see you. I need to know you are with me.”
“I’m with you,” she promised. “Always.”
He entered her with exquisite slowness, giving her time to adjust to his size, to the unique feel of him. The ridges along his shaft created a friction that had her gasping, her nails digging into his shoulders as pleasure washed over her in waves.
When he was fully seated, he paused, and she realized he was giving her time to savor the feeling, to appreciate the connection.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
He smiled, a rare, beautiful thing that transformed his face. “You have no need to thank me. This is a gift for both of us.”
He began to move, long, deep strokes that built in intensity until they were both lost in sensation. Her hands explored the hard planes of his back, the texture of his scales, and the powerful muscles that shifted beneath her touch. His wings remained spread above them, a private canopy, and when she reached up to trace the delicate membrane, he shuddered, his rhythm faltering.
