A shudder ran through his big frame, and I saw his control crumbling. Leaning down, he captured my mouth in a searing kiss that was nothing like the tender ones we’d shared before.
This was a claiming—desperate and hungry. His mouth tasted of fire and spice and yearning. His hands were everywhere, pushing my jumpsuit off my shoulders and stripping it down to bare me completely.
I did the same for him, our movements frantic, fueled by the dual urgency of our own need and the echoing crescendo from our dragons soaring somewhere in the sky above the Old Drake.
When we were both naked, Ryse guided me down onto one of the thick practice mats. The coarse leather was cool and rough against my fevered skin, drawing a gasp from my lips.
He loomed over me, his big body blocking the light—all hard muscle and shimmering scales. His cock, fully erect, was a breathtaking sight—the royal purple and molten gold scales gleamed in the low light, a living work of art that took my breath away.
I spread my thighs for him eagerly—L’eesha’s need to be bred was burning me up from the inside out. I didn’t care if it hurt or not—I just wanted to feel him filling me.
“Ryse!” I moaned. “Please—I need you in me!”
But Ryse didn’t move to enter me.
“Not yet, little one,” he growled. “I need to get you ready first.”
“But I am ready!” I protested. I had never felt so wet and hot between my legs.
“Not ready enough,” Ryse told me. He took my mouth in a passionate kiss and then began kissing his way down my body. His hot mouth landed on my collarbone…the valley between my breasts…my trembling stomach.
And then his dragon-gold eyes met and held mine as he settled between my thighs.
“So beautiful,” he murmured, his breath hot against my most intimate skin. “So wet for me already, little one. Let me taste you. Let me get you ready.”
Then he ducked his head and began to lick—his mouth on me was a delicious shock.
“Ryse!” I gasped, his name torn from my throat, my back arching off the mat.
He didn’t tease me. The urgency of the Flight was on him too, but it was channeled into a focused, relentless worship.
His tongue was a wicked, clever thing, licking into me…circling my throbbing button…drinking my honey as if he was dying of thirst. The dual sensations—the exquisite friction of his tongue and the psychic echo of L’eesha’s ecstatic flight—drove me to the edge of sanity.
“Ryse! Oh, please… I can’t… it’s too much!” I sobbed, my hands fisting in his hair as I bucked up to meet his hot mouth.
He lifted his head, his mouth and chin glistening.
“Yes, you can, little one. You’re taking it so well…so soft and open for me. So perfect.” He kissed the inside of my thigh, a tender contrast to the devouring heat of a moment before.
“Ryse please—I’m ready now!” I begged. L’eesha’s heat was burning me with its urgency. “Please—I need you in me!”
Ryse’s eyes were half-lidded as he nodded at last.
“I need you too, Auri—need to be inside you. But I want you to lead—want you to set the pace.”
“You want me to lead?” I shook my head—I didn’t know much about sex, but I’d never heard of the woman leading. “I don’t understand,” I told him.
“Like this.”
Ryse rolled onto his back and guided me to straddle him.
“See? You get to be on top,” he rumbled.
The position made me feel a surge of power, even through the haze of need that was clouding my mind. I looked down at him, at the love and fierce restraint warring in his glowing eyes. He was so anxious not to hurt me that—even in the heat of the Mating Flight—he was going to let me take control.
I loved him for that.
Reaching between us, I took his scaled length in my hand. It was hot and throbbing, the textures fascinating under my palm. I wanted to give him pleasure the way he’d done for me, but I couldn’t wait any longer—the Mating Flight heat was driving me crazy. With trembling fingers, I positioned him at my entrance, feeling the broad, smooth head press against my slick, swollen flesh.
