Page 130

Draven undid his seat belt and mine, then reached down to the latch that slid the seat back, giving us more room, and hauled me across his lap. His fingers tore at the front of my pants, and he yanked them down my legs. It was cold enough to frost up the windows, but I barely noticed the chilled air as I straddled him and frantically yanked at the front of his jeans. Finally, I got them open, and he lifted his ass so I could pull them down enough to free his thick, impossibly hard cock.

He yanked my panties aside and rubbed his thumb along my slit. “So wet, Iris. Always so wet for me. Because you were made for me, petal. We were made for each other.” He gripped the side of my throat. “Who do you belong to?”

“You,” I choked out.

“Show me,” he said, so rough and full of need that my inner muscles clenched.

I shook as I positioned him at my opening, then with a violent sound, a sound I’d never heard before from him, he jerked me down on his cock as he thrust inside me deep. I cried out, shaking, and started rocking against him instantly. I doubted it was possible to take him any deeper, but I couldn’t get enough. I gripped his neck with one hand and his shoulder with the other and fucked him like my life depended on it as well.

Draven’s fingers dug into my skin, and every time I rose up, he pulled me back down hard, filling me to my limits, giving me exactly what I needed. His hand slid into my hair, and he gripped it and dragged my face close to his, licking and sucking my jaw, my throat, nipping my hot, tingling skin.

He held me more firmly, his mouth against the corner of mine. “I won’t ever let you go, not now, you know that, don’t you, petal?”

The rough possessiveness in his voice thrilled me in a way I never dreamed possible. Having someone claim me in that way wasn’t something I’d ever wanted—I wanted that from Draven. I needed it.

I shook harder, zaps of pleasure shooting through me. “Yes,” I gasped out.

“You won’t ever try and leave me, will you, sweetheart?”

Draven had slowly but surely shattered my walls, and the vulnerability in his words, in his voice, went straight to my defenseless heart. “I won’t leave you,” I promised. Then, hooking his arm around my waist, he brought me down hard again, planting himself deep, and I came, crying, sobbing against his shoulder. He throbbed inside me, his growls filling the cab as he came as well. All I could do was cling to him, rocking as best I could with the tight hold he had on me that somehow increased my pleasure, taking it to even greater heights.

We hung on to one another until I finally collapsed against him, still trembling as he smoothed his hand up and down my back.

I felt as if my world had just changed, and in the last year, it had already changed so much. But for once, it had changed for the better.

Draven was asleep, and I was sitting by the fire in our room, reading over the information Pen had given me. The ticking time bomb on my thigh made it impossible to rest. My mind wouldn’t quiet.

I scanned the computer screen. There had been a cottage on that site a very long time ago, and the place had eventually been torn down after the witch who’d lived there died.

Ortus Cottage.

Why did that sound familiar? There was no information in the files about who the witch was, but the place had leveled after all kinds of unpleasant things happened out there. What those unpleasant things were, it didn’t say.

I opened my laptop, logged into the council’s public files, and typed in the cottage name. Nothing more came up than what Penny had given me. I tried a web search next. Nothing there either.

Ortus. I was sure I’d heard that word before. I typed that in on its own. It was Latin.

Beginning. Dawning. Coming into being. Rising. Birth.

Maybe the witch had been a midwife?

I yawned and glanced at the bed.

Draven was propped up on his pillow, his hands behind his head, biceps bulging. The sheet was low, resting on his hips, and the light from the fire danced over the rigid muscles of his chest and abs. His eyes were open, and he was watching me.

“How long have you been awake?” I asked, my breath catching from just the sight of him like that. Goddess, he was beautiful.

“I haven’t been to sleep.”

I shut the laptop and placed it on the small table by my chair. “So you’ve just been sitting there watching me?”

“Yes, it’s one of my new favorite things to do.”

I walked over and climbed onto the mattress, curling into his side. How had this happened? This level of intimacy? It felt easy, right to seek comfort from him now. Draven immediately welcomed me, pulling me in close, then he kissed me, slow and deep, and somehow sweet at the same time.

When he lifted his head, I smiled. “You know, you really are an excellent kisser. Have I ever told you that?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact,” I said, grinning back.