Page 68 of Dragon’s Rebel

Chapter 30

Thorne staggered back toward the bed, still holding Rebel against him. It was entirely possible he was never going to let her go.

Not even if Vyrkos rose out of his tomb right now.

He lay down on his back, pulling her on top of him, still inside her. Joined. Where they belonged.

The gold was still humming, energizing and soothing him at the same time, making the middle of his chest vibrate with heat.

He’d never felt anything like that before. Her and him and the gold, all part of the same song. It was breathtaking.

Unable to stand any space between them, he began kissing every part of her he could reach, worshiping her body. Rebel practically started purring.

“Mmm, nice,” she said, her voice slurred as if she were drunk. Drunk on mating.

“I don’t know why princesses always wanted to be rescued from dragons. If they knew it was like this, they would have stayed forever.”

Thorne went still, his lips against her shoulder. “Would they?” he asked softly. “Would you?”

He expected her to go prickly and pull away, but Rebel slid her fingers into his hair, caressing it. She was silent for a long moment. He could sense thoughts churning in her brain, and wished desperately he could still hear them.

Finally she asked softly, “Do you really want to be my mate? I mean, my mate. Not because I’m one of the Three Destined Mates, or because you need someone to help you keep it together while you’re dragon’s gone. But just… because.”

The question knocked him sideways, a dozen thoughts crowding in his mind at once. Rebel. Herself. The curve of her face. What her hair felt like, threading between his fingers. Sweeping over his skin right now as she moved her head, soft and silky.

What her skin felt like against his. She wasn’t a dragon, and yet she felt so warm when he touched her. He wanted to caress her bare skin forever, cover it with his, make her moan and purr and scream in pleasure.

He wanted to bury himself deep inside her, and see if she was the one thing that could fill the hole inside him.

Not the hole that his dragon had left. But the hole that had never quite been filled by gold, or by taking over his father’s mission, or befriending Zane and helping him over the grief of losing his family.

But those things were still about him, he realized suddenly. What he wanted and needed.

Not about what he could give to her.

Why should she want to be with him, when he was still only thinking of himself?

She always thought of other people. Tempest. Him, when he lost his human side, and then again when he lost his dragon.

The people who would die if Vyrkos rose.

He wasn’t exactly a bargain. He was grumpy, and intense, and he wasn’t really good at having fun—although Rebel seemed to have fun bowling.

He’d thought his only assets were that he was good-looking by human standards, he could give her orgasms, and he had lots of gold.

But maybe she didn’t need all that. Maybe what she really needed was his honesty. Something real and true.

“I do want it,” he said finally, pushing the words out because they didn’t want to come.

He stroked her cheek. “You’re so beautiful. So strong. Your eyes are like mossy pools of water, dark and mysterious.”

That made her smile.

He paused, then made himself go on. “You make me feel things. Thing I’ve never felt before.”

She gave another small smile, but this one looked sad, somehow. “I didn’t think you wanted that. To feel things.”

Honesty. “I’m not sure I do, always,” he said. “I’ve spent a long time trying not to feel things. But when I’m with you, I want to feel everything.”