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In the heat of the moment, I forgot she doesn’t want to conceive.She told me she doesn’t want children, or maybe she doesn’t wantmychildren.

The notion stings.It aggravates the beast who wants her to carry his babies.But I force myself to push down those instincts.I’m too far gone to stop, though.As I hadn’t planned this, I don’t have a potion at hand that will prevent her from conceiving.

Instead, going against every grain of my nature, I make her a promise.“I won’t come inside you.”

“Are you sure?”She sounds uncertain.“You won’t lose control?”

Her trust is important to me.If I make an oath, I’ll keep it, no matter how difficult it is.“Yes, I’m sure, and no, I won’t lose control.”

She relaxes a little, giving me her trust, and the sweetness of that gift takes some of the bitter edge off her refusal to birth my babies.

I move slowly, giving her time to adjust, and when her inner muscles turn soft around me, I don’t hold back any longer.I bounce her in my lap, making her ride my cock while giving her as much as I’m taking.Soon, she’s moving to my rhythm, arching her back and giving me a stunning view of her perfect body.

If anything, the sight makes me harder.Around her, my cock is permanently hard.As long as I’m inside her, it feels as if it’ll stay hard forever.

I nuzzle her temple.“Elsie.”

“I’m close,” she says, locking her arms around my neck and flattening her breasts against my chest.“Again.”

“Come,” I order, watching her face transform with ecstasy as she gives me her pleasure like an obedient mate.

Dragons, I love that look on her.In her moment of abandon, her eyes are hazy and her expression soft and dreamlike.There’s nothing of the reservations and walls she puts up when she’s with me outside of bed.

I bask in the feeling of connectedness as I hold her while she rides out her climax.Shortly after, I find my own.Like I promised, I pull out, painting her breasts and stomach with hot jets of cum.

We rest in each other’s arms, holding one another like lovers but not like mates.And for all my good intentions, I can’t ignore the raging disappointment that’s like a snake nipping at my heels.

Because once again, where the connection is supposed to grow between us, there’s only a cold, gaping void.

Chapter6

Elsie

I’m draped over Aruan’s naked lap with my ankles crossed behind his back while he holds me in a possessive embrace.My skin is flushed with heat, and my inner muscles ache deep inside.His cum covers my breasts and my stomach, making me sticky all over, yet I can’t bring myself to move.Instead, I lean my head on his shoulder and soak up the welcome heat of his body.

I can’t believe how quickly I fell back into his bed.My eagerness should appall me.Where is my self-preservation and control?Every time he touches me, my mind recedes to a distant corner of my being, and my body takes over my actions.Yes, I promised I wouldn’t deny him—not that this strange, unignorable physical attraction makes a shred of resistance possible.However, this time, I took things much further than not resisting him.

He initiated the kiss, but I instigated the rest.I just couldn’t help myself.I simply had to taste him.How can I fight the urge when that switch between my logical mind and my traitorous body is flipped every time he strips naked?He’s built like a gladiator.A girl has to be blind not to appreciate his hard-cut perfection, and he’s not making it easy for me to put up my defenses.He knows exactly how he affects me.

Of course, the sex was hot.I liked what we did.A lot.But even now as he’s holding me in the warmth of his strong arms, coldness bleeds into the gaping hole that rips into my heart.Despite the warm, fuzzy orgasmic afterglow that leaves me lethargic with a delicious feeling of utter relaxation, I can’t ignore the bitter disappointment that reflects inside me.The feeling isn’t my own but my so-called mate’s.

He kisses my neck and untangles himself from me gently.“Shall we get cleaned up?As much as I regret leaving my bed when I have you in it, an important matter is awaiting our attention.”

That matter would be the humans we brought with us.Yes, I understand, but I still don’t like it when he severs our physical contact and gets off the bed.As before, I feel colder and emptier without him.

He offers me a hand and helps me to my feet before leading me to the cleansing room.After draining the water in the pool and letting it auto-clean, he fills it with fresh water that he heats with his mind while testing the temperature by dipping his hand inside.

We’re quiet as he takes care of me by washing my hair and my body.He’s exceptionally gentle.Yet wherever he trails his hands over my skin, no matter how innocent the touch, he rekindles the lust that refuses to abate.If he picks up on the quickening of my breathing and the acceleration of my heartbeat, he doesn’t acknowledge it, so I bite my lip and force myself to ignore the tormenting need already building in my core again.

After washing himself quickly, he pauses for a moment, watching me with a serious light in his mercury-colored eyes.

I swallow as I take in his devastatingly handsome face.I’ll never grow used to how beautiful he is.Every time I see him is like the first time all over.

“What?”I ask after a couple of seconds, his intense stare making me self-conscious.

He sits on the bench and leans against the side.Drops of water roll off his chiseled chest, drawing a stunning picture of pure, unadulterated male virility.

He drags his hands over his wet hair, brushing the dark strands back without breaking our eye contact.“What were you going to do after flying off from here, Elsie?”