Page 229

I’d already made her come three times with my mouth and my hands. Every time she cried out my name, my dragon roared. My fucking teeth hurt with the desire to claim her.

“Need you,” she begged again. “Steph, please, no moreteasing.”

“Not teasing,” I growled. My voice was half my dragon’s. My fangs had dropped, and I could feel the gold burning in my eyes.

Any other woman would’ve been terrified, but Harley looked up at me with nothing but wild-eyed desire, as if she were a dragon herself.

My powerful, beautifulmate.

My dragon roared again.Claim her!

I ignored him and covered her body with my own, forearms braced on either side of her face, and gazed down at her as I slowly pressed my cock inside.

She cried out and wrapped her arms around my shoulders and her legs around my waist, digging her heels into my back like she needed to be even closer to me. I growled as her perfect velvety heat encased me. It was a perfect fit. I slid all the way inside her, and my teeth throbbed with pain. Ineededto claim her, but I couldn’t. I growled in desperation. Instead of surging down for a kiss, I pressed my face into the pillow right next to her face and ripped the fabric open with my teeth. Once I had my fangs buried insomething, even if it wasn’t Harley’s perfect neck, I was able to start moving.

She cried out again, gasping with each rock of my hips. I lost myself in the sensation. Heat. Pleasure. The scent of her skin, her sweat, the sounds that spilled from her mouth. As good as it felt, I couldn’t completely lose myself—I couldn’t lose control.

I held her close, savoring the press of her fingertips into my shoulders as I thrust into her over and over. She gasped my name, her voice pitching higher as she got closer to yet another orgasm, and this time, I approached my release, too.

She threw her head back and came, pulling me impossibly closer, her perfect body squeezing me so tight. I tumbled over the edge, coming so hard my vision went blurry. It was so intense it was almost painful.

There was no relief in it. It felt good, but half-ruined. My teeth burned with pain, and I knew the only thing that would soothe the ache was claiming her. After my orgasm, the need to claim her was only more intense.

“Steph.” Harley slid her hands up my back, then one fell to my nape, and she pulled gently to kiss me.

I groaned, then resisted her touch. It took all my effort, but I pulled away. I climbed off the bed on shaky legs and raked both hands through my hair.

“Steph?” There was more concern in her voice. “Is everything okay?”

I took a deep, steadying breath, then turned around. I knelt next to the bed, knees on the hardwood, so I was at eye level with her. She was so beautiful like this, flushed, propped up on one elbow with her chestnut hair falling in waves over her sloping shoulders. “I’m sorry,” I said. My fangs were still dropped. “I can’t—my dragon wants it too much.”

“What can I do?” she asked. “Let me help, Steph, please.”

My dragon growled again, still burning with desire. Our mate was so perfect, so thoughtful. She wanted to help, even when we were half-mad with our fangs out.

“You can’t,” I said with a small smile. “But it’s not your fault.”

“And it’s not forever.” She brushed the tips of her fingers over my forehead, down the bridge of my nose, and over my lips. “Your dragon will get what he wants soon.”

A growl rumbled out of me, and I kissed the pads of her fingers. My lips parted, and she gently ran one finger over my fangs. The contact was electric and throbbed through my whole body like desire, but different. Deeper. Stranger. At the same time, it soothed the desperation. It still hurt, but my dragon was no longer desperate to claim her.

“That helps?” she asked gently as she withdrew her hand.

My fangs retracted slowly, like my dragon was reluctant to back off. “I need to end this thing with Sean. I need this to be over.”

“I feel the same way,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. None of this is your fault. I should be apologizing to you, Harley.”

She hummed. It was a pretty, musical sound. “I don’t like seeing you hurting, but I don’t mind seeing your dragon up close like that.”

“I need to let him out. Gotta shift and release some of this…” I waved a hand over myself.

“Go.” She pulled me closer for a kiss, and this time, I was able to return it without fearing that I’d lose control and claim her. “Just come back soon, okay?”

I nodded. God, I loved her. She understood. Even though she wasn’t a dragon, she knew what I needed right now and didn’t judge me.

I stepped out of the bedroom and into the empty house, still bare as the day I was born, then made my way out onto the back deck. The moonlight shone down on the still lake, and the air was crisp and clear around me. I took a deep, steadying breath, rolled my shoulders, then let my dragon surge to the surface.