Page 24

24

Elle

A z lifted me into his arms and sprinted to the bedroom, that absurd velvet wrap billowing out behind him. He dropped me on the bed, and I bounced, surprising a giggle out of me.

One flick of his claws and he’d slit the sides of my strapless gown, freeing my breasts so he could lick and suck them. A burst of cool air blew across my peaked nipples.

I squirmed against him, my pussy flooding as my fingers dug into the muscles of his back.

Caressing along the side and underside of my breast with a featherlight touch of one claw, he forced my attention back to his hands and mouth. Above us, his wings snapped out, blocking out the light.

Heat and desire coursed through me, drawing a moan from my lips. I rose up to meet every touch.

He ripped off what remained of my slinky dress, then his hands wrapped around my waist, positioning me where he wanted me on the bed. “You look so good draped in my jewels. When I bought this, I imagined watching the garnets glitter and bounce while I fucked you.”

I touched the chain where it sat at the base of my neck, warm against my heated skin. “Won’t it make it harder for you to bite me? ”

His dick pulsed against my hip. “No.” A forked tongue flicked out across my neck, right below my ear. “I’m going to bite you here. Nothing I ever give you will cover that spot.”

I swallowed. The idea made me a little nervous, but he’d promised it would feel good, and my dragon would never want to hurt me. “Okay.” I nudged at his shoulder. “I want to get on top.” I wanted to fuck him, to ride him, to revel in his body the same way he reveled in mine.

He nipped my neck, his sharp teeth sending shivers through me. “Let me fuck you first. Then you can have whatever you want.”

My pussy flooded at his words, but I wanted to show him how much being with him meant to me now, before he bit me. “Let me get on top and ride you for a bit, then you can do whatever you want.”

Az groaned, and his cocks pulsed against my core. “Oh, fuck yes.” It seemed turning his promise back on him was a solid tactic.

He rolled me on top of him. I took a moment to admire the heavy muscles of his chest, the red lightening and transitioning to gold on his pecs, abs, lower. I trailed one finger down his body, and he hissed in a breath, his hand gripping my hip.

A quick yank and his wrap came free, exposing both cocks. They rose proud and thick in front of me. I glanced at his face, where he watched me through his slit-pupiled eyes, then scooched down the bed until my face was above his dicks. Wrapping one hand around his lower cock and one around the upper, I lowered my face until I could lick the tip of one.

He hissed in another sharp breath. “ Arum .”

I sucked him deep, swirling my tongue, lavishing the ridges, knowing he was about to be buried deep inside me. Dicks and teeth, heart and soul .

“Elle, Arum , please. You’re going to make me come, and I can’t bite you if you’re down there.”

“You want to bite me when you come?” I asked, then went back to sucking his cock, giving him no mercy.

“I need”—panting—“to bite you”—more panting—“when I come.”

Heartbeat pounding in my ears, I popped off his cock and straddled him while he watched me through half-lidded eyes. Unsure how I would make this work, I lined his lower cock up with my pussy and rubbed the head against my clit.

He groaned, long and low, his fingers digging into my hips. “ Arum , shouldn’t you warm up a little first?”

Always so worried about hurting me. I ground myself against the tip of one cock while rubbing the other on my clit, basking in the promised pleasure. “I’m already so wet, and I need you.”

Head thrust back on the pillows, he groaned, “Fuck, okay, if you need it.”

“I do.” I wanted to feel him right now, my pussy aching with need, but I slid two fingers inside myself anyway, knowing I’d need a little more prep to take that massive dick.

“Elle.” The points of his claws dug into my thighs.

My gaze shot to his. Hungry golden eyes stared back at me, a second from snapping. “You can’t—” he choked out. “Get up here so I can prepare you.”

I moaned and thrust a third finger inside myself. “I can take you now.” I was sure of it.

“Please, you’re killing me.” His flat face was lined with strain, a thin curl of smoke coming from his nose. “Let me take care of you.”

I let him pull me forward until I was sitting on his face.

Instantly, his tongue was at my entrance, nudging aside my fingers and taking over. That forked tongue sank inside and began to feast while his hands were suddenly everywhere. My clit, my thighs, my labia, my ass. A brief absence, and then they returned, slicked up and at my back hole. When had he grabbed the lube?

“Gonna come on your face so hard.”

“God, fuck, yes.” Hot breath feathered over my most sensitive skin as he cursed. “Show me how good I take care of you.”

With his tongue stuffed in my pussy and two fingers stretching my ass, I detonated, waves of pleasure taking over me.

His wings came up to steady me so I didn’t face-plant into the headboard.

When I regained control of my senses, I squirmed out of Az’s hands and crawled back down his body. I needed him inside me, filling me, stretching me.

The bottle of lube he’d cleverly sat on the bedside table at…some point…was in my hand a second later. I slicked up his lower cock and straddled him again.

His hands came up to steady me as I lined up his cocks with both my entrances.

“Elle. Go slow. Don’t hurt yourself.” He’d always entered me with one dick at a time, out of what I believed was an abundance of caution.

Time to show him that I could take some rough lovin’. “Oh, I’m gonna be fine. Better than fine, don’t you worry about that.” I wiggled down the first inch on each tapered tip, and my thighs threatened to give out at the press and pleasure of his cockheads massaging my inner walls.

Keeping up a steady rhythm on my clit, I worked both cocks inside myself past the head, savoring every second, the slow opening as my body allowed him inside. That first ridge popping in felt like heaven, Az’s hands on my hips the only thing keeping me steady.

He knocked my hand out of the way and started rubbing my clit for me, slicking the way so I could take him deeper and deeper.

“ Arum . Arum . Elle. Fuck.” Every word was its own exhale, while I was beyond them completely. “I’m going to take such good care of you now that you’re mine. I’m going to cover you in jewels and silks.”

“Uh-huh.” That third ridge always dragged across my G-spot perfectly, while the fullness in my back hole pushed every other sensation up to eleven. Every time we did this, I didn’t know how he managed to stuff me so full.

When he was buried inside me to the hilt, I twisted my hips experimentally. My eyes rolled back at the sensation, the overwhelming fullness, sending me to the verge of orgasm. I placed my hands on Az’s wide chest for balance, adjusted my knees, and there —he filled me to the brim, and now I could ride him.

Twisting my hips, I rode him hell-for-leather, harder than he would ever dare to fuck me, my hips pistoning over him as I chased my pleasure.

“I’m going to spoil you fucking rotten please don’t stop.” Az’s words ran together.

His panted breaths, the avid stare, the way he kept me steady with one hand while rolling my clit with the other, all drove me over the edge into oblivion. I shoved down on him, deep, clamping tight on the two huge cocks inside me, trembling and spasming and clenching—so thick—stars exploded behind my eyes.

Hands bracketed my hips, a brief weightlessness, then my back hit the mattress. Az palmed my thighs, pushed my knees to my shoulders so I was exposed to him, and drove into me, hard.

“Everyone will know you chose me because my mark will be on your neck, and you’ll never want to leave because I’ll take such good care of you.” More smoke poured from his nose and mouth.

“Yeah, yes, whatever you want.” I would have given him anything.

Pinpricks in my thighs, Az’s eyes wide and fixed on me. “Whatever I want?” He stopped moving.

I rolled my hips, but he didn’t resume. “Please, I need to come.”

“I can touch you and hold you and fuck you as much as I want?” he asked. “Talk to you every day, and all your nights are mine now?”

“Yes, whatever you want, please just keep fucking me.” Hadn’t I already agreed to all that?

He pulled out, then drove inside me again. His body pressed down on top of me, almost folding me in half, but his weight felt so good, so comforting as he continued to surge in and out of me.

“Yes, please, more.” I was a mindless thing. Everything was him and me and the pleasure we made together.

His flat face pressed into my neck. “ Arum . Mine.” A sharp pain in my neck, then fire radiated out before transforming into blinding pleasure, cascading through me and going on and on.

Az roared in my ear, furiously fucking into me, and I took it, adjusting my hips for more, driving the exhilaration higher and higher. If I’d been in my right mind, I might have been afraid of the intensity, but all I knew was quivering flesh, thrusting cock, and addictive ecstasy. My climax went on and on, leaving me only enough awareness to feel Az’s body shudder above mine. His cocks throbbed and flooded me.

The orgasm could have lasted two minutes or two hours. When I finally returned to awareness, come dripped out of me, and Az had pulled me to him. His body curved around mine, wings wrapped around us both. I reached up a hand to run along his arm, then dropped it weakly .

“So we’re mated now?”

He nuzzled into the spot he’d bitten. “Yes.” Pleasure hummed through the single word.

“I think I’d still like an official human wedding.”

“Mmm, whatever you want, Elle.”

I dozed off a few minutes later.

I woke up with Az’zael’s arms wrapped around me from behind and snuggled deeper.

“If you keep wiggling against me, I’m going to take you again.”

“Mmmm.” I pushed back into his dicks. They were thick and long and definitely awake.

“ Arum .” It was a plea.

I eased away from him. Teasing him was fun, but I was sore. My neck, where he’d bitten me, felt pleasantly warm, like a limb that had been sitting in front of the heater but was slowly cooling back to room temperature.

I reached up to feel the mark. “What’s it look like?”

“Go look.” He shifted his weight off of me and helped me to my feet. In the mirror, I saw…well, not much. Two circular, healed over scars side by side, a few shades lighter than my skin. I traced them with a finger. “It looks like it’s been there for years.”

Az grinned. “I told you. Dragon magic.”

I stared at the marks in the mirror. “You promise you won’t regret it?” At his shocked look, I added, “You settled on me so quickly, I couldn’t wrap my brain around it. I still can’t.”

He wrapped one arm around my hips. “The first time I knew I wanted you, I was flying around the city and overheard some humans arguing. Your kind has always fascinated me, so I eavesdropped and heard a female human defend their friend from another, which I liked very much.”

I snuggled into him. “Oh, I remember that day. I thought that might have been you, but I didn’t think you were close enough to hear us.”

“Dragon hearing is very good. I got closer because I wanted to see you, but you all disappeared when you noticed me. But you, you made sure everyone got inside ahead of you, even the human you’d just yelled at.”

I snorted. “Maya’s a pain in the ass, but she doesn’t deserve to get eaten by a dragon.”

“No, you saved that for yourself,” he said with a grin. “When I went to Norma’s Kitchen the first time, I overheard you arguing in the back with another server because he wanted to give me a barstool and you wanted to see if you could find a more comfortable option. That clenched it for me.”

“You liked me because I…got you a good chair?”

“You showed me kindness without even meeting me, when your first instinct was to run. You stood up for yourself and others. What dragon wouldn’t want that from a mate? Of course I wanted to keep you forever.”

I turned and kissed him slowly and tenderly.

Despite Az’s attempts to get me back into bed, we got dressed. I wanted to leave while everyone was still asleep, but Az wanted to take me down to breakfast.

It took me longer than it should have to realize he wanted to show everyone my new mating mark. “You can’t just trot me out and show me off.” It was exactly what I’d been upset about last night.

“It’s not like that. ”

“Then what’s it like?”

Az frowned. “I want everyone to know how fortunate I am that you chose me.”

It felt like almost the same thing, but also not. Like he was pleased to be with me and not like he was showing everyone that I was with him. The distinction made my heart twinge and ping in my chest.

“Okay, let’s go to breakfast.”

“Wait!” His face lit up. “Your gift.”

“The one with all the papers?” Trepidation spiraled through me. Anything Az wanted to give me involving paperwork was bound to be serious.

“Yep!” He handed me the manila folder.

I thumbed through the papers, my eyes growing wider with every sentence I read. “Is this an apartment building?”

“Yep.”

“You got me a building ?” Not just any building. My old apartment building. I felt faint.

“You told me you needed security, and this should provide some.” He tilted his head, a question on his face. “And you obviously liked something about this building. I’ve already started on repairs, but you can do whatever you want with it.”

I knew how much maintenance it needed. “You’ve already started repairs? And I can do whatever I want?” I could undo all the rent increases. Or turn it into Section Eight housing. A thousand ideas swirled.

I recalled our conversation from a few weeks ago. He’d said security was simple, and I’d asked him not to do anything too crazy. This was the definition of crazy, but also a completely Az thing to do. “Thank you. This is perfect. ”

He beamed, pulling me into his chest, his whole body pressed to me. Goddamn, all he really wanted was to make me happy. If I didn’t pull back, I’d end up fucking him instead of getting breakfast.

I snuggled closer.

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. “You were going to give this to me last night.”

“Yes?” He nosed into my hair, already setting his hands on my bare hips. I hadn’t had time to get dressed between all the surprises he’d dropped on me in the last five minutes.

“Even if I’d left you?” I confirmed. He’d specifically said this might be the last gift he ever gave me.

He ran a hand down my back, as if assuring himself that I was still here. “Of course, Arum . I want you to have whatever you need, even if you aren’t with me.”

“Az, you big softie.” We didn’t make it down to breakfast for a very long time after that.

It turned out, dragons weren’t early risers, on the whole. Someone had set out a handful of breakfast dishes buffet-style in the dining room, but it was obvious that Tika, sitting by herself, was the first one there.

“So last night went well?” Tika said with a grin and a pointed look at my neck.

I ran my fingers over the mark, feeling the miniscule ridges.

Az just grinned.

“Is, uh, everyone going to look?” I asked him.

“Yep.”

“I was hoping you’d have finally figured it out since you left early last night. Can I finally give her my gift now?” Tika nodded to a wrapped package sitting next to her. She seemed completely unfazed by her brothers beating the crap out of each other.

“Sure.” Az shrugged.

I did a double take. That was a complete one-eighty from the last time we’d discussed Tika giving me gifts. Did the mating mark make that much a difference?

It must, because he passed Tika’s gift over to me.

“Thank you.” I carefully unwrapped the gift. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get you anything.”

Tika waved a hand. “I know. Az was being totally unreasonable. You’ll just have to make up for it next time.”

I shot Az a panicked look. He ran a hand down my back.

Inside was a makeup set—eyeshadow, mascara, lipstick, eyeliner, blush. Even a foundation and concealer in my shade. All from a high-end brand I’d seen all over my social media feeds and wanted to try but would have never bought for myself.

“Thank you, Tika. This is really thoughtful.”

“See?” She turned to Az. “You’re not the only good gift-giver in the family.”

“Maybe one day you’ll win a gift exchange with me without cheating,” he said.

The three of us chatted amiably over breakfast. Tika complained about how their parents had spent most of last night asking her about her own plans to claim a city. Az was adamant that she needed a little more experience before she tried.

He seemed a lot more relaxed than last night, though his eyes strayed to my neck regularly, and his arm stayed anchored around the back of my chair.

Halfway through breakfast, Udar entered. He glanced at my neck, glared at Az, then stomped over to the breakfast buffet to make a plate. I couldn’t help but notice his bruises were still healing. He must have been hurt a lot worse than Az—Az’s injuries had already healed over, thanks to what he referred to as “innate dragon magic.”

Udar left, plate piled high, without looking at us again.

So I’d been right. Udar really only cared about taking something Az had, and he’d lost interest now that he knew he couldn’t succeed.

Az didn’t seem to notice him, too deep in conversation with Tika.

I happily stuffed my face. At least the food was good.

A servant interrupted us, carrying a note.

Az carefully unfolded it. “My parents want to see me.” He hugged me close, his nose finding his mark on my neck. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll go with you.” I pushed back my chair.

He grimaced. “You’ve dealt with them enough for one visit.”

So had he. This morning was going too well to let his parents ruin it. “No. I’ll go with you, and we can leave right after.”

In his parents’ private dining room they greeted us both, their eyes immediately finding the mark on my neck.

“Oh, well done, Az’zael,” Rasonu said, her gold scales gleaming in the morning light.

So they did like me. Hard to tell with dragons, but I didn’t care about their opinion nearly as much as I had twenty-four hours ago.

Az tensed beside me. “Is that why you called me in here?”

“No,” grumbled Yvinth. “I thought about what you said last night, about”—his lips pressed together, and it seemed like he had to force the next words out—“not visiting. We’d prefer that you visited more, not less.”

Az stared at him. “You would?”

I pursed my lips. Sometime in the late hours of the night, Az had told me about his fight with his dad, and given how terrible dragons seemed to be at apologies, Yvinth’s words surprised me .

“Of course we would. You’re our child,” his mom said. “Even if you do disappoint us at times.”

Az’s wing wrapped around me, his eyes bouncing between his parents. By now, I knew my dragon well enough to know that he didn’t know how to respond.

I gripped Az’s arm tight in reassurance. Dragons didn’t do subtle, so I’d better make this stick. “That’s a fucked-up thing to say. Figure out how to be nicer to your son, or we won’t come by at all.”

Both of his parents jerked back, eyes wide. His mom recovered first, her slit-pupiled eyes roaming over me, unmistakably pleased. “Do you agree with the human?” She directed this to Az.

Now both of Az’s wings curled around me, like he could glue me to his side with sheer force of will. “My mate can speak for both of us.” He shifted. “But I already told Dad the same thing.”

“Be nice. Hmm.” Rasonu turned to her husband. “It would be a challenge.”

“We haven’t had one of those in a while.” Yvinth rubbed his chin. “We could try it.”

With heroic effort, I refrained from throwing up my hands. It was a victory, of sorts.

“I need to get you out of here,” Az whispered in my ear, already tugging me away. His parents didn’t even notice when he carted me back to the room.

After I’d insisted on his worth to his parents, as he put it when he was ripping my clothes off me, he needed to be inside me.

My body was still sore from last night and this morning, but it was very willing to accommodate him.