Page 11

“Let me see your foot, Little Dove,” Zeno said, his voice full of all the things Harmony felt as though she was lacking at the moment—gentleness and patience, primarily.

“My foot’s totally fine,” Harmony said. She obediently bent down and unfastened her cute shoes enough to slip her feet free anyway. “I haven’t even limped in days.” He was way too overprotective. He hadn’t let her put any weight whatsoever on her foot for three whole days, and even a week after she’d insisted on doing her own walking again, he never went far.

Zeno planted his hands on her hips and hefted her onto the countertop. “I was away for most of today, and rumor has it you finally went shopping. Indulge me.”

She pretended to pout. “Roland’s such a tattletale.” Not that she’d thought for a second he would do anything different. “It was only a couple of stores. I felt a little ill looking at those price tags. I don’t think I’m used to that part yet.”

Zeno chuckled and swept his hands down her leg, cupping her calf as his fingertips teased up the top of her foot. “Yet, hm?” He crouched down, adjusting his grip as he moved.

“What are you even looking for? It can’t still be visible.”

He gently ran his thumb over the pad of her foot. “Signs of infection. You didn’t get proper initial treatment.” He gave her foot a squeeze, lowered her leg, and stood. “You were lucky.”

Harmony smiled. He’d been so worried about her foot and her mental state after everything that she’d felt a little awkward trying to tell him what she’d realized that day in the SRA office. He had probably been right that she needed at least a short amount of time to process the damage. But in a lot of ways, her relationship with her family had been strained at best, so losing it completely wasn’t hard to adjust to. And she was tired of waiting. “Is it better now?”

“It looks much better, yes,” Zeno said, leaning toward her for a kiss.

She leaned up to meet his lips with hers, just a passing brush, and hopped from the counter before he could pin her in place again. She did love the way he took control, the way he touched her and kissed her, but she wanted to tease him just a tiny bit. So she took advantage of his surprise, slipped past him, and darted for the glass partition that led to the balcony.

As always, it was windy out, making the otherwise sturdy structure suddenly feel a little less secure. Her hair whipped immediately across her face and the knee-length skirt of her overpriced dress tangled around her legs.

“Are we playing tag, Little Dove?” Zeno asked, having followed her to stand at the doorway.

Harmony turned to face him, smiling wide. “No. We’re playing catch.” She put her back to the rail and reached behind her, curling her fingers around the cool metal.

“Harmony,” Zeno said cautiously, his amber eyes narrowing. He took a step forward.

“The game is simple,” she said, her smile unwavering. She carefully pulled herself up only so that she was perched on the edge, her grip strong despite the relentless tug of the wind. “You have something I want, I have something you want. So, you will catch me, and in doing so, we’ll both get our something.”

He didn’t look at all reassured. “I would give you anything—”

“Yes. Yet in nearly two weeks, I haven’t once seen the other side of you. How can I possibly tie myself to you for the rest of my life if I don’t even know what you look like half the time?” She let her words linger, waited until his eyes widened with the beginnings of understanding. “Catch,” she said, and threw herself over.

Trust falls were hard. But she doubted anyone at any concert or rave had anything on her and her trust fall from thirty-whatever stories up. Certain death awaited her if she had miscalculated or if her dragon hesitated too long. She knew all of that before she’d put the plan into motion, just as she’d made sure nothing stupid was in her way, like a lower-level balcony or any sort of pole-like protrusion.

There really hadn’t been any planning ahead for the way the wind ripped by too fast and too hard to even breathe, let alone scream. It was intense. Terrifying. For a long second, her gut twisted with the fear that she’d made a mistake.

Her eyes shifted to the side with a blur of dark movement in her descending peripheral vision even as a rush of contradictory heat surrounded her. Something like a cushion of air pushed up at her from below, slowing her gravity-induced plummet, and the next thing she knew she had landed on a solid surface. A solid, almost slick, surface of dark blue accentuated with the deepest black wings and a thick mane of matching ebony just above her. A surface that moved.

Harmony gasped for breath and scrambled to grab hold of the mane, rolling her body enough to straddle the ridge of spine between the wings as she did so. No sooner was she settled, her eyes wide at the cityscape view now beneath her that she hadn’t really thought to imagine, than her fantastical steed veered to the side.

She cried out in surprise but kept hold, tears from the bite of the wind pricking her eyes. Laughter was pulling up from her belly by the time they were lowering again.

Then, with a start, the hair beneath her fingers receded and her dragon practically vanished in favor of a gloriously naked man. They dropped as he twisted in the air, catching her in his arms as he landed squarely on their previously departed balcony.

Harmony drew a deep breath. “That was—”

Zeno pinned her to the glass in a rush of movement, lifting her arms over her head. “Are you trying to kill yourself?”

Right. She had guessed he would probably be upset with her choice of tactic.

Harmony offered him a calm smile. “No.” She stretched her fingers and curled them over his hands as best she could. “I want you, Zeno. I want us . And I wanted to make it clear that I want all of you, not just the human side you usually wear around me.” She licked her wind-chapped lips. “I was hoping to show you—to prove to you—that I trust you. I trust you completely.”

His burning stare dropped down her frame for a lingering second and his Adam’s apple bobbed with a hard swallow. “Harmony,” he said, his voice rough. “You don’t have to do reckless things for that.”

“I know. But every once in a while, something a little reckless might be fun…” She trailed off and used his own strength to hook her legs over his hips, drawing their bodies closer. “Will you let me see more of you, if I ask without jumping from high places?”

Zeno groaned low and bowed his head, dragging his nose the length of her throat. “I’ll take you somewhere it’s safer for me to linger in that form and let you gaze to your heart’s content, if that’s what you want.” He moved her hands into one of his, then reached down and lowered the zipper of her dress. “More importantly, Little Dove, are you sure you want this? I need to hear the words.”

Harmony crossed her ankles over his butt, rocking her clothed center against his freshly risen erection, and sought out his almost glowing eyes. “Am I sure I want you to fuck me so hard I can’t walk again? Or am I sure I want to accept you forever and do that soul-bonding thing you talked about? Because the answer is yes, Zeno Darkhan. I am very sure.” She watched his eyes widen a little, felt his chest heave with a hard breath, and softened her tone as much as she dared. “I love you, Zeno.”

Zeno growled and crushed his lips to hers, releasing her hands in favor of peeling the loosened dress down enough to let her boobs spill free. His tongue pushed into her mouth and he moved one hand to palm a breast while the other dipped lower to reach below and squeeze her ass.

Harmony mewled against him, shoving her fingers into his loose hair and arching into his touch. He kissed her fiercely, his thumb rolling over her nipple as he rocked his length over her. Then all at once he broke the kiss, trailing his lips and tongue across her jaw, and the hand at her chest lowered to join the other beneath her skirt.

“Tell me now while I can think,” he said, his fingers dipping beneath her panties, “where do you want my mark, Little Dove?”

She gasped as he pumped two fingers into her aching core and curled them inside her. “I-I only get one?”

She felt him smirk against her before promptly sucking a hickey into her skin. “Only one that’s permanent .”

Harmony did her best to think through her options. She always loved when Zeno teased her with his teeth, it never mattered where. She also loved when he buried his face in her neck or her hair, or the valley between her boobs. To say nothing for between her legs, of course.

“Harmony,” Zeno said, voice thick and husky. “I need an answer.”

She sucked in a breath, realizing her brain was becoming muddled. “M-my neck,” she said, panting. “Where you like to nuzzle me.”

His chest vibrated with a low hum of approval. “Good girl.” He extended his thumb and rolled it across her clit, and just like that she shuddered in blistering release. Harmony was still gasping for breath when he ripped her panties from her, but instead of letting the shredded material blow away, he turned his head and puffed out a small flame. Incinerating them.

She choked on a laugh. “Did you—really?”

Zeno pushed her skirt up to her waist and leaned in to trail more kisses along her jaw. “You thought I’d let your used panties be found by someone else?”

Harmony rolled her eyes, still laughing, and tugged on his hair until he raised his head for a wet kiss. She felt him pushing at her entrance and rocked her hips in invitation.

Zeno broke the kiss with a possessive growl. “Now, and forever, you are mine .” He dipped his head, and she nearly missed the blurry ripple of skin that indicated a partial shift before his face was out of sight. An instant later he snapped his hips forward, filling her in a single satisfying thrust that had her crying out. Something briefly sharp and intensely warm shot through her at her neck even as she adjusted to his girth, sending searing, almost overwhelming pleasure coursing through her.

Harmony clung to him as her body rode the wave, feeling cognizant and yet not at the same time. She knew only that she was in Zeno’s arms, and she’d never felt so good.

Zeno rocked with her for a moment before dragging out and slamming back into her pussy, his fingers digging into her ass to hold her hips mostly still. She felt his tongue slide up her neck, then down to dip between her breasts, before retreating from her skin. His hips never stopped. Once he started thrusting he became like a man possessed, driving his thick length in and out of her body in deep strokes.

The next orgasm crashed over her without warning and Harmony screamed her ecstasy, his name disappearing into the wind still whipping around them.

Zeno stepped away from the window, turned, and lowered Harmony to her feet. He bent her forward and moved her hands to the railing, purposefully curling her fingers around the metal bars before kicking her feet wide.

The breath rushed from her as she realized his intent, fresh excitement coursing through her. She had her dress on, but her boobs were dangling free and her panties were nonexistent, so the dress was a strange technicality. Although the nearest neighboring skyscraper didn’t actually have a facing view.

Then her brain shut off as Zeno slid his cock over her sopping, exposed pussy before driving himself inside once more. He held her hips in a bruising grip and grunted a curse she barely heard over the wind. “ Fuck , Harmony, you fit me so well. I’m going to fill you up every day until your belly is swollen with our child.”

She had to lower her forehead to the cool metal railing. “Yes, yes, please,” she said on a gasp. She pushed her hips backward as best she could, trying to grind against him. “Zeno!”

He slammed into her one more time and let out a roar, a larger burst of flame filling the air—warming the air—overhead as he finally released inside her.

Harmony followed him over, another shout tearing from her lips.

Their hips rocked together for several long seconds before her knees threatened to buckle. He caught her around the waist, sweeping her up into his arms, and she offered him a tired laugh. “I think I’m ready to go inside now.”

Zeno bent down and kissed her gently. “Then that’s what we’ll do, my dove.”

Harmony let her eyes close as he carried her inside, her head resting on his broad shoulder. The chill from the relentless wind disappeared as soon as they crossed the threshold, though she’d long since stopped paying it any real attention.

Zeno carried her up the stairs, all the way to the bedroom they’d been sharing since the first night he’d brought her to the penthouse, and sat her on the bed. Only then did he peel off her dress. He dropped to his knees and peppered kisses up her legs, his always-trimmed beard occasionally scratching against her skin as he tilted his head for a new angle. His hands kneaded her flesh, squeezing and rubbing as he slowly climbed higher. He deftly avoided her center as he ascended her body, his touch and his kisses prompting her to lie back on the bed.

By the time he swept his tongue over the first nipple, she was breathless again. “Z-Zeno…”

He didn’t linger there, gliding across her skin to deliver the same attention to her other breast before continuing up. He took hold of her arms and stretched them over her head, his tongue lingered over the new mark she hadn’t yet seen at the base of her neck, and she swore her blood caught fire. Then he resumed his path up, nibbled on her earlobe, and finally dropped a light kiss to her nose.

Harmony sucked in a breath. “What…?”

He smiled, his eyes warm with a strange but endearing mix of affection and desire. “Am I not allowed to appreciate my mate’s beauty?”

A strangled laugh escaped her. He’d just had his hands and his lips over nearly every inch of her. There was no hiding her rolls from him. Yet he still managed to say that as if it were an undeniable fact. “You are.” It was a weak response, but her brain was mush.

Zeno leaned down and kissed her properly, pressing his lips to hers before slowly working his tongue into her mouth. The kiss was wet and thorough and despite the hunger she sensed in him, he took his time with her. He never released her hands. When the kiss finally broke, both breathing heavily, he said, “You understand I do not merely want you as my mate, Harmony.”

She blinked at him. “You want to knock me up that bad?”

A devilish smirk lifted his lips. “In fact I do.” He let go of her hands in favor of reaching down to anchor onto her hips and proceeded to rock his pelvis against hers, gliding his renewed erection over her pussy. “Every inch of you, inside and out, will only ever be mine. But to some extent, I will share that claim with our children.” He pushed himself inside her as he spoke, moving slowly enough that her eyes rolled back in her head and her back arched before he was settled.

Harmony panted, her vision bleary but her heart racing. She stretched out a hand, reaching for him.

Zeno lowered himself over her again, rocking slow, driving himself deep in a mostly grinding motion as he crushed her torso up to his. He kissed her, rough and wet, then trailed yet more kisses down her throat on the side he hadn’t yet marked.

Harmony curled her arms around him as best she could, her fingers digging into his skin. “I-I’m already yours,” she said, gasping as she fought for words. “All of me. You have me. You’ll always have me.”

He growled low, nipped at her skin, and pushed up to his elbows to find her gaze again. “And the world will know, regardless of their species. We are mated, and soon you will be my wife.”

What little breath she had rushed from her lungs as his declaration echoed like a church bell in her head. Wife. The wife of Zeno Darkhan.

Harmony moved her hands to grab hold of his face and pull him down for a fierce kiss, causing his rhythm to falter. The harder snap of his hips had her breaking away to choke on a scream and she twisted her fingers in his hair. “Yes! Please, yes!”

Zeno moved his lips to her ear. “Fly with me, then, my dove.” He thrust into her again and ground down, their bodies already tilted at the perfect angle for the motion to add friction to her clit.

She felt him release in a hot burst, deep inside her, and her body chased after him into oblivion. Harmony clung to his shoulders as she shook, tears rolling from her eyes with the intensity of the orgasm and emotion he’d roused in her. It felt so good it almost hurt and she didn’t want it to end. She didn’t ever want it to end.

Zeno wedged his arms beneath her after several seconds, his own breathing ragged, and hauled her up without dislodging her. “I love you, too, Harmony,” he murmured into her hair. “And I swear to you, no matter how the world changes, you will have me. Always.”

She sucked in a breath, managed to curl her arms more thoroughly around his shoulders, and closed her eyes as he started them toward the bathroom. “Always,” she whispered back. “I’ll always be your Little Dove.”