Page 12

–Aspen–

TONIGHT HAD BEEN a lot, from nearly jumping to my death when I thought I fought off a dragon to the thrill of being with Broderick, whether chatting or kissing.

The last half hour or so, however, had been way overboard.

How many twenty-first-century women discovered they not only descended from a powerful medieval Scottish sorcerer but were part of an ancient pact that claimed they were meant for the rival laird of their fated mate?

I guarantee not many.

Nonetheless, I knew what I had to do now to get Broderick’s mind off everything so he could refocus later with a clearer head. I slipped my hand into his and gave him a look he couldn’t mistake.

“Enough talking and thinking for now. Take me to bed.”

“’Tis unwise until we know more,”

he said gruffly, the flare of his dragon eyes telling me his inner beast fought his human half to give me what I wanted. Needed, for that matter, the longer I was around him, and I said as much.

“If we only have one night together, then let’s make it count.”

“’Twill be far more than one night,”

he growled, shaking his head.

“I willnae let him have you.”

“What if you have no choice?”

I wondered, burying my fear, praying he didn’t sense it.

“What if it comes down to your king’s wishes and the safety of your clan?”

“I willnae let him have you,”

he reiterated.

Even as he said it with such bitter vehemence, I knew he worried about his clan almost as much as he did me.

Worried about all the lives under his charge, and he should.

I would think less of him if he didn’t.

He also worried if he took me up on my offer to sleep together, it could somehow put me in harm’s way by disrupting something we didn’t understand, making me even more of a target.

“Not just that,”

he murmured, sensing I was picking up on his concerns.

“If I lie with you, ‘twill verra well make it much more difficult for our dragons to separate, and we may need to for a time if I have to hide you away to keep you safe.”

“While I appreciate your concern, I’m not the type to be hidden away.”

Determined to get our minds off our worries, I shifted close enough that he could feel my heat and pulled his lips down until they were centimeters from mine.

“As you know, I’m more the type to live out in the open and on the edge.”

He inhaled sharply, his breath choppy and his strong body rigid as he struggled to hold back, but I intended to make it a losing battle. Something he realized when I flicked my tongue across the seam of his lips and dusted my fingers over the long, thick length straining against his plaid, causing his pupils to flare.

“The more on the edge, the better,”

I said huskily, smoothly repositioning myself until I sat on his desk atop the king's letter claiming I might be meant for another man, pulled up my skirts just enough, and reeled Broderick closer before he could deny me.

He shook his head, but it was too late. I had already cast him under my spell, and he knew it as I pulled his lips down to mine and gave him no choice but to kiss me. No choice but to wrap his tongue with mine and allow me to slowly but surely seduce him.

“Not here,”

he said, his voice raspy with arousal.

Heat blazed through my veins, and our kisses grew hungrier and desperate.

“Yes, here,”

I gasped against his lips, sliding my hands up under his tunic, loving the rock-hard contours of his hot, chiseled muscles and the smattering of hair on his broad chest. The ache between my thighs burst into a raging fire of sensation, and I wanted more. Needed it. Him. Right now.

“Please,”

I groaned, meeting his eyes ever so briefly between passionate, tongue-tangling kisses. Fortunately, when I did, my vision hazed red with my inner beast, and that was all it took.

All he could take because the next thing I knew, my back was against the cool, hard surface of the desk, and his hand was between my legs, touching where I needed to be touched most right now.

I gasped and arched when he seemed to know what I liked, his dragon eyes flaring with raw lust as he watched me, but not for long because I was more than ready for him.

I fought the orgasm already trying to scream toward the surface, and pulled his lips down to mine, kissing him again as he pushed my skirts higher and settled between my thighs.

While I appreciated how he thought to ease into me due to his substantial girth, I made it clear with a throaty moan of desperation that there was no need because I had never been so ready.

Never felt my flesh throb like this or my core ache so badly.

Understanding and just as desperate based on his tight expression that bordered bliss, he thrust deep and filled me.

I nearly cried out in pleasure but bit my lower lip hard instead, surprised when mini orgasms rolled through me from head to toe.

Having no choice but to ride them out and enjoy every minute of it, I clutched his forearms and swore my eyes rolled back in my head.

“Ye’re bloody beautiful,”

he whispered hoarsely in my ear, peppering soft kisses along my jawline until his mouth hovered over mine, his breath mingling with my breath as if he tried to breathe me in.

Inhale every bit of my pleasure before he gave me even more.

Clearly sensing my orgasms easing, he met my eyes when they drifted open and finally moved, combining deep thrusts with just the right amount of hip movement to whip my waning, more minor climaxes into something I sensed was going to be much bigger.

The more he moved, hitting all the right places, the closer I pulled him, wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around him, relishing the flex of his back muscles beneath my fingers.

Relished his pure strength as he drove into me again and again, our bodies struggling to get closer despite the awkward position until a wave built inside me that felt so intense I raced toward it.

Or was I clawing my way because I couldn’t help but dig my nails into his back as I screamed toward where he was taking me.

When I felt his hesitation about whether to let go inside me, I gave him no choice because I took him with me when I crested hard and muffled a cry against his neck.

“Hell,”

he groaned raggedly, pressing deep and locking up.

He trembled against me, his groan a deep rumble of pleasure as he throbbed deep inside me, filling me with hot liquid heat, only heightening my own enjoyment.

I couldn’t say what happened after that other than we seemed to lose ourselves in the pleasure we’d brought each other and drifted in one another’s arms. It truly felt that way, too, as our hearts slammed, and we struggled to catch our breath. We drowned in each other’s scents because they were uniquely ours. Or should I say our dragons’ because they were right there with us, enjoying our pleasure just as much, relishing what had been kept from them for too long.

Eventually, our mouths found each other’s again, with him still buried inside me, and our kisses stirred him once more before he murmured against my lips.

“Not here. Not this time. And certainly not that fast.”

I offered a small, sultry smile, finally getting what I wanted.

“So you’ll take me to bed now?”

“Aye.”

He met my small smile.

“And I might never let ye leave it.”

“Here’s hoping,”

I murmured before he brushed his lips across mine one last time, helped me up, and readjusted my clothing before his own, seemingly impressed as he eyed me.

“’Tis not a short desk. You did well getting up on it so smoothly, I hardly noticed.”

I winked and gestured at the edge of the desk.

“Like I said, I like to live on the edge.”

He chuckled and shook his head.

“Indeed, you did for had the king’s messenger returned...”

“But he didn’t,”

I said when he trailed off, rather than voice all that may have led to.

“You might have been mindless with desire, but I made sure the door was locked.”

“Without even a chant or the flick of a wrist?”

he exclaimed.

“I’m impressed.”

The corner of his mouth curled up.

“Because ‘tis safe to say you were just as mindless with desire.”

So very true.

“I think we can probably thank my inner dragon for helping my witchy side because I’ve never been able to do that before.”

“’Twas risky indeed, then, had it not worked.”

“I would have stopped if it hadn’t,” I swore.

“Och, lass, now you lie straight to my face.”

He reeled me close again.

“You meant to seduce me to get my mind off my troubles, and it worked.”

Tilting my chin up, he brushed his lips across mine again, clearly wanting to pick up where we’d just left off as much as I did.

“Now you’ve seduced me and wrapped me around your little finger, I would say the damage is done, so allow me to show you what I had hoped to show you hours ago.”

“I’d like that,”

I murmured, surprised by how aroused I was again so fast, considering how amazing he’d already made me feel. Eyeing his desk with appreciation, I offered him a saucy smile.

“Otherwise, I’ll be living on the edge again before you manage to take me anywhere.”

“Oh, I intend to keep ye living on the edge,”

he said softly, intriguing me with the glint of danger in his eyes as he took my hand and led me toward what appeared to be a bookcase until his dragon eyes flared, and the shelf opened.

“These hidden doors can only be opened by MacLeod dragons,”

he said, catching my thoughts as he led me into a pitch-black corridor.

“There are torches, but I would rather you see things as you should have seen them all along.”

I wasn’t sure what he meant until my eyes adjusted, and I saw my surroundings in a way I never had before. My vision didn’t haze red, telling me my dragon eyes had surfaced, but brightened magnificently, allowing me to see textures in a whole new way.

“This is unreal,”

I said softly in case someone could hear us through the walls on either side because we clearly walked through a secret corridor between rooms.

“Just wait.”

He led me down several more corridors until we reached a spiral staircase that went up until we came to another door and stepped back into the room we had dined in earlier.

“Look at that,”

I exclaimed, impressed when what I thought was nothing more than a stone wall was a door. Narrowing my eyes at it, I shook my head.

“There’s no way that was there before, and I didn’t see it.”

“’Twas there,”

he assured, pulling me after him through a Stone Turned Door on the other side.

“but only those of MacLeod blood can see them.”

He squeezed my hand.

“And mayhap even their mates once they start getting close enough.”

“Which means something beyond the obvious changed between us.”

“It does.”

He opened another door at the end of that corridor and gestured that I go through before him.

“But we will deal with the implications and mayhap consequences of that later.”

I knew he referred to what it might mean in regards to what we had learned tonight about me being destined for his rival and meant to say something, but the words escaped me when I stepped through the door and saw where he’d led me.

Someplace wondrous that more than suited my Live On The Edge mentality.