Page 8

Chapter 8

L ater that night, exactly as he had promised, Dohal took her hand under the stars and a shimmer of magic passed over him. The more human guise he’d been wearing the last several days morphed into something that was closer to a cross between man and dragon—his towering wings unfurled behind him and his feet curled into thick claws.

“I have been experimenting with different combinations of my forms. What do you think of this one?”

She studied him with a smile, realizing that she’d missed the wings when they’d been gone. “I like it. I think it suits you.”

“Then it will be the one I use from now on,” he said in a pleasant rumble.

She realized he’d enjoyed her opinion on his appearance as he led her away from the pool house along one of the winding paths through the compound.

“Where are we going?” she asked, after a few minutes of walking.

“I have made a haven for you away from the more traveled areas. I had the sense the other day that you might like a space of your own with a little more privacy sometimes.”

She glanced his way, though she couldn’t see much of his expression in the darkness. “That was incredibly thoughtful. It does get a little loud for me at the main house sometimes, even at the pool house.”

“Right now, the wards are keyed to allow any of the four of us in along with you, but you could change that if you chose. Above everything else, they will respond to your will.” He paused to scoop her up in his arms and turned off the path.

Mari felt the tingling of Dohal’s magic brushing over her as he stepped through the wards and into a space that looked like a fairy wonderland, lush with greenery that did not belong in this climate and lit with gently glowing orbs. The air smelled faintly of sagebrush after a rain. How exactly he knew it was her favorite scent in the world, she’d never know. He’d certainly never asked.

She had to swallow before she could speak, “It’s lovely.”

“I’m glad you approve.” He moved toward the center of the space, where a very large, raised platform dominated, and set her down on it. The material was soft and plush, though it blended in perfectly with the landscape around it.

“Is this a bed?” She laughed with delight. “It’s as big as a house.”

“You might have noticed that I am rather too large for even the bed in the pool house. This one will hold me even in my shifted form, though in that case there would only be room for you and I.”

She looked around again. The raised bed was easily twenty-five feet across. “You’re that big?”

He grinned, all sharp teeth and pride. “Yes.”

“Wow.” She didn’t bother to keep the awe from her voice.

“It is rather taxing to shift, so I will not show you now because I have other things I’d rather do with my energy.” He let his eyes sweep over her, heat gradually overtaking his hooded gaze. “If you still would like me to service you, that is.”

“I would very much like that,” she said, as she unbelted her robe and let it slide from her shoulders.

With a slow sweep of his covetous gaze, he looked her over. She let her thighs fall open to give him a better view of her.

“I’m desperate for you and aching with emptiness, just like you wanted,” she said, her voice low. She trailed a hand up her body to toy with one of her nipple rings.

He bit his lower lip with one fang and unwound his skirt before letting it fall. His body was the most glorious work of art, chiseled of obsidian and glowing with power. With a predator’s grace, he prowled onto the platform.

She scooted back on the immense bed, enjoying that her heart beat faster with the sensation of being hunted by him. He reached out to snag her ankle with one huge hand and pulled her toward him effortlessly.

She squealed in surprise, kicking out against him on instinct, but he was much too strong. He brought her closer to him with a powerful tug and then lowered the length of his body over top of her, resting easily with his forearms on either side of her.

Mari was already panting for breath, and he’d hardly touched her. He dropped his head to kiss one collarbone and then the other, his lips scorching against her skin. She needed him so badly that she tried to stifle a whimper and failed.

“Aching, indeed.” He dragged one claw down along the side of her neck, and her hips rocked toward him. “I feel how desperately you want to be filled.” He licked from the hollow of her throat up to her chin. “And do you still want me to use you exactly as I crave?”

“Yes,” she said in a hoarse whisper.

His magic stroked her skin in tempting trails. “What I crave is the taste of you on my tongue, warm and wet for me.”

Mari groaned and arched up into him. “Then taste me.”

Moving down her body slowly, his searing mouth pressed kisses into her chest, pausing to suckle briefly at each nipple until she moaned, and then down to her stomach. He hooked his arms under her knees and spread her wide as he positioned himself between her thighs.

He showed her a steamy smile and then dropped his head to bite her hip. The prick of his teeth was like a spark that moved through her, making her gasp. Holding her breath, she watched as his long, flexible tongue emerged to dance over her skin. It was forked at the tip, like a lizard’s. She had no idea what it would feel like inside her, but she couldn’t wait to find out.

Unfortunately, now that he had her at his mercy, he didn’t seem in a hurry. He kissed across her stomach to her navel and let his tongue out to savor her again.

She exhaled a long, shaking breath. “You’re going to kill me.”

He let his tongue play around the edges of her belly button, his expression pleased. “I’m going to enjoy watching you come apart under me over and over again.” He pressed a warm kiss to her belly. “Then, when you are exhausted and pliant, I’m going to breed you until the sun rises.”

She couldn’t suppress the shiver that overtook her.

He shifted his grip to hold the backs of her thighs as he slid lower, holding her wide open, then paused to meet her eyes with a fanged smile. “How long should I make you wait for it?” He was so strong that she couldn’t even squirm.

“Please.” The word fell from her lips with shameless ease. “I need your mouth on me.”

“I can deny you nothing, bavi.” He dipped his head and slid back, dragging his tongue over her skin the whole way down. Murmuring with approval, he let his tongue dance over her seam until her thighs quaked. Then, when she was on the point of begging again, he pressed a searing kiss over her clit. She cried out at the perfect heat of it and had no time to recover before he swirled his devilish tongue around the aching nub.

She couldn’t help trying to rock her hips toward him to intensify the sensation, but he held her fast. When he felt her strain under him, he chuckled into her, his breath hot over her exposed, damp skin.

He suckled at her clit until she keened with the rising arousal, her magic racing along her nerves and out into him. His eyes fell closed in bliss. She realized, distantly, that he was feeding from her. He stoked her magic with his clever mouth and then drew it from her as it ignited.

Somehow, the idea that he sustained himself while pleasuring her made being ravaged by him so much hotter. She cried out when her body tensed as an orgasm barreled through her, completely unexpected and beyond her control.

His unrelenting mouth didn’t even pause. He held her open and exposed and drove her right from the tail end of one climax into another without letting her come down for an instant.

The second time she came, she shouted his name to the heavens as she reached over her head to grip the bed. Still, he didn’t slow or give her a moment’s reprieve.

The third time, she shrieked as her back arched, her desperately empty cunt contracting around nothing.

The fourth time, she sobbed, utterly undone by him.

Finally, it seemed he might have had his fill. He subsided into long licks over her pulsing clit. Her piercing throbbed with every touch of his tongue. She was so oversensitive that the lightest touch made her shudder, and he was none too gentle as he feasted on her.

Tightening his grip on her thighs, he lifted her hips and delved into her cunt with his long and flexible tongue. Helpless moans tumbled from her as he savored her.

He found her g-spot with the tip of his wicked tongue and flicked over it until she clenched around him, and then withdrew with a satisfied slurp, leaving her aching for more.

“You are the most delicious morsel.” He swiped his tongue over his decadent lips. His lascivious gaze moved over her slowly, as if memorizing her every detail. “Now, do you remember what I said was next?”

She did, and she needed it so badly she was shaking.

He manhandled her boneless body, turning her over so that her cheek pressed into the lush greenery of the bed under her.

“Please,” she groaned as she lifted her hips, hoping to entice him.

“You offer yourself to me so sweetly.” His claws skated over the curves of her ass. “Tell me what you want.”

Her breath caught, drawing her arousal tight. He knew exactly what she craved, but he would make her ask for it to prove his control over her. “Fuck me with every inch of that incredible cock.”

“As my insatiable mate commands.” Hoisting her backside with careless ease, he notched himself at her entrance. Pressed to her, he was every bit as hot and huge as she remembered. She shivered as she recalled the last time he had taken her, and how it had absolutely ruined her.

Even as drenched as she was, the fit was excruciating as he breached her. She panted for breath as her cunt stretched around him. With gentle patience, he backed out all the way and entered her a few more times, pushing slightly deeper with each stroke. Curling her fingers into the bed, she mumbled incoherently and hoped that he understood that she needed more, even as she shook under him. She was a writhing pile of desire and could do nothing to sate herself.

He paused to massage her clit until she tightened around him and then relaxed. “Oh, my delectable little rabbit, I’ll give you every bit of what you crave until you are overflowing with my seed.”

Gripping the back of her neck with one clawed hand, he slid his knees out, spreading her thighs wide where they rested over his. She was pinned by his huge body and completely at his mercy. There wasn’t a thing she could do to resist him, and that made her nerves tingle with anticipation.

She whimpered when he pressed forward again, overcome by the simultaneous pain and pleasure of the stretch. He fucked her with a few shallow thrusts and then pushed hard, making her splutter and gasp as she dug into the bed with her nails.

“Those are my crests that you enjoyed teasing earlier.” He kissed her back a handful of times as she quaked under him. “They swell and become more sensitive as I get more aroused.”

He pulled back and advanced again so that she could feel the crests moving in and out of her. She groaned at the added sensation against the walls of her already stretched cunt. “Please, Dohal,” she panted. “I need all of you.”

“I will always give you what you need.” He plunged deeper, making her gasp. “Especially when what you desire feels so exquisite.”

Her thighs trembled as he began slow strokes that seemed to go on forever. Her magic built and tumbled free, crashing into him as he drove into her. She moaned into the bed, fingers clenched in the greenery, her nerves singing with pleasure that she couldn’t contain or control.

“Yes, my perfect mate. Let me feel your luscious cunt squeezing me.”

She could no more resist his command than she could hold back the tide. Her body clenched obediently around his cock as another orgasm roared through her. She let out a long, keening wail that echoed in this space he had made just for her. He growled as he pushed into the resistance of her tensing muscles, forcing her to part for him.

“Remember when I told you every inch of your body was mine?” He leaned over her, resting his hands on either side of her head as his hips jerked with more force. “Mine to pleasure. Mine to plunder. Mine to breed.”

The shadowy tendrils of his magic wrapped around her, repositioning her under him as he fucked her, so that her hips opened more and the angle was steeper. When she was arranged to his liking he pushed deep again until the wider area swollen by the crests at his base teased against her opening.

She moaned when he rocked against her, the stretch causing so much pain and pleasure at the same time that it threatened to short her out.

“Can you take it all, little rabbit, or should we stop here?”

For an answer, she curled her fingers into the bed and lifted her hips a fraction, increasing the pressure. “You promised me everything.”

The shadows tightened around her thighs and held her wide for him as he pressed forward into her. The tension grew until it was too much—far too much—and somehow felt exactly right at the same time. She had been born to take him just like this, hard and relentless as an avalanche. Her vision grew blurry with tears. Then, suddenly, her body relaxed completely, and he surged forward, coming to rest against her with a soul-deep groan. A needy whine fell from her lips.

His chuckle was warm and appreciative as he nuzzled into the back of her neck. “You are astounding.”

He let her calm before he reached one arm around her waist, his hand sliding down between her legs to rub her clit. She couldn’t move at all with his magic holding her in place for him, and when her hips tried to roll with the expert touch of his fingers, she only managed to writhe along his cock in a way that took her breath away.

Dohal murmured into the back of her neck as she milked his cock. “You feel so good. Like home.”

He started to move with gradual strokes that drove every thought from her head but the pursuit of the pleasure he’d awakened in her.

She needed more. She needed everything. She begged him with a wordless cry, hoping he knew what she craved.

“I’ll fill you to bursting,” he panted against her neck as he picked up speed. “Then I’ll do it again. And again. And again. Until you are dripping with me.”

He was every filthy fantasy she’d ever had come true. And she couldn’t take another second of the deliciously agonizing friction of his cock inside her. She came undone around him again, the pleasure sharper now that he was all the way inside her and stretching her to her limit. Her voice broke on a scream that shook the trees around the clearing like a windstorm. The magic surged, crashing into the shadows that held her and rebounding back, electrifying every nerve. Her power kept building, unable to escape.

Murmuring against her neck in his native tongue, he fucked her through her orgasm with long, frantic thrusts. Her muscles shuddered around him as he drove in to the hilt over and over. He lifted his head and roared to the heavens when his climax finally overtook him.

His hips continued to move sluggishly for the next few minutes as he throbbed inside her, pumping her full of his seed. Her body trembled under him, filled to the brim with the magic that sparked through her. She felt every advancing and retreating inch of him, every crest, every vein. He overloaded every one of her senses until all she could feel was him, everywhere.

He leaned down and bit the base of her neck, his fangs sinking deep. The pain lanced through her but eased at once as his healing magic poured into her. The mark tingled, setting into her skin.

The goddess crooned inside her, so pleased that he had claimed her with his cock and then with his teeth. There was only one more thing she needed. One more thing she craved.

Yes, Mari answered without hesitation. It was the smallest gift she could give him, and she would give it gladly. She gave herself over to him completely, opening herself to him.

He waited until her breathing returned to normal before he withdrew, his cock still hard and heavy. She whimpered in protest until he rolled her onto her back and stared down at her with a look that should have burnt her to cinders. He reached between her legs, gathered the cum that had spilled out, and pushed it back into her with two thick fingers.

Her toes curled as she clenched again. If she hadn’t already relented to the goddess’s wishes, she would have now. His deepest desire was so obvious, so naked in his gaze, that she would never deny him.

He watched her quietly as she writhed under him. Even after everything, she was still so desperate for him that she burned .

Without a word, he pushed her knees wide and buried himself in her again on a languorous glide that made her back arch. This time he slid in all the way to his thickest crests easily, rumbling with satisfaction when he socketed himself against her and her thighs cradled him.

She mewled as he started to fuck her slowly once again, reaching for him to pull him closer. She had no idea how she would survive the unrelenting pleasure of his passion even once more, never mind for the hours he’d promised, but she needed it nonetheless. He drew the magic from her in long gulps every time he plunged into her, the runes under his skin glowing brighter each time he did until the entire grove was bathed in his reddish light.

“My perfect, insatiable mate,” he purred into her skin as he leaned over her, bracing one hand on either side of her pliant form as his shadows wrapped her body again.

His touch whispered along every inch of her body at once as he loomed over her. “You have no idea how much I adore you.” All she could do was moan in response. “How much I crave you.”

She stared up into his cosmic gaze as he took what he needed from her, offering all of herself up to satisfy his endless desire. Gasping cries fell from her lips as she came unraveled again. He drank her overflowing magic down, growling as he claimed her open mouth.

His cock throbbed inside of her as he emptied into her again but he still didn’t pause, as if the most feral part of him had taken over and wouldn’t give way. His rumbling sounds of pleasure filled the grove along with the wet slapping of the relentless drive of his hips. Hot, viscous fluid leaked from her after he had filled every crevice of her, pooling under her.

She couldn’t move as he possessed her completely, from where his claws delicately pressed into her throat without breaking the skin, to where he pounded into her. Eventually, her voice broke, and she subsided into whimpers that he licked from her mouth with ravenous snarls.

Much later, he came to a rest over her, pressing gentle kisses to her swollen lips. She groaned wordlessly when he finally withdrew his softening cock. She ached everywhere, so deeply she didn’t understand how it was possible. Even though his shadows had retreated, she still couldn’t move. Every drop of her magic was gone, sucked into his endless hunger for her.

Dohal traced his hands over her body as if memorizing every inch of her. His fingers delved between her legs, purring softly to her as he fondled her with the lightest touch. Though she was sore, her body responded to him, warming again.

Without her magic, she felt raw and exposed as he touched her so intimately, so sweetly. He didn’t try to build her up again, just enjoyed his exploration of her body for several minutes as she lay unmoving under him.

She watched his quiet reverence, contentment blooming inside her. He’d given her exactly what she’d asked for, and she’d provided everything he’d craved—knowing she’d satisfied him so well elated her despite her exhaustion. Once he was done with his slow worship of her body, he settled over her, staring into her eyes.

“You have given me more than I ever thought possible in the span of a few weeks. You’ll never know how much every moment of this time with you has meant to me. No matter what our future holds, know that you are the most precious thing to me in all the realms.”

His words had the sound of a farewell, and it made her chest ache. She made a noise of protest that emerged from her abused throat in a croak, because while he’d said he’d chosen to live for her, there was a finality to the way he felt in this moment, as if he’d come to a decision.

Mari didn’t understand how she knew, only that she did. When the moment came, he would surrender himself if it meant she would live.

“Shh, my little mate,” he crooned as he wrapped himself around her, pulling her against his warm body and enveloping her in his wings. “Be easy.”

Crying silently, she settled against him. His affection for her surrounded her on every side, certain as the cosmos, but no less doomed for that.