Page 13 of Not an Assistant (Tales of the Dreggageggon #4)

The Bond Sealed

A cheron

She shifted.

My mate, my soft, terrified, hidden omega, shifted. And she did so beautifully. Gods help anyone who stands against her now.

I’ve seen war. I’ve burned kingdoms. But I have never seen anything more beautiful than Zahara rising from the ashes with pink scales and spread wings, power pouring off her in waves, her dragon glorious and real.

She defended herself beautifully and even though I wish she had never been placed in this situation, I couldn’t be prouder of her.

My mate.

Mine.

So very fucking mine.

We don’t go home right away. She’s too raw and vulnerable. The first shift is like rebirth ... and rebirth demands blood, fire, and rest, away from the world.

I carry her from the warehouse to the secure high-rise I keep for emergencies. No staff. No interference. Just us. Just her.

She sleeps for hours in my bed, curled around the last remnants of smoke that cling to her frame and deepen her scent, her body tangled in silk and the echoes of power.

I watch her the entire time. Not just as a lover. Not just as a mate. But as a dragon and the king of his empire admiring his queen. And as a dragon whose future just changed forever.

When she stirs, she’s soft again. The Zaraha I met that first time with nerves shimmering underneath her skin. Blinking up at me with green eyes and uncertainty.

I lean over her, my hand sliding up her thigh beneath the sheets. “You came back to me.”

She nods, throat working. “I think I was always coming back to you.”

Gods, she doesn’t know what that does to me. The bond between us pulses, but it’s not finished. Not yet. There’s still one thing missing. She hasn’t marked me. Her dragon hasn’t returned the claim. And until she does, I’ll never truly be hers.

I push the sheets off her body and devour her with my hungry gaze. She’s already bare, warm from sleep and radiant in the morning light. I drag my hand slowly down her side, watching her eyes flutter closed.

“I want you to finish it,” I whisper.

She swallows. “The bond?”

I nod, licking my lips as I run my finger along the seam of her wet pussy.

“You mean...” She trails off, but her eyes are glowing pink now. Her dragon is right there, ready to do what I know we both want.

“Yes,” I rasp. “I want you to mark me.”

I’ve never submitted to anyone. Never offered myself like this. But I do now. I tip my head back, exposing my throat. My scent gland pulses under my skin.

“I’m yours,” I say, voice shaking.

She rises onto her knees, straddling me, her hands sliding up my chest.

“Are you sure?” she asks, almost reverent.

“I’ve never been surer of anything.”

Then her mouth is on my neck as she lowers her pussy onto my erection, impaling herself. My dragon purrs like a fucking cat begging her to do it. Her tongue flicks against my skin and her breath hitches, before her teeth break the skin.

And the bond explodes.

I roar, my voice mixing with that of my dragon. This isn’t just pleasure, it is completion. My dragon crashes through me, shimmering under my skin, wanting to be near her. My soul wraps around hers like flame around silk.

She’s not just mine anymore. I am hers.

Forever.

She rides my cock with a cry that sounds like wind and wildfire.

I grip her hips and let her take what she needs.

Let her own me and claim me like I have been wanting since I first scented her.

She rides me like the goddess she is, power rolling off her in waves.

Every moan, every thrust, every pulse of her inner muscles seals the bond tighter.

My knot forms and she welcomes it. And when I lock inside her and spill everything I am, she arches like she’s flying, her nails raking down my torso as she sobs my name into my mouth.

We collapse in a tangled heap, still joined, Marked. Bonded. Forever.

After a long silence, she whispers, “So what now?”

I run my hand through her hair, and smile against her skin.

“Now the world learns who you are.”

She blinks up at me. “And who is that?”

I grin. “My mate. My equal. My queen.”