Page 24 of Red Fury (The Dragon Tributes #8)

S hadow

The Uber ride back to the hotel passes in complete silence.

Fury sits on the opposite side of the backseat, as far from me as the confined space allows. We’re not touching, not talking, not even looking at each other.

But I can feel him. Every breath he takes, every subtle shift of his body. The heat radiating from him. The tension coiled in his muscles. All of it.

My dragon is practically vibrating beneath my skin with anticipation. My mind is racing.

The city lights blur past the window, but I’m not seeing them. All I can think about is the way his mouth felt on mine, the hunger in his kiss, the possessive growl in his voice when he said he was going to be the one to take me.

And I agreed.

I left with him.

What the hell am I doing?

The question loops through my mind on repeat as the Uber driver navigates the late-night traffic.

This is insane. We can’t do this. There are a million reasons why it’s a bad idea and not very many as to why we should.

I mean, we’re supposed to be enemies. Sort of. We work together. Sort of.

But then I remember the way jealousy had clawed at my insides watching Bella drape herself all over him. The way my dragon had snarled when that human put her hands on Fury.

I hated it…my dragon hated it.

The hotel entrance comes into view far too quickly. We’re here already.

No!

Shit!

My pulse is racing, and my hands feel a little clammy.

“We’ll get out here,” Fury says, the first words either of us has spoken since leaving the club.

The Uber driver stops at the curb, and we climb out in continued silence. I smooth down my dress, trying to look composed, even though I don’t feel it one bit.

We walk through the lobby toward the elevators. The space is mostly empty at this hour, just a few late-night guests and staff moving quietly through the corridors.

I’m going to tell him I’ve changed my mind. That this is a mistake. That we should go to our separate rooms and pretend none of this ever happened.

But when Fury presses the elevator button and turns to look at me, the words die in my throat. His eyes are dark with want, his jaw tight with barely controlled hunger.

It doesn’t matter.

We still can’t do this.

It doesn’t matter what we want. There is a bigger picture at stake.

The elevator doors slide open, and we step inside. Fury hits the button for our floor, and suddenly we’re enclosed in the small space together.

I can smell him…pure male.

“Stop overthinking it,” he says without looking at me, his voice rough. “We’re going to do this. You want it. I do too. We fuck and then we move on.”

The blunt words send heat shooting through me, but they also make panic flutter in my chest.

“Fury, I don’t think this is a good idea,” I start to say. “We’re both on edge; we’re not thinking clearly—”

“I’m thinking clearly. Shadow. We need to get this out of our systems. We’re both wound tight. Then we’re going to have a serious talk about what each of us knows and get back on the same page.”

The elevator dings, and the doors slide open on our floor.

“Your room or mine?” he asks, stepping out into the hallway.

I follow him. “Yours, but—”

“No buts,” he cuts me off, striding toward his door with purpose. “This is a onetime deal. Tell me you don’t want me, and I’ll let you go. Say the words.”

I can’t, so I bite my lip instead.

“That’s what I thought. We can be professional afterward.” He pulls out his keycard, glancing back at me with those burning blue eyes. “You have me tied up in knots. I can’t think straight, and I’m guessing you can’t either.”

He’s right, and I hate that he’s right. Every rational thought in my head is being drowned out by the desperate ache between my legs.

I nod once.

“We have unresolved business,” he continues, swiping his card and pushing open the door. “And we’re finishing it tonight.”

I follow him inside, my heart pounding as the door closes behind us with an audible click. The space suddenly feels charged, electric with possibility.

I swallow thickly and lick my lips. “Just so we’re clear,” I say, turning to face him, “there will be no repeats after tonight. This is it. This is very much a onetime deal. There are no emotions involved at all.”

“Agreed,” he says, his eyes never leaving mine. He shrugs. “This has nothing to do with emotions. As I said before, we can fuck and keep it professional afterwards.”

“Of course.” I sigh because I might be agreeing, but I don’t have to like it.

Maybe he’s right. Maybe this is exactly what we both need. I’m attracted to him – that much is undeniable.

The moment that decision settles in my mind, something snaps between us.

We’re on each other before I can take another breath.

I launch myself at him, and Fury’s mouth crashes down on mine with bruising force. My hands grab at his shirt, pulling him closer as his tongue sweeps inside my mouth. The kiss is wild, hungry, all teeth and tongue and barely controlled need.

He spins us around, pressing my back against the door as his hands roam over my body. Over my breasts, my ass, my hips, and back again. I can feel his arousal hard against my stomach, and the knowledge that he wants me this badly makes me dizzy with need.

“I want you,” he growls against my lips.

“Me too,” I moan, grabbing his ass. “I would prefer less talk and more action.”

His laugh is dark and full of promise. “Be careful what you ask for, Draiger.”

His hands pull on my dress, and I hear fabric tear. The garment pools at my feet, and I’m attacking his shirt, my fingers fumbling with the buttons in my haste to get it off him. When that proves too slow, I simply grab the edges and yank. Buttons fly across the room as the fabric tears apart.

I yank at his jeans, and another button or two go flying.

We kiss and tear at clothing and kiss some more, desperate sounds escaping me.

When his hand slides between my legs, I cry out at the contact. His thumb finds my nub, where he rubs a few times. Then he presses a finger inside me, and it slips in easily.

“You’re wet,” he groans, his fingers finding exactly where I need him most.

“I’m on contraception,” I gasp out, barely able to form coherent words. “I need you now.”

He lifts me easily, taking me to the bed and depositing me on all fours.

I go down on my elbows, putting my ass in the air.

“Your pussy is so fucking beautiful,” he growls.

I turn and look over my shoulder, and he’s looking at me. I giggle. “I’m not sure that’s a thing.”

“Believe you me when I say that it is.”

He rubs on my clit, his finger slip-sliding over the nub, and I gasp. A few seconds later, he’s putting the tip of his cock against my opening.

I wriggle in anticipation, wanting to be filled so badly.

He thrusts into me, his cock going to the hilt. We both cry out; my eyes widen, and my mouth falls open. He fills me completely, stretching me in the most incredible way.

He grabs my hips and begins to move, slowly at first, then with a rising urgency, and the rhythm quickly unravels us both into something brutal and exquisite.

His cock slides in and out of me, so thick it leaves me gasping for air, and I think he wants to break me open, to fill me so utterly that the world outside this bed ceases to exist. He plants one hand between my shoulder blades, pushing me further down into the mattress, and the other kneads my ass, fingers digging hard enough to bruise.

“Yes!” I groan.

Every thrust knocks the air from my lungs and makes my toes curl. I cry out each time, no longer pretending I can be quiet or dignified. There’s nothing left for me but the animal, the beast, the feral hunger that has overtaken us.

I’m so wet that the slick sounds of him moving inside me fill the space, punctuated by his growls and my helpless moans. The room fills with the scent of our sex, sharp and wild, making me lose my mind.

He bends over me, chest pressing into my back, lips brushing the shell of my ear. “You feel it, don’t you?” he rasps. “Like you’re burning up from the inside out?”

“Yes,” I whimper. His breath is hot against my cheek. My body arches into his, greedy for more. My lower belly is tightening…coiling.

His rhythm falters, and his hand slides down, thumb finding my clit, and I convulse around him as the touch pushes me beyond the edge of anything I’ve ever known.

The pleasure builds, impossible to contain, a pressure that starts low and explodes outward like a detonation.

I hear myself keening, half wordless and half his name, as the orgasm rips through me.

I shudder and grip the sheets, almost unable to breathe.

He falls apart at the same time I do, driving in deep and grinding against me as he loses control.

I can feel every spasm of him inside me, the pulses of heat as he empties himself.

He cries out, the sound guttural and primal, a noise that belongs to neither man nor beast but some perfect synthesis of the two.

He jerks against me, no longer fully in control.

He keeps me there…right there for the longest time.

My back bows, my eyes wide, groaning deep.

Eventually, he collapses onto me, panting, sweat-slick and shaking. I can feel his heart racing against my spine, and my own pulse beats in every inch of my body, even in my fingertips.

Then he moves to lie next to me, pulling out. We’re both struggling to catch our breath.

“Wow!” I whisper. “I almost forgot how good sex could be.” What just happened ranks right up there, but I’m not telling him that. “It’s been way too long since I’ve been with someone,” I pant, rolling onto my back.

Fury chuckles beside me, the sound rumbling through his chest. “What happened to that boyfriend you mentioned back home?”

Heat floods my cheeks, and I level him with a look. “There is no boyfriend,” I admit. “But you know that already, or you wouldn’t be here right now.”

His smile widens, clearly amused by my confession. “Yep, I figured as much.”

“I work too hard on my career for any kind of relationship,” I say with a shrug. “The job always comes first.”

“Same problem here,” he admits, turning onto his side to look at me. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been with someone, too, hence not having much stamina.”

The admission surprises me. A man like Fury could have his pick of women, even on an island where they’re in short supply.

Fury’s finger traces lazy circles on my stomach, and I feel my body responding again, despite having just been thoroughly satisfied.

“Perhaps there should be a round two,” he says, his finger trailing up to circle my nipple. It instantly puckers under his touch. “I could do with another release. A one-time thing can be two rounds…surely?”

My breath catches as heat pools between my legs again. The thought of having him again makes me ache with renewed need.

I let my gaze drift between his legs, and he is hard. His cock juts from his body, still wet from round one.

“I think we could make that happen,” I agree, already moving to straddle his hips.

He sits up, moving back, so that he is resting against the headboard. “I like a female who takes control.”

When he leans in to suckle on my nipple, I feel it between my legs.