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Chapter One

I n Camille’s dreams, she was never the shy, bookish girl who got tongue-tied in the presence of a beautiful man.

No, in her dreams she was the pursuer, dominant over her desires, the mistress of her own pleasure.

The subject of those nocturnal musings in recent weeks had been one man—lovely Eben—who had destroyed all her past fantasies in a single afternoon, just by being him .

While in the real world he barely spoke to her, in the dream realm, he became her supplicant. There he would kneel before her, begging for the honor of pleasuring her. Out of his mouth would spill the most deliciously dirty words. The power she held over him in the dark of night made her giddy.

After hours working to translate the text etched around the jade throne in the ancient dragon temple, Camille had succumbed to exhaustion.

She now dreamed she sat naked upon that very throne, flanked by the dragon statues.

The setting was unlike past dreams, but the situation familiar enough for her fantasy to play out as it always did in vivid detail.

Eben stood before her, naked. Her gaze traveled hungrily up his strong legs, over his muscular thighs and narrow hips. His cock stood proudly erect and appeared massive to her inexperienced eyes, yet it didn’t frighten her.

Camille’s gaze lingered there, and she licked her lips, imagining the taste of the moisture that glistened like a tiny jewel clinging to his tip.

Would he be salty or sweet? Still, there was so much more to him than his virile manhood.

Her gaze moved higher, over his taut stomach rippling with the evidence of a body well-kept, over the tight curves of his pectorals and powerful arms dangling from his wide shoulders.

So many moments had she caught herself staring at the way his muscles flexed when he lifted his heavy trekking pack to his shoulders each morning.

More recently, the image that came to mind was the bunching of his thick forearm when he’d stroked the column of the dragon statue’s huge phallus the day before, when they’d first explored the room at the heart of the dragon temple.

Eben’s face was what really incited her desire—his wide-set blue eyes that seemed to undress her on the rare occasions she managed to capture his attention, his perfect nose above his bow-shaped mouth—a mouth made just for doing those things he promised in her dreams.

Since the first day they’d met, two months earlier, her infatuation had grown with every stolen glance.

While he rarely spoke to her, sometimes she would catch him looking, and each night her dreams would grow more intense until she woke in a sweat, her heart pounding and the flesh between her thighs craving contact.

But during her waking hours, she was far too reserved to follow through.

Words came more easily within the sanctuary of her subconscious. All she had to do was speak and he was kneeling at her feet.

“My sweet Eben. Tell me what you want to do to me.”

He leaned forward and tilted his head to rest one rough cheek against her inner thigh, tickling her sensitive skin lightly with his short stubble. His gaze rested at her core, the intensity of his desire burning in his eyes, causing her own flesh to tingle and warm without a single caress.

The corner of his lips brushed her skin when he started speaking.

“I want to kiss those pretty lips so deep there can be no doubt how much I want you.” His face tilted higher, gaze lingering on her plump, pink-tipped breasts.

“I want to suck those perfect rosebuds until they’re so hard and tender you beg me to fuck you. ”

With each word, he moved incrementally closer between her thighs, and now his lips barely brushed against her slick pussy.

She had to fight the urge to tilt closer to his mouth as the words gusted against her flesh.

She held her breath, waiting, vibrating with desire in anticipation of what he would say next.

“And I want to bury my cock inside you so deep I touch your soul.”

True to his word, Eben nestled his face in the cleft between her thighs, fastening his lips against her slick folds.

The wet heat of his mouth always startled her at first, hotter even than the flesh he latched onto.

He plunged his tongue deep inside her, sliding it in and back out in a languid thrust. The licks grew slower and longer with each pass, slipping up higher and swirling around and around her clit that already throbbed thickly with arousal, and Camille was lost to the sensations.

Each curling tease of his tongue sent little jolts of pleasure through her body, bringing her nearly to the edge before he stopped.

She braced herself for the next step and wasn’t disappointed.

Rising higher on his knees, he latched on to one nipple, sucking until she gasped and arched her back.

He worshiped the other in kind, swirling his tongue around her areola once before pulling the tip between his lips.

When both nipples were thoroughly attended and aching from his attention, he took her face between his large hands, gazing into her eyes.

“Take me in, baby. Let me fuck your tight, virgin pussy.”

She spread her legs wider, inviting his thick shaft into her. The sharp pain of tearing flesh came first, followed by the exquisite pressure of him filling her. Her virginity was undeniable even in these nocturnal interludes, so she used it as an anchor. It made the dream seem all the more real.

It never took long after that. He would fuck her soundly, whispering all the filthy things he planned to do to her, and within a few minutes they would both be crying out each other’s names while they came.

Camille would awaken, replete and glowing with satisfaction. She would spend the rest of the day in a happy buzz, not fazed in the least by the petty annoyances of their expedition, or even Eben’s generally circumspect attitude toward her.

Except this dream changed. When they were at that cusp and her impending climax began to grip her, an unfamiliar voice spoke through Eben’s lips, the words exuding a power that tickled inside her eardrums.

“It is not yet time, my flower. To have him, you must awaken one of mine first. You must give your virgin gift to my brood to get your heart’s desire.”

She awakened with a frustrated groan. Not time yet? Then she remembered her revelation earlier that evening. The ritual would keep any human in the temple from finding sexual satisfaction unless they were offering it to a dragon. What did they call it? Their Nirvana?

Apparently the Queen had reprimanded her in her dreams just now. Camille wasn’t sure if she should feel special or not, knowing they needed her in particular to ensure the ritual’s completion.

Right now, she was just incredibly frustrated, her body tingling still with Eben’s imagined touch. It may have been her lack of release talking, but she wanted him so badly she could taste it.

During their journey, she’d tried to come up with ways to seduce him.

Each day she’d sought out the moments when he would be alone.

She would start to go to him, just to talk, but always ended up paralyzed by indecision and anxiety over taking that first step.

Still, she knew she wanted him to be her first.

The difficulty was compounded by the fact that he and Erika had slept together nearly every night of their trip, and they didn’t do a whole lot in the way of disguising the fact.

But not every night, Camille reminded herself. Not the night before we arrived here. That gave her a shred of hope, as did the subtle looks she sometimes caught him throwing her way.

She would just have to find him. There was a ritual to carry out. A sex ritual, if she’d interpreted the etchings around the throne correctly. She imagined convincing him to assist with her part of it. Help me find a dragon to—

To what? Give her virginity to? That thought brought her up short. If she were going to be part of the ritual, Eben wouldn’t be her first after all. But to have him there with her, even just watching—the thought drove her back to the camp to find him.

But his sleeping bag was empty. As were Erika and Kris’s. No! Tonight of all nights she needed him, and he was with Erika again?

“Camille?” Hallie’s groggy voice spoke in the dim light. “Y’okay? W’assup, sweetie?”

She realized she must’ve cursed out loud. “Nothing. Just burning some midnight oil to translate. Go back to sleep, Hal.”

Her friend rolled back over in her sleeping bag.

Camille felt a little guilty for not at least letting Hallie know what was going on.

The other woman had been her closest friend in the group since Erika had brought them all together with the promise of adventure and academic renown.

Hallie had even encouraged her to pursue Eben in spite of the obvious connection he and Erika had.

It’s just a casual thing between those two, sweetie , Hallie had said.

I see the way he looks at you . Except now that Camille finally had the courage to chase him, she couldn’t even find him.

Dmitri’s and Corey’s sleeping bodies didn’t budge when she stole past them back into the corridor to search for Eben. She hoped he wasn’t actually with Erika for once.

She navigated the darkened reaches of the maze that was the underground compound they had discovered.

None of the multitude of intricately carved jade doors lining the corridor gave entry.

She tried them all until she finally came back to the beginning, frustrated, and stared at the huge, dark door leading to the passage behind the throne where the five doors of the ritual were concealed.

Eben wouldn’t have gone to those doors first, would he?

He couldn’t know about the ritual. But if Erika had found him, perhaps … perhaps they’d already begun.