Page 37

We ate our cookies on the balcony because cookies were not meant to be eaten in bed. The last thing I wanted was a bunch of crumbs getting in the way of my naked-Kas time. Honestly, it was nice to not go straight to the sex. For a while, that's how it had been with Kas. I even appreciated it at first. But when things started to get more serious for me, the focus on sex stung.

That sting had become a thing of the past.

We had our chairs set together, and I leaned against Kaspian's shoulder as we ate cookies and stared at the moon. He was stunning in the moonlight, his hair all aglow like a halo. What an image. No, he wasn't an angel. Thank the Gods for that. But what a divine contrast he was in all ways. That white hair and bright green eyes against his bronzed skin. The arrogance and the humility. His strength and his mercy.

Scratch the mercy bit. Those Tyasmorans who survived the fire? He had them executed. I suppose it was a better way to go, but dead is dead. I understood. Kas had done it to protect me. He didn't want them spreading rumors about my world. Or about me.

I took a bite of cookie and looked up at him. He was a savage king of an alien world. But there was also civility in him. A moral code. Justice. This was not a lawless planet, and that was mainly because of Dragons.

And now, I was one of them.

“Keep looking at me like that, and the cookies will get cold.” Kaspian shifted a smirk my way.

I shoved the rest of my cookie into my mouth and jumped to my feet. Since my mouth was full, I couldn't tease him, but I figured he'd understand when I got undressed.

Kas didn't even need that clue. As soon as I stood, he followed my lead and finished his dessert with one bite. Then he gave chase.

Braying with laughter and spraying cookie crumbs, I dashed through the bedroom and around the circular bed. When he came for me, I tossed my tunic in his face and darted away. He responded by yanking his tunic off. And so it went until we were circling the bed naked, giggling like kids. But the chase got old.

Kaspian paused across from me, arms extended. He faked right, but I knew him too well. I went in that direction as he dashed left. With a growl, he leapt across the bed. And it was a big bed.

I yipped as Kas picked me up and tossed me onto the bed. He quickly followed, surmounting the few steps with his leap, and then he pinned me to the mattress.

Growling, Kas leaned his face down to mine. “I was going to do this tenderly. Show you how much this day means to me.”

I wrapped my legs around his waist. “Fuck that. And fuck me!”

His growl turned into a rumble of delight as he looked down my chest to my dripping cock. Leaning back, he lifted my legs, braced himself on the back of my thighs, and spread me open. As I licked my lips, a bottle floated over to me on a bubble of water.

“Oil yourself!” he snarled. “Quickly!”

“Oh, fuck yeah!” I grabbed the bottle and lubed his cock, squeezing and pumping until his eyes closed and his head rolled back.

As Kas groaned, I oiled my cock too, then spread the remainder down below. By the time he looked down, the bottle was capped and rolling off the bed.

“Prepare yourself.” Kas bared his teeth. “I feel the call of my dragon tonight. He's needs to rut.”

“That is so fucking sexy! Do it. Rut, babe! Fucking rut hard!” I grabbed his cock and positioned it for him.

With a savage cry, Kas drove forward, spearing through my ring of muscles to dive deep in one shove. It ached a little, but I loved the ache and arched up to meet him. Feeling my eagerness, Kas ground his pelvis against me, flattening my ass and churning that thick flesh in my channel. I clutched his shoulders and shouted in primal joy.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” I kept shouting. Kept demanding more.

And more was what he gave me. Because it all belonged to me anyway.

I was bent nearly in two with a smile splitting my face and my cock bouncing on my belly. Absolutely spectacular and that was before the magic burst through me, our mating bond sparkling into life. I heard a roar inside my head. Or maybe inside my soul. I couldn't tell where that dragon was, but I knew he was in me. Stretching. Clawing. Claiming. I groaned as the beast rolled through me, leaving pleasure in its wake.

“Look at me!” Kaspian slammed into me, faster and faster.

I opened my eyes. Our stares locked together, feeling just as intimate as the connection between our bodies.

“I will never let you be taken from me, Mate. I failed you once, but I vow to never fail you again.”

I pushed up with more strength than I knew I had and rolled us over so that Kas was on his back. Straddling his hips, I leaned my face down to his. “You have never failed me. We take care of each other, Kas. Together. Partners. We both made a mistake with that damn cat. It's not on you. And you don't have to be infallible with me. You aren't a god. You're a man. My man. You will make mistakes again. And so will I. But we will love each other through them. I promise.”

Even with his shaft pulsing inside me, Kas went tender. He cupped my face. “I vow the same. I love you, Met. Forever.”

I grinned and kissed him, reveling in the only vow I needed from him. And then I rose onto my knees and rode him like a bronco.

With Kaspian's hands on my hips and his stare locked on mine, I exploded in love and pleasure, painting his chest as I shouted his name. While I shuddered through the end of my release, Kas rolled us once more until I was on my back again. He sped up, slamming into me several times before locking against me. Neck bowed back, cords standing out in his throat, the Dragon King roared and filled his Duke.

I was still shuddering through the last bits of pleasure when he fell over me, panting. In that velvet stillness of satisfied breath, I heard a soft cry.

I jerked up, dislodging him. “What the fuck was that?”

Kaspian grinned. “That is your second surprise.”

“Kas, no.”

Another cry came, this one unmistakable.

“You didn't.” I groaned. “Not after that last one?”

“That's why I did it. Your first experience was ruined because of those bastards.” He sat up, climbed out of bed, and went to the bathroom. “I won't have that.” He opened the door. “My mate will have the experiences he desires, and I will make sure they are good experiences. Oh, and this one's a girl. I made sure.”

A little puffball came tumbling out of the bathroom. It was about the size of his palm and was pure white. I know it was the size of his palm because Kaspian picked it up and carried it to the bed in one hand. I gaped at the kitten as it found its bearings on the rumpled bed. It stared up at me with pale green eyes and mewed.

“Aw, fuck,” I muttered and picked it up.

The wily little thing immediately purred and nestled in against my chest.

“Damn it. You're the—ow! Those tiny claws are sharp.”

The kitten went still and stared up at me with wide eyes.

“You scared her.” Kaspian took the kitten from me. He was smarter than me and pulled a blanket over his lap before setting her on it.

Happy once more, the kitten kneaded the blanket and purred.

“Hey now, I thought she was my present!” I pulled a bit of blanket over my chest and laid down. “Give her back.”

Grinning, Kas set the kitten on my chest.

We stared at each other. She blinked slowly. I stroked her head. Cautiously, she kneaded the blanket.

“It's okay now. Just don't do that to bare skin.” I stroked her more.

The kitten purred, her eyes closing.

Kaspian eased in close on his side, propped on an elbow, and stared down at us. “We won't count the last one since it wasn't a real animal. This is your first pet.”

“Are you sure she's a real animal?”

“Oh, yes. I saw her with her mother.”

“You took a baby from its mother?”

“She was weened. It's how it's done, Met. Children eventually leave their parents.”

“Poor girl.” I drew the kitten closer to my face. “You got taken from your family. I can be your family now if you want.”

“Again, animals don't—”

The kitten mewed and nuzzled my face.

I lifted a brow at Kas. “You were saying?”

“Maybe we'd better double-check that she's just a cat.” He reached for her.

“Leave Rena be!”

“Rena?”

“It's a little tribute to the Goddess.”

He rolled his eyes. “At least you didn't use her full name. That might have been blasphemy.”

“What?” I scrunched my face at him.

“Naming a cat after a goddess.”

“It's to honor her, not insult her.”

“Yes, well, a shortened version is more of an appropriate tribute I think.”

“Whatever.” I grimaced, and then I grinned at Rena. “Welcome to the Aravult Dread, Duchess Rena.”

“Duchess?!”

I narrowed my stare at Kas.

“As you wish, Mate.”

“She's family, after all.”

Kaspian chuckled. “You sure changed your mind quickly.”

“It's hard to resist a tiny fluffball.” Then her coloring registered. “Kas, did you pick this cat because she has white fur and green eyes?”

“As you said, she's family.” He smirked and laid back on the pillow.

“He's so vain,” I whispered to Rena. “But you get used to it.”

“You do realize that cats are the vainest creatures on the planet?”

“Then she really is a kitty version of you.”

Kaspian snorted and pulled me into his side. With his arms around Rena and me, I felt even happier than I had before. A family. Just like that. Now, we both had something to protect. I felt more like myself with that kitten in my arms. Maybe it's a failing, but I liked being needed. I wasn't a hero, but I wanted to be. Even if it was just to a little white kitten.

Blinking, I realized that Kas knew that. He knew me better than anyone now. He had known that I needed a pet to look after. And Kaspian would always give me everything I needed.

I angled my head to look up at him. “Thank you, Kas.”

“You're welcome, Met.” He bent to kiss my forehead.

I lifted my face so that he kissed my lips instead. And when he eased back, I said, “You set my life on fire—burned it all to the ground. But only so you could build a new life for us and give me what I truly wanted.”

“We will rebuild together.”

Rena mewed.

We looked down at her and laughed.

“Yes, you can help too, Rena,” I said.

And that was the start of my real life—the one I had been destined to live. The Goddess said it herself—I was born on the wrong world. Now, I was where I belonged. On Serai, under the guidance of a goddess, and in the arms of a Dragon.

Oh, and with one little cat.