Elaina didn’t know where to start. Her body wanted everything at once. The kissing, his attention to her breasts, the feel of their skin together, the heat between her thighs. Each made her feel as if she’d explode, and yet her body longed for more.
The whole situation was unreal. The answer to her dreams, to the desires she’d kept hidden from even herself, was right before her.
When Alex had said that what she really wanted was the simple freedom from worry, the truth had hit her: Even if she no longer worried about her father, she wouldn’t go back to the caves. The human world, as ill-fitting as it was, was more her home now. She wanted to stay.
With Alex.
And he made it seem as though that was possible. As though he could help her fit in. As though he could keep her safe. As though he would be able to protect her from her father’s eyes.
She’d always hidden through the power of anonymity, but what if the power of money could hide her as well? The possibility was tempting. This man was tempting.
The thought of exploring his body freed her fingers from paralysis. The idea of body hair was so strange and intriguing.
She unbuttoned his jeans and slid the zipper open. His soft, curly hair disappeared under the waistband of his... What were those shorts things called? Panties didn’t sound right, but magazine cover headlines rarely discussed men’s underclothing details.
His abs jumped when she touched the area. And something moved under the material.
She had her suspicions, but wasn’t sure how much her scattered self-education had put together the snippets of information properly. Beyond curious, she crawled backward so she could tug his jeans down and out of the way.
He watched her with a smug expression, the muscles of his chest and arms standing out in sharp definition as his hands rested behind his head. “Let me know if you want help.”
“Nope.” She dragged the thick fabric over his knees. Once his jeans and socks were off, she started her investigation with his feet.
A stroke on the arch of his foot made him flinch. “Ticklish.”
“Ticklish? Is that a good or bad feeling?”
His shoulders bunched against his bent arms with his shrug. “It’s not necessarily good or bad. It just is.” His brow jumped. “You’re not ticklish? Anywhere?”
“I don’t think so.”
She slid up his sculpted calves to his powerful thighs. Light hair dusted his skin, and she kneaded the ridges of muscles. The closer she got to the top and inner sides of his thighs, the more the something inside his shorts jumped.
Curiosity finally got the best of her. Her fingers caught the waistband, and she pulled. She had to stretch the elastic over the bulge hidden by the fabric.
Once the mystery was revealed, she stopped and stared, awestruck. This thing matched her guess in a vague sense, but in the flesh, it was still so foreign compared to anything on her body she didn’t know what to make of it.
Before she could stop herself from voicing the inane question on the tip of her tongue, she blurted, “What is this?”
He barked a laugh. “Guys have a hundred different words for it. You can call it whatever you want. As long as you’re not too rough with it, it’ll be a slave to your whims.”
Ooo, she liked the sound of “slave to her whims” much better than all the coarse words for it she’d heard during her time among humans.
His gaze piercing, he curled his fingers around hers before she could investigate further. “But how could you not know?”
“What do you mean? What part of virgin makes that a surprise?”
“It’s just...” His brows tightened. “After everything you said about being on your own, I figured you must have spent some time on the streets, and that you would have seen everything. You do know how this works, right?”
“I know the basics.” She shrugged and drew circles on his abs. “I lived on the street most of my years, but I never felt part of the human world, so I didn’t pay attention to the specifics. I mean, how much do you pay attention to the mating practices of squirrels?”
He snorted. “I’m a squirrel now?”
“No.” She focused on her slave and grinned. “Definitely not a squirrel. But until recently, humans and their society didn’t concern me, so I paid attention only on a need-to-know basis.” She caressed lower and looked through her lashes. “Now, can I get back to learning about everything I missed? This is something I need to know. Right now.”
He laughed and used his feet to finish removing his clothes, and she continued where she’d left off at the tops of his thighs. Every move of her fingers caused her slave to rise above his abs.
His hair was thicker here, but the protuberance was smooth and reddish. Her strokes set her slave bouncing enthusiastically. She couldn’t help a giggle, which earned a groan from Alex.
One of his forearms now covered his eyes, and he grimaced, as though in pain. She stopped her caresses. “Are you okay?”
“First, guys tend to feel insecure when women laugh at...” He waved, indicating the area. “Second, this is driving me crazy. I feel as though I’m going to explode.”
Him too? Then she must have been doing something right.
She wrapped her fingers around her slave. How rough would be too rough? She gently squeezed. Alex stiffened and gave another groan. A good groan. Maybe she’d figured out how to do this after all.
Her thumb rubbed the tip, the velvety texture surprising her. It was unlike the skin anywhere else on his body. A drop of moisture clung to the end.
Alex’s heavy-lidded eyes gazed at her hungrily. She squeezed again, and his hips thrust into her hand.
“My turn.” On his growl, he grasped her torso and tossed her back onto the bed.
His lips skated over her abdomen while he unbuttoned her jeans. The spot at the top of her thighs felt heavier with anticipation.
In much the same way she had, he removed her jeans and caressed her skin. But his lips also joined in, kissing and nibbling up her legs.
As always, his touch sent warm shocks through her body. The tingles set off a cascade of wet heat between her thighs.
The heel of his palm pressed onto her panties when he reached the top of her legs, and she bit back a moan. Her hips lifted off the bed, encouraging him to remove the last of her clothes. He took the hint and slid her panties down. Like her reaction to him, he stopped when they were only partly to her knees, his brows furrowed.
Her gut tightened. “Is something wrong?”
How bizarre was she compared to human women?
He shook himself and met her gaze. “Nothing wrong, beautiful. I hadn’t realized my body hair fascinated you because you don’t have any.” Before she could wonder what to think about that difference, he squeezed her thigh reassuringly. “And that’s not a problem.”
Once they were both completely naked, he eased her legs apart, skimmed a finger along her inner thigh, and lay down beside her. His fingertip circled the opening at the top of her legs, making her squirm. The spot was demanding he do something different, but she didn’t know what.
He whispered in her ear, “How are you doing? Good?”
At his question, his finger slipped between the folds of her skin. She gasped and her knees fell apart, offering him better access. Oh, yes. This was what she needed.
He slid a second finger inside, and her hips moved forward, wanting more. His thumb rubbed against a hard spot at the top of her opening.
She gripped the bed covers with the electric sensations. “Alex!”
“Shh. Relax. It’s okay. Just breathe.”
Easy for him to say. She’d never felt anything so shocking. It was as if he’d found a secret button connecting to every nerve ending in her body. While his thumb circled and pressed on the spot, invisible threads gave him control over her body like a marionette.
His fingers took up their rhythm again, adding to the overwhelming feelings, and her hips surprised her by arching up to him, begging for more.
“That’s it, beautiful. Let yourself feel.” He slid down the bed and tugged her nipple into his mouth, sending her past the point of being able to think.
“Oh god.” She had so much she wanted to say, but words were beyond her. “Make me feel. Make me feel. Make me feel.” Although she knew she was babbling, she couldn’t halt the flow.
He increased the speed of his fingers and thumb, and his teeth lightly bit down on her nipple. Her hips answered in kind, desperately rocking into his hand. She was being propelled toward a pinnacle, somehow both terrifying and enticing.
“Alex, please!”
His fingers pressed harder, and he switched to her other breast, biting less gently now. Her nails dug into the bed covers, and her legs shook with tension.
“Come for me, Elaina. Come for me.”
Her body obeyed, shuddering its release. The tingles of energy from his touch turned into a rush beyond the biggest treasure claiming. Time stood still while waves of pleasure engulfed her body. Devoured her body. Ravaged her body.
She’d never known anything could feel like this. This exquisite explosion of sensation. This perfection of ecstasy. This glimpse of her soul.
Eventually, her knees fell to the mattress, her legs seemingly made of goo.
Oh god. She felt. She felt everything. Every feeling, every emotion, was within her grasp.
Most of all, she knew—she wanted him. She needed him. She claimed him.
Water leaked from her eyes.
Dragons didn’t cry.
The proof that her body wasn’t obeying the rules dampened her temples. That fact both scared her and made her hopeful in ways she couldn’t understand or explain. In truth, the whole experience couldn’t be put into words. At least not yet.
His fingers stilled. He slid up next to her and searched her face, pausing on the wet tracks at her temples. “Are you okay?”
She answered his worry by capturing his lips with a kiss. A kiss of desperation, of need, of the desire to tell him everything she couldn’t express in words. She pressed into him so hard they rolled together, ending up with him on his back and her straddling his hips.
Her slick folds rested on top of him, spreading moisture along his length. She curved to kiss his neck, and their bodies slipped against each other, rubbing in all the right places. His hands clamped onto her hips with his groan.
She straightened, nibbling her way down his chest, pausing to test his reaction to her tongue swirling around his nipple. The skin hardened, and he gave a grunt. Interesting.
When she moved to the other one, he growled, “Are you trying to kill me?”
She sat up, her muscles tense. Was she doing something wrong?
But he didn’t seem mad. In fact, his hands went to her breasts, kneading them, and his eyes looked wild.
He forced them to roll again, shoving her onto her back with him above her. His strength surprised her, and she didn’t think she could have stopped him. Good thing she didn’t want this to stop.
He propped himself up and locked gazes with her. “I’m going to take this as slow as I can. It might hurt a bit because it’s your first time, but it will get better, I promise. It’ll help for you to stay relaxed.”
“I trust you.”
“Speaking of that...” He started to move away, reaching for his nightstand.
She grabbed his shoulder. “Where are you—?”
“Condom.”
“Why? I’m a virgin and immune to human diseases.” She’d seen enough PSA signs about condoms to know they were yet another human thing that didn’t apply to her.
“There’s still pregnancy.”
“Human and dragon? Not going to happen.”
“Oh.” For a second, his enthusiasm dimmed.
Before she could worry about his reaction, he lifted himself above her again. Ropes of muscles stood out in stark relief on his arm as he balanced and used his other hand to adjust his length below. The tip pressed against her opening, and he slowly rocked his hips forward.
Oh god. Everything she thought she knew about how this worked disintegrated compared to the real thing.
He slid inside her, spreading her, filling her. Filling an emptiness she hadn’t known existed.
She grasped his hips, and he stilled. “You okay?”
“Yes, yes, big yes. More, please.”
“That’s my girl, using words like big and more. I like that.” He came down to his elbows, their chests together. “I like that a lot.” His kiss showed her how much, his tongue filling her mouth at the same time he slipped further into her.
She wanted more. She wanted everything.
He drew away from her lips, and she whispered encouragement before he could back off and check on her again. “Give me more, Alex. Give me everything. I want you.”
He must have heard her because his movements became less gentle. With a final hard push, he was completely inside her.
His torso stiffened, and she cut him off before he could say anything. “I’m fine.” She let her nails dig into his butt, and she pulled him into her. “And if you keep holding yourself back, I’ll have to punish you.”
His dark chuckle was wickedly seductive. “We’ll play that game another time, beautiful.”
As she was trying to think of a retort, he angled his hips back and thrust them forward. All thoughts fell out of her head at the sensation.
Oh, yes. He did it again. Yes, yes, yes.
She wanted her hands everywhere, and they moved crazily with her desire. Tangling in his hair. Sliding across his back muscles. Squeezing his butt.
He matched her frantic movements by increasing the tempo of his thrusts. Their hips found a natural rhythm, a point and counter-point to maximize the friction between them.
Her legs bent farther, spreading wider, and the different angle let him hit new places within her. Deep wasn’t deep enough.
As though he recognized her needs, he rose up on his arms again and pounded into her. Ruthless, relentless. And she loved every bit of it, couldn’t get enough. She grasped his butt and tugged at the pace of his thrusts, adding to his force as he slammed into her.
Yes, that was hitting the spot. Tension built within her again.
“Yes, Alex, yes.”
Almost. She knew what to expect now and rode the crest. She hissed. Yes, yes, yes...
Her body clenched, squeezing him, taking everything it could from him. Again, the rush of energy bound her to him tighter than the strongest claim of treasure. Every muscle vibrated in ecstasy, and she never wanted the pleasure to end. This was where she belonged—the two of them together.
His body answered, his features contorting into a grimace, and he grunted with a final thrust. A shudder swept through him, and he collapsed, catching himself on his elbows rather than squishing her.
For a quiet moment, the only sound was their heavy breathing. Then he rolled to her side and ran his fingers through her hair. “Are you okay?”
Her emotions bubbled out on a giggle. “I’m so much better than okay it’s not even the same language.” She gave him a kiss and met his gaze. “I don’t know the words to describe how perfect, fantastic, amazing—”
He squished her against him. “God, Elaina, I love you.”
She stiffened. Love? That thing dragons were incapable of?
The weight of inadequacy crushed her. She’d never be who Alex wanted her to be.
Who she wished she could be.