The knock at her door jarred her awake. Skylar sat up straight and tossed off the blankets, halfway across the room before she fully registered what she was doing. She shook her head and blinked away what remained of her sleep.
It was midnight. She tied her hair back and made her way through the dark apartment, pausing to flip on the kitchen light so she could see better. She’d been inventorying her new equipment before bed and laid it out on the table to keep from forgetting anything when she set out early the next morning. The thick golden lassos and weapons assured her she had the necessary tools to handle whoever – or whatever – was at her door.
She slid the chain into place on her door then opened it, looking up into stormy dark blue eyes.
“Chace?” she exclaimed. “What’re you doing here?”
“You wanna let me in before the slayers in the lobby figure out I’m here?” he responded roughly. His air was tense, his gaze flickering around the hallway as if he expected slayers to leap out of the shadows lining the walls.
She hesitated, heat blooming in her belly at his scent and the familiar size of his muscular body.
“Or I can just morph into a dragon right here in the hallway.”
“Not my problem,” she told him. “You shouldn’t be here in the first place!”
“Who else can take you to the blue dragon?”
She closed the door, thinking briefly. She should be jumping at the chance to find the man who killed twenty of her coworkers. If the news came from anyone else but the sexy shifter she couldn’t keep her thoughts or mind from straying to …
With a frustrated sigh, Skylar unlocked the door and opened it, stepping away to let him in.
“I see you were expecting me,” he said, gaze going over her body with interest.
“Whatever.” She wore a tank and underwear, no bra. She tried to keep her voice steady, even though her body was growing almost fevered from his nearness. “Like you haven’t seen me naked before.”
“No complaints here.”
She rolled her eyes at him and went into the kitchen, eyeing the golden rope.
“You’ve got my attention,” she said. “Where’s the blue dragon?”
His gaze was on the table. He leaned against the doorway, crossing his arms. His chiseled features were calmer than he’d been in the hallway, his blue eyes no longer flashing with fire. His jaw was shaded by a day or two of hair growth, and there were shadows beneath his eyes.
“Two lassos. Two remaining dragons,” he observed. “So you really aren’t planning on stopping at the blue dragon.”
Skylar didn’t answer. She’d never felt endangered around Chace, but she had began to feel a little … uncertain about much of her life. If she was truly brainwashed, then were her emotions really hers?
“I guess that answers that,” Chace said tersely. “Is it safe to assume whatever was between us is over?”
She looked up at this. Her mouth was suddenly dry, and it was hard to breathe deeply.
“If that’s the case, just lasso me now and take me in,” he goaded, raking both hands through his loose hair.
“Maybe I should,” she retorted, as much to convince herself as him. She crossed to the table and rested her hand on the lasso. It was silky beneath her fingertips, its long fibers smooth.
Skylar’s emotions and thoughts were all over the place. Technically, she needed to take him in, before he, too, blew a gasket and wiped out a building full of people. The power of one dragon to destroy lives had never been clearer than it was less than a day before. She’d left the arms of one dragon to see what the temper of another had done.
Except she hadn’t been able to swallow the idea that Caleb and the others killed shifters. It wasn’t right. The blue dragon, yes, needed to be stopped.
But Chace? Whose worst crime was starting a building on fire to get her attention?
He doesn’t deserve to die. This thought was followed quickly by another, one driven by the instinct she wasn’t able to understand. I have to protect him.
“Hard to condemn someone to death just for being different, isn’t it?” Chace whispered.
She blinked out of her stupor and realized he was standing behind her. The heat of his body was at her back. He moved forward until their bodies were just touching and covered the hand she rested on the lasso with his. Too aware of his warmth and nearness, she froze.
He removed their hands from the rope and to her lower belly. His slid away from hers, under her shirt, and her stomach quivered at the touch. His other hand went to her hip.
“You didn’t come here to tell me about the blue dragon,” she said, seeking some semblance of control over her raging hormones.
“I did. Mostly,” he replied. “And to say farewell.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. But I’ll … take you to him. Just might be the last time I can see you.”
“Because I’m still a slayer?” she asked. His words tore her up more than she expected. She didn’t know what to think when they were together, but she didn’t want them to be permanently a part, either.
“No.” He said nothing else. He pulled her back against him firmly while his hand traveled down, slipping beneath the thin fabric of her underwear.
Her breath caught. “You’re here to show me farewell.”
He nudged her head aside and began kissing her neck, then down her shoulder.
Skylar twisted in his hold and gazed up at him, distracted by the large hand that was roaming over her ass.
“Really. What’s going on?” she pressed. “I don’t want a farewell.”
“No?” He searched her gaze.
“I have no idea what I want, but it’s not for you to be gone. Permanently gone.” I think.
“Almost sounds like you like me, slayer,” he observed, moving close enough that her thighs were pinned between him and the table.
“I don’t know what I feel.”
“How can you be so …” He gave a frustrated sigh. “…you. I guess.”
“Openly conflicted while you’re hiding all kinds of secrets?” she asked, amused. “Why don’t you just stop thinking and kiss me?”
She didn’t have to ask twice. He kissed her hard. His arms tightened around her, and he slid the hand on her ass downward, dipping into her core.
“You were expecting me tonight?” he teased.
“Shut up and take your clothes off, dragon,” she replied roughly.
He leaned back and released her enough to pull off his shirt, followed quickly by his pants. She peeled off her tank and underwear, barely managing to toss them aside when he grabbed her and kissed her with enough intensity to push her back against the wall.
His thick dick pressed against her, and her belly was ablaze with need. Her core was wet enough for her to be uncomfortable.
Everything about him was rough, raw, from his demanding kisses to the pressure of his touching. He was branding her, claiming her.
Or maybe, afraid to lose me? Unable to identify where the random thought came from, she dismissed it, more interested in the sensations flying through her body and the feel of his warm skin and hot mouth.
He lifted her onto his hips and pressed her against the wall, his hard dick pressed to her core. She wriggled against him.
“No teasing this time,” she warned him.
“I won’t,” he said, withdrawing.
He studied her features, as if wanting to memorize her face. Freeing one hand, he pushed her hair back from one side of her face then traced a finger down the side to her chin.
“You okay?” she asked, not expecting the pensive look that crossed his face when their naked bodies were pressed together.
“Right now, yeah,” he said hoarsely. “Could change later.”
Her instincts wriggled, warning her that something was really wrong.
“Then let’s enjoy ourselves,” she said and took his finger in her mouth, sucking it hard.
He smiled, tenderness in his gaze. He pulled his finger free and traced it down her neck and stomach, towards where their bodies were pressed together.
“You have to trust me, if I take you to the blue dragon,” he whispered, kissing her lightly. “Can you do that?”
“Yeah,” she murmured and then took his lower lip between her teeth.
His finger stroked her clit hard, and she arched with a gasp. He made light, lazy circles around the aching button.
“You sure?” he whispered. He kissed her neck.
Skylar’s heart felt like it was going to explode from the adrenaline and need that lit her blood on fire.
“Right now, I’d trust you with anything,” she managed.
His finger left, and he gripped her bottom, positioning her. He withdrew enough to align their bodies and slid his dick into her until they fit together perfectly. He filled her core, and her body adjusted to his size
Chace hissed, his muscles bulging with the amount of control he exerted.
“You said anything. You mean it?”
“With all my heart.” She moved against him and wrapped her arms around him, pulling their bodies closer.
He kissed her and began moving in and out of her, pressing her against the wall and helping support her with his hands.
“I love being inside you,” he said.
“Shut up, dragon.”
He chuckled huskily and began to pump faster. Wrapping an arm around her, he maneuvered them to the kitchen table and wiped it clear with his free arm, then lay her on it. She kept her legs around him and gripped his ass, urging him to move faster in and out of her. The cold table beneath her was only a distraction for a split second, until his hot mouth found her breast and began alternately nibbling and suckling one then the other.
His control was slipping, his nips almost too rough, his hands branding her once more. He slid out of her body and dropped to his knees, trailing his palms down her body and legs. He propped her feet on his shoulders and pulling her lower body to the edge, until the heat of his mouth reached her.
She groaned at the incredible sensations of his fingers and mouth working her clit and G-spot, driving her close to climaxing with expertise that left her unable to think of anything but where he’d lick or touch next.
Just when she was about to shatter, he stopped and stood, holding out his hands for her to take his arms.
She groaned in objection, needing her release, but held out her hands and let him pull her up. He hefted her onto his hips once more, sinking into her swiftly enough for her to shudder. She kissed him hungrily, and he walked them into the bedroom, clutching her hard enough that she wasn’t able to rub her aching clit against him.
“You owe me one,” he told her and lowered her across the bed. “Talk about teasing. At least I let you come.”
If she weren’t so uncomfortably turned on, she would’ve laughed. Instead, she reached for him. He rested on top of her then rolled for her to be on top.
“Go to it,” he said with a wicked grin and pushed her away, towards his straining erection.
Skylar glared at him, frazzled.
“I have a better idea,” she snapped. She climbed off him, circled the bed to where his head was then climbed on top of him, settling her clit at his lips while she took the head of his erection into her mouth.
“One of my fave positions,” he said in approval. He gave her a hard lick to underscore his point.
She rested on top of him, focused on making him come. She teased the soft skin of the head then took all of him into her mouth, gripping him hard with her lips as she moved the length of his erection. Wrapping a hand around his shaft, she squeezed hard and began using her mouth and hands in sync while stroking the sack beneath his large dick.
“Oh, yeah,” he murmured. “It won’t take long with you doing that.”
“Then you better get to work!” she snapped.
His fingers moved inside of her. He sucked on the nether lips then traced them lightly with his tongue, teasing her, before he circled the clit lazily.
She groaned.
“Don’t get distracted,” he whispered.
Skylar struggled to focus on pleasing him with the exquisite sensations he was causing her own body. She sucked on him hard, grazing his head with her teeth and alternating between her mouth and hand to stroke his shaft relentlessly until she heard him groan.
Her body grew tense from his gentle manipulation, and the head of his erection in her mouth grew larger, its shaft thicker.
Once more, right before she climaxed, Chace stopped, this time rolling her off him. She muttered a curse at him, but one look at his face said he was too close to his own orgasm for the control necessary for him to tease her again.
She beckoned him to her body. He flashed a grin and pushed her over onto her stomach, pushing her thighs together. He worked one arm beneath her shoulders, the other around her hips to lift them for his entry.
“Cross your ankles,” he whispered.
She obeyed.
Chace plunged into her. “Oh, god you’re even tighter.” He moved in and out of her once more, faster this time.
His breathing was hard in her ear and the friction of his movement causing more intense sensations than she’d ever experienced. The rough bedspread was torture against her sensitive nipples, and the arm he held under her hips moved downward until two of his fingers were positioned to stroke her.
But he didn’t, instead holding enough distance between her and them to prevent her from so much as brushing anything that might send her toppling into an orgasm.
“Chace!” she gasped, overwhelmed.
“We’ll come together.” His voice was harsh, his strain clear.
The climax was building deep within her with his increasing speed and the repeated deep penetration of his erection. Skylar gripped a pillow with one of her hands.
“Ready?” His words were barely human.
“Yes!”
He stroked her once, hard, and she arched, sensing something she never thought possible: a double climax getting ready to break. The tension deep within her sheathe, coupled with the more exquisite sensation caused when he touched her clit, made for a potential explosion she wasn’t certain she could handle.
“Skylar!” Chace cried as he reached the last shred of control. He stroked her hard and fast, in rhythm with him plunging into her body.
Her body flushed as if with fever, her toes curling a moment before the orgasms broke. Too intense for her to cry out, all she was able to do was ride the waves of ecstasy that wracked her body hard enough to jar her clenched teeth. The climax made her core more sensitive, enough that she felt his dick inside her in detail. His fingers continued working her, finally wringing a cry from her.
Chace came hard next, his panting heavy and his body shaking. He dropped on top of her, and they lay still.
“Even … after that, I want more of you,” he breathed, kissing her cheek.
Skylar focused on catching her breath, still lost in the waves of pleasure working their way through her system. The intensity of the experience sapped any strength or desire to move from her.
“That was amazing,” she said when she’d recovered enough to speak.
He eased off her enough to nudge her to roll over. She did so, gazing up at him. He settled between her legs and began licking and nibbling on her breasts.
“Again already?” She laughed.
“I’ll enjoy you while I have you.”
The instinct returned, the one that said that not only was he serious about saying farewell, but that something … not good was going on, too.
“You can have me whenever you want,” she said, testing him.
“Now.” He moved up her body to kiss her with hungry that should’ve been sated. He was already hard, and he entered her fast, hard.
Her body tender from the orgasms, her breath caught, and she broke away, trying to orient herself before plunging again into the intense pleasure of their lovemaking.
Chace found her lips with his, not giving her the chance to recover before sending her toppling again into his body. With his scent intoxicating her, and his thrusts already taking her close to climax again, any desire she had to figure out what her instincts were trying to tell her faded.
He was more demanding this round, his hips working as hard as his mouth. She dug her nails into his ass and held on for dear life, aware of her body growing tense in a sign she was about to have her third orgasm in less than fifteen minutes.
What the hell has gotten into him?
Did it matter? Sex with him was incredible. Tonight, it was otherworldly.
Skylar rode his intensity to three more orgasms over the course of an hour, while he showed no signs of letting up. He never tired of manipulating her body into new positions and going down on her, of savoring every inch of her with his mouth and hot hands. He didn’t let her recover long between, just enough for his orgasm to subside and his dick to grow hard again before he teased her into a frenzy or plunged into her with desperation. His lovemaking was primal and consuming in a way she’d never experienced.
At long last, he stopped and rested on top of her, breathing hard. Skylar released her ankles and lowered her legs to the bed once more, wrapping her arms around him. She shook from pleasure and exertion, her muscles quivering.
“Are you okay?” she whispered in a voice hoarse from crying his name.
“I don’t know,” he murmured, capturing her nipple with his mouth and sucking hard.
She shivered in response, certain she didn’t have anything else in her.
“I don’t’ want to leave,” he added.
“Don’t.”
“We have to. Gotta find the blue dragon.”
There was a note in his voice that warned her something really was wrong.
“He can wait, can’t he?” she teased.
“I set up a meeting … for you.”
“Oh.” She ran her hands through his hair then pressed her lips to his temple. “We’ll meet him and rendezvous here.”
Chace didn’t react for a moment. He got up without looking at her and walked out of the bedroom into the kitchen.
She watched him, no part of her wanting to move.
“We have to go,” he said abruptly, as if they hadn’t spent the past few hours making love.
“You gonna tell me what’s going on?” she asked, concerned.
“You just have to trust me.”
“I do, Chace.”
The sounds of his rustling paused then resumed.
Damn moody dragons. She groaned as she rolled out of bed. Her wobbly legs barely held her up, and she grinned at the disheveled woman gazing back at her. She looked rough but felt fantastic, if sleepy.
Skylar got dressed slowly and left her walk-in closet to see Chace seated on the edge of the bed, pillow in hand. He was fully dressed once more, his hair neat and tied at the base of his neck. In his other hand was a set of handcuffs and a pillowcase.
“Did you change your mind about leaving?” she asked, gaze on the two items.
He snorted. “I may have told him I captured you.”
“Ah. Okay. Cuff me.”
“Okay?” Chace twisted to look at her. “Just … okay?”
She searched his strong features, not understanding the question he wasn’t asking. Crossing to him, she tugged the pillow free and tossed it, then settled onto his lap.
“You told me to trust you,” she reminded him, wrapping his arms around her. “So … yeah. Okay.”
His arms circled her, and he squeezed her ass, pulling her body closer to his. She rubbed her cheek against his roughened one, wishing she knew what was disturbing him enough that he thought they’d never see one another again.
He hugged her hard, and she reciprocated, relaxing in his arms. The tender moment grew long and peaceful, a far cry from the desperation of his lovemaking. His hair tickled her chin, and she breathed in the scent of his neck, loving it more every time she smelled him.
“We can capture the blue dragon then go for pizza,” she suggested.
“You’re thinking of food at a time like this?” he asked with a surprised laugh.
“I’m thinking of you and a pizza,” she corrected him then added in a whisper. “You’re my dragon.”
He squeezed her harder. “I’ll always be your dragon, no matter what happens. Even if you hate me one day.”
“You can’t hate your dragon,” she said. She leaned away to see his face, touched by the deep sorrow in his face. “I can’t hate you. Ever.”
He held her gaze, the warmth in his beautiful blue eyes glowing in a way that told her she was as much his as he was hers. Seeing his despair troubled her on too many levels. His suffering was deep enough to scare her.
“We have a pizza date,” she said with forced lightness. “Let’s get the stupid blue dragon so we can hang out.”
“Okay,” he said and kissed her forehead chastely.
She climbed off his lap and smiled at him, hiding a tremor of fear and dread.
Whatever was going on, she suspected it had to do with the blue dragon. A part of her began to think she wasn’t meant to walk away from their meeting alive.
I trust you, Chace.