Before her courage could fail her, Sarina rushed into the room, tripping over the hem of her white flannel nightgown, and landing safely in Dagon’s arms.
“At least I have you where I want you,” he teased and was about to steal a kiss when she nudged him away from her.
“We must talk.”
“Funny, I was thinking the same thing myself—that’s why I was on my way to get you.”
His admission startled her. “You were coming to my room?”
“Yes,” he confirmed and shut the door. “It is my castle and I am permitted to go where I please, and it pleased me to talk with you.”
“About this evening?” she asked.
“That among other things.”
Sarina looked to the rumpled bed. It seemed to invite and beckon, she could almost smell the scent of him on the warm sheets, and she very much wanted to slip beneath his covers and lose herself to him. Instead she walked over to the hearth, extending her chilled hands out to the warmth of the welcoming fire.
Dagon followed, though took a seat in the chair not far from where Sarina stood. He sensed her desire. It was palpable but along with it came apprehension, and he wanted her doubt vanquished before they joined together in his bed.
“Where shall we begin, Sarina?” he asked softly and extended his hand out for her to take a seat.
She shook her head. “No, thank you, I’ll stand.”
This time he shook his head. “Not a good idea. Your nightgown may be flannel, but it is a light flannel, and with the light of the blazing fire shining on you—” He once again shook his head. “My imagination only needs to wonder how many ways I will enjoy you. And let’s not forget those socks I’ve warned you about. They will definitely remain on you, the only thing that will remain on you.”
Sarina immediately took a seat in the chair opposite the other end of the hearth from where he sat and crossed her legs and arms.
He laughed. “It will do you little good to lock yourself away from me. But first things first. What is it you wish to speak to me about?”
She wondered where her jitters came from. Her decision to come here had been easy, so why now was she apprehensive? She was aware of the consequences of her actions, had counted on them in helping her to settle this problem. Why think of retreat now? She shook her head without thinking.
“You don’t know what you want to speak with me about?”
She kept shaking her head slowly, her glance settling over him as if she were seeing him for the first time. He was much too handsome especially sitting there like a king on a throne, arrogant, prideful, and much too appealing. His long dark hair was tousled from his restless slumber. His silver robe fell open down to his waist, and his bare chest rippled with defined muscles. His bare feet were crossed at his ankles, and though his robe covered his legs, she was aware that he was completely naked beneath.
The thought that all she had to do was simply untie the belt at his waist and he would be free of all restrictions sent her passion soaring and her hands itching.
He leaned forward in his chair. “Dear heart, we are definitely going to have a problem if you give your thoughts rein in that direction—unless of course that’s why you came here?”
“No, yes, no, ohhh,” she said in frustration.
He smiled. “Calm down, Sarina, and tell me your thoughts—well, maybe not your present thoughts, but the ones that brought you to my door.”
“I couldn’t sleep,” she began.
“I suffer from the same infliction,” he admitted.
She relaxed, though her body’s alert posture told him she remained on guard. “I thought about this evening and how I must have disappointed you.”
“I was not disappointed with you this evening.” His voice was firm, almost angry, and she looked at him with wide curious eyes. “The evening was my fault and I take full responsibility for it.”
She protested, “But I created the mess.”
“No,” he insisted, “you did your job and most adequately.”
“By dumping soup on Sebastian and creating a chain of events that left no one untouched?”
“Sydney managed to escape the chaos,” Dagon said, thinking that somehow that was an important piece of information for him to remember. “Regardless, Sarina, the incident was not your fault, and I am not angry or disappointed with you. I am, however, disappointed that we did not get to spend the evening together.”
“I didn’t think you wanted to see or speak with me after what happened.”
“And I thought perhaps you didn’t care to see me.”
A soft smile stole over Sarina’s face. “I don’t think we’ve been honest with each other.”
“Then perhaps now would be a good time for us to start.”
“You’re right,” she said. “Let’s start with why you were coming to my room.”
Her wit was sharp and he admired that quality. “One reason was to apologize for placing you in an awkward position this evening.”
She attempted to disagree.
He held his hand up. “I apologize and I will hear no more about it. Now tell me what else is on your mind.”
“Too much,” she admitted, hugging her arms.
“I know the feeling; it overwhelms at times.”
His honesty amazed her. “Then you feel it, too?”
“All the time. There isn’t a moment that it doesn’t intrude on me day or night.”
“Do you mind this intrusion?”
“I welcome it,” he said on a whisper.
“So do I,” she admitted just as softly.
“Now the question is what do we do about it?”
“Explore it?” she asked innocently.
His smile was wicked. “Aren’t you afraid of where it will take you?”
“No,” she said without hesitation. “It will take me exactly where I’m supposed to go.”
“Where do you want to go?”
She stood and walked over to him. “Anywhere you want to take me.”
He thought of all the things he wanted to say to her, all the things he wanted her to say to him, and yet at that moment in time he felt the only way either of them could be truthful with each other was through their actions.
He stood.
“Are you ready to tempt fate?” she asked softly and untied his belt, letting it fall away, and running her fingers down the lapel of his robe to spread it open.
“Are you ready for the consequences?” he asked, grabbing hold of her hand.
Consequences born of love, how bad could they be? She no longer doubted herself or him, they loved plain and simple. She felt it in his heartbeat that kept steady rhythm with hers, in his desire that heated and raced his blood right along with hers, and much deeper, where only true love dares to go... she felt it in their souls.
“I’m ready,” she said and waited for him to surrender her hand and himself.
His hand slipped off hers, and she continued to spread his robe open.
“There’ll be no turning back, Sarina,” he said, her finger sliding down his chest to his waist as she moved the silky material out of her way.
“No turning back,” she repeated confidently.
She was deliberately slow in her perusal of him, her finger trailing along the lapel, dipping beneath to tease his bare chest and then returning to farther push the material aside.
Her emotions ran opposite of her actions. Ripping his robe off and tossing him on the bed to land on top of him ran more in accordance with her raging desires, and yet she found the need to proceed slowly, to take her time and explore him to her satisfaction. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to please him as well; it was that she wanted this time with him to be a magical moment for them to remember always.
Of course dragging her feet would serve no purpose, and she was eager to view him... all of him. With that pleasing thought in mind she ran her hands along his chest, moving up and over his shoulders to slowly slip his robe off.
She watched its graceful descent, her eyes following down along his body until the robe landed in a silver pool at his bare feet, handsome feet they were, slender and long.
The rest of him did not disappoint. His body reminded her of a majestic beast, strongly defined, taut and solid, yet lean and slender. His slim waist narrowed to slight hips and long muscled legs. And of course how could she ignore—
She sighed and almost purred in appreciation.
“I please you?” he asked with not a trace of a smile but a look that was so titillating wicked she felt herself moisten with desire and her response sounded as sinful as she felt.
“I’ve yet to find out.”
His laugh was low and rough. “Let me introduce myself properly.”
He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her body to rest against him, leaning into her and slipping his hands down over her bottom to gently urge her closer. He then kissed first along her neck, taking his time to work his way up near her ear, then over and around it, the tip of his tongue teasing every sensitive spot until gooseflesh covered near her entire body.
He seduced her mouth next, tormenting her moist, needy lips until her lips chased his teasing ones, and they joined together in a flourish of maddening kisses that left them both breathless and wanting.
With his breathing labored he said in a whisper against her ear, “You feel how much I want you; now it’s my turn to feel how much you want me.”
He took hold of her nightgown, his fingers drawing the white flannel up and up until it bunched in his hands at her hips. Then in one deliberate motion he pulled the nightgown up and over her head, leaving her naked, except for her white socks.
His smile was smug. “I’m going to buy you dozens of socks.”
She laughed with delight and threw her arms around his neck. “Good! I detest shoes.”
He lifted her up into his arms and carried her to the bed.
“Good, then wear them no more, you actually need wear nothing anymore. Naked is just the way I like you.”
He fell with her on the bed, his body taking partial possession of hers as he lay half over her, his hand instantly moving to intimately explore her. “Your skin is soft and smells so sweet.”
He kissed her breasts gently. “I want to touch and taste you forever.”
His fingers traced a lazy path down along her slender midriff and over the slight rise of her stomach to drift into the tangle of soft black hair and crawl maddeningly slow inside her.
“My, my, dear heart,” he said with a teasing grin. “You do want me.”
She moved on bended knee to rub at his hardness. “As much as you want me.”
He kissed her soundly and his laugh was a low rumble. “Tonight we share a magical moment....”
Her breath caught at his words.
“The first of many,” he finished and his mouth claimed hers once again, and he didn’t stop there. When he ended the kiss, to her reluctance, he moved down along her neck to taste her breasts with a tongue that charmed and titillated with every deliberate stroke.
Her nipples ached in their hardness and suffered the delicious torment all the more when first his tongue teased the sensitive buds with quick darting strokes before capturing each one in his mouth.
Pleasure took on a new side of madness, and she squirmed beneath him, but he only laughed before moving farther down her body, his charmed tongue creating his own indolent path.
She gasped and cried out when she felt his fingers spread her in readiness for his tasty entrance, and her cries soon turned to moans of exquisite torment as his tongue pleasured her with a sensual wickedness she didn’t think possible.
Her hands reached out to tug at him, stop him, and warn him that she could not go on like this. She could not control her raging emotions and very soon she would burst, explode, erupt in sheer pleasure.
He pushed her hands away. “Come,” he urged. “I dare you to.”
“No,” she cried softly between labored breaths. “This time with you.”
“Oh, dear heart, tonight you will come over and over again with me.”
She groaned and arched her back after his tongue entered her with a quick jab that was meant to send her to the edge and it did. She teetered there briefly, and when he followed with strong solid thrusts she fell, crying out his name in her maddening descent.
Her climax was a fiery explosion that she thought could not be duplicated, but Dagon had other ideas. After one last intimate taste of her he moved over her with the grace of a powerful beast staking his territory; slow and predatory his body claimed hers.
“Now another magical moment,” he whispered and brushed her lips with his tongue to excite her senses with the taste of herself.
She groaned and reached out for his mouth, the mingled scent of them too intoxicating to deny. She fed off him like a hungry cub aching for his familiar scent and for his love that she felt in every taste, touch, and kiss.
Dagon felt his restraint slipping. He chose to bring her pleasure first and selfishly wanted to taste her sweet surrender. But now he wanted to surrender fully and completely himself, and he wasn’t at all surprised though extremely pleased when she reached down to take him in her hand and stroke him full and hard.
“When do I get to taste you?” she asked in an excited whisper.
He almost erupted in her hand, and his hand moved quickly and gently to free himself from her firm grasp.
“Later,” he promised with a kiss. “It’s time for us to join.”
She looked with wise and loving eyes at him. “I give myself freely to you.”
He was aware her surrender was without conditions, his however was not, but that would be better left to discuss with her at another date. He simply said. “And I to you, dear heart.”
He entered her slowly, wanting to create an everlasting memory of their first joining, one they would remember forever and never fail to relive over and over and over again. And he himself wanted to remember the feel of every inch of her, recall her every moan of pleasure, her every cry of passion, and he wanted to erupt in total surrender along with her.
“Dagon,” she released his name on a long sigh.
He slipped farther into her.
Her sigh turned heavy. “Dagon.”
His thrust turned strong and determined.
She drew out his name on a breathless sigh. “Daaagon.”
He went deep and established a rhythm she immediately responded to.
This time his name sounded like a plea. “Da—gon.”
He enjoyed hearing her call out to him over and over, and he changed his rhythm to a demand, and she responded, wrapping her legs around his.
His name was urgent on her lips. “Dagon.”
“Wrap your legs around my waist,” he ordered. “I want to go deeper. I want to touch your soul.”
She did as he asked, for she wanted to touch his as well.
His thrusts turned rapid, his rhythm furious, and she matched both, their bodies moving in unison. Rational thought escaped him, he could think of nothing, absolutely nothing but the exquisite sensation he felt being inside her, deep inside her. He wanted this to go on forever, he never wanted it to end, and he never wanted them to part.
And when he thought he reached the pinnacle of passion, he felt her explode around him, heard her cry out his name, and felt himself erupt in a fury that stunned and shattered him to his very soul.
They convulsed in a breath-stealing climax, clinging tenaciously to each other as their bodies continued to surrender all of themselves to each other, deep down to the cores of their beings.
They shuddered together, their bodies draining themselves of the last vestige of mindless surrender. And it felt good, gloriously wonderful and they clung to each other enjoying every memorable minute.
She tightened herself around him, and he moaned with the pleasure she brought him, though thinking she might have hurt him, she eased the pressure of her embrace.
“Don’t,” he said on a hasty breath. “That feels good.”
She smiled and closed herself intimately around him, and he moaned again and kissed her.
“I like the feel of you inside me,” she said honestly.
He raised his head and grinned. “That’s good, dear heart, because that’s where I intend to spend most of this night—inside you.”
“Promise,” she giggled.
“You may not be able to walk tomorrow by the time I get done,” he teased.
She teased back. “And you may have a permanent grin on your face by the time I finish with you.”
“That is a promise you better keep,” he warned with a laugh and moved gently off her to gather her against him in his arms.
With their breathing calmed and their bodies replete they shared the simple pleasure of laying quietly in each other’s arms, both favoring the soothing melody of their satisfied hearts.
Sarina never realized how delicious love could feel, a love made of no demands and given from the heart and soul. Why had she not been wise enough to see this from the start? Why had she wasted so much precious time?
Her answer came easily.
Dagon.
She had not found that rare love until she had found Dagon. And now? Her smile was for herself alone. She had tempted fate and would wait for the outcome, but in the meantime she would enjoy.
She stroked Dagon’s leg with her sock-covered foot and with her finger traced circle after circle on his chest.
He grabbed her hand and stilled it. “You want to give me time to recover?”
She looked with wide innocent eyes at him. “Must I?”
He kissed the tip of her small nose. “Yes, you must.”
“Can I at least continue to touch you?” she asked, sounding like a spoiled child denied her favorite treat.
He released her hand. “You can touch me whenever and wherever you like.”
“Carte blanche, I like that,” she said and continued to trace circles, her hand drifting lower and lower.
“You’re headed for trouble,” he warned with a grin.
“No,” she assured him with a shake of her head. “You are.”
It was near dawn when her breathing calmed for the fifth time that night. She lay on her side, Dagon wrapped around her after pulling the covers over them and making certain she was comfortable.
She had been comfortable all evening with him. Their last joining had been fast and furious. They had been laughing and teasing each other beneath the covers when they both suddenly lost control of their emotions. Dagon wasted no time in entering her, nor did she waste time in accepting him. They coupled like two primal beasts, scratching, clawing, and biting their way to a unified climax.
She sighed with the pleasure of the recent memory.
“Are you all right?” he asked anxiously. “I was far from gentle.”
“Neither was I,” she admitted freely. “But I did enjoy it.”
“I didn’t hurt you?”
His anxiousness disturbed her until she realized the reason for his apprehension. No spells would cure her ills; she would suffer as a mortal would until her hurt healed naturally.
He could do nothing to prevent her discomfort or to heal her. And that concerned him greatly.
His tender regard touched her heart “I’m all right.”
“Really?” he asked and his hand moved to gently touch between her legs.
She flinched from the unexpected soreness.
“I think not,” he said in an angry tone.
“It’s my own fault,” she insisted, taking responsibility for her actions.
He turned her on her back to look directly at her. “The responsibility is mine as well.”
She was not upset that he read her thoughts so clearly.
Their joining had brought them closer together, much closer than she had expected or dared to hope. But now she would have to be much more careful. She reached her hand out to touch his face. “I chose to join with you and you with me. A little soreness matters not after such a memorable night.”
He took her hand and kissed her palm. “I don’t wish to see you suffer.”
She grinned. “You certainly didn’t mind me suffering earlier this evening.”
He grinned himself. “You inflicted suffering of your own on me.”
“I did, didn’t I?” She giggled foolishly yet with delight.
“That you did, dear heart. And I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the tormenting pleasure you caused me.”
“And I enjoyed all you gave me.”
“But I, unlike you,” he said with a playful tap to her nose, “am not physically suffering.”
“A small discomfort,” she insisted.
His hand moved between her legs to once again prove his point, but this time her hand grabbed for his. “I’m all right and by tomorrow I’ll be fine.”
“You will tell me if you’re not?”
“I will complain to you immediately,” she said, “so you may suffer along with me.”
He kissed her then gently. “If you suffer, I suffer.”
She was startled by his admission. “I don’t wish you to suffer.”
They stared in silence at each other as if both of them at that very moment understood the essence of their remarks and knew without a word being spoken that they loved each other.
Sarina gently cuddled up against him and just as tenderly Dagon wrapped her protectively in his arms, and they drifted off into a contented slumber.