Page 113 of House of Ashes

“Do it. I want you, Rhylan.”

My breath hissed between my teeth as the large crown pushed against me, slowly pushing into my core. Inch by inch, moving so slowly it was like torture, real torment, when I wanted all of him and knew I couldn’t yet take him the way I wanted to.

There was pressure, hot and terrifying, that melted into sudden pleasure. I pulled him down onto me, taking his full weight, and kissed his neck as I arched against him.

The kiss became a bite as he slid in fully. I panted against his shoulder, my teeth sliding over scales as he made a sound between a growl and a groan.

It felt right. A little painful, frightening, nerve-wracking…but right. The moment in time when two became one, when a beast took his other half and mated her, making her his, and his alone.

I moved against him, undulating my hips, and Rhylan exhaled against my ear. “Gods, I’ve wanted this for so long.”

“You have me here now, so take me,” I breathed, rocking against him.

He withdrew, just as slowly as he’d pushed in, making me hiss in distress—until he thrust in again, pinning me to the bed.

With my center still sensitive from the attention of his mouth, I felt another wave of heat rise…and I flung myself towards it, moving with Rhylan’s thrusts, kissing and biting as he took his pleasure in me.

I felt him throb, his breath catching in his throat as his cock plunged in deep.

Chasing that high, my hips ground against him, bringing me to the edge of another bright abyss, my body in flames, and he released himself, growling, teeth against my throat.

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, catching my breath quietly, the flames between us cooling into contented embers.

Words were not needed. What we needed to say to each other, tonight in the darkness, we said with our skin.

Rhylan kissed the red patches where his teeth had marked me, but he didn’t allow me to move. I found myself moved on my side, the dragon curling around me protectively—no, possessively.

With his heat at my back, my muscles unwound into loose ribbons, I plunged into a sleep so deep there were no dreams at all.

Chapter

Twenty-Five

Iwoke without opening my eyes, warm, too comfortable to move and…breathing fresh air?

Cracking one eyelid, I peered at the unfamiliar room around me, taking in the curtains gently swaying in a breeze, the gauze canopy, the rumple of sheets pulled up over my shoulders…the muscular arm curled around my ribs.

I had slept in a bed. Without once waking up glazed with cold sweat, shaking and panting from the dregs of a nightmare. Without shaking in panic.

I had breathed easily all night long, the chest-clenching terror held at bay by the warmth of the dragon curled behind me, the length of his body molded against mine.

For a few minutes I allowed myself to close my eyes again and listen to the soft rhythm of his breathing, the slight hitch in his breath when he inhaled, the tiny grumbles he let out when he exhaled.

Without warning, my stomach clenched. What if…had the mate bond…?

Although I had been told that I would know, unequivocally and absolutely, when the mate bond had taken place, I didn’t feel any different…but if it had happened, if this one night had ruined all our plans…

I sent out a tentative thought. Rhylan? Will you wake up?

Nothing. The inside of my head remained silent; Rhylan didn’t so much as twitch.

Relief crashed over me, and I exhaled slowly, beginning the delicate work of extricating myself from arms and sheets without waking him up.

There was a fraught second when I thought he’d awaken and I’d have to look him in the eye before I had time to compose myself, but he rolled over, sprawling out and taking up most of the bed.

My eyes lingered on the red marks my teeth had left on his shoulders…and I made myself look away. I left his shirt on the bed and crept into the bathroom, closing the door quietly and hoping he’d sleep through the sound of running water.

I scrubbed with a spicy-scented soap, taking mental inventory of how I felt.

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