Page 21 of Betrayed By Dragons

"The investigation," I murmur against his lips.

"I'll talk to Li," he breathes. "I have allies."

"But your father--"

"Told me to leave it alone," he admits. He huffs out a rough breath. "But I can't. I won't."

His bravery in the face of his father's threats inspires a new spark of devotion inside me. I kiss him again, harder and deeper, desire rising like a tide.

"He doesn't think I can be king because I'm weak," he murmurs. "But I'll show him. I'm done taking orders."

My hand on his cheek, I gaze up into his eyes. "You'll be ten times the king he is because of your heart--not in spite of it."

"It's all because of you." Bypassing my lips, he kisses my brow, my nose, my chin. "You give me the courage to follow my heart. Because how could it be wrong?" He pulls away by a fraction, staring at me with this softness in his eyes that I've never seen before. "When it led me to you?"

Overwhelming emotion surges behind my ribs. My vision blurring, I tug him down, closer still, until our mouths can meet. Words of adoration rise to my lips, and a part of me wants to let them out. We're mates. Joined by the gods themselves, led to each other by the steady hand of fate. What could it hurt to tell this man that I love him, now, in this moment, when he's bared his soul to me so completely?

Something holds me back, though. There are secrets I'm keeping; pieces of my past that I haven't revealed.

There's also Rafe to think about.

My fingers flex against Jianyu's shoulder as I part my mouth, moaning at the soft sweep of his tongue past my teeth.

Could I tell one of my mates that I love him before I tell the other? Being with Jianyu like this feels so right, but there's this nagging sense of wrongness at the back of my mind.

I push my doubts aside for now, focusing on the heat of Jianyu's body and the intimacy of the moment we've just shared. Our tongues tangle together, and I get lost in the depth of connection resonating through our bond.

There's so much more to talk about, so many bombshells he's laid on my doorstep in the past few minutes that I want to unpack. For now, though, it's impossible to think--much less put my thoughts into words.

Giving up, I allow the heat gathering between us to build and build. The things we can't speak aloud we communicate to each other with our bodies. With my hands and lips, I try to give him my acceptance. My undying hunger for more. In exchange, I feel his tenderness, his willingness to show me the soft underbelly that he hides from everyone else. I feel his love--even if neither of us knows how to talk about it yet.

As the kiss deepens, my nipples tighten into hard points. My skin prickles, lightning zipping down my spine as the achy place between my legs goes slick and soft.

Sexual attraction has never been the problem, of course, but it still feels like the solution. I moan at the scrape of his teeth over my bottom lip. His hands move to my hips, drawing me in. As the space between us disappears, the hard ridge of his erect cock presses against my belly, and my pussy throbs.

"Ember," he groans.

And I miss Rafe. I do. Everything is better with both my mates surrounding me.

But there's a delicious kind of intensity to focusing on one man. Every hitch in Jianyu's breath and every motion of his mouth against mine is its own symphony. I follow each note, reveling in the time to explore his reactions.

The soft uptick in his breath when I glide my mouth to his jaw. The racing of his pulse as I cup his firm backside. The twitch of his cock as we grind together through our clothes.

My entire body goes liquid with the pure sexual energy vibrating through us. Neither of us will be rushed, but the emptiness inside me swiftly approaches an unbearable peak, and I whine as he curls a hand around my breast. He tweaks my hard nipple, and I bite down on his neck. Growling, he kisses his way to my collarbone, and he's probably leaving marks, but I don't care.

Groaning his name, I melt into his arms, my center on fire.

As if he can hear my desperation--as if he feels it, too--he lifts me. Claiming my mouth again, he carries me toward the river.

A large stone sits beside its rushing bank. He sets me down on it. Perched on the rock's edge, I reach for him, kissing him wetter and hotter. He runs his hands along my thighs before parting them. I spread my legs, and he steps between them.

The first press of his huge cock against my pussy through our clothes makes me throw my head back and groan. I'm so wet and ready, aching to feel connected to him in every way possible. I scrabble at his shirt, and he helps me pull the offending fabric off and over his head. I scrape my nails down the hot, sculpted flesh of his chest and abs, and every dip and ridge of muscle is a delight. I want to explore him, to truly take my time, but we're so exposed.

Too exposed.

"What if," I gasp, my eyes rolling back in my head as he leans in to kiss the shell of my ear. I flap a useless hand toward the path through the woods that leads to the temple. "Someone could--"

He takes my hand in his. Holding onto me, he flicks his index finger up and to the side.

---