Page 62 of Kiss of Embers

He nodded. “Aye. It took me by surprise as a lad. I never knew my mother’s people, so I wasn’t exposed to werewolf customs.”

I frowned. “Your mother didn’t explain the call to you?” Most werewolves experienced their first shift shortly before the onset of puberty. Parents prepared their children well in advance so they knew what to expect.

“I’m sure she planned to,” Struan said, “but she passed when I was no more than a mite.”

My heart turned over. I stepped closer and placed a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry. I had no idea.”

He tugged a lock of my hair that had spilled over my shoulder. “I know you didn’t.” His chest lifted in a sigh. “I don’t have many memories of my parents. My mother belonged to a tiny pack in the Highlands. She was something of an adventurer.” He flashed a boyish smile. “Finn always says Iinherited her wanderlust. I love seeing new places. Meeting different kinds of people.”

I nodded, privately reeling from the effect of his smile.

He sobered. “It wasn’t easy for a female in my mother’s era to travel—or do much beyond choosing a mate and raising bairns. Her family expected her to wed an alpha and be content. From the little I know about her family, her home life was difficult. Most werewolf packs in the nineteenth century were conservative.”

I raised my brows. “They’re not much better now.”

“Aye,” he said softly, “I expect you know a thing or two about that.”

“I do.” We smiled at each other. And when he offered his hand, it was the most natural thing in the world to take it. Hand in hand, we walked along the riverbed, companionable silence between us. After a while, I squeezed his fingers. “How did you lose your parents?”

He guided me around a sharp-looking rock. “One of my mother’s adventures. She was always dragging my fathers on one kind of quest or another. They were mountain climbing on the demon plane, looking for an enchanted diamond, and they fell. She didn’t survive, which meant my fathers didn’t survive.”

“Oh, Struan,” I murmured.

He stopped and faced me. “Don’t fash yourself, lass. They were happy. I remember that. I mourn them, but I don’t allow myself to feel regret. Wherever they are now, they’re together. I feel it, you ken?” He gazed over the water, where the moon’s reflection appeared to float on the surface. “I like to think maybe my mother was too spirited for this plane. It couldn’t contain her, so the gods sent her to a place with enough space for her spirit to flourish.”

My throat thickened. “That’s a really beautiful way of looking at it.”

He turned soft blue eyes to mine. Slowly, he cupped my face, his big hands exceedingly gentle. “Nothing in this world or any other is ever truly lost, Zara. Only found.”

My heart sped up as I realized he spoke of me. Of us. “Do you really believe that?” I whispered.

“I do.” Moonlight shimmered in his eyes. Gilded his blue-black hair and firm jaw with its dark stubble. He stepped into me, his round pecs brushing my breasts. “I found you, didn’t I?”

Goosebumps lifted on my skin. His chest was hot against my sensitive nipples.

“You’re so warm,” I murmured.

One corner of his mouth lifted. “I’m a dragon.”

Desire swirled between us, chasing away the heaviness of our conversation. My breasts ached, and I resisted the urge to thrust my chest more firmly against his. To mash my curves into his hard, unforgiving muscle. Then he decided for me by gripping one of my hips and pulling me into him. A choked gasp escaped me as his cock pressed hard against my pussy.

“You’re wet,” he rumbled, sliding his hand to my ass. Digging his fingers into the muscle, he moved me against him, working my hips into his like he held dominion over my body.

“I…” I started to deny it. But how could I? There was no clothing between us. Nowhere to hide. The length of his shaft pressed hard against my pussy, opening me, and I whimpered as my body told on itself.

Struan stared down at me, his eyes glittering and his lips parted. He should have seemed smaller without his clothes, but it was the opposite. He towered over me, his shoulders filling my vision. He dug his fingers into my ass cheek and hefted me up, forcing a startled cry from me. The cry turned into a shuddering moan as he wedged his length more firmly between my lips. I knew if I looked down, I’d see my pussy split around him, my clit mashed against his shaft.

“So slick for me,” he growled, little fires flaring in his eyes. “So hot and wet, Zara lass. I’m going to need this pussy spread over my face.”

I gasped as I braced a hand against his chest, my fingers curling against his thatch of dark curls. Finn had been totally smooth, but Struan was…rugged. Rough around the edges. He was different with me than he’d been with Finn. Dominant. Almost feral.

Dangerous, a little voice of self-preservation whispered in my mind. And this was wrong…wasn’t it? We’d left Finn behind. Would he be angry if we made love without him?

Struan growled, the sound vibrating my breasts. The flames in his pupils danced higher. He gripped my ass more tightly, his fingers dangerously close to my cleft. A wild little thrill ran through me, and I caught my breath, trapped between pushing his hand away and urging him to keep going.

Before I could decide, he slid his other hand down my thigh. Hooking it behind my knee, he hiked my leg up, spreading me wider. Thrown off balance, I clung to his shoulders.

“There you go,” he growled, grinding his cock up and down my pussy. “Get me all wet, lass. Soak every inch.” His eyes darkened to midnight blue, his stare possessive as he held me open and rocked his hips against me. The round, bulbous tip of his cock struck my clit with every pass, wrenching my lust higher.

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