Page 23 of Hers to Keep

Laterthatnight,exactlyas he had promised, Dohal took her hand under the stars and a shimmer of magic passed over him.The more human guise he’d been wearing the last several days morphed into something that was closer to a cross between man and dragon—his towering wings unfurled behind him and his feet curled into thick claws.

“I have been experimenting with different combinations of my forms.What do you think of this one?”

She studied him with a smile, realizing that she’d missed the wings when they’d been gone.“I like it.I think it suits you.”

“Then it will be the one I use from now on,” he said in a pleasant rumble.

She realized he’d enjoyed her opinion on his appearance as he led her away from the pool house along one of the winding paths through the compound.

“Where are we going?”she asked, after a few minutes of walking.

“I have made a haven for you away from the more traveled areas.I had the sense the other day that you might like a space of your own with a little more privacy sometimes.”

She glanced his way, though she couldn’t see much of his expression in the darkness.“That was incredibly thoughtful.It does get a little loud for me at the main house sometimes, even at the pool house.”

“Right now, the wards are keyed to allow any of the four of us in along with you, but you could change that if you chose.Above everything else, they will respond to your will.”He paused to scoop her up in his arms and turned off the path.

Mari felt the tingling of Dohal’s magic brushing over her as he stepped through the wards and into a space that looked like a fairy wonderland, lush with greenery that did not belong in this climate and lit with gently glowing orbs.The air smelled faintly of sagebrush after a rain.How exactly he knew it was her favorite scent in the world, she’d never know.He’d certainly never asked.

She had to swallow before she could speak, “It’s lovely.”

“I’m glad you approve.”He moved toward the center of the space, where a very large, raised platform dominated, and set her down on it.The material was soft and plush, though it blended in perfectly with the landscape around it.

“Is this a bed?”She laughed with delight.“It’s as big as a house.”

“You might have noticed that I am rather too large for even the bed in the pool house.This one will hold me even in my shifted form, though in that case there would only be room for you and I.”

She looked around again.The raised bed was easily twenty-five feet across.“You’re that big?”

He grinned, all sharp teeth and pride.“Yes.”

“Wow.”She didn’t bother to keep the awe from her voice.

“It is rather taxing to shift, so I will not show you now because I have other things I’d rather do with my energy.”He let his eyes sweep over her, heat gradually overtaking his hooded gaze.“If you still would like me to service you, that is.”

“I would very much like that,” she said, as she unbelted her robe and let it slide from her shoulders.

With a slow sweep of his covetous gaze, he looked her over.She let her thighs fall open to give him a better view of her.

“I’m desperate for you and aching with emptiness, just like you wanted,” she said, her voice low.She trailed a hand up her body to toy with one of her nipple rings.

He bit his lower lip with one fang and unwound his skirt before letting it fall.His body was the most glorious work of art, chiseled of obsidian and glowing with power.With a predator’s grace, he prowled onto the platform.

She scooted back on the immense bed, enjoying that her heart beat faster with the sensation of being hunted by him.He reached out to snag her ankle with one huge hand and pulled her toward him effortlessly.

She squealed in surprise, kicking out against him on instinct, but he was much too strong.He brought her closer to him with a powerful tug and then lowered the length of his body over top of her, resting easily with his forearms on either side of her.

Mari was already panting for breath, and he’d hardly touched her.He dropped his head to kiss one collarbone and then the other, his lips scorching against her skin.She needed him so badly that she tried to stifle a whimper and failed.

“Aching, indeed.”He dragged one claw down along the side of her neck, and her hips rocked toward him.“I feel how desperately you want to be filled.”He licked from the hollow of her throat up to her chin.“And do you still want me to use you exactly as I crave?”

“Yes,” she said in a hoarse whisper.

His magic stroked her skin in tempting trails.“What I crave is the taste of you on my tongue, warm and wet for me.”

Mari groaned and arched up into him.“Then taste me.”

Moving down her body slowly, his searing mouth pressed kisses into her chest, pausing to suckle briefly at each nipple until she moaned, and then down to her stomach.He hooked his arms under her knees and spread her wide as he positioned himself between her thighs.

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