Page 91 of A Witch and Her Dragon
“You must stay still,” I bite out.
I shift on the couch so I’m kneeling between her thighs, my hips holding her legs open. The head of my cock throbs, begging to be buried inside her, and my heart thunders so hard in my chest that it makes me drag heavy breaths into my lungs, like I’m sprinting uphill in my full metal armor.
I hold her stare. “Are you ready?”
Alina bites her lower lip. Her eyes and scent betray her fear. But still, she nods. “I’m ready.”
My lips peel back over my fangs. I take her chin with my free hand, turning her face to one side. The firelight dances over her skin. Leaning forward, I trace my nose along her neck, drinking in her scent. It makes my head spin, makes me feel like I’m flying through a storm.
I tighten my other hand around her wrists, pinning her body with mine.
“Don’t move,” I remind her again.
“I won’t,” she whispers.
And then I sink my fangs into her perfect throat.
They slip through her skin, sharp points finding her veins, running hot with Ravenscroft blood. Her breath hitches with a caught breath. I expect her to scream, to cry.
But she doesn’t. Even as my magic mingles with hers, my claiming bite sending heat and power flooding through her, she does little more than whimper and moan, body trembling more fiercely beneath mine.
And my dragon rejoices. It sends more glittering black scales across my arms and chest, my sensesheightening further as Alina’s blood absorbs the magic I’m pumping into her.
Then something else happens. Something I never expected, never thought possible.
My beaststops fighting me.
For the first time since boyhood, I feel it breathe a heavy sigh, then settle as if it can finally, after all these years, find the rest it so badly needs.
I was young when my father left, barely old enough to understand the weight of power I carried in my veins, the great and terrible things I’d one day be able to do. He never had a chance to teach me about the bond, left it to me to scour libraries and old scrolls in an effort to understand.
Now I realize I didn’t need those books at all. My instincts were all I needed to rely upon. Iknowwhat I need to do. I’ve known all along what I need to do. And the relief at finally having done it, at having claimed the woman who was always meant to be mine, calms me in a way I’ve never experienced.
She is the only thing I truly needed. I’ve needed her all along. To calm me. To control me. To own me.
My beast has found its match. And like a contented cat, it’s happy to lie down at her feet, to cease its writhing and snarling and fighting and instead seek the comfort of her flames.
Because of her, I’m free.
Still holding her wrists in one hand, I reach down with the other, trailing my fingers across her skin and along her body until I find the spot between her legs.
And like last time we touched each other, she’s soaking wet, ready to take me.
But she’s never had a man inside her before, hasn’t ever taken a cock. And I need to be careful with her, gentle.
I peel my fangs from Alina’s throat. Her brow furrows in pain as my canines slip from her skin. Then I drag my tongue across the wounds, lapping the blood from her skin, where the wounds will soon heal over, leaving a fresh pink scar—my claiming mark—on the side of her neck for everyone to see.
Slowly, I release her wrists from my grasp, and she turns her head to regard me. Her eyes are narrowed, lips parted, her knees still resting on either side of my hips.
I see her as if for the first time, through eyes not fogged with my dragon’s needs and demands and relentless,exhaustingfighting.
My partner. My mate. Alina Ravenscroft.
She reaches up to touch the wound on her throat, wincing as her fingers glide across it.
Now there’s only one thing left to do.
I’ll bite you. And then I’ll fuck you.
