Page 58 of Dragon His Heels
“The person I knew you could be,” she whispered. Tears glistened in her eyes. These weren’t left over from earlier. These were fresh.
“I was scared,” he said. It was time to go for broke. “Of what I felt for you. The people who were supposed to love me the most in the world abandoned me when I was too young to understand. And I’ve spent my entire life fearing it would happen again. That’s why I kept everyone at arm’s length. And then when I suspected you were my fated mate, I was even more afraid. Worried you’d leave me too. So I figured the best way to ensure I wasn’t deserted again was to avoid making it official. That’s why I lied about the condoms.”
“I understand,” she said.
“I won’t do it again. I swear.”
“Me neither. I promise. And I will never abandon you, Gabe. I couldn’t.”
They stood facing each other, close enough to but not touching, their gazes clashing and shifting away, until the silence became so deafening, Gabe blurted, “I think… I-I love you, Talia.”
“You do?” She startled, her arm raising as she drifted closer, until she touched his bicep. When her fingers grazed his skin, they closed, wrapping around his arm and holding on like she never intended to let him go. Which sounded like a marvelous plan.
“I do.” He slipped his arm around her waist, tugging her to him. She fell against his body, sighing as she melted into him and rested her head against his chest.
“I’ve fallen in love with you too,” she said, so quietly it was barely more than a breath of air. But it was enough. His dragon roared his approval, and Gabe could almost swear he heard her dragon roar too. Then she looked up at him, cupped his face, and kissed him, hard, open-mouthed, loaded with hot desperation.
He twisted one hand in her hair and grasped her ass with the other, walking her backward until she hit the wall. She lifted her leg and twined it around his, widening her stance and rubbing against him like a damn cat.
“Let’s go back to the house, make it official,” he said between kisses.
“Uh-uh. I can’t wait.” She shoved her hand into his pants, wrapped it around his happy-to-feel-her erection.
“Talia, the entire damn colony is right—” She squeezed. “Never mind.”
He tugged her skirt up to her waist and shoved her panties down her legs. She wiggled out of them and then focused on unbuckling his belt. Before she could push his pants down to his knees, he grabbed his wallet out of his back pocket. “Condom,” he said. “Fuck, I can’t wait either.” He ripped off the wrapper and sheathed himself as quickly as his shaking hands would let him. As soon as he was covered, she leaped into his arms and wrapped her legs around his waist.
He grasped his pecker and dragged the head along her seam. She was soaked, hot, wet, and ready to do this. Why the hell had he waited so long?
“Are you going to do it already?”
He shook his head. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on how stupid he’d been these last few weeks. Now was the time to make Talia his mate.
“You ready?” he asked.
She threaded her fingers in his hair and looked him in the eye. “More than.”
He thrust. She met him, letting herself drop at the same time, so that he damn near slammed into her as they consummated their love.
“Mate,” he said, a growl in his voice, his teeth clenched, as he thrust again and again. Non-sex had been pretty damn amazing, but this, this was something altogether different. From everything. For all his experience, all those nameless women, none of it prepared him for this. For…for utter perfection. Ecstasy. If humans were to name this mating ritual, they’d call it heaven. He never wanted it to end, except—
“Gah!”
Talia made a gurgling noise and pulled his hair to the point of pain while her inner muscles clamped around him, milking him as her orgasm overcame her, pulling him along with her. He gladly followed her over the edge. He’d follow her anywhere.
They clung to each other, hearts beating erratically but yet in rhythm, both breathing in pants, their dragons doing a celebratory waltz in Gabe’s head, until someone—not Talia—cleared their throat.
“Shit.” He pulled out and stood in front of Talia, his back to the intruder, while she smoothed down her skirt and he slipped off the condom and tied the end before dropping it in a nearby wastebasket and tugging his pants up over his hips.
“So,” came a voice that sounded a lot like Adelbern. “You’ve decided to take a mate?”
Gabe glanced at Talia, who gazed back owlishly.
“Um, yeah.”
“Good.”
“Sorry,” Gabe said. “I didn’t think we were being loud.”
