Page 131 of Cast By Flames (Dragon's Breath)
“I’ve never met a female like you, and it drives me insane,” he said, finishing with a growl, and then his hot lips were on hers.
It was like an explosion went off.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he pulled her until she was off the couch and straddling him. His body was huge and dwarfed hers. Rayna had never felt smaller, yet he touched her with an incredible amount of tenderness as desire consumed them.
There was no missing the hardness beneath her. But why had he changed his mind? As their mouths opened and the kiss deepened with their tongues tangling, she decided it didn’t matter. She wanted him more than her next breath.
Galadon pulled back a few inches to search her face. “I expected you to stab me and run screaming from the house.”
“Liar.” She repeated his earlier response to her and ran a hand down his chest. “You had to know it was never just a taunt.”
He kissed her again, full of heat and passion. Rayna caressed his shoulders and arms, enjoying her free reign to touch him for the first time. There was no fighting the need between them as they worked their clothes off each other.
Then they were both naked. Galadon was every bit as impressive as she’d expected with smooth, tan skin and hard, bulging muscles. He was larger than other shifters in his dragon form, and huge in his human body.
As she drank in the sight of him, Rayna found herself on her back with him hovering over her. Damn, but the intense look in his eyes terrified and thrilled her at the same time. There were so many unnamed emotions there. Power crackled between them as their magical currents entwined in a way she’d never seen before. Galadon felt so right. Maybe that seer hadn’t been wrong, and they were made for each other.
“We only do this once,” he said abruptly.
Rayna frowned, jolted from the passionate haze. “What? Why?”
“This is a temporary truce, remember?” He ran his fingers along her stomach, pausing at the new scars where she’d been gutted over two weeks ago. The damage had been too severe to heal fully. “If we win this war, you’ll be my enemy again afterward.”
Rayna knew once wouldn’t be enough for her and surely not for him, either. She’d known it the moment she met him. Galadon attracted her in a way that made her want to forsake all other men. There was some kind of mystical tether between them that she’d known to expect years ago when the Straegud sorceress predicted their meeting. It was something she couldn’t tell him now, not after what he’d just said. He didn’t see things the same way as her.
“I could never kill you, Galadon,” she said, trying to show the truth of that in her eyes.
He continued tracing his fingertips along her body, which were incredibly tender and alluring. Their magic followed his touch with sizzling sparks and heightened the pleasure, especially when he reached her nipples. She wanted more—a lotmore. He could do that for the rest of the day, and she wouldn’t care if she lost much-needed sleep. It would be worth it.
He shook his head slowly. “You can’t make that promise. All it would take is a week of finding no other dragons to kill, and then you’d look at me as prey. I wouldn’t even blame you for it. It’s what slayers do, and nothing can change your instincts.”
“You know what’s ironic?” she asked, grabbing his bare ass to bring him closer. “My first thought when I met you wasn’t how I could kill you. It was how amazingly good-looking you were, and my second was that I’d finally met a dragon who I knew—without a doubt—could defeat me in battle. It turned me on.”
He took her hands and held them above her head. “You willingly lie beneath me, believing I could kill you?”
“Am I wrong?” she asked, arching her bare breasts toward him. She was playing with fire, which made her even hotter than the flames he’d lit a short time ago.
“Rayna, promise me that today is the only day we do this.” He pressed himself against her entrance, and she groaned at the pressure. “We will not discuss it afterward, and you will not try to seduce me in the future. What we do in this room is all that will ever happen between us. It is the only way.”
“But Bailey and Aidan…”
Galadon shook his head. “We are not them—not even close. You must promise me.”
She looked up at him, hating the sheer desperation in his eyes for her to agree. This was how he’d justified it in his mind. He must think that if they did it now, it would help him get rid ofhis desire for her. She doubted it would for either of them, but he wanted to believe the lie.
“Please don’t make me say it. We can make it work if you just give it a chance.”
“No,” he said, starting to pull away.
Rayna tried wrapping her legs around him, but he was stronger and nudged them back down. Despite his immense strength, he was still gentle about it. She was so damn desperate for him, and the evidence of his arousal proved he wanted her, too. Something was holding him back.
As he began to rise, resolution and regret filled his gaze. She’d lose this chance with him if she didn’t agree to his terms. At that moment, Rayna would have sold her soul to feel his body inside hers. If he could just see they were meant for each other, maybe he’d come around to the idea.
“Fine, damn you. I promise.” She hated that he’d made her say it, but she would have to hope this brief time together would be worth it.
Relief filled his features. “Good.”
He wanted to give in to his desire, but only with specific boundaries in place.
