Page 50 of Bride of the Black Dragon
“I’m close,” he warns, voice strained. “You might want to stop. You—fuck—Elaina, pull away?—”
But I don’t.
I want to know what he tastes like when he comes. I want to taste all of him, the way he tasted all of me.
The next moment, he lets out a roar, his hips bucking.
And then his release hits my tongue in hot, pulsing waves. It tastes like fire and sugar—like spicy cinnamon candy—and I swallow every drop, loving the way he moans, the way his big body shudders beneath me.
When it’s over, I crawl up to him and he pulls me into his arms.
“Come here, little dove,” he murmurs, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “My sweet, brave girl. Can’t believe you swallowed it all.”
“It tasted good—like candy,” I confess.
He gives a breathless laugh.
“I’m glad you liked it.”
Then he kisses me and pulls me closer.
I curl against his chest, still tasting him on my lips, still breathing in his scent.
Lying in his arms, I feel completely content for the first time since I came to the Citadel. But if I had known what was coming next, I wouldn’t have been quite so peaceful.
25
ELAINA
“My Drake wants to meet you,” Xaren says.
I blink at him in the soft morning light, unsure I heard correctly. We’re still tangled in the warm cocoon of the bed, his massive body curved protectively around mine. At some point during the night, the heavy velvet coverlet slipped down to our waists, and now I can feel the heat radiating from his bare chest against my back. Like sleeping beside a furnace, I’d thought when I first curled against him. But that warmth comforted me through the strange dreams that came and went all night long.
Dreams of flying.
Of rushing wind and stars that burned blue against a midnight sky. Of a heart thudding in my chest that wasn’t entirely my own. And once—just once—I dreamed I was soaring above a mirror-bright lake, and when I looked down into the rippling surface, a pair of silver and white wings flashed, and a sleek dragon’s head stared back at me.
My dragon?
No. That’s impossible. But what can it mean?
“Your…Drake?” I echo aloud, my voice rough from sleep. “You mean he wants to meet me?”
“He does.” Xaren’s eyes are half-lidded, still sleepy, but his voice is alert. “He’s been asking to meet you since yesterday.”
“But…isn’t he huge?” A little shiver slides down my spine despite his warmth. “What does he want with me?”
“He wants to know you.” He cups my cheek and tilts my face toward his. “Don’t worry, little dove—he would never hurt you. He feels for you the same way I do.”
I hesitate. I want to ask him what he means—What do you feel for me, Xaren?—but the words won’t come. My tongue is thick with unasked questions and fear.
“I just…” I bite my lip. “How would I even meet him? Can you, uh, let him out right here?”
I glance around the massive bed chamber with its high vaulted ceiling and cold stone walls, feeling absurd. But Xaren just chuckles.
“No, he’d never fit. I never Shift inside.”
“Then where?” I ask. “And, um…how big is he, exactly? I’ve never seen a Drake before.”
