Page 6 of The Dragon's Dream Mate (Savage Shifters Special Ops 3)

Except that it wouldn’t. And I couldn’t just let her go.

“I never forgot about you,” I said, a little more loudly than I meant to.

She stopped and was completely still, her room card still inserted in the little electronic lock.

“I only said that to make Gage happy. If he thought that I had any feelings for you, he wouldn’t have let me come on this mission. He would never have taken the chance that I would compromise a mission because of my personal feelings.”

“So, you never forgot me. That’s so nice. Because there were never any letters or phone calls. There was never any sign that I held any importance in your life whatsoever. I get it. I was just a kid’s love. Then, you joined the army, became a man, and outgrew me,” she said, without any bitterness. There was a hint of sadness in her voice, however.

I walked closer to her, so I didn’t have to yell down the hallway. “Curse it, Rainey. One thing that hasn’t changed is that you are as difficult as ever. My actions had nothing to do with you. I was angry at the world, and I hated everything in the world. I was bent on destroying it, just as someone destroyed Cedric.”

“You did a great job of destroying a young girl’s dreams and innocence. You nearly destroyed me,” she whispered.

“I’m sorry,” I said, miserably, knowing how little those words meant.

“Don’t be,” she said, her voice hardening. “A woman was born from the ashes from that little girl and her dreams. A woman who found a calling in life to make things better in this world. I’ve done extremely well for myself.”

“I see that,” I said, leaning against the wall. “But, are you happy?”

Her back straightened and, she got defensive. “Of course, I’m happy. I’ve worked my way up through the ranks of the FBI, which is still, by the way, very much a man’s organization, and helped a lot of people in this world along the way. I’ve made a difference. I wouldn’t have had that chance if I had married you and raised little dragon babies. I would never have found myself or realized my strength. So, I guess I owe you thanks for leaving. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m tired, and I want to go to bed.”

I felt as though she had slapped my face. She just told me that she was better off without me, and had I stayed and we’d married as planned, she would never have found herself. I would have held her back.

There was nothing I could say to that. I had no answer. I turned to go to my room, but then, once again, something inside of me couldn’t let it end like that. “Rainey, do you ever get lonely?”

She paused. At first, I thought she was going to lie. But then she said, “I thought about getting a dog, but I’m not home enough to properly take care of a dog. I got some goldfish instead. They’re on an automatic feeder and have a great filter.”

“You can’t cuddle with a goldfish,” I told her.

“No, but my goldfish never disappeared on me without another word, either,” she said.

I covered the distance between us in two strides. She almost had the door shut when I put my foot in the door, keeping it open.

“What are you doing? You need to leave,” she said.

“Not until I kiss you, and you tell me you feel nothing,” I said.

She stepped back, allowing me to push through the door. The door shut behind me, and I pressed her up against it. I captured her mouth with mine and pushed my tongue between her lips.

All these years of pent up emotions exploded through that kiss. My lips were pressed hard against hers, yielding nothing. My tongue explored her mouth, dancing wildly, twirling around her tongue, touching it, rubbing it.

After a moment, she kissed back. She wrapped her arms around me, pulling me tightly against her body. My hands braced her face, and she moaned against my mouth, a deep guttural sound that told me that there was some passion left for me.

I had no idea what that meant for the future. All I knew was that I needed her, wanted her. I ached to possess her.

She must have felt the same need, as she didn’t protest when I - still kissing her - tugged her to the bed.

3

Rainey

Iwasn’t sure how our clothes disappeared. But suddenly, I was staring at the bronzed body that made my insides turn to jello. He was finely sculpted, with hard pecs that led down to a six-pack. A trail of dark red chest hair trailed down his stomach to his glorious cock that stood out proud and ready.

He stared down at me and licked his lips as though he were a starving man at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Then, he pounced, pulling me to the bed.

He stretched out his six-foot-six frame on top of mine. He grabbed my arms and held them above my head. His lips captured mine, pressing hard against my mouth. His tongue invaded my mouth - possessive yet tantalizing. All the old feelings I had spent years suppressing rushed back.

My body heated up like a raging inferno, and the flames of desire and yearning flicked everywhere in my body. Electricity pumped through my body, further igniting every cell and every nerve that exists within me.

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