Page 23 of Jace

“Susannah,” Jace murmured.

His deep voice made her insides quiver and she reached for him without thinking, needing his touch.

She whimpered with relief as he straddled her in one swift movement, caging her head with his arms, his eyes fixed on hers.

He reached his hand out to stroke her cheek and the gentle touch had her melting for him.

She tilted her chin up for his kiss just as the wind picked up.

There was a groan, too deep to be his, and then a crack like lightning.

It’s happening again.

8

Jace

Jace’s pulse pounded as his dragon’s need surged, hot and commanding.

His mate was pinned beneath him, the scent of her desperate desire intoxicating him.

Susannah’s expression was equal parts hunger and confusion, but Jace knew he could fulfill both needs, comforting her mind and body with his.

Mate, the dragon roared, pushing dangerously close to the surface.

This time Jace did not deny it. She was his and he was hers. That much was clear. There was nothing left but the claiming.

A loud groan and deafening crack interrupted his thoughts, and he sensed the tree branch falling above them.

There was just enough time for him to pull her close and roll them both out of its reach.

It settled on the ground where they had been, leaves shivering with the impact.

He looked back to his mate, but her face was stricken.

“It was only a tree branch, Susannah,” he explained calmly. “It broke off in the wind. But we are safe, and so is Zeke. The tent wasn’t hit at all.”

If anything, she looked more horrified.

“I have to get some sleep,” she muttered, trying to scramble out from under him.

Everything in him told him to pin her down and remind her of what they had been doing.

But he sensed real fear in her, beyond the effects of a fallen tree branch.

It’s me. It’s the dragon.

The creature bellowed frantically in his mind, but he stood and let her go.

“Do you need anything to be comfortable?” he asked her gently.

She shook her head without looking at him and crawled into the tent, leaving him alone under the stars.

He stayed where he was for a moment, allowing the dragon’s superior senses to seek his mate and look for clues to her distress.

But he found only that same terror he had tasted on her before, nothing more detailed than that. She was unhurt physically.

Shaking his head, he grabbed the branch and dragged it away from the campsite. If it was really what had scared her so much, he wouldn’t want her being reminded of it in the morning. He eyed the branch as he reached a thicket by the side of the road. It didn’t seem very scary to him.

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