Page 17 of Witch's Bells and Mistletoe

I lick my lips as I eye her, my cocks aching terribly even though I’ve released twice on the bedding, making a mess of the bedding and my thighs. All the same, I don’t intend to claim her. Not tonight. This was for her, another courting gift for my mate. I smile down at her drowsy expression as I gently shift her to the other side of the bed where it’s dry and pull the blankets over her. A hint of dragon fire is all it takes to clean up the mess on my side and warm the blankets before I’m scooting in beside her and wrapping my large body around hers. My tail instinctively curls around her belly and thighs. She yawns, but I feel her hand go to it and stroke the side of her gently before going limp against it as sleep claims her. I draw her limp body closer to me, and my wings expand around us to nestle around her in a tight cocoon.

It seems that I discovered another use for wings I hadn’t expected. They are wonderfully useful for mating. So much so that it is impossible to retract them when I’m lying with her, and I quickly discover that I’m even more content this way as I snuggle against her and begin to rumble contently deep in my chest as I savor the connection with my mate as I fall asleep.

Chapter 13

KATHERINE

I thought it would be awkward to wake up next to Adeon. Never would I have imagined that it would be so blissfully happy and comfortable that I would be reluctant to leave his embrace. His left wing stretches around us, the membrane glowing softly from the sunlight filtering through it. It should be claustrophobic, but instead, between his wing and his arm wrapped around me, I feel warm and safe. I experimentally run a finger along it and smile at its heat. Even this part of him is incredibly toasty warm. It’s no wonder I don’t want to leave the bed despite the light quilt and sheet that hotels seem to think is adequate bedding at any time of the year.

Wiggling a little, I turn in his embrace so that I’m facing him and able to admire him for a moment as he sleeps. The strong lines of his high cheekbones and strong jaw beg to be touched and his lips look plush and inviting for kisses with how relaxed they are in his sleep. Even the pebble of scales that start halfway up his cheekbones and along the bridge of his nose and fill out over his brow strike me as beautiful. I breathe in his spicy scent as I trail my fingers along the thick scruff of his closely trimmed beard. For two years he’s been an absolute thorn in my side bringing all manner of speculations among the coven and now I wish I could have those two years back so that I could fully enjoy his odd courtship all over again.

I feel a smile crease my cheeks as I remember the way he tried to impress me at the ball with the same foolish games that the young men in the coven play. And I remember the delight on his face every time I asked him to teach me a little of his magic while I was unaware the whole time of what I was asking. How he held me close last solstice when I grieved for my Fran’s heart ache when she lost contact with her vampire—and the subsequent restraining me from cursing the male to the moon and back. Every important moment over the last two years, Adeon has been there and some part of me laments how much I missed by trying so hard to keep my distance.

No more. There will only be good memories from here on out. I snuggle against him and run my fingers through his long hair. My dragon sleeps heavily so he barely stirs but his contented dragon’s purr rumbles through his chest, bringing a smile to my face. Resting my cheek against his chest, I allow myself to enjoy his warmth as his wing tightens around my back, keeping us locked together. I bask in his embrace and the way my magic seems to slide over his and mingle like the gentlest caress of lips. I can feel it all through me and so I savor it for as long as I can until my bladder reminds me of why I’m incapable of just whiling away the morning in bed.

With a soft groan of protest, I wiggle out of Adeon’s embrace so that I can slide out of my bed. The dragon gives a gruff snort and rolls over, his wings splayed. I take a moment to admire him in the morning sunlight coming through the window. With the blankets tangled around his hips, the sunlight makes his raised scales shine and catches the brilliant strands of his tangled auburn hair. His right wing folded against his side twitches and stretches out, bringing a slow smile to my face.

Damn, he’s beautiful. I blush with the memory of what he did to me with nothing more than his mouth last night. It was like he couldn’t get enough. I have no doubt that he would have continued a lot longer if given the opportunity. I chuckle wryly to myself. I certainly quit a lot sooner than he did. It almost seems unreal that all of that is for me. I feel quite lucky. I also feel a little guilty falling asleep before taking care of my dragon. I will remedy that today. But first—

I relieve my bladder, and when I peek out of the bathroom and see that he is still soundly sleeping, I take the opportunity to brush my teeth and jump in the shower. I’m not entirely sure what the protocol is for sleeping overnight with a man, which sounds ridiculous for a woman of my age—even to me. Experienced and yet not in so many ways.

All the same, my pride demands that I’m clean and fresh smelling when he wakes up. It’s perhaps a strange reaction, but until I know for sure how he would react to me all sweaty with the faint scent of sex still clinging to me from my multiple orgasms, I’m a little sensitive about it. Never mind the whole thing about morning breath.

Everything is getting more complicated now, but rather than the dread I usually feel when something changes unexpectedly, all I feel is a thrill of excitement. Plenty of worry and nervousness as well—but mostly excitement. And I think a lot of that is entirely due to Adeon. He’s been wearing me down for a while, but now that I’m mentally ready to take this risk, having a sweet, doting, and protective male who’s positively magical in and out of bed, makes all the difference in the world it seems.

I’m still smiling when I step out of the shower and wrap a towel around me. By the time I’m lotioned and my hair is properly combed, dried, and pinned up, I step out of the bathroom a bundle of nerves. Adeon looks up from where he’s seated on the edge of the bed and greets me with a sleepy, sexy smile. His wings expand languidly as he lifts his arms above his head to stretch out his back, and then fold behind him, disappearing entirely.

“Good morning, Katherine.” His rumble quickens my blood, heating me throughout my body.

Or it might be the fact that he’s casually sitting there, clad in nothing, his semi-hard cocks jutting up from between his spread thighs. My cheeks warm with the vague memory of impatiently tugging at his pants, but somehow I’d thought the fact that he had two very well-endowed dicks was the result of my lust-addled imagination. Clearly not. Their impossibly thick lengths lie side by side from where they sprout from his lightly scaled groin, plump with his morning arousal.

“See something that interests you, love?” There’s a low note of invitation in his voice, and my eyes snap up to his face, a guilty blush coloring my cheeks that I’ve been caught ogling him.

I should be flirtatious and seductive. I know how to do that much. It’s become second nature when it comes to my intimacy with men, but I’m discovering that I don’t want to do that with Adeon. He’s not just there to scratch an itch, so I don’t want to pretend to be a seductress with him when it was always a means to accomplish an end. I want this to be entirely real, so I smile warmly at him and allow myself to share in his amusement.

“Perhaps I do. Do you object?”

His eyes heat, and he smirks as he shakes his head. He reaches for me, and I walk over to him, placing my hand in his so that he can draw me down onto his lap. I shiver as his warm hands skate over the towel to tease the bottom edge. Taking that as an invitation, I reach between us for his cocks, but he immediately blocks my hand. My brow furrows as I tip my head to meet his eyes, but he merely smiles and kisses me on the nose.

“Patience, Katherine. We have plenty of time for all that. For now, I want to simply relish the anticipation while I enjoy having you in my arms.”

I peer at him with confusion. Why is he suddenly hitting the brakes? Is he changing his mind? Gods, he saw me naked. What if he noticed I was no longer perky and firm? He didn’t seem to mind last night, but now it’s full daylight and—

He makes a sound of chagrin in his throat and brushes his palm against my cheek. “Don’t look at me like that, love. You know I want you—perhaps too much, if I’m honest, which is why it’s better if we just slow down a bit.”

“That sounds like a load of horse manure,” I point out. “How can there possibly such a thing as ‘wanting someone too much?’ You certainly were full steam ahead last night.”

He grins lazily as if I’m not obviously annoyed at him and strokes lazy circles with this thumb on my thigh. “Does a connoisseur of fine food simply gorge themselves? Or do they savor every morsel of the courses set in front of them before they move onto the entrée?” I squint at him suspiciously, but he rumbles with laughter as drags me against his chest and nuzzles my neck, his breath fanning my ear. “Never doubt that you, my sweet Katherine, are a feast.”

I shiver as his long tongue strokes the side of my neck and then jolt with surprise when his hand slips under my towel and squeezes my ass.

“I guarantee I will be savoring every bite of this tonight.” His nose brushes my ear as I tremble, my body heating as I imagine his teeth raking across my bottom pulled up in the air in preparation for mounting. “Do you like that idea, my love? I can smell your perfume now, and it’s the most delicious thing I’ve ever had the pleasure of enjoying.”

His strange purring sound kicks up in his chest, and I practically melt against him before I recall that he didn’t really answer me.

“You still didn’t answer the question?” I gasp as I feel the gentle scrape of his claws.

He grunts quietly and gently drags me off of his lap so that I’m sitting on the bed next to him… mostly. My legs are draped across his thighs because his tail is still anchored around my right leg, stubbornly holding me in place as if even now he instinctively wants to cling to me. His green eyes are practically amber with the golden flames dancing in them, but his gaze is so piercing and direct that it catches my attention as something of importance.

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