He was straining against my hands, and only the power running through my words held him there. I had to be hurting him, but he refused to back off the pressure. He breathed so hard the air whistled through his nostrils, and suddenly, I sensed something else running through his frantic energy.
Something powerful. And it pulsed straight through me. My breathing hitched.
He lowered his face and rested his forehead against mine. “Pull harder,” he rasped.
Confused, I did so.
“Harder,” he groaned. His arms slid back around me until my breasts flattened against his rock-hard torso. A bulge pushed against my belly, huge and rigid, hidden beneath the shiny scales.
My knees trembled as I finally realized what Xumi had done to him.
But he was my Dragon, not hers. And he needed this, desperately. To know that her hold could be broken by another.
I yanked for all I was worth, and he hissed in pain, but the bulge became a rod of steel. I could barely breathe, consumed by the need to climb him, the ache between my legs nearly overwhelming.
I knew if I released him, he’d be gone. Those wings would carry him out of range in an instant. But then I remembered my strength wasn’t based on teeth, wings, or claws.
I pulled back and summoned the alpha.
“Kneel,” I ordered.
His eyes widened when I yanked downward on his hair. A tremor ran through him.
“Now,” I commanded.
He lowered himself, slowly, sliding his hands along my body as he did so, coming to rest on my hips. His eyes sparked anger, but his energy spiked with lust, so much so that my own knees threatened to give way.
His wings were so beautiful, arched over us. I released one hand to trail fingers along his graceful wing bones, and he shuddered. When I stroked them more firmly, he closed his eyes and hissed through his teeth.
“You like?” I whispered, finding it hard to breathe.
“Shards, you have no idea,” he groaned, his hands roaming, the fingers seeking the hem of my shirt.
Dreaming had its benefits. With a thought, I banished my clothes. Moonlight cascaded over my naked skin.
He inhaled, hard. I fisted the fingers of one hand deeper in the long, braided strands, yanking hard while still stroking his wings with the other. He groaned, a deep, visceral sound, before his eyes snapped open to gaze upon me.
“You are so beautiful, Anna.” He slid a hand up my torso, his strong fingers growing small talons that tickled my skin. Until he danced them over my breast and used them to tweak the nipple.
Electric tingles shot through me, and I couldn’t help the growl that escaped my lips. I leaned into him, and he pressed his face between my breasts, and inhaled.
I shivered, and the need pooling between my legs became an ache with only one answer.
“Lie down,” I ordered.
Another shudder ran through him. “I can’t—it won’t work. She’s twisted me.”
I gritted my teeth and poured the power into my words. “Talakai. LIE DOWN.”
He sat back on his heels, and I yanked hard on his hair as I pushed into him, knocking him backward. Heletme do it. No way I was stronger than him. But my alpha power wouldn’t be denied, and the surge of lust in his energy was evidence that it triggered him. Whether it would be enough...
I released my hold on his braids to stand over him. He spread his wings as he lay on the mossy ground, and the moonlight cascaded along every ridge and contour. He’d pulled the scales back from his torso to just above the pubic bone. I was riveted by his expansive chest with its gorgeous, sculpted musculature, the ripple of abdominals, and the beautiful twin ridges of muscle pointing directly to the impressive bulge in his scales.
He was, to put it simply, stunning. It was no wonder Xumi had picked him out as hers.
But he didn’t belong to her. He belonged to me.
His metallic eyes glimmered at me. “I can’t—”
