My beast wanted it. Ached for it. And if I were honest, it was where I wanted to be, too.
Her eyes glowed, her beast as hungry for me as I was for it. From the neck of her tee shirt, I saw the tip of the dull and lifeless Bellati horn.
I ripped my eyes away to meet Matt’s. He stood beside her, his eyes gleaming with his new Dragon. In them, I saw his desire for her, and for something else.
For the three of us. Together.
He opened himself to me along the link. A flood of relief, hope, and overwhelming lust. It broke the last barrier within me, swept it away as though it had never existed.
Freed, the faces and voices rose to scream not just at me, but at him. My heart froze as he flinched at the vast numbers, and at their rage.
His eyes met mine, and in them, I read the dismay. I stood exposed, wide open and raw before him.
But then, he reached through the link and embraced them as though they were long-lost friends. I stared at him as his acceptance rolled through me, followed by,It’s okay, Tasi. We all have demons.
I struggled with just how to respond, and all I came up with was,Who the hell is Tasi?
Tasmanian tiger. I figure you’d make a good one.
I have no idea what you are talking about.But my heart started beating again. He knew I was a killer. He’d seen what Xumi had done to me. More than anyone, he knew the depths of it. If he still wanted me to be part of this, perhaps there was hope.
He’d also been mentally holding Anna back from coming at me. I sensed the exact moment when he let her go.
As if she’d been waiting for his cue—and maybe she had been—Anna stepped into me, fastened her hands into my hair, and pulled my face down to hers.
She kissed me.
Her lips were soft and warm, and I was so ready for them that I groaned, my hands drifting over her shoulders and down her back. The beast within her extended tendrils into my life energy, and I was powerless to stop it even if I’d wanted to. I sensed how Matt was part of it, his energy interweaving with her own.
It surprised me that I was willing to let her in. After Xumi, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to have a normal relationship. Yet here I was, kissing Anna. And even though I didn’t know her, not really, I trustedhim.
I pulled her hard into my body until there was no space between her and me. She moaned and ground up against me, pushing into the hard, hypersensitive length between us.
The sensation robbed me of breath. I ached for her. But I knew for me, it wasn’t going to be that easy.
She pulled away from my lips and trailed her hands over my torso. I retracted the scales as she went, dropping them to the ground. Willingly baring my flesh to her as her fingertips explored every contour. But when they drifted to my belly, a hint of panic crept in. Something deep inside stopped me from baring all.
Xumi would have yanked them free, but Anna didn’t need to do so. And she also didn’t try soothing me with kind words, which would have done little to ease the situation.
Her breath hissed between her teeth. “All,” she ordered. “Drop them all.”
I shivered beneath the power in her words, and dropped the scales, then growled as her fingers stroked the naked, burgeoning flesh. Her questing tips paused over the scars, but then dropped lower to cup first one, and then the other, of my balls.
I’d never had anyone stroke them like she did, putting gentle pressure on them, squeezing on the release. It elicited another deep groan from me, and I quivered beneath her touch. Heaven. Yet I flinched whenever she moved her fingers, expecting pain instead of pleasure.
Expecting, and craving, all at once.
Twisted. I was twisted.
No,Matt said.What you are, Tasi, is ours.
The concept would have panicked me only an hour before, but now, the truth of it reverberated through me.
Through half-closed eyes, I watched Matt peel off Anna’s tee shirt. It revealed the horn secured by her bra—and he gently removed it, to set it on the ground nearby.
He was behind her, but close enough to touch, and his scent curled around hers—more Dragon now than Dire. His eyes glimmered at me from beneath blond lashes as he trailed his lips and tongue over her shoulders. I blinked as I noticed distinctive scars.
They were mated, I knew it, but the sight ignited something deep within me. My gaze slid to his shoulder, where he’d attempted to disguise those left by my own teeth.
