His reaction ignited something deep within me. “If I’m your true mate, these wings belong to me.” I stroked them with my fingers, and then lowered my lips again, running my tongue along where the membrane attached to the bone.
He proved himself to be much stronger than he’d let on by shooting to his feet, the cloak floating to the ground as he spun to stand before me. Seven feet of swaying, gorgeous, naked, glistening wet, and highly aroused dragon warrior. His skin in the firelight was an artist’s portfolio of tattoos—most of them dragons, rendered spectacularly in vibrant color.
Magnificent. There was no other possible word.
Xandros’s tail thrashed, and his eyes gleamed sapphire as he reached to cup my jaw with one big hand. “Do not start this unless you mean it.” he whispered huskily. “Because once I start, I do not know if I can stop. You shaftzing smell better than chocolate.”
His voice was a rumble that I swear reverberated clear through to my soul. My knees buckled slightly as I reached up to trail fingers over his face—the brow, beneath the eye, the length of his nose, and finally, the curve of his lips.
“After that little trick, you don’t deserve me. But I mean it,” I promised.
“This is not about what I deserve,” he whispered. “It is about Fate.” He gently peeled Yani’s beanie off me, tossing it to the side, before he bent, and this time,hekissedme. So gently, as if I were made of glass, his tongue emerging to trace the seam of my lips.
A small moan left my lips, and I pulled back. “You know how to kiss.”
He smiled. “Drakes do not kiss. But then, I have never lain with aDrake. My generation has made do with other species for their entertainment.”
Wait a minute—I stiffened. “I am not entertainment!”
Any traces of humor vanished, and he ran big fingers along my jaw. “No. You are something much, much more. There will never be another.”
The honesty in the words, and in his expression—my heart flipped right over. He saw the assent in my eyes… but then he swayed, and took a stagger-step backward.
“Kneel,” I said, pulling him down with me. The speed with which he dropped to them showed that he wasn’t as healthy as he’d like me to believe—but the moment we were both down, he gently captured my head in his big hands. And began to prove that he was, indeed, an expert kisser.
Zyair had evoked memories of sweet tobacco and cool rain showers on a hot summer day. But Xandros smelled of the breeze that moves through pine forests, with a dash of cinnamon added. I inhaled, and my heart soared.
I leaned into the kiss, pushing his lips open with my tongue, and tangling it with his. He groaned, long and low. One hand slid beneath the hem of my tee shirt, to tickle along the small of my back. And then, it rose to my bra?—
I experienced a momentary panic for the state of my wardrobe—I hadn’t packed to account for dragon talon shreddage. I pulled reluctant hands off him long enough to start to yank off my tee shirt.
He caught my wrists. “Let me,” he rumbled.
My eyes narrowed. “You won’t rip anything?”
His brow rose. “Only an animal rips clothing.”
“Then your brother is an animal.” My lips twitched.
“Zyair?” He shook his head. “I do not want to know.” He slid his hands beneath my shirt again—and inched it up while dancing his fingers so lightly over me that I gasped. They were as hot as the rest of him. His skin burned beneath my hands. The heat enhanced every sensation…
I understood, now, that craving I’d had for Zyair. It resurfaced for Xandros, a soul-deep thing so powerful it made it hard to breathe.
Fate? I didn’t know. And didn’t care, as he raised the cloth to my throat, he began to nibble the newly exposed skin along my stomach and ribs. Once the tee shirt was off, he carefully removed my bra, lifting it to free my breasts.
For an instant, as the cool air pebbled my nipples, he froze. “Sotasty,” he murmured.
I laughed. I needed to expand his appreciative descriptions. Then he lowered his lips and licked, swirling his tongue around them…
I moaned, arching my back. With one hand behind me, he danced hot fingers over my breasts as he chased along the sensitive skin of my throat with his tongue.
Something slipped beneath my waistband—it startled me, until I realized it was the tip of his tail. It moved inside my leggings, past my naval, and between my thighs—before it began to vibrate…
Holy wowsers.
I moaned as my hands drifted up the huge, hard muscles of his chest, and then down, over the ridges of his abs—heading lower—to what thrust so desperately between us.
He shuddered and groaned as I closed my hand around him. Were all Drakes so massive? Zyair had been impressive, but Xandros—he wasnext level.
