Chapter 19 - Draco

Gazing into her eyes, I realize how quickly I’ve changed my mind.

Being one with her again, I know there’s nowhere else I would rather be. Not with anyone else. But somehow, that scares me.

She must sense what I’m feeling because she reaches for my face and softly pulls me in for a kiss.

Her lips were exactly what I needed to douse the flames of my guilty conscience. Basking in the plushness of her cushiony lips and the taste of cherry lip balm, I’m able to forget that for more than two weeks, I despised this woman.

I didn’t want to admit it, but she’s proven me wrong. Instead of being opposed to being my mate, she’s willingly given herself to me today.

With slow, unhurried thrusts, I feel her climax build again. Her walls clenching around the length of my cock indicate that she’s going to reach another peak.

It’s also in the way her nails bite crescent moons into the flesh of my shoulders. And the way she moans into our passionate kisses, feeding me the breath of her essence. I, like a starved man, drink her moans like it is my sustenance.

Breaking the kiss, it’s her face I wish to see as she comes undone beneath me. Gripping the backs of her thighs, my thrusts are deep and purposeful. She stares into my eyes with wanton need glossed over her own eyes. But her gaze is fixed on me as if she sees right through me, beckoning my soul toward releasing inside her.

“I can’t hold on any longer… I’m gonna come…” I husk against her lips.

She whimpers, her walls constricting around my cock as if to milk me. “Come for me, Draco…” she nudges, voice laced with seduction. “Come for me.”

Her wish is my command as my scrotum tightens and forces me to slam into her. Into the far depths of her core, where hot ropes of cum spill out while her walls create a vacuum. I’m staring intensely at her face this time as every last drop is poured out.

And then I collapse my weight onto her as the weight of what happened looms over my head. The sudden desire to protect Lily Turner forces me to wrap her in my arms and shift until she’s cuddled into me.

Her soft, lilting sigh alerts me that she’s fallen asleep. I frowned hard as guilt finally washed over me. I can’t let her risk her life like this.

“Lily?” I call out gently.

There’s no reply, and Lily is sound asleep. Slowly removing my arm from under her, I’m careful not to wake her as I climb off the bed.

Padding toward the balcony, I gather our strewn clothes and dress into my sweats. The cool night air is mildly refreshing as I lean on the balcony rails and stare at the bottom of the island.

This place was never meant for a human. Not with dragons residing on the island. Lily shouldn’t be here.

I should have never agreed to the human mate process. Even if the Cube of Knowledge found my fated mate for me. The fact that she’s human still poses the greatest threat.

To her.

If her body doesn’t accept the gift of immortality, she’ll die. Instead of living forever, Lily could die if she attempted to have my child.

I can’t risk her life; I’m the one who’s supposed to protect her. Prevent her from facing any danger. As her fated mate, I’m supposed to do everything possible to ensure her life is safe.

Glancing behind me at her sleeping form in the bedroom, I know I’ve made a grave mistake. Allowing my heart to win the war against my logical mind, I’ve placed her in danger.

Perhaps I can still save her.

Gulping hard as I enter the bedroom again, I pull open a drawer on the dresser in search of a page. I find a book, tear a page from the middle, and take a seat on the vanity.

Then, I began writing a letter to Lily. Pouring my heart out for the mistake I’ve made in bringing her here in the first place.

I’m sorry. There’s no easy way to say this. Something has changed inside me, and I need to protect you at all costs. I know you can sense it, too; the shift in me. And I didn’t wish to give you any kind of false hope. But I know that you need to accept the truth about who I am. I am a monster, and if you carry a dragonspirit child, there’s a chance that you won’t survive. I won’t risk that. I won’t risk your life for the sake of repopulating the clan.

Forgive me for showing you a side of me that I didn’t even know existed. And that’s the side of me that can never accept doing this harm to you…

Draco.

My sigh is staggered as I put down the pen and fold the piece of paper. I turn on the vanity, leaning forward and staring at Lily as she sleeps.

Time becomes a meaningless construct that I don’t bother to count. Only when the crows outside begin their midnight voyage do I decide to stop watching her like a creep.

That’s what I am, essentially. A monster. A fraud. A dragon who hadn’t considered that she had a life before all of this. A life she was living happily—even as meek as that life may have seemed from the outside. It’s all about perception, and now that I’ve come to my senses, I’ve realized that she’s not cut out for my world.

Not because she’s a weak and fragile human, as I despised her for. But instead, because she’s the opposite. If I’ve learned anything tonight, it’s that Lily is brave.

After all, she bravely surrendered to me. Submitted to my will, unafraid of my true identity and the implications of being with someone like me.

She doesn’t deserve the repercussions of a trial-based experiment that even the Council cannot guarantee.

Staring down at Lily, an angel’s face glows beneath the moonlight. The angel who I need to protect. When I shove the folded letter into my pocket, I reach down and slink my arms under Lily’s body. Her magnificent curves fit so perfectly in my touch, I almost go against my better judgment.

But even my heart seems to be on the same page, wanting to protect her more than wanting to keep her here. And with that, I carry her to the balcony, where I invoke my dragon and leap over the rails.

Lily remains safely tucked in my dragon arms, stirring only slightly as I flap my wings. When I’ve reached a steady glide through the skies, making us invisible, she hums in her sleep and curls into me.

Unlike before, she doesn’t open her eyes. She seems almost… Content.

A fact that tugs on my heartstrings and allows a stray tear to slip from my dragon eye. I lift my head and keep my focus on the skies ahead as we travel toward the United States. Toward Redmond, where I’d initially abducted her from her family home.

As we near the small town, my chest begins to tighten. I soar down to my feet, shifting into human form just as I let go of the invisibility shield. It’s a quiet night, but luckily, Lily remains asleep.

Even when I steal through the back door, the floorboards creak under my steps. She doesn’t even make a sound, making it easy for me to carry her to her bedroom. Stepping through the darkness, I lay her on her bed before going to her wardrobe.

It’s strange having to dress her in a baby blue cami set. I’d grown accustomed to seeing her in the native kaftans my mother sewed. In exotic colors of burgundy and yellows, Lily was a sight to behold on Aurora Island.

It’s almost like she fit into my world.

Except, she doesn’t. Only because she’s human. Not because I’d accuse her of being weak, but because I wouldn’t risk her life.

As I lean over her, I press a chaste kiss on her cheek.

This is the last time I’ll ever see her. And though my heart refuses to leave her in the human world, my mind is reminded that this is where she belongs.

Lily Turner belongs with the humans. Not with the dragon man.