15. Gemma

When I wake up in the morning, it takes me a minute to remember where I am. The silk sheets, the ginormous four-poster bed, the freakin" crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling...

Oh, right. I live in a palace now. With my dragon shifter husband and my miracle daughter.

I stretch languidly, my body still humming with satisfaction from last night"s, er, activities. The things my man can do with his tongue alone...

A throaty purr escapes my lips as memories of our passionate lovemaking flood my mind. I"m pretty sure I actually saw stars at one point. Like, literal stars.

I"m grinning like a loon, my cheeks starting to ache, when the bedroom door creaks open. Speak of the devil.

"Good morning, gorgeous." Sebastian strolls in wearing nothing but a pair of low-slung pajama pants. He"s all tousled hair and sleepy eyes, his chest and abs on full display. I want to lick him like a popsicle.

It should be illegal to look that good this early in the morning.

"Morning," I manage, my voice still gravelly with sleep. I prop myself up on my elbows, the sheet pooling around my waist. "Sleep well?"

"Like a baby." He waggles his eyebrows suggestively before climbing back into bed and tugging me into his arms. "Someone wore me out last night."

I snort indelicately. "Puh-lease. If anyone did the wearing out, it was you, Mr. Insatiable."

He nuzzles my neck, his stubble rasping deliciously against my skin. "I can"t help it. You"re just too damn irresistible."

"Flatterer." But I"m preening, my ego well and truly stroked.

Sebastian"s hand skims down my side, his touch igniting little sparks of electricity in its wake. Goosebumps erupt across my skin and I shiver. His lips curl in a wicked grin before he claims my mouth in a kiss. It starts slow and sweet but quickly turns incendiary. Before I know it, I"m flat on my back with a very aroused dragon shifter looming over me.

"Well good morning to you too," I murmur breathlessly when we finally come up for air.

Sebastian"s eyes are molten, swirling with heat and hunger and something else...something deeper that makes my heart skip a beat.

"Gemma." My name on his lips sounds like a prayer and a plea all wrapped up in one. "I want...I need..."

I frame his face with my hands. "What? Tell me what you need, Sebastian."

He takes a shuddering breath, his forehead resting against mine. "I want to claim you. The draconian way."

"O-kay..." I draw out the word carefully. "And what exactly does that entail?"

Please don't say ritual sacrifice or blood oath.

He brushes a thumb across my cheekbone. "It"s called a claiming mark. Think of it like a supernatural tattoo that binds us together for eternity."

I blink. Huh. That"s actually kind of romantic. In an over-the-top, weirdly possessive way.

"Um…so... how do we do this mark thing?" I"m almost afraid to ask.

A tiny smile tugs at his mouth. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course." The answer is automatic. After everything we"ve been through, how could I not?

Sebastian"s eyes soften and he brushes a tender kiss to my forehead. "Lay back and relax, hot mama."

So I do.

He presses a line of soft kisses down the column of my throat before latching onto the sensitive patch of skin where my neck meets shoulder. I gasp, my back arching as he licks and nips and soothes with his tongue.

I"m so lost in sensation, my eyes fluttering shut and little mewls spilling from my lips, that I almost don"t notice the sudden heat. But then it"s everywhere, sizzling over my skin like a brand.

My eyes fly open and I crane my neck to see Sebastian literally breathing fire onto my flesh. There's a brief moment—just a flash—of burning, of pain, then all I feel is pleasure. So much pleasure. It"s almost too much, the intensity bordering on exquisite torture.

When I glance down, I see an intricate pattern emerging. Swirls and whorls and strange symbols I don"t recognize all weaving together to create an image that is as beautiful as it is otherworldly.

"Mine," he growls against my skin, his voice rough with desire. "Now we belong to one another in every way."

Maybe I should feel outraged by the possessiveness, but I don't. I feel cherished. Treasured. It"s heady and dizzying and I want to burrow inside this feeling and live there forever.

I cup his face in my palms. This incredible male who upended my life in the best possible way.

"I love you," I tell him, surprising myself with how easily the words come. "You know that, right? Completely. Madly. Illogically. I"m so crazy in love with you it defies all reason and sense."

Twin spots of color appear high on his cheekbones as he blinks rapidly. Oh my god, is he getting misty-eyed? That"s just...gah. My heart feels like it might just burst out of my chest, alien-style.

"Gemma." His voice wavers and he clears his throat. Yep, definitely misty-eyed. Who knew dragons could be so adorably sentimental? "I love you too. More than I ever thought possible. You and Jewel...you"re everything to me."

Okay, that"s it. Stick a fork in me, I"m done.

I surge up to capture his mouth, pouring every ounce of love and devotion into the kiss. Sebastian responds with equal fervor, our tongues tangling, teeth nipping, breaths mingling.

Soon he"s rocking into me, our bodies moving in a rhythm as old as time. He fills me, completes me, branding me with his touch just as surely as he did with his mark.

I cling to his broad shoulders as pleasure builds and builds, cresting over me in wave after glorious wave until I"m boneless and spent.

Sebastian shudders above me, his own release a heated rush that seems to go on forever.

"I didn"t think it was possible to be this happy," I say, smiling. "Honestly, it"s a little unnerving. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, you know?"

Sebastian shakes his head, a fierce look on his face. "No other shoes. No more dropping. From now on, it"s clear skies and smooth sailing, you hear me?"

"Aye aye, Captain." I can"t resist ribbing him a little.

Yesterday Sebastian showed my girl to her new bubblegum pink Barbie-style bedroom. Full of vitality, her eyes brighter than I"ve ever seen them, she oohed and ahhed over everything in this Disney palace. It felt like a dream. It still does.

Jewel is...a living miracle. Even now, I find my gaze drifting to the bedroom door. The urge to go peek in on her, reassure myself it really happened, she's really cured, is nearly overwhelming.

I must be wearing my worry on my face, because Sebastian gives me a gentle squeeze. "She"s okay, you know. Better than okay. Our Rare Jewel is going to have a long, beautiful life ahead of her. You both are."

Sebastian drops a kiss on the top of my head. "Go check on her if you must. I can see you can't resist."

I roll my eyes before shimmying into last night"s panties. The rest of my clothes are...somewhere. Eh, whatever. Sebastian"s T-shirt will do for now. I swim in the soft cotton, but it smells like him and I burrow my nose into the fabric, inhaling deeply.

"You keep that up and we"ll never make it out of this bedroom," Sebastian warns playfully, watching my little display with darkening eyes.

"Promises, promises." I wink before sashaying toward the door, an extra sway in my hips.

Behind me, I hear Sebastian groan. "Wicked, wicked woman."