Chapter Twenty

Jade

I dipped a french fry in ketchup and asked, "So what's the plan, Stan?"

Magnus lowered his burger before taking a bite. "Stan? Are we falling back into the seventies?"

Pointing another fry at him, I added, "That's what I'm naming my cat. Stanley."

"He telepathed that to you from this distance?"

"Yep. So what's the plan?"

"We make like a tree and leave," he answered, then took his bite. "Tomorrow."

"That works. I suppose the best way is to head straight down to the freeway."

"Yeah. The road through here dead ends a few miles beyond. Nothing out there except cabins and more mountains."

"And bears and deer and rabbits."

He sent me an odd look over his burger. "You're in a weird mood today."

"Yeah, maybe I am." Thinking, I took a drink of my soda. "Maybe because of how close I came to being killed. I tried to take that dragon with me."

"I saw the gun." Magnus stared down at his meal. "There wasn't much I could do to stop it. Maybe run over the embankment." He smiled, lifting his head. "You kept me alive."

"And you did the same for me."

"Does this mean we're good for each other?"

"Could be."

I pondered his statement about falling in love with me, and how I couldn't deny my feelings. The attraction was there, certainly. And attraction alone didn't make a relationship. There had to be more. At the end of this fiasco, did I want Magnus to kiss my cheek, then fly away to a destiny without me?

No.

"What's on your mind?" he asked.

"What you'd said," I answered slowly. "About the fates. And us."

"Are you believing it now?"

"I'm not sure. But events, fate maybe, are keeping us together. We've each saved the other's life. We've each nursed the other back to health. Does that mean something?"

"I don't want to call it a co-dependency issue," he answered. "I don't believe I'm emotionally dependent on you for my well-being. I'm falling in love."

"Good."

"Okay, just what's that supposed to mean?" Magnus demanded. "You said that in the car."

"Good means good." I drank from my glass, watching him over the rim.

"And you're saying it's a good thing I'm falling in love with you?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Sooo, you feel the same for me?"

"Let me think on it." I rolled my eyes upward. "Um, yeah."

"Woo!" Magnum fisted his hands, banging them lightly on the table. "Yeessss!"

I laughed. "Now that we've cleared that up."

"See? We are fated to be together." Magnus waggled his index finger at me. "What we're going through is bonding us for life."

"Maybe. I just know that once this is over, I don't want you to leave my life."

"Nor will I."

"Good."

"There you go with the ‘good' again."

"I guess there's so much about you that's good for me. You're smart, you're protective, you're cute as a bug's ear."

"Cute as a what ?"

"Do you want to hear your list of attributes or not?"

Magnus grinned. "I'm all ears."

"I love your kindness," I went on, feeling a tickle deep in my stomach. "Deep down, you were never your father's son. You hated being forced to kidnap me, I saw it then, but it never really sank in. Not all the way. You'd have given your life for mine, wouldn't you?"

He met my gaze. "I would have then. I would now."

"Maybe we are fated to be together." I sighed, pushed my plate away, gazing through the diner's window to the cars passing by, the late tourists shopping. "I never thought you'd be my type, but here we are."

"What is your type?"

"I thought the alpha male, me Tarzan, you Jane sort of guy."

Magnus blinked. "Good grief. That's so yesterday."

"Yeah, it is. In retrospect, I don't think I could have fallen for a guy like that." I chuckled. "The moment he'd pull an alpha moment on me, I'd punch him between his eyes."

"Just as you should."

"Nor do I think you'd fall for a weak-willed, whining female who doesn't know her own mind."

Magnus shook his head. "It's your toughness and fierce independence that attracted me to you. Still does."

I toyed with a french fry for a moment, then dropped it. "Will we make it, Magnus? Are we going to die?"

"Nope." He smiled. The gleam I saw in his eyes sent a shiver through me. "We will not. I'll make damn sure of that."

***

My belly's tingling increased by the time we returned to our room. Still, I had no real idea how to initiate intimacy. Striding in ahead of Magnus, I thought to turn and kiss him. Does that make me a brazen hussy? So what if it does? He might like me making the first move.

My thoughts scattered when he shut the door, then went into the bathroom. Now what? I sat on the end of the bed and lightly touched my half-healed wounds. Those on my front were negligible. Those on the back of my neck were still open, and while healing, were still painful and raw. Maybe this isn't such a good idea.

"What isn't?"

I blushed when I realized I'd muttered the words under my breath. "Uh, well." I gazed down at my clasped hands. "I thought we might, you know, have sex, or, or something."

Magnus sat beside me, resting his hands on mine. "Not if it means causing you pain."

He lifted my hair to take a long look at my neck. "I think we should wait."

"No." I found it difficult to say what I wanted to say without sounding paranoid. "We might not have, well, another chance. To be alone like this."

"We have a very long drive to Washington, honey."

His finger under my chin lifted my face and turned it toward him, forcing me to meet his blue gaze, his sweet smile. "You know I want to. I love you. More than anything. It would kill me if I hurt you."

"You won't hurt me."

Clicking his tongue, Magnus looked away. Unclasping my hands, I put my left hand on his muscular thigh. My belly tingling returning, I caressed his leg, moving my hand higher and higher. Magnus did nothing to stop me, yet I sensed his breath coming slightly faster. I teased the bulge in his jeans, listening to his hiss through his teeth.

He took my hand, turning toward me. "Are you sure?"

"I am."

He stood, bringing me up with him. I lifted my arms to cup his bristled cheeks while his hands swept around my back. Magnus kissed me, his tongue in my mouth, mine in his, his rising passion matching mine. I forgot my pain, my wounds. I forgot we lived under a death sentence. Only he and I existed.

Time stood still.

Magnus undressed me with gentle fingers, his mouth kissing me, his blue eyes huge, so very blue. I slipped my hands under his shirt, caressing his smooth, silken skin, roaming, exploring, seeking every curve of his heavy muscles. At last, I stood naked before him, smiling, as he looked me up and down with appreciation and love.

"My turn," he whispered.

He undressed quickly, and gave me my first look at his erect, hard member. Long, thick, it protruded from his thatch of black hair, his big balls hanging like tempting fruit. I cupped them in awe, feeling their weight, filling my hands.

"You're so beautiful," I murmured.

"Beautiful is you."

Magnus kissed me, his tongue slipped between my lips, taunting me, arousing me as his hands kneaded my ass. He pulled me hard against him, his cock pressed between our bellies. "I love you, Jade," he muttered against my mouth. "I love you so much."

He didn't give me much of a chance to respond. His tongue licking my tonsils prevented words from emerging. Sliding his hands down my thighs, he picked me up, still kissing me. I spread my legs, wrapped them around his hips as he carried me to his bed.

Lowering me, he stood over me, caressing my inner thighs as he simply looked at me. For a moment, my red scars crossing my chest and stomach brought a wave of embarrassment. I covered them and my breasts with shame, trying to hide the marks left by the other dragon.

"Don't," Magnus whispered. "They're a reminder of your courage, your ferocity in battle. Wear them with pride, my love, my savage she-dragon. Never hide what you are."

I slowly removed my arms. "You like seeing them?"

"They're a part of you. I love you."

Kneeling between my spread legs, Magnus tongued my clit. Instantly, I forgot my scars, my imperfections. Rolling along the waves of sweet sensation, I moaned in erotic pleasure. He pulled my lips apart, licking and sucking as my arousal gushed from my pussy. His fingers delved deep inside me, my soft pussy walls spreading at the invasion.

"Oh, my," I gasped, rising halfway up only to fall flat on my back again. "Oh, my."

My hands gripped his thick hair, keeping his mouth jammed against my clit, riding the fresh wave that threatened to engulf me. My climax came fast, my body shuddering under the rolling tide of sensation. My pussy undulated, quickening as my clit's nerve endings sent exquisite pleasure coursing through me.

"Now that's what I call an orgasm."

As I panted for breath, Magnus stood, then urged me up, too. His strong yet gentle hands turned me to face the bed, then kneel atop it. "I won't hurt you this way," he murmured, kissing my naked shoulder.

With a pillow under my hips, his hands on the bed to either side of me, Magnus knelt behind me. He speared me with a single, powerful thrust. I thought I'd come again instantly. His cock took me, claimed me, as I lifted my shoulders from the bed. Magnus nibbled, teasing my shoulder in erotic nips, only the top of his head coming near my neck wounds.

"Gawd," I mumbled, incoherent under the swift and rising pleasure that once again took hold.

"Ah, I love you, Jade," Magnus gasped, his hips pounding my ass, his cock filling me, spreading me.

Again, I failed to reply. I'd jammed my wrist between my teeth to halt the scream of sheer erotic pleasure from alarming other hotel guests. My second orgasm flooded me with titillating and wonderful sensations that I wanted to never stop. I wanted the feelings to continue, to survive within me even if they left me exhausted.

"It's too soon," Magnus groaned, his hands gripping my hips. "Ah, shit."

His cock blasted his seed deep into me. His shaft shuddered as my pussy shuddered, his body as hard as an oak plank against my back. Thrusting once, then twice, Magnus at last relaxed, breathing as heavily as I did. He dismounted, then helped me onto my side before lying beside me.

"Did I hurt you?"

His fingers brushed my hair from my face, exposing my wounds for his inspection yet again.

"No."

Magnus took me into his arms, holding my face against his chest. Little by little, our hearts ceased their frantic beating, our breathing evened out. Content to lie in his arms for the next year or ten, I nuzzled his throat.

"I love you."

His arms tightened briefly, and he craned his neck in order to kiss me. "Good."

Almost breathless again, I snorted laughter. "Good."

"Yep. Good. That's a good word, good. I like using it. I'll have to throw it in your face every now and then."

I snuggled into his arms. "You do that."

"Gggoooddd." His deep voice dragged the word out, making me snort laughter again.

"Shut up and kiss me."