26. Tarek

The waters did what they could, healing wounds to the body. But the mind? The damage done by the planet the waters themselves came from?

I kissed her as if this were the first and the last kiss. I had wanted to wait for her. Wanted to make sure that I was her choice, not her only option.

Her lips moved with mine, parting for me as I prodded them to let my tongue taste her. Her actions said I was what she wanted, but I had never planned to force my mate to be bound to me. That was not the way of the Pyrothian. Unless it was the only way to save their life.

I needed to feel her. Needed to touch every inch of her body. The dress was all but see-through as it was. Did she know that she'd chosen the more modern version of the Pyrothian women? That she could have ridden my dragon in this style? That it was made to be easily discarded had she been a dragon herself? The ribbon on the side would release the dress. The fabric under her breasts, the modern day twist for modesty.

Her lips were hungry as I pulled at the wet ties, letting the dress fall open. The sheer undergarments were paper thin as I cupped her breasts, eliciting a moan and that toxic giggle.

I pulled away.

"You will die, Zara, unless I claim you."

She smirked, but it wasn't the logical, seductive look a mate would give to her chosen. It was that of the crazed mind polluted by the gasses of Pyroth. It would play tricks on her. Drive her to insanity. Medical books had documented those early years of humans, and in all cases, there was no cure. Except the bond of the dragons.

"Claim me then," she said between giggles. Her skin was already turning the reddish hue of the exposed. Soon the whites of her eyes would shade pink and then would be blood red.

"You do not understand what I must do, but I would rather you hate me than lose you."

I slammed my lips to hers again, afraid that it was too late and knowing my two choices were to risk a lifetime of atonement or the loss of her all together.

She was too far gone to give me her consent to something far more than just pleasure. I slid my fingers between her folds, looking to ready her far quicker than I would have chosen. I needed her to take me; I needed her to give herself to me.

I knew just the right way to touch her, sliding three fingers inside her in one thrust, stretching her and looking for that one magical spot inside her. My thumb massaged her little bud as my fingers curved to find just the right place to bring her to orgasm. Her breath hitched, and she cried out in seconds, calling my name as if I were the savior rather than the demon who would take away her choices.

"Are you ready for me, Zara?"

Her eyes rolled back as her hips rocked against my hand, begging for more pleasure. Her brain latching onto the one thing that needed only instinct rather than cohesive thought.

There would be no logical answer from her.

I pulled my hand free, shifting the head of my cock to her entrance. I could feel the heat of her as she settled with the crown just pressing inside of her. She groaned with the unmet need.

"Look at me," I said. I used my free hand to pull her head to face me. "Look at me, Zara."

The sound of her name on my lips pulled her back to reality for a few seconds. Seconds of lucid thought. Before she would give into the world I called home and she would call a prison, my dragon took over, pushing aside human grief and empathy. I needed him and his instinct. I needed to feel the rage that came with the need for her. I needed out of my head.

"You are mine, Zara." I slammed inside of her, sinking myself in one quick motion. Instinct no longer cared for anything but completing the mating bond.

Her wide eyes closed as she gave in to the feel and the motion as I slammed into her. I took her hard, animalistically, primally. I took her as my dragon demanded.

My cock grew even harder, pushing her tight core to stretch and give me more. She moaned and her hands wrapped around my neck as she let me pull her thighs wider, let me take her deeper and faster.

I licked at the ridge of her ear before whispering my demands.

"I need you to come for me, Zara. I need your pussy to quiver around my cock. I need your body to pull in my seed as I spill every ounce of me into you."

She moaned again and again. I listened for that telltale note of her heartbeat that told me she would do as I said. And I pumped into her over and over as I held her to me, controlling her, making her mine.

The moment her breathing stuttered and she screamed my name, I felt the quiver of her core and I slammed into her once, twice, and as I placed my mouth over her unmarked flesh, I bit down as I slammed my release inside of her.

Her pulse beat within me as I sealed her fate to mine. Her pleasure became mine. Her pain would be mine.

My cock pulsed and my seed filled my mate as I held her tightly, as if I would lose her.

How long was too long to be exposed? How much time had I lost taking her here to heal the wounds that needed to be healed before I claimed her?

Moments ticked by, but as her pulse slowed, the damage done, I licked my mark, closing it and sealing her to me forever.

Even now, when I knew she would not be able to feel my soul flowing through her and the way we had become one, I could still see the unnatural redness of her skin fading. Her natural pale Earthly tone coming back.

"Zara, look at me. Open your eyes, little starfire."

The sounds of the waterfall filled the silence as I waited for her to come back to me. How long would it take for the magic of my dragon to heal her?

I laid my head against her shoulder, and I held her. Waiting. Waiting for her to come back to me. Waiting for her to hate me.