Chapter 50

FIFTY

Q uinn paused at her quarter’s entrance, frowning at the note slipped under her door. She recognized Kai’s precise handwriting: Meet me in the eastern observatory at sunset. Bring your field journal.

Her scientific tools seemed an odd request for what she assumed would be dinner, but she tucked her worn leather notebook into her pocket. The walk to the observatory gave her time to wonder what her dragon king had planned - he’d been suspiciously absent all afternoon.

The observatory door slid open at her approach, revealing a transformed space. Her breath caught. The domed crystal ceiling reflected Nova Aurora’s twin sunset, painting the room in swirls of pink and gold. But it wasn’t the natural beauty that stopped her in her tracks.

Projected across the curved walls were her own geological sketches and field notes, enlarged and animated. Fault lines shifted in graceful patterns while crystal formations grew and changed. Her careful drawings of Nova Aurora’s unique mineral structures danced like constellations.

“I had some help with the technology,” Kai’s deep voice came from behind her. “Lydia mentioned how much you love watching geological processes in action.”

Quinn turned, her throat tight with emotion. He stood in simple dark clothing rather than his usual formal attire, but his presence still filled the room. “You did all this?”

“I wanted to show you how I see your work.” He stepped closer, taking her hand. “Not just useful to the kingdom, but beautiful. Like you.”

Heat bloomed in her cheeks. “Smooth talker. Did Gerri give you tips on that too?”

“She might have suggested I be more... verbal with my appreciation.” His ice-blue eyes crinkled at the corners. “Though I still prefer actions.”

To demonstrate, he tugged her toward the room’s center where a blanket lay spread with an elegant picnic. She recognized some of her favorite Earth foods alongside Nova Auroran delicacies.

“Let me guess - Lydia told you about my weakness for chocolate-covered strawberries?”

“Among other things.” Kai’s thumb traced patterns on her palm. “She had quite a lot to say about Earth dating customs. Some seemed impractical with wings.”

Quinn snorted, remembering Lydia’s romantic movie marathon. “Please tell me you’re not planning a rain-soaked declaration of love.”

“I thought I’d stick to what I know.” He pulled her down beside him on the blanket, his body radiating comfortable warmth. “Like how your eyes light up when you’re examining rock formations. Or how you bite your lip when you’re thinking deeply about something.”

“You noticed that?”

“I notice everything about you.” His voice dropped lower, sending shivers down her. “Like how your pulse speeds up when I’m close.”

“That’s just scientific curiosity about dragon biology,” she protested weakly.

“Is it?” He leaned in, his breath ghosting across her neck. “Should I help you conduct some research?”

“You’re terrible.” But she tilted her head, giving him better access. “And distracting me from my food.”

“My apologies.” He pulled back with a wicked smile, reaching for a strawberry. “Allow me to assist with that too.”

The fruit brushed her lips, and she caught his fingers along with it, enjoying his sharp intake of breath. His eyes darkened to molten gold, dragon instincts rising to the surface.

“Careful, little geologist,” he growled softly. “You’re playing with fire.”

“Maybe I like the heat.” She shifted closer, pressing a kiss to his palm. “You’re not the only one who notices things, you know. Like how your eyes change color when you want me. Or how your wings materialize just slightly when I do this...” She traced the tattoos on his forearm, feeling the magic ripple beneath his skin.

Kai moved with inhuman speed, pulling her into his lap. One hand tangled in her hair while the other splayed across her lower back, holding her close. “Tell me more about these observations of yours.”

“Well, there’s this spot right here...” She kissed the sensitive place below his jaw, smiling against his skin when his breath hitched. “That produces fascinating results.”

“Quinn.” Her name rumbled from his chest like distant thunder. His fingers tightened in her hair, tilting her face up to his. “I love you. More than my crown, more than my kingdom. More than life itself.”

The raw honesty in his voice stole her breath. She traced his features - the proud line of his jaw, the subtle curves of his lips, the fierce tenderness in his eyes. This powerful being who could level mountains with a thought, yet touched her like she was precious beyond measure.

“Show me,” she whispered, and pulled him down into a kiss.

He tasted of starlight and ancient magic, of promises kept and adventures yet to come. His hands roamed her back as she pressed closer, needing to eliminate any space between them. Magic crackled around them, responding to their passion. In the domed ceiling above, her geological illustrations swirled faster, crystals growing and shattering in beautiful patterns.

“My brilliant, beautiful mate,” he murmured against her lips. “Let me love you properly.”

Quinn’s answer was lost in another kiss, deeper and hungrier than before. The last coherent thought she had was that some forces of nature - like love, like gravity, like the inexorable pull between two hearts - simply couldn’t be denied.

Kai owned her mouth and tongue, then bit her lower lip and tugged it out before releasing it with a wet pop. A low, rumbling growl emanated from Kai’s throat. She could feel it as much as hear it.

His hands held her arms tightly, almost to the point of pain but not quite. She squirmed a little and he tightened up his grip right past that threshold.

“You are mine, Quinn,” he said in a low, husky voice a hairsbreadth above a whisper. “I’m claiming you as my mate.”

“It’s about fucking time?—”

His hand shot up around her throat, clamping down enough she could feel the flow of blood to her brain slowed ever so slightly. She could still breathe, but the power in his hand would have been frightening if she hadn’t trusted him to maintain control so very much.

Kai released her arm but kept hold of her throat. He roughly pawed her breasts. Quinn cried out as his thorough inspection tore her shirt, scratched her skin with tiny scarlet streaks. Kai squeezed her throat a little tighter until she gave a submissive whimper.

After one final, firm glare as if to remind her not to protest, he went back to mauling her breasts through her shirt. Suddenly, he shredded the shirt right down the middle. Quinn gasped at the sudden exposure of her naked flesh to his controlling grasp.

He released her throat, but only to seize what was left of her shirt. Quinn cried out as he tore clothes off her body. Then his hand was back on her throat, pushing her backward toward the bed. It reared up behind her thighs and tripped her into a sitting position.

She panted, looking up at Kai as he let go of her throat to loom over her. His cock strained at his pants. Quinn reached up and cupped his erection with one hand. Kai growled deep in the back of his throat and didn’t protest when she pulled his pants down to his ankles. Kai kicked them off almost with contempt.

Kai tugged the remaining clothes off her body. Soon she lay on the bed, legs spread, clad only in her panties. Quinn looked up at Kai loving his chiseled physique. Her eyes dropped inexorably to his cock, and she felt her pussy heat.

“You’re mine,” she declared.

“You are mine too,” he growled, crawling onto the bed. He kissed her inner thigh, nibbling with his teeth. She groaned, toes curling as he worked his way ever so slowly up one leg, then down the other. He got closer to her soaked panties every time.

Quinn couldn’t stand it any longer. Her thighs stung with his bites, but his kisses felt amazing. His tongue soothed her stinging flesh. She dropped her finger down to her satin-clad pussy and started stroking her clit through the thin fabric.

Kai stopped long enough to grab her wrist in a powerful grip. “Did I say you could touch my pussy?”

Quinn gasped as he crawled up further, still holding her offending hand prisoner. Kai’s teeth scraped her flesh as he bit the hemline of her panties where it met the curve of her hip. He snapped his head to the side, ripping her panties part way off.

Kai growled as he bit the trailing end of the crotch panel with his teeth and then tugged the garment off her that way. Quinn let out a guttural moan as her panties divided her pussy lips and caressed her clitoris on their way to removal.

Kai buried his face into her, his tongue roughly seeking out every inch. He slurped on her, ran his tongue in circles inside her, and teased her clit with thumb and forefinger.

He released the nerve cluster from his fingers only to take it prisoner with his lips. He kissed it then suck her pussy, using his tongue to lick long down her, and then concentrate just on her clit again.

Quinn’s scream of climax split the air.

Kai grabbed her legs while she was still shaking about like a leaf in the wind. She was helpless in his arms as he flipped her onto her belly.

“Get up on your hands and knees,” he growled, slapping her ass hard. Quinn struggled to obey, mind still dazed from the aftershocks of her orgasm. She felt the head of his cock slide into her. Quinn’s mouth flew open as she felt him slowly stretch her, filling her with his thickness.

“You’re mine,” he rumbled, bearing down on her. “Mine.”

She cried out as the hands on her hips seemed to burn into her flesh. Her eyes fluttered closed as she felt an almost metaphysical climax pulse through her body. She glanced down to see a dragon tattoo on her right and left hip.

That’s it. I’m claimed. His, forever.

Kai bit her shoulder too. Hard enough to hurt and to remind her of her place with him. Then he kneeled behind her, his hands raking down her shoulders, leaving superficial but painful scratches that only added to the pleasure she was experiencing.

His hands gripped her burning hips as he thrust into her over and over again, his movements powerful, purposeful, but slow.

Quinn groaned as she enjoyed the length of him moving in and out, hitting all the right places inside her.

He pumped his hips with an almost machine-like rhythm, but for the passion he put behind each thrust. Sexy grunts and growls escaped his lips as his desire spurned him on. Quinn twisted the sheets in her hands, holding tight as Kai picked up speed.

His hand snapped forward and grabbed hold of her hair near the scalp. He pulled her head back firmly, causing her to press into him all the harder. She thrust and ground her ass into him, desperately wanting to feel him inside her as deeply and thoroughly as possible.

She opened her mouth to scream out another orgasm. Her limbs trembled. She could barely hold herself up as pulse after pulse of ecstasy thundered through her body. And still, he kept fucking her, harder and faster and deeper. Quinn hollered out another climax, and then another, until he came inside of her at last.