Chapter Twenty-Nine

It didn't take Aras long to come to me, but his reaction to my flirting with the Neraky wasn't what I expected. Instead of raging at me or fawning over me, Aras was aloof. I took his hand to pull him into a kiss, and he backed away.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I demanded, forgetting entirely that I had just asked the same question of myself. Then I knew. With rage and horror, I realized that I was right. Aras had been with another. “Ah. I see.”

“What do you see?” Aras asked, his voice devoid of emotion.

“You've gone back to your old lover,” I said as fire rose inside me. I would kill that fucking Hulfrin. Then I'd burn the body. “You've decided you want to be the—”

“Don't tell me what I've decided, Lyrandir!” Aras snarled as he pointed at me. “You have no idea what I want.”

“Oh?” I narrowed my eyes at him. Then, suddenly, I grabbed his throat and lifted him off his feet. “So, you don't want this?” I grinned as he shuddered. When I put him down, his erection was impossible to miss. “It seems I do know what you want.”

Aras shoved me away. “Maybe you know some of it, but not everything. And let me ask you this; do you know what you want?”

“Excuse me?”

“What was that shit with the Neraky? Do you want him now?”

There it was. Finally. I went lightheaded with giddiness. But why? Why was I tormenting my mate? To test him? To be certain he wanted me? That he hadn't betrayed me? I couldn't think straight, especially with him standing there after being away for so long.

“Aras, I—”

“If that's what you want, Ly, go,” he interrupted me. “Go fuck him.”

I lifted a brow. “He's mated.”

“And that's all that's stopping you?” Aras shook his head. “If I can't hold your interest even when I'm standing beside you, maybe this isn't what I thought it was, and it's better that I move on.”

“Move on?” I growled, baring my fangs.

“Yes. If you don't want me—”

I leapt for Aras, all reason abandoning me, exactly as I felt he was doing. My mate. He didn't love me. He didn't want me. He wanted to move on! Roaring, I took Aras down to the floor. His wide eyes and fallen jaw didn't register with me. I kept seeing that other man—that Hulfrin—kissing Aras. In his arms. Bending over for him. Did that fucking beta enjoy submitting to my mate? Did he spread his ass and display himself to entice Aras? I was going to fucking tear him apart! There would be no piece left large enough for Aras to identify.

“Ly!” Aras shouted.

My knights burst into the bedroom, the non-Dragons holding swords. They stopped short when they saw us.

“Get out!” I roared.

They ran out.

The sound of the door slamming only made me angrier. I lowered my face to Aras's and inhaled deeply. I shoved my face into his fur. Again and again, I smelled him, pushing aside his pretty coat, then tearing open his shirt to bare his body. And I marked every spot I revealed after making sure no other man's scent was there.

Down his tight belly. Another deep inhale. I growled, pleased to have found no trace of that other Hulfrin. But my dragon wasn't satisfied yet. I undid Aras's belt. As I did, he rushed to open his pants for me, then shoved them down. His proud cock sprang free, its length dripping with lubrication. I pressed my nose into the thicker fur around the base of his shaft and sniffed.

“Oh, fuck,” Aras groaned, his hand going into my hair. “Ly, I haven't been with anyone else. I swear it.”

I grunted but kept going, drawing my nose up his length. The scent of my mate was strongest there, and it eased something inside me. It also excited me. I licked Aras. Slowly. Savored his flavor. Then I circled his tip. His hand clenched in my hair and his pelvis tilted up.

All those reactions were food for my dragon, and we lapped it up. But beneath my joy lay a simmering magic that had been barely fulfilled. The mating bond was in place, but it wasn't as strong as it should have been. It needed more. I needed more. I lifted my head and looked at Aras.

Not yet. We were so close. Soon, I would tell him and he'd know what he meant to me. Until then, I'd give him what he needed and bind him to me in other ways.

Two swift pulls removed Aras's boots, then I yanked his pants off completely. I scented the submission on him. He couldn't resist me when I got like this. The knowledge was a balm, calming me enough to return to my inspection. I bent over my mate and sniffed down his legs. I rolled him over and covered his body with mine as I sucked in deep breaths, my face buried in his hair. I kissed his horns and moved down. His neck. His broad back. I smelled every inch of Aras until I was certain that he had spoken the truth.

My mate hadn't betrayed me!

I yanked Aras onto his back. He shuddered and stared up at me adoringly. I could do anything to him. Anything at all. He'd permit it. Beg for it, even. My dragon rolled inside me, giddy with joy. He was ours. All ours. I climbed up Aras's body and straddled his face. His icy eyes heated and widened just before I positioned my ass above his mouth and covered his stare with my sacs and cock. But I felt him groan against my skin.

“Lick me, Captain,” I said. “Do a good job and I'll only cut you enough to make you come.”

“Ly,” Aras moaned and then started to lick.

The wet warmth of his tongue sparked sensations that shot up my spine. I had many lovers do this for me before, but none made me feel like this. My delicious dominion over him added to the bliss, magnifying it. I ground down onto Aras, and his hands went to my ass, kneading and spreading my cheeks. He loved it. I felt the shimmer of his excitement through our bond. And even if I hadn't felt it, I would have known by his little happy cries and the way he lapped at me.

Then his tongue penetrated me. I cried out, throwing my head back as my cock jerked up, dripping onto Aras's forehead. The scent of our combined arousal was enough to send me over, but I held back. I didn't want to come until he was inside me.

“Enough!” I growled and jerked up onto my knees.

Aras stared up at me worshipfully, his gaze coasting over my body and face before settling on my cock. He licked his lips.

“Oh, you want to taste me there, too?” I drawled.

“Yes,” he said.

“Beg me to give you my cock.”

“Please,” Aras said instantly. “Please, Your Majesty.” His stare shifted to my face. “Let me suck your cock. I'll suck it like no one has before.”

I shuddered with the pure joy those words gave me, then leaned over my mate, repositioning myself. Holding the base of my shaft, I rubbed the tip over Aras's lips as his tongue shot out to taste me. Teasing him, I pulled my cock away, then pushed it against the seam of his mouth. Aras opened for me, and, at last, I slipped inside, over the velvet heat of his tongue. With a hand pressed to the floor to steady myself, I gripped one of my mate's horns and pulled up as I fucked his mouth.

It was wondrous, but again, not what I wanted. I needed him inside me, not the other way around. So, after a few thrusts, I pulled away and moved down his body to position myself above his cock.

“You are mine,” I declared as I mounted him. “Say it.”

I ground down on him, making him groan.

“I'm yours,” Aras said.

Ecstasy! Utter bliss! My soul burst through my body to connect with his. Aras cried out, doubtless feeling it too, and jerked his hips upward, driving deeper into me.

“That's it,” I murmured. “Give it all to me. Give me your touch, your kiss, and your cock. Give me your moans, your thoughts, and your future, Aras. Everything you are belongs to me!”

I slammed down on my mate, over and over. Blissful but also desperate. This was the best I could do to assuage my dragon. It clawed at me, but then Aras spoke.

“Take it!” my mate shouted, his hands holding me to his hips and his cock kicking inside me. “Take it all. I don't care anymore. I'm yours. I fucking belong to you!”

I roared, half-beast and half-man. Hot spurts of cum filled me even as they erupted from me, marking my mate. Mine! Mine! Mine!