Chapter 26

Chapter

Twenty-Six

Rose

He rolled his hips, forcing that knot slightly deeper and with that little bit of movement a fresh wave of intense pleasure accompanied by a flash of pain rolled over me. My muscles convulsed, and while I didn't think it possible to have a fifth orgasm, he certainly made my body light up again and nothing seemed out of the question.

I gasped. "You are so evil."

"Are you saying you want me to stop?"

I shook my head. "I definitely didn't say that. Although at this point, I'm afraid I'm completely boneless. I’m not sure I could participate."

"Good. I'm going to need you to focus later, and that's going to be kind of hard if you're trying to hump my leg."

I barked with laughter. How he'd managed to turn a moment of seriousness into fun without making it weird blew me away. I mean, we were locked together and I had been mindlessly desperate for him, begging nonstop for more. And as much as I didn't want to admit it, this Omega claim he kept making seemed to have some merit.

"Does this mean I'm not going to get a shower and a nap after this?"

Instead of answering me with words, his hands snaked underneath me and clasped both of my breasts. I guessed correctly that not only wasn't I getting a nap, but he wasn't done with me either.

"It takes a lot of effort to keep my barb sheathed when I'm inside you. In fact, I almost didn’t. The dragon is dying to claim you."

I twisted my head to try and meet his gaze, but the angle wasn't quite right. I couldn't see his face, let alone his eyes.

"I don't know how to get used to you talking about your dragon like it’s another person."

"You will. I have faith in you."

"You don't know me that well."

"Don't I?” he asked on a rumble as his fingers toyed with my nipples. "You've cooked for me, I've nearly died at your hands, and then been healed by them. I've seen the inside of your garden lab, I've learned what you like in the bedroom, and I've even met your parents. I'm feeling quite qualified in the getting to know Rose department."

I closed my eyes and savored his magical touches while listening to the rumbly tone of his voice while he talked. Was there even anything better than this feeling right here in the world? It all made me wonder if he was right and we were destined for more—together.

But destiny wasn't science. It definitely fell on the magical side of things.

But isn't magic just science that hasn't been proven yet?

Maybe I was grasping at straws, trying to justify my behavior. But for once in my life, something seemed right. I might have found the one place I truly fit.

My brain was wandering pretty hard when he surged forward, reigniting all the myriad of delicious sensations from before.

I gasped. "Your knot. It's free." It was a half thrilling, half bereft kind of feeling. I had no idea why I loved his knot so much, other than the obvious. It felt fucking good. But there was more to the science of all this.

"Just in time for me to fuck you again," he groaned, pushing particularly deeper than he had before. "You ready?" he asked.

Seconds later, he had my lower half lifted off the bed, railing into me at an even better angle. This time I wasn’t on the precipice of another release, but in a steady state free fall into a whole other world. I’d never experienced anything so incredible, and I never wanted it to stop.

"Please," I whimper-begged, barely able to push words out.

"Oh don't worry. Trust me, I know, and I'm going to give it to you. Soon."

I twisted my head again, attempting to get a look at him and this time I saw exactly what I was hoping for. Pleasure etched into his face even with the tendons at his neck tightened with the effort he used to keep us in this position. But it was the glaze over his eyes that showed me his true loss of control.

"Magnus. Gods! It's incredible."

He grunted in agreement as he continued with long, languid strokes that revved my nerves both coming and going. It also went on a really long time. The pleasure took me over the edge, flying into the night sky, and erupted me into a ball of heat and flames where my nerve endings continually sizzled. By the time I came down, we were both covered in sweat and the tense line of his body pressed against mine told me he was about to break.

"I want to give you the barb," he cried. "I need to watch you come apart one more time."

"Then do it." My thoughts weren't a thousand percent coherent, but with my senses on overload and my body brimming from pleasure, I wanted anything and everything he had to give. In fact, it felt like an affront that he hadn't already given himself one hundred percent to me.

"No!" he barked. "Not yet. You don’t know what you’re asking for."

I whimpered my disappointment. "Asshole," I mumbled.

"Of course I am, but that doesn't change this. Your decision to accept my barb and become my mate will be made outside the throes of mating heat."

"That sounds a little too noble for you. I thought you were a beast. Or a monster. Do monsters ask for permission?"

"Don't try to goad me into giving it to you. I'm still inside you and losing my mind." There was another deep thrust, then another and then on the third the world erupted.

He snapped. Heat poured out of him in every direction and filled every inch of the room. Smoke, the scent of burning, and still the pleasure held me mesmerized in its grip. I needed more. Wanted more. I clawed at the blanket underneath me and let loose with a wail that wouldn't end.

Somewhere in the melee, he pushed me onto my stomach and followed me down letting the heat of his body and our connection soothe my aching soul.

"Shhhh," he cooed, rubbing his hands along my arms and wiping the hair out of my eyes. "I promise you will get everything your heart and your body desires. And you'll thank me later for waiting."

I whimpered, completely focused on the heat still pulsing between my legs despite it all. "It hurts..."

"That's because you're fertile and your body knows what it needs, and that it didn't get it."

"What?" I mumbled, struggling to focus on what he was saying.

He took that moment of confusion to ease from my body and rolled us to our sides in this chair that suddenly seemed too small for the both of us. "Most Omegas are breeders, baby. Their life-giving magic is literally made for it. I know you know what mating heat is now and why the omega craves sex. But it triggers the alpha too, and given half the chance you'd be halfway to pregnant with my dragonling right now."

"I take pills to keep that from happening."

A deep rumbling laugh erupted from him. "Unless you've infused those things with magic, no human pills are going to stop anything."

My eyes grew wide as he looked at me with a smirk. "Is that a joke?"

"Do I look like the kind of person who tells jokes?"

Maybe not. But I was pinning my lips closed to keep from laughing in his face right now. Although there was nothing too funny about unplanned pregnancies. They tended to change lives drastically and not always for the best.

"So what do I take so I don't end up pregnant?" For a moment, his eyes shuttered closed and I could see pain etched on his face that even the scars couldn't cover.

He suddenly rolled to his feet, walked across the room, and disappeared into the bathroom. A moment later I heard the water turn on and assumed he was getting in the shower. Apparently, the topic of pregnancies was a sensitive one.

I tried to get up to follow him and my body screamed in protest. Every single muscle ached and complained. I laid there for a minute more and then tried again. Achy or not, I wanted a shower too. I could feel the sticky remnants of our sex between my legs and I had no idea what had happened to my clothes.

Wait...

I padded into the bathroom and found him sitting at the edge of a giant tub checking the temperature of the water.

"Holy shit. That thing is huge," I blurted, more interested in climbing into the vat of warm water than watching what words came out of my mouth.

He quirked a brow at me as if to say something smart but remained silent.

"Did you really burn away our clothes?"

"Aye, I did."

"I didn't think to pack a bag. Yesterday I'd assumed I'd be staying at my parents house and they keep plenty of things in my room there."

"There are plenty of clothes here. This room was either a hideaway for my brother's mate or a sanctuary for my mum. Depends on which stories you believe are true."

A shudder worked down my spine.

"Are you cold? The water's ready if you are."

"You made that for me?"

"For us.”

I stood dumbfounded for a moment before I engaged my brain again. "Don't we have to meet Kitra and Isaac downstairs?"

“And they can wait a little while longer. It's been a crazy couple of days for you, and kind of an insane several months for me. If we have any luck left, we can afford to take the time for one bath together."

I couldn't lie even to myself. His getting up and preparing the bathroom for us was going to be one of those special moments I would remember for the rest of my life. He was the first man to take the time to do something like this for me. And considering I had no idea what the future held for me, this might be the one and only time something like this happened.

"C'mon, you first." He waved me over to the tub and then took my hand to help me in. The minute my body hit the warmth of the water, I groaned in delight. This was the thing I needed and didn't know it.

"Should I leave you alone? You look pretty happy right now."

My eyes popped back open. "I do feel blissed out right now. But you should come in. You're right. We both need this."

He grinned back at me, and it nearly took my breath away. He definitely needed to smile more often. It made him much less scary.

When he climbed in and settled at the back of the tub, he pulled me between his legs so we could both stretch out. While the hard planes of the muscles of his chest and abs were no pillow, they were even better. Because he brought the heat I loved so much.

I smiled. "I guess with you here, I won't have to worry about the water getting cold."

"Nope. And with you here, I won't get lonely."

My thoughts sobered as I opened my eyes again. "Lonely? You? I thought you liked being alone."

"I do. Usually. And especially when my dragon is trying to be an asshole." He tightened his arm around my waist and pulled me tighter against his chest. "It's an unusual feeling for me, but I like having you around."

My heart constricted in my chest. How would I ever guard myself against falling for this man if he continued to do things for me? And I really liked the nice things he had to say. He often called me smart. That wasn't a trait that many others focused on as a good thing.

But there was a lot unsettled to deal with.