Chapter 9

Lenora didn't know what to make of the beast above her. When she'd failed, she'd thought her life was over.

Now, she suspected she hadn't been alive at all. Not until he'd kissed her and awoken her soul.

It was impossible to catch her breath as she looked up at him. He was nude, having transformed from the great beast that had pinned her between his claws into a male that now held her body in place with frightening ease.

But worst of all wasn't his physical strength. It was that seductive nature when her name rolled off his tongue, sounding elegant, sounding precious, like a jewel in his hoard, as he trapped her there with nothing more than words and a kiss.

"You told me you had never had a male before."

Unsure what to do, she nodded. Even now, she flushed from this. At least it would blend with the rest of her blushes that now coated her cheeks.

"I should like to change that tonight." His voice was a soft, dark promise, yet again he made no move. Waiting.

Did she want him? It had felt like a worse betrayal, to touch him and then destroy him. But she had failed. Now, she had no chance at killing the beast that terrorized Mossley and finding refuge there after. He would be on guard and not allow her to make a second attempt.

Now, there was no reason to deny herself.

She nodded.

Alistair did not move, not for three more breaths while he considered her. As if he was waiting to see if she would change her mind.

But she would not. As strange as it was, he had made her feel less judged than those in her village, who were of her species.

And when he kissed her again, there could be no other explanation than that he was otherworldly. No man should be able to make a woman so breathless, so weak, so alive, with just a kiss.

Nor should he be so skilled with his hands.

With a seemingly careless swipe, he shredded the front of her tunic, nails trailing over her skin without so much as scratching her. She bared herself for him, and he moved that same hand to her breast, fondling them as he had in the tub.

And then, when her nipples grew stiff and aching, he lowered his mouth to one and sucked.

Nora moaned, unable and unwilling to muffle the sound.

"Make that sound again, precious one," he instructed.

And then he drew it from her again. She couldn't have disobeyed if she'd even wanted to. Her hands instinctively threaded through his obsidian locks and held him as he sucked at her bosom. His other hand let go of her wrists and went lower, lower, lifting the skirts even farther past where they'd rode up.

She tensed, even amidst the pleasure. No one had ever touched her there. Alistair simply waited, patiently urging her to yield to him while he continued to sow pleasure with his lips.

Her body eased and his fingers lifted to her center, finding her wet. Wetter than she had ever been when she woke from lustful dreams that kept her warm when the hearth failed.

Then he lifted the finger to his mouth.

Seeing his intent, she gasped. "You can't."

A cunning expression flitted across Alistair's face. "Why? Would you rather taste how much you desire me?"

He extended the finger towards her lips, barely an inch away.

It felt dirty. Lewd. Yet she licked her lips at the thought.

But before she could close the distance, he retracted the offer and pulled it to his own lips, tapping the claw against them. "Not this time, Lenora. I'm a greedy dragon. I won't allow you to rob me of your pleasure."

Then he sucked it clean. His gray eyes lit with pleasure, pupils flaring in delight, which made Nora grow hot to see. "Delicious."

She groaned, shifting against him for friction. She had never seen such an erotic sight.

"I think I'll take another taste," he informed her with a purr.

But he didn't move his hand back to her center. Instead, he moved over her body, his naked muscles gliding over her with heated pressure as he moved his head to the apex of her thighs.

And then he tasted her.

Pleasure ricocheted through her body and she wasn't able to stop the sound she made. She moved her hands from his hair to cover her face, as if to hide from her dragon lover, even as he licked her lower mound and made her buck her hips.

He moved from her thighs, long enough to take her hands away and hold himself close enough to kiss her jaw.

"I told you, Lenora, I don't let others take what belongs to me. And you belong to me. Every whimper, every tremor, every moment of your pleasure is mine." He nuzzled her neck. "Do not hide from me, little one."

"All… alright," she agreed.

He kissed her in reward, then turned back to his task, moving along her body sinfully. It may have been for her pleasure, but Alistair obviously delighted in his task, tasting her thoroughly.

If only the people of Mossley knew how that dragon would truly eat me! They'd have been scandalized.

But it was impossible to think of them for long when Alistair tongued her so thoroughly. He sucked her bud, not hard but insistent, and it made Nora feel like she was approaching something. A cliff, a wave, threatening to slam into her and end her. Her heart beat faster and faster.

"It's too much," she cried.

Still, he continued. If anything, her cries made him more determined, looking up at her from under his lashes.

But this much pleasure, more than she could have ever conceived of, had turned frightening.

"Alistair, I can't! You… you'll end me!"

At this, he stopped. Not abruptly—he instead returned to her core, long licks, teasing as he gently released the pressure that had threatened to overwhelm her. His fingers returned, coaxing at her entrance.

"Tell me, precious one… you say you've known no man, but surely you know your own body."

She looked at him, confusion wading through the fog of bliss he'd crafted around her.

"Haven't you made yourself orgasm before?" he asked.

Nora bit her lip. She had heard the term, in the raunchiest tavern, and wasn't entirely uneducated having seen the barn animals… but she had never applied such things to herself.

Alistair would not take mercy on her until she answered, the relentless creature. So reluctantly she shook her head, still meeting his gaze because he would surely redirect her if she looked away.

It was a hard task, especially while his fingers still moved in her, teasing, tempting.

His expression turned contemplative, but it was not an unkind look. He looked at her like she was the most delicate puzzle he had ever seen. It made Nora feel almost safe in her confession, however fraught it had been.

"Humans can be so primitive…" he muttered. "It's a crime for you to have been denied so long. I should make you come right now, on my tongue."

She opened her mouth to protest, but Alistair wasn't done.

"But as I said, I'm a greedy dragon. And while I have no doubt I would enjoy that, I'm selfish enough that I want your first time to be with your wet, hungry hole filled with my cock. Where I can look into your eyes as the pleasure overtakes you."

His words sent a jolt directly down to her core, as potent as his mouth had been.

"Do you like that, Lenora? Do you like the idea of coming on my cock?"

When she didn't answer, his fingers stilled. They didn't leave her, but rather paused exactly where they were.

In a way that made her even more aware of their position. Of what they might be replaced by. Of how that might feel. Of how her hips moved even now, trying to urge them back to motion.

She nodded.

"Use your words, precious one. I want to hear your tongue tell me your every filthy desire," he coaxed.

She swallowed. "I want… I want to feel you inside me."

"And?" he urged, his eyes hungry.

"I want you to…" What was the word he used? "To make me come."

A bright grin exploded across Alistair's face. It nearly froze Lenora on the spot. He was so lovely, so tender in that moment, that it seemed impossible to believe she had ever feared him.

"Then I shall do just that," he vowed. "But first, I must ready you."

"How much more ready could I be?" she whimpered as his fingers resumed their ministrations. His other hand favored her breast, tugging and toying.

"My brave, impatient human," he murmured, dotting her jaw with kisses. "Your mind may be ready, but if I'm to not hurt you, your body must be as well."

She wanted to argue—now that he'd planted the seed, it seemed hardly fair to make her wait—but he silenced her with a kiss. And while his tongue entered her mouth, a third finger went to her core.

She bucked at the invasion, and his cock jolted back, the hard length pressing on her thigh.

A potent reminder to be patient.

Finally, when she thought she would nearly drown in pleasure anew, he deemed her ready. His fingers withdrew, and she almost sobbed at the loss.

But just as quickly as they withdrew, his length pressed against her, the head of his cock teasing at the entrance.

"Don't make me wait any longer," she begged. She barely recognized her voice.

Alistair loosed a groan, letting the first part into her body. "Don't say things like that, precious one. You could make a centuries-old dragon forget himself."

He was large. He was so large she wondered if she might have made a mistake, a grave miscalculation, because it was entirely possible dragons and women were not meant to fit as such.

But still, she wanted him.

He continued to coax her body, teasing with his mouth and fingers, rubbing her bud so she might spread her legs, letting his hips dip lower between her as he eased in.

It was scary.

Yet if she thought herself frightened, Alistair seemed nigh tortured as he moved at a glacial pace, constantly searching her face for signs of pain.

It was not exactly comfortable. Being bludgeoned seldom was. But it was not the pain that she'd heard the other girls in the village describe.

"It's okay," she assured him. How strange, yet how right the words felt. "I can take it."

Alistair's gaze held her while he finally sank the rest of the way.

And then, just as he'd sheathed himself, he began to move back. She nearly protested, but he didn't go far. He thrust back in a short distance, then farther back and faster, building a tempo.

Nora had never felt anything like it. Never felt so full, so pleasured, so connected with another being. His breaths drew quicker and Nora found that was a type of pleasure too, to see the effect she had on the great obsidian dragon that had terrorized their country for years.

The powerful, immortal creature—and it found pleasure in her.

He pushed deeper into her, faster and more forceful than before.

She gasped.

"Was it too much?" he asked, frozen above her.

She lifted her hips in answer. "More, Alistair, more."

"I should be gentle." The words were as much to himself as to her, as if he could ward off his darker nature.

"Be as you are," she demanded, pulling him down for a kiss. "I may be weaker than you, but I am not made of glass."

"Weak is the last term I would use to describe the woman who tried to murder me," he teased.

Before she could apologize again, he obeyed her, thrusting deeper, faster. He no longer asked questions of her body, but demanded. Demanded she take him fully, that she moan and gasp and not stifle a sound, that she give everything to him.

Nora was helpless to obey.

It was the most wonderful kind of helpless.

Her pleasure grew and grew. It was different this time, less terrifying than when he'd licked her. And more equal, because while she edged closer and closer, so too did her dragon lover. His grunts and groans sent thrills down her spine, made her wrap her legs around his sculpted hips as if to stop him from leaving.

"Do you feel it?" he asked. "Your orgasm building?"

She nodded frantically. It was there, it was so close.

"I as well." He barely got the words out. "I want you to come when I do, Lenora Tashe. Want to feel you contract around me while I spend my seed."

She didn't know how to obey, how to withstand him, but her body knew. He plunged into her over and over, pleasure growing like a wildfire inside her, about to consume the very last drop of her restraint.

"Now," he commanded.

She exploded. Her pleasure crested over that final hill, ecstasy sparking in her body. She had wanted to see the moment of her dragon's spend, but it was impossible to do more than close her eyes while it rolled over her.

Never. Never had she known. Time lost meaning. All she knew was she was in heaven, warm, protected, full.