Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

E vander drove to the edge of town, then followed one of the dirt roads at the edge of the forest for another twenty minutes. They were actually going in the opposite direction of home, but he didn't think Kari would mind. Her arousal had been strong in her brother's house, but in the smaller space of the SUV, it was downright lethal.

The sweet vanilla scent of her cunt called to him, and he needed to be inside her more than he needed his next breath.

As far as he was concerned, being apart from her for an entire week was never happening again.

Keeping his distance the entire time she was gone had been a true test of his strength, but he wasn't a saint. He hadn't seen her all week, that part was true, but he'd spent a lot of time flying around the outskirts of Cedar Falls, just in case, and the neighboring forest had some pretty good hidden caves.

He hadn't spent every night hanging out in them, but the night she left had been hard, and he'd wanted to be close.

When they reached a dead end, he turned off the vehicle and opened the door.

"Let's go."

Kari followed his lead easily, and after handing her a huge, rolled-up sleeping bag he had stored on the backseat, he locked the SUV and pointed up the mountain.

"There's a cave up there that we can only get to by flying. What do you say, sweetheart? Want to take a detour?"

"Definitely."

She came over to stand beside him, and after sniffing the air, he shifted into his dragon form and scooped Kari up in his arms. Touching her would make her invisible, too, and when he was sure it was safe, he flew to the entrance of the cave and walked to the back of the dwelling before setting her down and shifting back into his human form.

There was a little bit of light coming in from the afternoon sun, but it was still hard to see, and he wanted to make sure she knew they were completely alone.

"There's a lantern wrapped in the sleeping bag. Let me get it so you can see better."

"You know I can see in the dark just like you can."She laughed but handed him the bundle anyway, and he didn't correct her. The animal allowed her to see in the dark, but he could see better and he wouldn'trisk her safety. "And my nose is really good, too. Why does this place smell like you?"

Now that he hadn't thought about. The cave was so high up that birds were probably the only other inhabitants, and unlike him, they would probably stay as close to the entrance as possible.

"I stayed here a coupleof times so I could be close in case you needed me. I wasn't spying on you—I haven't seen you since you left Emerald Haven—but I did check out the area and hang around on the outskirts of town a few times. There are some good caves in this forest."

"You spent the night here? So you could be close in case I needed you?"

He cleared his throat and set the lamp on a large rock that reminded him of a small table.

Her voice was so neutral he couldn't get a read on her. Wasshe mad that he'd been so close? Did she think he violated her privacy somehow? Did she want to leave and go home? Or back to her brother's house?

He took a deep breath and turned to face her.

"Yeah, I..." He turned to find her standing in her bra and panties. "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting ready to have sex with my mate. What are you doing?"

He watched as she reached around her back to unfasten her bra, and when she dropped it on top of the pile of clothes at her feet, his eyes zeroed in on the bandage taped to her thigh. It was about three-by-four inches in size, and only the top and bottom were secured with medical tape.

She'd been hurt? And hadn't told him? Anger and fear warred within, and even though she looked fine, he wanted to ditch the cave and fly her home so Marcus could inspect the wound.

"What the fuck happened to your leg?"

"Nothing bad, I promise." She smiled. "It's a surprise. For you. And I think you'll like it very much."

He went rock hard at her words and ripped his t-shirt over his head. She must have gotten a tattoo, it was the only thing that made sense, and he couldn't wait to see what was under that bandage.

He grabbed the sleeping bag and unrolled it, and then spread the thing over the dirt floor.

Kari helped straighten out the corners on her end, and then she walked to the middle of the thing andlaid down on her back with her knees open just wide enough that he could see her wet panties.

Fuck, she was hot. The dim light cast a lot of shadows around the cave, but he could clearly see the wet material between her legs, and he was glad. She clearly wanted him as much as he wanted her, and he didn't want to go slow.

He also didn't want her back pressing into the hard ground of the cave. He'd cleared the area of most of the loose rocks, but some were embedded in the dirt, and he knew they could be felt even through the thick sleeping bag.

He undressed quickly, and knelt down at her feet. Her knees fell open, and he bent forward to kiss her mound, inhaling her sweet vanilla scent. He placed his hands on her hips, fisted the soft cotton material, and then ripped it away.

More honey gushed out of her core, and her pretty lower lips were plump and wet.

He leaned forward for just a taste, and dragged his tongue from her pussy to her clit. Her hips came off the floor, and she wound her fingers around the short strands of his hair. Her hold was hard andunyielding, and his dick started to throb.

It had been a week since he felt her soft pussy gripping his cock, and he needed to be inside her as soon as possible.

He pulled his mouth away from her cunt, and slowly kissed a path up her body until his cock was pressed at the entrance to her core. He wanted to take her hard and fast, but he wouldn't. Not when there was a chance she could get hurt while he pounded into her.

He lay down next to her, then slid his arms around her waist and pulled her on top of him.

She landed with a huff, then quickly righted herself, stretching her pussy lips across his dick as she sat up to straddle him.

"Ride me, sweetheart."

She raised up on her knees, grabbed his cock with one hand, and then slowly lowered herself down until he was seated balls deep. His dick had been impossibly hard already, but buried deep in his mate's cunt made him swell even more. He was big, and thick, and hard, and Kari's cunt fit around him perfectly.

"You are so beautiful, sweetheart," he said, his hands gripping her waist. "When do I get to see the surprise?"

"Soon," she said, leaning forward so her hands were on either side of his head. The movement caused her pussy to slide up his dick a little bit and he immediately felt the loss. He tightened his hands on her hips, wanting to push her back down, but Kari laughed and leaned forward a little more to brush her lips against his.

"I love you," she said. "And I hated being apart from you this week. I'm happy Axel is alive, but we're all grown up now, and I don't belong with him anymore. I belong in a clan of dragons, with my mate by my side."

"Fuck, yeah!"

She leaned back again and carefully removed the fake bandage. He was right, she'd gotten a tattoo, but when he saw the image, his dragon roared to the surface. He could feel his eyes change, and a possessive growl filled the cave at the same time his hands tightened around her waist.

" Mine! "

The word came out a garbled growl, but luckily, Kari didn't seem to mind.

"Yes, I'm yours," she smiled, "and I'm ready to complete the mating bond."

His dick started throbbing at the same time he felt the familiar tingling at the base of his spine, but he forced his hands to relax and took a deep breath. Her scent filled the cave. It masked everything, including his own scent, and all he could smell was her. Still, they had to stop. He couldn't mark her in this cave like some kind of animal.

"Let's go home, sweetheart," he said, patting her ass so she would climb off of him. "I don't want to complete our bond in this cave. I want it to be nice for you. At home I can make everything perfect."

"There's nothing more perfect than completing our bond in a cave my mate flew us to. One he stayed in for a week so he could be close in case I needed him. I love you, Evander. I want to be with you forever, and I want forever to start right now."

She started moving then, and all of his arguments floated out of his brain. All he could concentrate on was his mate and the way she was bouncing up and down his cock. Her tight pussy gripped him tight with every rise and fall, and he loved the way her gorgeous breasts bounced while she took what she wanted.

He was ready to burst, and when her movements became erratic, he tightened his hands around her waist and continued to bounce her up and down, loving the way she clenched and unclenched around him.

He knew neither one of them would last much longer, so he sat up and held her close with one hand at the same time he slid the other between them. He found her clit with his thumb, and when he pressed on the hard jewel, she screamed.

Her orgasm triggered his own, and he closed his mouth around the soft skin of her breast, just above the areola. His dick exploded, and he growled as his heat scorched her skin. She screamed again, this time in pain, and tightened her arms around him.

He knew it wouldn't take long for the pain to turn to pleasure, and less than a minute later her pussy was convulsing around him again. Even though he had already come, it wasn't enough, and his dick was still hard and throbbing. When the bond was sealed, he tore his mouth away from her skin, and rolled so that Kari was now on her back and he was pounding into her soaking wet cunt.

He could barely think through the pleasure coursing through his veins, and any guilt about the rocks in her back was long gone. Luckily, Kari didn't seem to mind. Too soon, she was screaming his name again, and he roared his release a moment later. The sound was so loud the loose rocks on the ground rumbled like an earthquake was moving through the mountain, and a sense of pride filled him.

He'd never had an orgasm that intense before, and he knew Kari hadn't either. He was her first, and her last, and now that she wore his mark, they would be together forever. He looked down at the symbol branded into her chest and smiled. It was shaped like a half-circle with three flames coming out of it, and the inside was lavender with a dark purple border.

"It's amazing," Kari said, placing her palm to his cheek.

She had been studying the mark at the same time he was, and her contented smile filled him with so much joy he thought he might burst.

"You're amazing," he said, brushing his lips against hers. "Thank you for trusting me to be the mate you need. And for the tat. I think I need to get something that matches."

Her tattoo was of a dark purple dragon wrapped around the letter E, and he couldn't wait to have her brother create a matching one for him with a wolf and the letter K.

"Axel already showed me the drawing of yours, and I think you're going to love it."

"If you love it, then I will, too. Is your back okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"The ground is hard. I don't want you hurt."

"Nothing is hurting me right now, mate."

"That's good," he nodded.

He slowly pulled his dick out of her channel, happy when her growl of protest reached his ears. He wasn't planning on going anywhere anytime soon, and when he started to push back into her at the same slow and steady pace, her answering smile soothed his dragon in a way only a mate could.

They stayed in the cave for a couple more hours, and only opted to leave when the snacks he'd packed had run out and the growl of his stomach was louder than that of his dragon.

They stopped and got something to eat at the first place they saw, and then they took their time driving back to the castle, only veering off the road for two more detours.

He'd found a lot of caves while she was staying with Axel, and he was eager to show her all of them, but it didn't have to happen all in one night.

They had forever, and that was more than enough time.