“Just a moment,” I whisper, and reach up to undo the buttons on my pajama top. My fingers are trembling a little, but I manage to keep myself calm and composed. I slide the top off and let it fall to the ground. My breasts are exposed, I’m completely naked from the waist up, and I wonder if he’s going to react in any particular way. Unease makes my skin prickle, and I can feel my nipples getting tight.

Dakh makes a grunt of approval and moves behind me, pressing one lotion-covered hand onto my shoulder, and continues his rubbing.

Okay, that’s not so bad then. Despite my initial anxiety, I relax as he continues his massage, kneading and lotioning every inch of my back. It actually feels really good. I can feel my body growing loose and the tension easing from my muscles as he continues to stroke me. His hands slide over my shoulders in a caress, and the longer he does it, the more languid I feel.

“Sa-cha,” he murmurs, his hand gliding down the back of my neck.

I feel a little shiver move through me at that soft way he says my name. Part of me wonders if he’s going to ask me to take off my pants next. And it’s weird how breathless and strange that makes me feel.

His slick hands move up and down my back, and then he kneads my sides. I have to bite back a little moan of pleasure, because god, that feels good. Any nervousness I felt about him touching me has been rubbed right out of my mind. I lean forward with a little sigh so he can knead the muscles of my lower back. “I don’t know if this is instinct or something that dragons do for each other, but it’s pretty nice,” I tell him sleepily.

Dakh just says my name again, gliding a slippery hand all the way back up to my shoulders once more. My eyes are closed and I’m feeling good, which is why it comes as a surprise when his front presses against my back and he reaches around to my front to knead my breasts.

I gasp at the sensation, startled. His hands slide over my boobs, rubbing them just like he did the muscles in my back, and I wonder if he realizes that this is an out-of-bounds area for women. Or are dragons different? Even as I contemplate this, he slides his fingers over my nipples, and a low moan tears from my throat.

Dear God, that…felt really good.

He rumbles low in his throat, and his hands continue to work my breasts, rubbing and plucking at my now-tight nipples. I can feel my pulse pounding between my thighs. I’m startled at my own response. It’s been forever since I’ve felt any kind of desire. It’s definitely what I’m feeling right now, though. There’s a deep throb low in my body, and as his hands glide over my breasts, I get breathless with excitement.

Dakh lowers his head and nuzzles at the juncture of my shoulder and neck. I can feel his breath there, hot and spicy, and when his thumbs drag over my nipples again, he licks at my skin and I feel my pussy throb once more in response. My breasts ache, and I push against his hands when he focuses on toying with the tips, rolling them back and forth between his thumb and forefinger, as if fascinated by their texture. God, I’m positively aching now. His tongue glides up the length of my neck, and I feel him flick it against my ear, and it sends new shivers through my body.

“Sa-cha,” he growls into my ear, and inhales deeply, burying his face against my hair. All the while, his fingers continue to work my nipples, claws dragging against my skin just enough to make me crazy with need.

I’m gasping for breath as he pets me, loving this exquisite torture. It’s the most delicious thing I’ve felt in a long time.

Dakh inhales sharply, interrupting my thoughts. He growls low in his throat again, and then his hands leave my breasts. He pushes me forward onto the blankets, until I’m on my elbows and my cheek presses against the floor. His weight rests atop mine, and I go stiff.

I know what’s coming next. Just like that, the pleasure I’ve been feeling bursts like a soap bubble. The self-loathing returns.

But it must be done. I suppress the sigh that rises in my throat. I won’t enjoy it, but sex isn’t the end of things. I’ll just let him do what he likes and pretend I’m enjoying it half as much. It’s not a big deal. I’ve had worse sex, I’m sure.

At least it’s not Tate, ready to break another limb. That puts things into perspective, for sure. Just thinking about it like that makes me resigned but determined.

It’s all about survival, after all.

13

DAKH

Kael was right—my female wants caresses and soft touches instead of a mating challenge. I have done so, and now her mating perfume fills the air.

I’ve never smelled anything as good as Sa-cha’s mating scent. Thick and musky, I want to bury my face between her thighs and drag my tongue over her until I’ve captured every drop. But the urgency I feel inside me, the need to make her my mate? It won’t wait. I need to claim her as mine now and protect her. Anchor her to me. Give her my fires.

My mate.

Need threatens to overwhelm me, and my cock aches. I feel desperate to bury myself inside my mate. My fangs ache, filling with my fires. Sa-cha’s body is small underneath mine, and when I press her forward so I can mount her, she doesn’t resist. Mine, I think with joy. My mate is at last mine.

She still wears more of her strange skins, and I run my claws over her backside, trying to figure out how to remove them. With a growl of frustration, I rip my claws through the soft material, shredding it until it falls away from her. She gasps, and her fingers clench in the blankets, but she is otherwise still. I cast the destroyed skin aside and then run a hand over my mate’s soft body. Her flanks are pale, and her delicious scent is wafting up to me, making my mouth water with the need to claim her.

I will wait no longer.

I press against her backside, rubbing my length against her heat. She is wet, but not as thick with juices as I had hoped. It is no matter. She will grow wetter when I am inside her. I slick my cock with her desire, and then push into her heat. Sa-cha gasps again, her small body stiff under mine, and then I am lost to the mating heat. I pound into her, letting a cry of pure joy escape me as I bury myself to the hilt inside her. She is so wet and tight, my mate. Nothing has ever felt so good. Nothing.

I cannot help myself. I pull back and plunge deep again, and then again. Over and over, I pump my cock into her tight warmth. My fangs burn with the need to claim her, but I cannot stop driving into her, cannot stop spearing her cunt with my length. Her small body under mine is what I have needed all along, her sweetness given to me.