Give yourself to it, Dakh encourages, sending a flurry of erotic thoughts through my mind. Claim your release. He thrusts into me again, even as his mouth continues to work my clit.

It’s too much. With a small cry, my muscles tense, and I come. It’s a small orgasm, but it feels fantastic. Waves of bliss rush over me, and I lose myself to the sensation, the feel of my body clenching with the burst of pleasure. So good.

From under my skirts, Dakh pushes his head up, and then I see his face. His mouth is gleaming, wet from my juices, and he’s so gorgeous, his eyes a vivid gold with emotion. He presses a kiss to my knee and then gives me another heated look. Turn over so I can claim you right here.

I wiggle on the hard table. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea with my bad arm. I might hurt things more.”

His sexy expression immediately changes, and he helps me up. Are you in pain? Did I harm you?

“No, I mean, not right now.” I chuckle, feeling sated and toe-curlingly good. “I just mean that this is probably the wrong place to finish things. We can go inside to our bed,” I say shyly. It feels strange to be the one encouraging a man. I could probably push him away at this point—I’ve had an orgasm, after all. I’m good. Thing is, I don’t want to. I want him to come, too. I want to see his pleasure. I want Dakh to lose control.

A smile dawns across his face, and he looks so heart-stoppingly sexy that my toes curl again. Whatever my mate wants.

“I want you,” I tell him, and extend a hand so he can help me sit up.

Instead of taking my hand, he gathers me in his arms, carrying me inside. I feel a little guilty about the mess outside, but I figure what the raccoons and coyotes don’t get to, I’ll clean up in the morning. For now, I just want to be with Dakh.

You must tell me if I hurt you at any time, he insists as he carries me through the store. I am much stronger than you, and I do not want to harm you thoughtlessly.

“You’ve never hurt me,” I reassure him. No one’s ever been so careful with my safety.

It is because you are the most precious thing in my world, he tells me. Without you, I am lost. Without you, I am alone. With you, I am whole.

My eyes blur, because it might be the nicest thing I’ve ever heard. And it encapsulates how I feel about him, too. I know it’s fast, and I know he’s the enemy.

I just…don’t know that I care anymore. With Dakh, I’m safe and protected and happy. With Dakh, I never feel like I’m not enough for someone. That I’m a problem or a burden or forgotten. I feel like I belong. Like I matter.

I might be addicted to my dragon. I’m okay with that.

I put my good arm around his neck as he gently lays me down into the swirl of blankets that serves as our makeshift bed.

Comfortable? He nuzzles my neck.

“Yes, thank you.” I smile up at him.

Take your clothes off and turn over then, my mate. His eyes gleam with promise.

I caress his strong, square jaw. “I’ll undress, but this time, why don’t we have sex face to face? Not that I don’t like it the other way. I just think it would be nice to have you on top of me.”

He looks surprised at my suggestion. Do humans mate in such a way?

“Um, yeah? Do…” I struggle to think of the word he used earlier, “drakoni not do such things?”

Our matings tend to be quick and brutal. I have always taken a female from behind.

Great, and now I’m feeling jealous, wondering how many drakoni women he’s had sex with. “I see.”

He leans in and presses his mouth against my neck. I do not remember. I do not remember anything about them. Not their faces, not their bodies, not their scents. They were nothing. I remember no female before you.

And that makes me feel a little better. I rub my fingertips along his jaw, tracing the lines of it. “Then let’s stay face to face this time. I like the idea of being able to watch you as you come.”

If it pleases you, we shall try it. He rubs his nose against mine and then claims my mouth in a heated kiss, his tongue flicking against mine. There’s a slight musky taste to his mouth, and I realize I’m tasting…myself. Strange.

You taste remarkable, he tells me. There is nothing strange about it.

I give him another kiss and then tug at my dress. “Help me undress? I want to feel your skin against mine.”

He pulls at my dress, and between the two of us, we manage to wriggle it off of my body, and then my bra and panties. After a moment’s consideration, I replace my makeshift sling back over my neck. I don’t want to harm my arm more than it’s already hurt. “I’m ready for this to heal up,” I grumble as it twinges painfully.

Humans take a long time to heal, even with my fire in your blood. How long until it gets better?

“I don’t know,” I admit. “Maybe another month? It’s my first broken arm.” I grimace. “And I’m just as ready as you for it to get better. It’s annoying to not be able to use both arms.”

I do not care about annoying. I care about you hurting. He caresses my shoulder with a frown. I do not like the thought of you in pain.

“I’m fine,” I tell him softly. “I promise.” I lie back in the bedding and trail my fingers down his long, hard abdomen and then brush them over the head of his cock, outlined by the too-tight sweatpants he’s wearing. “I don’t like for you to be hurting, either. And it seems like this must ache, just a little, hmm?”

It aches to be inside you, he tells me. And it aches to be out of these ridiculous skins.

I chuckle at that. “It’s clothing, not skins. It’s made from plants.”

It is useless. He drags his claws through the material, shredding it in his haste to remove it. No drakoni worth his paint would wear such a thing.

Worth his paint? I file that note away to ask about later. For now, I’m too fascinated with watching Dakh claw his way through the material, revealing bronze skin underneath, the dapple of the scale pattern practically undulating over the six-pack on his flat belly. I am a lucky, lucky girl, I decide, because I get to touch this. I let my hand slide lower, caressing the slick head of his cock, dragging my fingertips through the pre-cum there. I get to touch all of this.

He groans low in his throat, and then his big body pushes over me. I part my thighs, inviting him to rest against the cradle of my hips, and he glances down between us, as if studying how our bodies fit together. He takes his cock in his hand and drags the head of it up and down my slick folds, wetting it. I catch my breath, surprised again at how good that feels. How good everything feels with him.