Dakh fits the head of his cock against my core, and then he pushes forward, penetrating me.

I gasp at the sensation—he’s thick and broad, and even though I’m wet and ready for him, it’s still a breathtaking thing to feel. I reach for him, stroking my hand up and down his arm as he slowly feeds his cock into my body, his gaze riveted to where we are joined. He watches as he pushes into me, and then when he’s seated fully, leans in over me, his chest pressing to mine, and gives me a light kiss.

I think I like this.

“You do?”

His hand caresses my jaw, his gaze locked to mine. I can watch your face as I pump into you.

I suck in a breath, because as he says it, he thrusts into me. Sensation spirals through my body with his movements, and I hold on to him, trying to raise my hips to meet his when he rocks into me again. His movements are slow and sure, but as I relax against him, he picks up speed, his thrusts taking on urgency.

The look in his eyes is possessive as he pumps into me, over and over again. My Sasha, he sends to me, and a low growl builds in his chest. My mate.

“Yours,” I whisper, trailing my fingers over his skin, trying to touch him everywhere I can.

He buries his face against my neck, and his thrusts take on a fiercer edge. He’s close to coming—I can tell by the spin of urgency in his thoughts, his need boiling over into my mind. His excitement fuels my own, and the harder he drives into my body, the more the friction seems to heighten my own pleasure. I’m surprised as I feel the slow stir of another orgasm start to build in my belly, and I gasp when his next thrust is followed by a swivel of his hips against mine, because that makes everything that much more exciting.

“Keep going,” I tell him. “Don’t stop.”

Not until you have your pleasure again, he vows, and nips at my neck with those sharp, wicked teeth of his.

I gasp at the sensation, locking a leg around his hip to increase the depth of his penetration. Faster and harder he claims me, and I cling to him, closing my eyes and holding tight as the elusive orgasm builds inside me. It’s almost there, but I need more, need something else to give me that little push—

Dakh gently bites at my neck again, and even as he does, I feel his hand slip between our bodies. His thumb presses through the folds of my pussy, finding my clit, and remains there. When he pushes into me again, it rubs against my clit.

That lights me up like a dynamite fuse. I cry out, digging my nails into his shoulder. He thrusts into me again, and I can feel my body clench around him, my pussy tightening in response to the orgasm that’s building. The growl continues to build in his throat, and he pumps into me harder, our bodies coming together so roughly that my back is sliding across the blankets and onto the floor. I don’t care. The only thing that matters is Dakh. Dakh’s burning skin, his burning golden eyes, the heat of him against me, pounding into me—

And then I’m coming. Everything shatters inside me, and I give a choked little cry as everything clenches and releases, the orgasm battering through me. He growls my name—aloud—and then I feel him shudder as his own release finds him, the heat of his seed sweeping through me. It’s such a strange—but pleasant—sensation to feel that.

Dakh thrusts into me again, shallowly, and then buries his face against my skin once more, licking at the hollow of my neck. My sweet mate. Take everything I have to give you.

Always, I mentally whisper to him, stroking a hand over his shoulder. Always.

30

SASHA

It takes a while to come down, and I’m in no hurry for him to get off of me. I love the feel of his warm skin against mine, the almost peppery taste of his sweat. The slick fusion of our bodies together. I love this. I could stay like this forever, I think. Just the two of us, alone in the world, the weight of him pressing between my thighs. Heaven.

You would starve, he says, and nips at the hollow of my neck again, then licks away the sting. And I would need to leave your cunt at some point to feed you.

“I didn’t say it was practical,” I tell him with a sigh. “Just that I liked the thought.”

I continue to touch him, tracing up and down his back, thinking. There’s so much to unpack and figure out. Bits of his memories are starting to return, I think. He’s said that he doesn’t remember much about his life before coming through the Rift, but in certain moments, hints of his past slip out. He mentioned drakoni and warriors. It’s not the first time he’s talked about battle. I relax into his thoughts, trying to peek into his mind.

All you have to do is ask, he tells me languidly. No sneaking is necessary.

I guess I’m not very stealthy, I tell him as I run my fingers through his thick, almost wiry hair. Do you want to try to focus on your past? See what we can figure out if we can work on it together?

He shifts against me, his weight sliding off of my body. We’re no longer joined, and I feel a sense of loss. A moment later, he puts his arms around me and holds me close against his side, mindful of my bad arm. Does the past matter? he asks. I am here with you now. That is all I need.

But maybe if we figure out your past, we can figure out how to get you back there.

I have no wish to return.

None at all? Even if this place fries your mind?

He strokes my cheek. Not if I have you here.

Sweet words, but I feel it’s a little too pat. I want him to know where he comes from so he can make informed choices. If he has an option, I want him to be able to take it. I know what it’s like to be trapped in a world gone hellish, and if I can prevent that from happening to one other person, it’d be a good thing. So tell me, I say into his mind as I stroke his chest. What are drakoni? Is that all people, like all humans? Or is it only certain people?

All my people. His thoughts are sleepy, buzzed pleasantly with the afterglow of sex. Drakoni is who we are. It is the fire in our blood. Our spirits are drakoni. It is where we come from, even if we no longer live there.

I make a mental note of that. Because you live here now?

No, even before we came here to this world, we no longer lived in drakoni lands. There’s a faint darkness around his thoughts, and the swirl of feathers that tells me that I’m pressing too hard. We lived…elsewhere…

I stroke his skin, tracing the scale patterns over his pectorals. Don’t worry about it, baby. Another time.