Lorran felt her heart start to pound. Effron ignored her for the most part but she didn’t think the dragon would have the same reaction to Kei. The beast tilted his head and watched them. The black dragon eyes glowed with angry curiosity. He opened his mouth and another growl rumbled through the air. He wasn’t happy. Lorran was used to his perusal but this time he ignored her and focused on Kei.
Kei stepped forward, his body compacting into a warrior’s stance. The dragon spread his feet wide and bared his teeth.
“Stay behind me,” Kei ordered.
“Kei, no.”
“Go down the hill, Lorran. I’ll take care of him.”
“No!” She pulled on Kei’s sword arm. He stared at her hand on his elbow and then snapped his gaze to her face.
“What are you doing?”
“Leave him alone.”
Effron growled. Kei faced him. And Lorran knew she had to get one of them to back down.
“Kei, please. Don’t hurt him. Let’s just go.“
The dragon shifted its stance as if impatient to begin.
“You can’t expect me to walk away.”
“I do. We’re in his lair. He’s protective of his home just as you would be. And to be honest, he’s probably not happy to see
you
return with a sword.” The dragon raised its massive body up on powerful legs and took two crouching steps toward them. Lorran stepped forward to meet the creature. “Stand very still,” Lorran directed. Kei stared at Lorran’s back. She’d placed herself between him and the dragon and now she was giving him orders? He watched and wondered when he’d lost control of the situation?
The answer came quickly. The moment he’d woken inside her cabin. The dragon continued its slow crawl forward. It reached Lorran. The dragon’s mouth opened revealing a row of white, sharp teeth.
“Lorran—” She still had time to back away and then he would move in and destroy the beast. But she waved her hand behind her back indicating he should stay away. Tielle St. Clare
Dragon’s Kiss
30
“It’s fine. He’s done this a number of times.” The dragon’s snout lowered to her feet and then moved upward, as if he was sniffing her.
A deep growl boiled at the base of Kei’s throat. The sound was strangely animalistic. His body reacted without his command, preparing for attack. He couldn’t let that beast touch her.
“Kei, slip around behind me and head down the path,” Lorran said softly. Her voice startled him. She didn’t move. She stood calmly letting the dragon sniff her body.
“I’ll be fine. Go down the hill.”
Everything inside him rebelled. His training and his honor wouldn’t allow him to leave Lorran to face a dragon.
But she didn’t want it harmed. She would defend the beast. Kei took a deep breath and did what he’d never done before in his life—he walked away from a righteous battle.
He forced his legs to carry him down the path. It took all his strength. He stopped, just out of sight and watched. The dragon continued his slow perusal of Lorran, inhaling her scent. Kei felt his chest move through a deep breath. He could smell her from the short distance.
Delicious.
His cock twitched inside the sweaty trousers he wore and he impulsively licked his lips. Hours had passed since he’d been between her legs—the memory a blend of fantasy and fog-covered reality—but he remembered her taste. She was his. He dug his fingers into the rock wall. His honor as a man and a warrior demanded he move to protect her. Foreign sounds echoed inside his head urging him to steal Lorran away. To keep the beast away from her.
Effron growled and Kei felt his own lips curl back in a snarl to respond. Lorran nodded and began backing slowly away. Kei watched her hips swing softly with each step and instantly imagined the feel of her ass pressed against his hips as he drove inside her. He quickly averted his eyes.
What was wrong with him? He was a King. He was raised to be a gentleman, of a sort. There was no reason to leer at the woman willing to help him.
“Let’s go,” Lorran said when she reached him. “Effron might decide to come after us. He wasn’t in a good mood.”
“He talks to you?” Kei was stunned by the idea. No one had ever been able to communicate with the beasts despite the fact that they’d once been human.
“Uh, no. But I’ve observed him for months now. I know his moods. He wasn’t happy at finding you in his lair. Again. Dragons are very territorial.”
“What did you promise him?”
The snide question was spoken and Kei immediately realized it had been a mistake. Lorran’s spine straightened and she turned to face him. She glared at him. “Pardon me? What did I
promise
him?”
Her anger seemed to fuel his own. She’d stayed behind and he’d had to walk away. He folded his arms over his chest.
“A dragon’s appetites are well known.”
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Dragon’s Kiss
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“What? You think I agreed to have sex with him simply to get him to leave you alone?”
“There are women who seek out dragons for that purpose.”
“I study dragons to help them—not because I’m looking for…because I want…”
She folded her arms in a mirror of his own arrogant stance. “It may surprise you, Your Majesty, that Effron has absolutely no interest in me. So, no, I didn’t promise him anything except that I would get you to leave. By the Goddesses, you’d think the world revolved around sex. It doesn’t. Not even a dragon’s world.”
With that, she turned on her heel and spun away, stalking down the path toward the loud rush of the waterfall. Kei waited until she was a safe distance away before following. There was something decidedly dangerous about Lorran when she was irritated.
She stood beside the pond at the base of the waterfall waiting as he entered the clearing. She dropped two towels on the rocks.
“Here’s the waterfall. Go soak your head.”
She started to walk way.
“Lorran, wait. Please.” He was momentarily surprised by the penitent sound of his own voice. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d said “please” and actually meant it. But he thought Lorran would understand. She would know what it cost him. “I apologize for my comments. I truly do not think you would trade your virtue—” She raised her eyebrows and Kei quickly amended his words. “—your body to the dragon. I was startled that he let you go without harming either of us and I—” This was almost more difficult than the apology but he knew it would be as important. “I appreciate what you did. You placed yourself in front of the dragon so that I could
escape
.” He hated that word. It was a cowardly action. “It was very brave of you.”
The starch slid from her shoulders. “Effron won’t hurt me. He never touches me. He has no interest in me whatsoever.”
“But you’re a woman.”
A lovely, delicious woman with a tasty sex and
—Kei halted the barrage of images. He didn’t need any more fuel for the lust-filled thoughts that had haunted him since waking.
“Yes.” She chuckled the word but he could hear the pain behind it. “Imagine being the one woman on the planet, it seems, whom the dragons don’t want. It does give me a unique opportunity to study them and that’s what I’ve done.” She said the words with no emotion but there was more. “I’ll leave you to your bath. The cabin is just down the hill.”
“Wait. Won’t you join me?” The words sounded formal…and totally inappropriate for a King to a noblewoman. “I mean, not join me, of course, but perhaps you’d like to bathe while the opportunity presents itself. Effron is safely in his cave. I’ll stand watch. And I promise to look the other direction.”
He felt very noble about saying the words. Particularly when what he wanted most was to watch her strip off her ugly gown and walk slowly into the pond, letting the water brush her softly curved thighs, the silky hair between her legs…Kei bit back a groan, the image too real.
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Dragon’s Kiss
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“Go. Get in the water. I’ll be over there waiting.”
He walked to the edge of the rocks that formed the pond and turned, staring into the forest. After a moment, he heard it—the gentle splash as she entered the water. Kei clamped down on sensation, blocking out the sounds of her movements, ignoring the erection that throbbed between his legs. He was a warrior. He wasn’t a young boy who couldn’t control himself. He would master it.
He listened to the sounds of the forest, hearing only the trees swaying in the winds. Nothing else moved. He held himself still, focusing on the natural world and ignoring the trickle of water as it poured off Lorran’s skin. He found he didn’t need to see her—
his imagination was able to create the picture in his mind quite clearly.
“Kei?” Lorran’s voice was soft and tentative. He’d frightened her already. The one person who could help him and he’d frightened her. “Don’t—“
He turned and his throat closed. An odd gurgling sound broke from his throat. And suddenly it was very hard to breathe.
She stood before him wrapped in nothing more than a tiny strip of cloth that barely covered her from breast to pussy. Her wet hair hung down around bare shoulders, clinging to her like loving vines. Her long legs were softly curved and strong. He’d watched her ass the entire climb up the mountain so he knew she had strength. He swallowed and tried to clear the lump in his throat and remember that there was a really good reason why he didn’t throw her to the ground and fuck her at this moment. Unfortunately, though he truly believed there was a good reason, he couldn’t remember it. He dragged his gaze from the luscious sight of her legs. She grimaced when he met her eyes, no doubt seeing the obvious lust that had to be visible on his face.
“I was going to say, don’t turn around, my dress got wet and I’m almost naked,”
she said, her voice slightly mocking.
“I’ll, uh, go take my bath now.” His voice was thin and raspy. Lowering his gaze, Kei forced himself to move by Lorran, the delicious scent of her wet hair almost stopping his steps. He waited by the pond.
He’d woken up beside her—hard. He’d spent the afternoon splitting wood hoping to work off the drive to have her. Nothing seemed capable of killing the raging erection. Each moment that passed, he thought there was no way he could get any harder. And the next moment, he was proven wrong. The only thing keeping his cock from springing high against his stomach was the restriction of his leathers and he wasn’t sure the material was going to hold it in much longer.
He had to do something. “It isn’t natural,” he muttered, as he tore at the ties. “It’s not fucking natural to be this fucking hard for this fucking long.” He jerked open the trousers and sighed as his cock swung free.
“Your Majesty, are you talking to me?” Lorran’s voice came from behind him and a safe distance away. He placed his hands on his hips, disgusted with himself for being unable to control his body in this fashion.
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Dragon’s Kiss
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“No, I’m talking to myself.” Maybe the cold water would help. He dropped the leathers and stepped out of them and into the pond in one movement. He hit the water.
“Dammit.” The water wasn’t cold. It was warm, almost hot. Perfect. It was supposed to be uncomfortable. Anything to get his mind off his cock. Lorran’s pussy. And her mouth, and her tits, and damn, he had to do something. He dove under the water and swam toward the waterfall. Maybe the pounding would knock him senseless and he could actually survive the next few hours without completely embarrassing himself.
What spark of insanity had made him agree to let her study him as he made the transition? There had been this strange desire, almost a compulsion, to stay with her. And her interest in dragons was the perfect excuse. After he’d agreed, everything seemed normal. He’d never expected to spend the entire time with an erection that wouldn’t die.
Kei came out on the back side of the waterfall. He stood waist deep in the pond and let the water pummel his head and shoulders. The sharp stinging bites felt good, just enough pain to keep his body distracted. He grabbed the soap stone and scrubbed his body, brightening his skin with the harsh rock. After his skin glowed and his hair was clean again, he sank into the water, rinsing quickly before rising. Kei opened his eyes and stared through the waterfall. The sun was almost set but he could see Lorran clearly. She clutched the towel to her chest with one hand and slowly bent to pick up her gown. The movement revealed the curve of her hip, a teasing line of her ass. Kei’s mouth began to water. She glanced in his direction as she straightened. She wouldn’t be able to see him through the pounding water. She stepped closer to a rock that should have hidden her from his view. Kei moved along behind the falling water, keeping her in sight.
She inched farther behind the rock. An evening wind fluttered the bottom of her towel. Kei caught the scent of her damp flesh as it flowed through the air. He slipped his hand below the water and touched his shaft. His cock jumped in his palm. He watched, silently begging her to release the towel. He needed to see her. Her full breasts and tight nipples. And her sex. The memory of her flavor floated across his tongue. He pumped his hand along his erection and watched her. Her pussy would be wet. He knew how wet she got from his mouth. He would fill her, drive into her until she would never leave him.
She looked over the edge of the rock to where Kei had stood moments before. The sky was almost dark. She’d never be able to see him. But he could see her. She turned away. He saw the towel fall to the ground. Her ass was presented before him. She reached up and ran her fingers through the damp strands of her hair. The strange fog that had haunted his wakening returned. He had to have her. Silently, almost unconsciously, he moved closer until he stood at the edge of the pond.
Instincts not wholly his own drove him forward. He pushed himself up out of the water. Lorran spun around.
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Dragon’s Kiss
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“Wha—” She stepped back but Kei was on her. He silenced her question with his mouth and the sweet flavor of her lips exploded in his senses. Suddenly everything was as it should be. The energy that had flooded his body all day eased and the distant voice in his head faded. He felt her shock but she didn’t struggle. He blocked out all sounds but the whisper of her heart. He molded his lips to hers, and after a moment’s hesitation, her softness conceded to his power. She opened for him and he slipped his tongue inside, gently, tempting her to welcome him. As if she knew his desire, she touched the end of his tongue with hers—a light flick that sent too many images through his head of what he wanted that tongue to do. She repeated the caress and he knew she would go where he led.