Chapter 46
Chapter
Forty-Six
DECLAN
I can feel the magic coating the walls, and it takes everything I have to not run right back out into the hot Miami sun.
I can’t be held captive again. I can’t live my life in a basement cell. Even my shirt feels too confining, and I rip it off, throwing it onto the floor as I start to pace the room.
“Hey.”
I turn at Brianna’s voice and let out a deep, calming breath when I see her leaning in the doorframe. My mate. All mine. Wearing my bite like she was born for it. My heartstone wrapped around her wrist and finger, claiming her for all to see.
Without a thought, I cross the room quickly and pull her into my arms, lifting her right off her feet as my mouth crushes against hers, claiming her lips hungrily.
Brianna’s legs come up to wrap around my waist, and her fingers slide into my hair, raking her nails over my scalp as she kisses me back, just as needy, just as hungry.
I don’t break our kiss as I carry her over to the huge California king bed, laying her down on the soft comforter, fully intent on keeping her until we’re both exhausted and no thoughts except for memories of her body, her taste, her feel, consume my brain.
She lets out a laugh and half-pushes me off her to look me in the eyes. “I think this is the first time we’ve ever done this in a real bed.” She scratches her nails down my shoulders, her heel digging into my ass to keep our pelvises aligned, even as she says, “But don’t you think we should close the door first? Maybe talk about things?”
“We can talk later. Please, I need you.” I have no doubt I sound like I’m begging, but I need to feel like myself. I need to know this is real, that she’s really mine, really claimed. I need to know without a doubt that she’s not just one more trick, one more way to torture me.
As if she’s listening to my thoughts, she takes my hand and slips it under her shirt, up to cover her bare breast. Then she wraps her arms around my shoulders, tugging me close again, arching into me as I rub my thumb over her nipple, just before I fill her mouth with my tongue.
The moan she lets out vibrates all through my body.
Screw the door. If anyone’s dumb enough to be down here right now, it’d be their own fault if they get an eyeful. Besides, I don’t need another reminder that I’m basically being held captive in another basement until Ash can figure out what to do with me.
Brianna’s heels dig into my ass, pulling me in closer, and her hands tug at the button on my jeans, as if she needs this just as badly as I do. The scent of her arousal fills the air, and I just want to rip her clothes right off her, rip both our clothes off, so that nothing is between us.
My dragon pushes against my mind, growling lowly in my head, Mine!
“We need to stop.” I push away, digging my claws into my palms so that I don’t hurt her.
“What? Why?” Brianna sits up, her hair a mess already, with a furrow in her brow I immediately want to kiss away.
“My dragon. I’m not in control.” I grimace, looking away from her, as my dragon pushes against the magic saturating the basement, trying to hold it inside of my body. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
Brianna crawls over the mattress, kneeling in front of me as she cups my face in her hands. “Declan, you are my mate. My dragon. Mine. You can’t hurt me, as long as you’re here, as long as you’re mine.” She pulls her shirt off over her head, revealing the bite mark I left on her. “And I’m yours. The Fates wouldn’t have brought us together if we couldn’t handle this. I’m not afraid of you, and I’m not afraid of your dragon. And if we need to go outside and you need to shift so that I can prove that to you, then let’s go.”
I shake my head, pulling her in tightly against my chest. Careful to keep my claws from scraping her skin. “I don’t know if I can do this and keep my dragon under control.”
“Then don’t.” She shifts to straddle my lap, grinding down against me. “I’m not breakable. Especially now that you’ve claimed me. We’ve been through so much, and we’re just getting started. Don’t quit on me now that we’re finally together, finally in a place where neither one of us is a prisoner.”
Fucking hells, I’m a lucky fucking dragon. But I’m still not entirely sure I trust myself.
“Declan, look at me.” My mate grabs my face, pulling my gaze to hers. “We don’t have to do this. I’m not here just because you know how to make my body feel incredible. If we need to just be together, to just be close, then just hold me.”
I grip her ass, pulling her in close, and growl against her lips, “I want to fucking make you come.”
Flipping her over onto her back, I use my claws to rip the yoga pants off her legs, taking her panties with them. I might not be ready yet to fully claim her, but I can at least make sure she screams my name.
Brianna, though, seems to have other plans, as she shoves the jeans down over my hips and her hand wraps around my shaft.
My dragon growls in my head again, demanding we claim her, demanding we fill her.
I press my lips to hers, lifting her hips as I line up to take her. I can feel how aroused she is, how badly she needs this, and as I sink into her hot, wet cunt, all I can see, all I can focus on, is her.
Brianna moans as she rocks her hips up to meet mine, gripping my shoulders tightly as her tongue slicks over mine, just as hungry for this as I am. As my dragon is.
And as soon as we’re connected, as soon as I give my dragon what we both crave, it’s like a balm. He doesn’t back off, his voice still demanding we keep this rough, primal, demanding that we mark every inch of our mate with our scent, our bite. But I’m not afraid of hurting her anymore, not afraid that I’m going to rip her open with my claws.
A growl rings out around us, and it takes a second for my brain to realize it’s not just in my head.
Brianna grips my shoulders and rolls us, riding my cock as her palms settle on my pecs. She looks down at me, her dark hair falls down around her face, and I let out a gasp when I see her eyes glow.
The growl I heard came from her. From a dragon of her own.
And it’s so fucking incredible, so fucking hot, as she rocks her hips, bouncing some as she takes my dick deep again and again.
The bite of pain digging into my chest hardly registers as I watch her, matching her pace as she pushes us both toward climax.
She rides me with wild abandon, looking as primal, as wild as any dragon, clinging to me with claws I don’t think either of us were prepared for.
I sit up, pulling her against me, holding her tight as I continue to thrust up into her, eager to feel her orgasm, to feel her tighten around me as she finds her release. Just as I’m about to claim her mouth, she snarls, and her teeth are sinking into my neck. I roar proudly as my mate claims me as her own. I let her ride out her orgasm on my dick, while she finishes her claim.
Once she detaches from me, my mouth finds hers, kissing hungrily, our tongues battling against each other to taste more, to practically become one.
Brianna screams into my mouth, her talons digging into my shoulders, holding onto me tightly as she lets go, like I’m anchoring her to this bed as she comes again. I thrust harder, faster, filling her again and again until I roar out my own release.
When Brianna’s body finally relaxes, collapsing into me, I pant out a whispered, “I love you” as I fall backwards onto the mattress again, tugging her with me gently.
She lifts herself to look down at me. “Did I hurt you?”
I shake my head. “Are you kidding? It was amazing. You weren’t conscious when I claimed you. It was nice to feel you claim me back.”
The worry falls away and she smiles. “I liked it.”
“You can do it any time, my mate.”
She lets out a bit of a laugh, snuggling in tightly. “I can’t believe we get to do this for the rest of our lives. I’m so fucking lucky.”
“I can’t believe you’re mine.” I kiss the top of her head, and grin. “And we’re doing that again, really fucking soon.”
I don’t know how many times I make her come, how many times we come together, until we’re both sweaty messes and food and sleep are of the only things we take a break for, aside from when Brianna breastfeeds our daughter, and we take some time with her too when she’s awake.
It’s like coming together like this with her, connecting in this way, has given me a peace I didn’t think I’d ever have again. And having our daughter is the most incredible feeling.
Brianna’s sleeping on my chest, over the puncture wounds that have nearly healed.
My mate. My perfect, amazing mate.
I can hear you thinking. How are you not as exhausted as I am?
I chuckle and shift just enough to give her a gentle kiss. “I can go get us food from upstairs, if you want, let you rest.”
“It’s almost three a.m., Declan. I don’t know that the kitchen’s still open.”
I chuckle. “You think your mate couldn’t make you something incredible to eat? You think I need a cook to take care of you?”
She sits up, stretching her arms over her head, making her breasts bounce a little as she tries to wake up. They’ve filled with milk so quickly and her hips flare out more than they did before. Her tummy is soft and her thighs thick, and I love every inch of her even more than I did before. “You might have to teach me. But first, I think we should take a swim.”
“A swim?” I furrow my brow, trying to reason why she’d want to go out into the ocean in the middle of the night.
Brianna nods. “Pru said if we needed to shift, we should do it at night, in the ocean. I want to see your dragon. And I want to see if I’ve got one too.”
I have no doubts that she has one. I’ve seen her eyes, her talons, and her teeth. And I have no doubt she’s going to be beautiful.
It’s my own dragon I’m worried about.
“Okay, a quick swim. And then I’m making you a delicious meal so we can refuel for more.” I slap her ass as I get up, not bothering with any clothes at all. They’d just get shredded anyway.
She follows suit, and I lead her to the back stairs that have a keypad entry, so that we don’t have to worry about a key to get back in.
As soon as we’re in the water, it’s like Brianna’s dragon was just waiting for permission. She shifts like she was born to it, the larger shape flowing out of her like water. Her dragon’s distinctly feminine, with graceful lines and her black scales are almost deep blue in the moonlight.
I, however, am a lot more reluctant to let my beast free. Knowing what happened the last time, everything in me wants to keep my dragon on a short leash.
Declan, come on. Teach me to fly.
How can I deny my mate a request like that?
Reluctantly, I let my dragon loose, fully expecting to be the monstrosity I was before. The damaged, broken beast who lost control and killed his brother.
But the pain doesn’t come.
It’s still uncomfortable, still rough, but for the first time in months, I feel like I’m one with my dragon, and I know, without a doubt, that Brianna’s the reason for it all.
There you are. It’s like I can feel her smiling in my head, and I tilt my head toward her, still in awe of her beauty, of the woman I’m proud to call her my mate.
You want to fly?
You up for it? She sounds teasing in my head, almost like she’s trying to goad me into it.
Like she understands my worries and fears.
Without any guidance from me, Brianna leaps into the air, spreading her wings to catch the sea breeze, and I follow her quickly, but I fully expect to fall with wings unable to carry me.