Chapter 11 #3
He made a sound, half snarl, half groan, and shifted, guiding himself against my entrance.
I tensed, afraid and eager and desperate all at once.
He leaned down, forehead pressed to mine, his hand still pinning my wrists, his other guiding himself inside.
I gasped. Stretched.The feeling brutal but delicious.
He didn’t move right away, he let me adjust, let the connection and the sudden overwhelming intimacy of him inside me settle between us.Then, slowly, he pulled back and thrust forward.
I screamed aloud. Blake swallowed the sound with his mouth, kissing me hard, suffocating the scream.
His hips slammed into mine, punishing, possessive.
I writhed beneath him, panting and gasping his name like an unholy prayer.
All the while, he was murmuring against my skin, “Mine. You’re mine, little dragon. All mine.” He freed my wrists suddenly. His hands slid down to grip my hips, hauling me up to meet every one of his thrusts. He was being rougher than he’d ever been. Reckless.
It was perfect.
I clung to him, nails digging into the black ink covering his shoulders as the heat built, pleasure coiling ever tighter in my core. “Blake,” I gasped. “Please. Now.”
His hand slipped between us, flingers finding my clit, stroking, pressing, demanding. “That’s it, little dragon,” he whispered. “Come for me. Let me completely possess you.”
It took only a few more thrusts, a few more strokes, and I shattered.
Pleasure ripped through me, wild and consuming, stronger than it had ever felt before.
I cried out, clawing him, clinging to him, my body tightening and pulsing around him.
Blake snarled, the sound fierce and bestial, then thrust twice more, burying himself deep and coming with a shuddering, heaving gasp.
He wrapped his arms around me slowly, careful not to crush me, as his body trembled with the aftershocks.
Carefully, we lay down on our sides, legs still tangled together, bodies slick with sweat.
My heart was still pounding. Blake buried his face in my neck, a gesture so achingly sweet it stunned me.
Then, in the quiet, he lifted his head and looked at me. “I’m yours, Pendragon,” he said, his voice rough but strong. “You never even have to ask.”
I stared back at him, chest aching. Not because I didn’t believe him but because of how much I wanted to keep him, to believe that this was real. “Do you think Viktor had a fucking clue what he was really doing when he put the two of us together?”
Blake’s face split into a grin. “Not a clue.” He lay back, tossing an arm behind his head to prop himself up. “Oh, he knew he’d be pissing me off, sure. But this?” He shook his head. “No. He thought he knew me too well for …well, to ever think that …” He trailed off again.
I cocked an eyebrow. “What?”
Blake closed his eye. “I’m tired.”
“You’re not tired, you big liar,” I said, laughing. I swatted him on the chest, watching admiringly as his muscles rippled as he flexed his arms over his head and faked a yawn. “Tell me what you were going to say.”
He popped his eye open and studied the room around us. “It must be strange, being in here, without her.” He didn’t need to say the name.
I nodded, letting him change the subject. “It is. I miss her.”
“She’ll be back,” he said confidently. “I’m sure she’ll be back soon. Florence Shen drop out of school? Never.”
“You almost sound like you know her a little,” I observed.
“Well, I do, a bit. I know she loves books. Adores libraries. Has good taste in friends. I mean, Neville likes her, so she’s all right in my book.” He grinned.
I groaned and propped myself up on my elbows. “Neville.”
Blake looked at me with confusion. “What? He’s a sweet little thing. I thought you liked him.”
“I do like him,” I said, gritting my teeth.
“But he’s a demonic imp who thinks he can go wherever he pleases and do whatever he wants.
Case in point.” I pointed accusingly at the fluffin who had just trotted out of the bathroom and was now sitting on his hind legs, licking his front paws while he watched us with undisguised curiosity.
I yanked a blanket off the foot of the bed and threw it over us.
Blake snorted. “He’s an animal, Pendragon. Get a grip.”
“Well, I don’t exactly have nice fluffy fur to cover me up like he does,” I retorted. I glared down at the fluffin. “Just when exactly did you arrive, and what did you hear?”
The fluffin tilted his head. Then he swished his large red tail. His eyes widened as if to say I just got here, I swear.
I sniffed. “I don’t believe you. You were probably sleeping in the bathroom all along.”
Blake was still laughing. “He’s a fluffin.
” He slid out of the bed and went over to Neville, crouching down beside him.
Apparently completely comfortable in his nudity, Blake scratched the top of the fluffin’s head.
Neville’s eyes rolled back in his head. Even from the bed, I could hear the little animal begin to purr in contentment.
“He adores you,” I commented. “You and Florence.”
“You’re the one who saved him in the first place,” Blake reminded me.
“Yes, but he has his favorites. I think he only sneaks in here to see if Florence has come back. But I’m sure he visits her, too, so I’m not sure why he bothers.”
“He bothers because he likes you.” Blake jumped back up and leaped onto the bed next to me, shaking the entire fourposter. I shrieked as my blanket slid off. Blake ran a hand soothingly over my shoulders, kneading and caressing the tension away. I closed my eyes and tried to relax.
“Florence being gone. And Nyxaris … It must be a lot to adjust to,” he murmured. “I’m curious … Can you still hear him inside your head?”
Reluctantly, I shook my head. “Not anymore. For the first few days, I could still hear bits and pieces, like eavesdropping on a conversation in another room.” I’d done my best to shut them out.
I knew I wasn’t supposed to be privy to Nyxaris’s mind—not anymore.
I sighed.“I was just getting used to the grumpy old bastard, too.”
“To be able to sense a dragon, to speak to one mind to mind, to ride on one’s back …” Blake was looking at me keenly. “It must be incredible.”
“I suppose you’ll have to talk to Florence about that,” I said peevishly. “She’ll soon be the expert.”
“She’ll talk to you about it herself,” he said softly.
“And think of all you’ll be able to share.
She’ll need your help and advice. Not many people can say they’ve spoken to a dragon, let alone ridden one.
She’ll come back to you, Pendragon. You saved her life.
She’s smart enough to know that you were just trying to protect her. Give her time.”
I nodded, trying to show more faith than I really felt.
“What about Rodriguez?” Blake asked. “Have you—”
“No,” I said shortly. “He had the nerve to try to work another justification for what he’d done into one of his Historical Strategy lectures. Can you believe it?”
Blake tilted his head. “Can I believe that Rodriguez is still an arrogant prick after all that just happened? Why, yes. Yes, I can.”
I sat up, wrapping the blanket around me like a shawl and leaving Blake naked.
He grinned. “Nothing for me?”
“You don’t need it. You don’t seem cold.
” It was true, his skin was warm and flushed.
“Besides, you look good that way,” I said primly.
He stretched out more fully, giving me a better look.
“The problem with Rodriguez,” I said, determined not to be completely distracted again by Blake’s beauty, “is thrallguard.”
“Thrallguard?” Blake’s eyes lit up. “Right. He was your tutor.”
“After what Regan did the other morning …” I shook my head. “Seems like some practice might be a good idea right about now.”
Blake cleared his throat. “You might not need as much practice as you think. And, uh, if you do, I could always be your instructor.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Visha said something recently that made me think. The way you were able to shut out Viktor when he tried to get into your head … That was impressive.”
“And completely shocking,” I said bluntly. “What did Visha say about it, exactly?”
“Pretty much just that. She doesn’t think you should have been able to do it, not after just a few lessons with Rodriguez.” He hedged. “She thinks something more is at play.”
“Oh? What?”
“Me.” Blake tried to look humble. “I mean, us.”
I laughed. “What?”
“Our bond, Pendragon. You’re gaining something from it, things you might not even realize.”
“Because I’m letting you feed from me now?”
“Not just that, but yes. I also shared my blood with you.”
“That was just once. It has to have worn off by now.”
“Sure, but it might have had lasting effects on your own physiology.”
I glared at him. “Nice of you to mention that might happen beforehand.”
He shrugged. “Well, I didn’t know. Not exactly. This … what we have, between us … it’s not exactly a common kind of pairing.”
“Right. Triads are the norm. Don’t remind me.” I thought of Regan suddenly, the former third in our trio—and highbloods didn’t usually let blightborn into those exclusive mating arrangements.
“We won’t be a triad,” Blake said quietly. “At least, not unless that’s something you want.”
His eyes homed in on me, steady and questioning. I stared back in surprise as I understood his implication. There was only one possible third who I might have considered, and Blake probably knew that.