Chapter 15 #2
My pace never faltered, the pleasure exploding with every slap, the shift rippling across my skin.
I was all scales, fangs, wings, and claws before I realized.
Yet, my little Moon Beast didn’t react in fear or disgust. If anything, she greeted the partial transformation with sparkling, excited eyes she’d cast on my dragon form.
My little beast liked what she saw.
Using my horns, she dragged my mouth to hers and bit my lower lip. “You better not stop, Mr. Snarls. I won’t forgive you if you cut this interrogation short,” she warned in that raspy, sass-laced voice of hers.
It did things to me. She had so much power over me it should terrify me, but for the first time in my long life, I wasn’t afraid of what she’d do. Because Maze was a good female, and the way I protected her future, she’d protect mine. I’d never been so confident of something until her.
Kissing her was my newest and most favorite addiction, and I took pleasure in teasing her with my lips and tongue until she made the sound I wanted.
Our bodies collided, the rhythm crazed but somehow in sync.
My whispered, half-wild name was all she knew how to say by the time our bodies were swathed in sweat and fused.
It was minutes of harsh sounds in my ear, her desperate voice pleading with me to end her torture, before the sensation of my knot took me by surprise.
Maze gasped and peered down between us, watching the impossible size of my knot grow inside her taut, tiny waist. Her inquisitive eyes connected with mine, and I couldn’t stop the victorious smirk from breaking across my face.
“What—”
A knot for my mate. Another confirmation I hadn’t needed but welcomed all the same. An undeniable truth I’d already accepted. Another reason to convince Maze to stay.
Smug, I kissed her roughly before bringing my mouth to her ear. “That, love, is a knot. For dragons, it’s rare. Rarer for a dragon like myself, but I shouldn’t be surprised you’d be the one to claim it.”
She tried to respond, but my hips dug in deeper and the friction of my knot inside her as I delivered a few shallow thrusts had Maze in a sudden frenzy, lost to the impossible sensation of it all.
Another confirmation.
As my mate, my knot and pheromones would be euphoric. And as I came, locked inside her as fate intended, Maze quaked and arched before another orgasm took her.
“Oh, gods,” she moaned, hands clinging to my winged back.
I groaned through pleasure that veered on pain, pouring my seed into her, breeding my mate. It felt right, and I wondered how I’d ever thought to deny it. To deny her. Why had I fought so hard to stay away? Nothing had ever made more sense than this female in my bed.
“You’re mine, little Moon Beast.”
Her beautiful light eyes glimmered, post-orgasm. “And you’re mine?” she asked, her voice hoarse from moaning.
I dropped a kiss where her heart was. “I am, love. Best not forget it. It’s quite a feat to conquer the body and soul of the Sky Demons leader.”
Her happy laughter reverberated against my mouth as I pressed another kiss between her breasts, soothed by citrus. “What a terrifying assassin I’ve turned out to be, hmm, Mr. Snarls? The assassin who claimed your soul.”
I lifted my eyes and her intense gaze shined back, asking a question she feared more than death. Maze wanted to stay and needed a reason to. “Terrifying, indeed, but kind. A female worthy of ushering in a new era—one where her people are free. A strong female who I want by my side to lead.”
A tear escaped her eye before she whispered, “You mean it? But is that even allowed?”
“Do you mock my authority, little beast?”
Her smile faded. “I didn’t mean—”
“I’m unmatched in power and influence. If I decree it, they will listen.
And if they don’t, I’ll surely make them.
” Crawling over her, I cradled her face in my hands, knot lodged snugly inside her.
I was careful not to hurt her where we were still joined.
“And you should know better than anyone I don’t waste my breath on empty promises.
But yes, I mean it. I’m only sorry it took me this long to see the pain I’ve caused with the half measures I’ve taken. ”
She was crying, tears trailing until my hands on her face stopped them, but I wouldn’t risk losing this moment.
I needed her to hear the promise I made in silence.
I needed her by my side, and the urge to claim her as mine in every way led me to say, “Dragons take mates in several ways, but to give you my power, my longevity, my strength and healing, to truly make you mine and I yours, I need to knot and mark you. I don’t deserve you, Maze, and this might seem fast—”
Suddenly, her mouth was on mine, kissing away the words and worry I’d carried with me since scenting her as my mate. “Separate, we might be broken, Onyx…but maybe together we’ll finally become whole. I’m yours in any way you’ll have me.”
Fear rose into my throat. “If I mark you, there’s no going back, little Moon Beast. You’ll be mine. You’ll live for centuries, the same as dragons. Even if you grow to hate me, you’ll never be able to escape me. Not truly.”
Her laughter eased the tension in my chest. “Promise?”
A chuckle left me, and I stared at her.
I couldn’t believe that this perfect, beautiful, and frightening human of vengeance wanted my mark, but I was selfish enough not to care if it was pheromones or temporary madness that made her say so.
I wasn’t kind. I was ruthless, and I’d mark her if only to ensure she had my strength and fast healing to protect her from today forward.
Funny how every thought I’d had about prolonging things was turned on its head the second she looked at me. Only Maze could make the fearsome leader of the Sky Demons weak-willed and completely at her mercy.
My female tilted her head, baring her neck to me.
My insignia was branded on her already, as it was with any Tribute brought to us.
My eyes gravitated to it anytime I stared at her, hating the mark, wishing I could remove it.
Wishing I’d never been the reason she was branded like cattle.
But now I could make it new with my bite.
I groaned at the thought, my cock throbbing back to life. Then I drove my fangs into the crest and fully claimed my mate.