Chapter 30
Rook
If she kept looking at me like that, I was going to fuck her right here, gift be damned.
Gods, this female drove me wild. I was insatiable for her, every second of every day.
It was a miracle I got anything else done at all.
If I’d had my way, I’d have tied her to my bed and spent every waking minute worshipping her, until she screamed herself hoarse, until she didn’t have a single thought that wasn’t me and pure bliss.
Do it.
You’ve got a one-track mind, I told my dragon without taking my eyes from Kaylee’s lips.
Yes. Worship our mate. Immediately.
It was hard—impossible—to argue with that, and I knew exactly where I wanted to worship her. And that meant giving her the present first.
I do not think the male—
Not that present, I ground out, fury heating every cell in my body at the mere thought of him near my mate. No. Not that present. That one was for later.
I swept Kaylee into my arms, delighting in the yelp of giddy surprise that tumbled from her mouth, and the way she clung to me as I carried her into the house.
In her scent, and the arousal that layered it.
In the eyes that stared up at me with excitement…
and trust. In every single thing about my perfect Dhoca.
I wasted no time, striding straight for the library, glad that I knew the way through muscle memory alone so I didn’t have to take my eyes from her for a single heartbeat. But I couldn’t stop myself hesitating as we reached the door.
“Rook?” she asked, sensing the shift in my mood.
“I—” I swallowed. Fuck, what was this shit?
Emotions, my dragon said dryly.
Fuck off, I don’t do emotions.
His silence was all the answer I needed. Dickhead. My mate looked up at me quizzically, a hint of uncertainty—not quite worry, but not quite not—in her eyes that settled it for me. I cleared my throat irritably, willing my heart to calm the fuck down and act like a heart, not a fucking drum.
I forced my eyes to meet hers, despite my instinct to do the opposite. “If you don’t like it, that’s okay.”
“You’re worried that…” She stared at me in wonder—of all things—and stretched one hand up to my cheek.
I thrummed low in my throat as I leaned into the gentle heat.
Her gaze flicked from my eyes to my lips and back.
“Rook, it means so much to me that you thought to bring me anything at all. I promise you, whatever it is, I already love it. I already love you.”
“I don’t deserve you,” I said simply, and then carried her into the library.
The gasp of delight that burst from her lips made my chest swell. She twisted in my arms, trying to take it all in, and I set her carefully down. Her eyes darted everywhere at once as she turned in a circle, taking in the library that had doubled in size.
“Rook…it’s beautiful.”
“No, you’re beautiful,” I told her. “This is adequate.”
She scoffed, then reached up to place her hand on my chest, her lids lowering. “You weren’t joking about bigger.”
“This isn’t the present,” I said, wrapping my hand around hers. I squeezed it lightly and lowered our joined hands to our sides.
“It’s not?”
I shook my head, a smirk settling on my lips. “It’s not.”
I led her forward, pausing as we reached the reading area, where my comfortable chair sat in front of the fireplace, or it had.
Now, it sat slightly off to one side, and a large, cushioned couch took center place.
A second armchair had joined mine, too, though I didn’t imagine either of us would be using those again.
Not with the couch being big enough for the two of us.
Her lips pressed together and she blinked hard. I felt my face fall, and my heart plummet.
“Do you not like it?” I searched her eyes, trying to read her. “I can redecorate, of course. More chairs…or less. Rugs, cushions, simply name it and—”
“Shh.”
I stared at her, my eyes narrowing. “Did you just shush me?”
She nodded, her cheeks turning pink.
“Why did you just shush me?” I asked, leaning over her, my pants growing tighter as her eyes widened and her pupils dilated at my touch.
“You worry too much,” she whispered. “How could I not like this? It’s perfect.”
The pressure in my chest eased, and the pressure in my pants increased. If I didn’t fuck her soon, I was going to cum in my pants. This woman undid me.
My lips curved.
“Still not your present.”
I heard her heartrate notch, and led her forward, into the new aisles of books, row after row of them.
I’d spoken to every contact I had, every agent I knew who dealt in old world artifacts and surviving antiques from before the Fall.
The kind of books my mate loved had been produced in abundance before the war, but books burned easily, and no-one had cared to protect what existed in abundance.
It meant they’d become rare…but all rare things could be purchased for a price, and I’d accumulated more money than I could ever reasonably spend.
Kaylee stood staring at the books, her lips in an adorable ‘o’ of surprise. I released her hand and nudged her forward.
“This is your present,” I told her.
“Rook,” she whispered, my name like a benediction falling from her lips. “There are hundreds of them.”
“One thousand and eighty-nine.”
She twisted back to me, shock and disbelief making her face even more beautiful than usual.
“I think this might be my second favorite look on your face,” I said.
“Second?” Her lips twitched in confusion.
“Second. My favorite is when I’m deep inside you and you reach your peak, screaming my name.”
She blushed, and hell if that didn’t immediately become my third favorite.
“Do you like it when I talk about fucking you, pet?” I demanded, closing the short distance between us again. She nodded mutely, and my lips curved savagely as I shook my head slowly. “Use your words, Dhoca.”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, I like it when you talk about…” Her blush deepened, and it took every ounce of self-control in me not to rip her clothes away and bend her over where she stood. “…fucking me.”
“Is that all you like?” I demanded, cupping her hip and then sliding my hand down to her ass.
“Rook…”
She squirmed against me and my mouth went dry with need.
“Alright, Dhoca, I’ll spare you saying it.
This time.” I lowered my lips to her ear and nipped at the delicate lobe.
“But I don’t intend to show the same restraint.
I love to fuck you. I love the feel of you around my cock.
I love those little gasps you make right before you come, and the way you beg me to touch you.
I love every fucking thing about you, Dhoca, and a lifetime of you will never be enough. ”
My hand slid between us, slipping inside her pants.
“I love every inch of your body,” I murmured as I nudged aside her panties, “but I especially love this part.”
I brushed my thumb over her clit and she moaned, pressing herself against me.
“Naughty, impatient mate,” I chastised her as I stroked my thumb over her clit again, and then slipped a finger inside her to discover her dripping wet. “I love how ready you are for me.”
I flexed my hips, brushing my hard cock against her, letting her feel exactly how she affected me.
“Do you feel how hard I am for you, Dhoca? It was a five-hour flight, and I spent every second thinking about fucking you.”
“It’s amazing you didn’t crash into a tree, as distracted as you were,” she said with pseudo innocence.
I chuckled low in her ear, and whispered, “Don’t worry about me, Dhoca. I can think about fucking you whatever I’m doing. In fact, I think about fucking you constantly.”
“Constantly?” She arched a brow. “That would take quite some—” I scraped my thumbnail lightly across her bud and her sentence finished on a gasp. “—stamina.”
“My stamina’s fine.” I slid my free hand round to her ass and squeezed. “But maybe we should test yours.”
“Please,” she whispered, pressing herself into my thumb again. I spanked her ass lightly in reprimand, and she yelped.
“Not very good at patience, are you?”
She shook her head, not even bothering to deny it, and I slid my hand from her pants to the delicious sound of her needy whine.
“I think we should work on that,” I told her, and she pouted adorably. Fuck, I loved this female.
“I think we should,” she paused to swallow, her pupils slightly dilated and her cheeks burning as she finished on a whisper, “fuck.”
“Good girl,” I praised, impossibly hard as she told me what she wanted…but she didn’t need it yet, didn’t crave it with every cell of her body…and I intended to fix that.
I stepped back. “Take your clothes off, Dhoca,” I commanded, and schooled my every muscle to remain completely still as she obeyed, pulling her shirt over her head and wiggling out of her pants until she stood before me in only her underwear. I arched a brow. “All of them.”
With a shiver of delight, she unclipped her bra and tossed it aside, then looked at me from under her lashes as she wiggled her panties down. I swallowed hard, and my cock strained to be released. Cheeky little minx knew exactly what she was doing.
“What shall I do with these, Rook?” she asked innocently, holding her panties to one side so I could drink in every stunning inch of her body. Fucking perfection.
The air in the library thickened with her scent—sweet, wild, and utterly intoxicating.
My dragon rumbled deep in my chest, claws itching to claim every inch of her, but I held it back.
Barely. She was mine—my mate, my treasure—and I’d waited centuries to find her.
I’d already clained her a dozen times. Now, I’d teach her what it meant to be worshipped.
“Drop them,” I growled, a little of my beast leaking into my voice. Her lips parted, a flicker of defiance in her eyes before she let the fabric drop to the floor, leaving her nowhere to hide.