Chapter 20 #3
She raised her head, her heated gaze following the trail my fingers left.
Both of my index fingers stroked down her sternum, then coasted in opposite directions, blazing a path of golden light from her chest to her pert nipples.
There, I painted glowing circles around the rosy peaks before cupping both her breasts in my palms. I dipped my tongue to one of her stiffened buds, and she uttered a soft cry.
“Holy hell.” She thrust her hips against me. “That’s incredible.”
She hadn’t seen anything yet.
Without abandoning her nipple, I coursed my hand down her soft stomach, urging my flame to follow.
Serafina’s shallow breaths were music to my ears. Lower. Lower.
“Thorne,” she groaned, muscles quivering beneath my touch.
Until finally, I coaxed my flame right to the center of her, caressing her slick folds while stoking a fire of a different sort deep in her core.
“Mmm,” she hummed a lusty sound. “It’s so intense. Almost...” Her hips rocked, her head falling back. “Too much. Too good.”
With a single thrust of my fingers, Serafina cried out. She arched her spine, shouting her pleasure at the ceiling. Relentless, I kept up my ministrations, drawing out every spasm until she was boneless in my arms.
Finally, she slumped against me, resting her cheek on my shoulder.
“That was…” she slurred. “That was…”
“Just the beginning.”
SERAFINA
I should have been freaked out, Thorne guiding that delightful fire inside me, stoking it until I shattered. Instead, I’d climaxed so hard, so fast, I feared I might have blacked out.
As he drew away from me to exit the pool, I couldn’t drag my eyes away. Thorne rising from the water was a sight to behold. Droplets tracked down his chest, trickling over ridged abs, down to the heavy length between his legs. My mouth went dry, my fingers itching to explore.
He arranged our discarded clothing on the stone and drew me beside him. My body curled over his, hand resting against his sternum. At my gentle touch, the golden light nestled in his chest stirred—then flared, molten and alive.
“How did you do that?” I asked, fingertips tracing slow, teasing circles across the heat of his skin. “How did you guide your flame inside of me like that?”
His voice was rough, threaded with restraint. “It’s a part of me. I can command it…to a degree.”
I frowned. “But I thought that—”
Thorne pressed his index finger to my lips, eyes burning. “Do you want to talk, or focus on more pleasurable things?”
I choked on a laugh. “I don’t want to talk.”
“Good.” His mouth crashed into mine, hands searing paths down my back. “Because I’m nowhere near done with you.”
Thank the gods. He might say something infuriating if we talked. Right now? I had no desire to fight.
This moment was mine. No expectations. No consequences. Just heat. Just pleasure. And Thorne was all too willing to give me that. Which reminded me, there was so much about the Draconis I’d yet to explore.
“Could I do the same to you?” I bit my lip, stroking that fascinating glow that warmed beneath my fingertips.
His breath caught. “I don’t know. I’ve never given anyone control over my dragonflame before.”
“Try,” I whispered against the corner of his mouth.
“Minx,” he growled, but closed his eyes. I focused on the glowing light, feeling my own respond in kind, warming beneath my skin. Slowly, the pulsing glow obeyed, a fragment of his flame gliding under my fingertips.
“It’s working,” I gasped, coasting my hand over his chest, then swirling circles around his taut pectorals.
“Yeah, it is,” he groaned.
I couldn’t help the mischievous grin that tugged at my lips. “Tit for tat, Dragon,” I said before claiming his nipple with my mouth while twirling the other with his flame.
Thorne’s ragged groan sent a bolt of heat straight to my core. Aching, I ground against his thigh. My hand trailed lower, over his defined abs, counting the ridges. One. Two. Three. Until I reached the muscular V of his hip.
Desire throbbed between my legs as my gaze fell to his rigid shaft, anticipation coiling tight inside me.
“Do it,” he groaned, his hips thrusting in a subtle, desperate rhythm. “Touch me.”
I teased us both a moment longer, as the golden spark beneath my fingertips danced lower—over the curve of his hip, along the crease of his thigh—until finally, I wrapped my hand around his rigid length.
A guttural snarl tore from his throat, raw and feral. The flame followed, dancing across his skin as I stroked him slow, deliberate. His breaths came fast and shallow. His chest heaved, his muscles trembling.
Satisfaction bloomed through me. My sex clenched with aching need, but for a beautiful moment, I was the one in control. I was the one unraveling him.
And, gods, I loved it.
“Enough,” he growled, catching my wrist. With a surge, he rolled me onto my back, settling heavy between my thighs.
I looked up into glowing sky-blue eyes, ringed in gold—his beast staring back at me. Sweat glistened on his brow, his jaw tight with restraint. His thick shaft prodded my entrance, and he pulsed against me. The flame that filled his chest grew nearly blinding, its glow painting our faces in gold.
“Please,” he rasped, voice hoarse with need. “Tell me you’re ready.”
I curled my leg around him, desperate. “Fill me, Thorne.”
The words unleashed him. He thrust deep, stretching me until I cried out, half pleasure, half pain.
“Sorry, sorry,” he murmured, kissing my jaw, my lips, moving gently until the ache gave way to heat. Our tongues tangled. Muscles deep in my core contracted, demanding more.
I rolled my hips, urging Thorne to thrust harder. Thankfully, he understood the unspoken command, driving, rocking. Together, we found a delightful rhythm. Lost to the sensation, I grasped his broad shoulders, trailing my nails down his spine, causing him to shudder.
“Blessed flames.” His fingers twisted into my hair as he held my head captive, his lips plundering my mouth.
Our bodies met in a straining tangle, sweat-slicked and frantic.
Thorne’s mouth blazed a trail of heat across my shoulder to my neck, where his teeth nibbled my flesh.
I liked his teeth here, feeling no threat, only hunger.
He should mark me. It was only right that I carry his brand as well as his flame.
Higher. Higher, I flew, chasing the bliss until…
“Come, Princess. Come for me,” Thorne commanded, and the tension building inside of me exploded, flinging me into the atmosphere where I soared. Sparks shattered. Flames ignited my vision—red, orange, yellow. The center of my chest detonated, sending heated jolts pulsing through my veins.
Thorne’s roar filled my ears, his shaft swelling larger than I even thought possible. He pulsed deep, causing the muscles of my sex to spasm, taking me higher still. I cried out, floating in that magical place of ecstasy. Mindless, I soared before slowly coasting back.
I floated in the aftershocks, a cooling ember drifting to earth. My fire spent.
Thorne collapsed onto me, all heat and muscle, and I grunted beneath the weight until he rolled to his side. We lay there, panting, staring up at the ceiling as if it held answers.
“That was…” I pressed my swollen lips together, searching for a word big enough.
More. A lot more. Everything, actually.
“Yeah,” he said, proving even less eloquent than I.
Our breathing slowed. The heat between us faded into a warm haze. And then, like an unwelcome guest, regret crept in, sharp and cold at the edges.
If Thorne sensed how deeply that moment had shaken me, he’d be unbearable. I could already see the smug grin, the mocking innuendo, the way he would twist this into a meaningless encounter.
And it was meaningless, wasn’t it? It should have been. At least that was my intent when I’d kissed him.
I’d made my choice. I’d taken what I wanted. No strings. No promises. Just incredible sex with a maddeningly gorgeous dragon shifter.
On my terms.
So why did my chest ache like I’d given away something I couldn’t get back?
I pushed the thought aside and summoned my most casual smirk. “That was fun,” I said, giving his rock-hard abs a quick pat.
I stood, snatched his shirt from the floor, and pulled it on like armor.
Indifferent. Unbothered. Untouched.
Thorne sat up as well, watching me dress. As I fastened the buttons, I turned and found him glaring at the ground.
“What’s wrong?” I nudged his leg with my bare toes.
“Nothing,” he rubbed his forehead, a deep furrow between his brows.
My stomach chose that moment to let out a dramatic yowl. I rubbed the aching hollow beneath my ribs and gave him a breezy smile. “I’m going to search for Myrna and beg for food. Thanks for the swimming lesson.”
“Sure,” he grumbled in a distracted manner. This was not the face of a man who’d just been ravaged by a sex goddess.
Still, I refused to let him ruin my happy glow. He could sulk all he wanted. I felt good—powerful, even.
He’d been right, taking something for myself was empowering. And I meant to do it again—louder, brighter, unapologetically.