28. Tarek
We hadn’t had that talk she’d asked for. I was terrified. It had been an entire cycle of the suns since the three aliens had broken into Emberhaven and nearly gotten away with my mate.
I could hear her thoughts. She hadn’t heard mine yet. The bond was still healing her from what I could tell. She seemed to feel me though, because the way she watched me told me she wasn’t sure what to do with my unease.
We were no longer in Emberhaven thankfully. My brothers were split for the moment, protecting their mates if they were not yet bonded. I needed the protection of the city. Pyrothians were the only ones entering here.
I tied up the breeches and slid on a vest. This was much more comfortable and not completely unlike similar human styles. Mostly.
Zara walked out of the bathroom of our rooms in her chosen gown.
“So this is traditional, then?”
I nodded as she moved. To be fair, I can’t imagine our ancestors didn’t find the other convenient functions of the garments. The slits let my mind wander, knowing what was under the silky fabrics.
“Yes. Much easier to manage than all the human styles. Do you disagree?”
She tied the small ribbon on the side.
“I suppose so. Also, much easier to ride a dragon.”
I swallowed at the way she looked at me just now, my dragon peeking up in excited curiosity.
She walked toward me, or rather prowled toward me. Something about the way she looked at us made my dragon feel like prey, and I wasn’t sure what to do with this.
“Zara? Are you feeling well?”
She smirked at me, and I struggled to understand what was going on. I couldn’t reach her through the connection. Shock hit me as I realized she’d shut me out.
“Zara?”
My ass hit the bed as she cupped my balls through my pants.
“Mate, you have my attention.”
Slowly, she pulled the ties I’d so carefully just laced. I’d tried to be calm, ready to present my mate to the clan, and yet the second she looked at me like that, I’d grown hard, ready to meet her needs.
“Lay down, mate,” she said. Her emphasis on mate piquing the possession in us. I would do as she needed for the moment, curious about where this was going.
Her tongue licked at the crown of my cock. I strained to maintain my control as she moved from licking to stretching her lips over my thickness.
Goddess.
She bobbed her head, licking up and down, taking as much of me as she could in her mouth. She most definitely had my attention.
I lifted my head when she shifted and lifted her head, a devilish glint in her eyes. As she lifted the dress, the slits already allowed her legs to straddle me.
“Good for riding a dragon indeed,” she said.
I could feel the heat of her core as she positioned herself over me. I shouldn’t enjoy my mate taking control, but I would not deny her any pleasures.
“Yes, my Zara. Good indeed.”
The breath hissed between my teeth as I grabbed her hips, still allowing her to control the way she wanted this. The tightness of her pussy though? My control wavered as she took me inch by inch. She rose and fell slowly, each time pushing me deeper and deeper until finally she rocked her hips and I was fully seated inside her core.
Her moans were beautiful as she made herself wetter with every motion.
“Tarek?”
Her voice was breathless as she said my name.
“Yes, mate?” My voice strained in response.
She rocked her hips a few more times before she slowed, her breath hitching.
“I need you to talk to me, and if pinning you down like this is the only way to get your attention, you are going to hold up for quite some time.”
My eyes grew wide.
“What?”
I grabbed her hips, afraid she was going to stop, or, hell, afraid she was going to do something I’d regret. I wasn’t sure what this female was capable of.
“I.” She rocked her hips. “Need.” She paused and sucked in a breath. “To.” She shifted against my cock and moaned. “Talk to you,” she said on a rush of air.
“By the goddess, female. This is not a time for talking,” I cried out in exasperation, my balls already tingling with a need to claim her.
She stilled, but I could feel the warmth of her pussy and the way her heartbeat. She was getting closer to her own release.
“I don’t care.” She bounced a little with her exasperation, and we both moaned. “You can’t come until you hear me out.” Her words were rather clipped, but I didn’t think it was due to frustration anymore.
“Make it quick then, mate.”
Her hands ran up and down my chest as she seemingly put a lot of effort into keeping her hips still. She had no idea that I could still feel every twitch. Every squeeze and pulse. Or maybe she did, and this was blessed torture.
“Your self-loathing, regret, whatever it is, has been invading my every thought.”
I went to open my mouth, and she thrust her hips forward, and I wasn’t sure who it shut up first.
“I’m talking.” She blew out a breath before continuing.
“I can hear your damn thoughts. We can talk about that later. But get it through your stupid thick skull that maybe I was a little high and a little dying, but I wanted you. I’d already accepted you. All I needed was your cock and that mouth. Fate just pushed it along.”
I didn’t want to admit her words calmed the raging storm that had been holding me back these last hours or days, but they did.
“Nebula’s curse! Why didn’t you just tell me you could hear me, Zara?”
Now it was my turn to be angry.
I still held her hips, and I was still larger than her. It took nothing to flip her over onto her back. The squeal she let out was pleasing to my possessive dragon.
“Don’t you dare take away my game, Tarek!”
I smiled down at her.
“What game? I am merely putting my devious mate where she belongs. At my mercy.”
She beat on my chest as I thrust inside her and pinned her hips to the bed.
“No,” she said, but it was followed by a muffled moan.
“Yes, mate.” I kissed her in response as I pumped into her over and over, stealing her words and her ability to argue.
“I will talk once you’ve come. And I have come.”
Her eyes grew wide, and she tried to respond, I was certain. Instead, the wall she’d thrown around her thoughts fell as I took her and claimed her. It was so much more fun now, reading her, feeling her pleasure through her.
I slipped my hand between us and pressed against her clit just the way she liked it, and she shattered around me.
I continued to take her, showing her she was mine. Making her know that I heard her. Making sure she knew that I would never let her go until my own pleasure grew to be too much to hold back. My cock hardened as my balls tightened and I released inside her. Secretly, I prayed that perhaps soon she would be pregnant with my youngling.
I couldn’t stop my thoughts as I pictured her belly swollen with our young as I spilled into her. Perhaps we should just remain in bed all day.
Her breathing was still rapid and stilted.
“No. I heard that.”
I lifted my eyes to hers.
“No to which part?”
I liked the way her lips couldn’t hide her joy.
“No to in bed all day. I want my party.”
I tilted my head as I rolled us to our sides, trying not to crush her.
“But later? Later I can fill you with my seed until you are with young?”
The room was silent aside from our breathing, and I could hear the way her blood pulsed and the way her heart skipped a beat.
“I want nothing more than to give you a family.”
Her eyes were bright as she said those words. I was slowly learning many things through our connection. I could see her sadness and her loss. I even had to see that male she called an ex, and that was going to haunt me for a long time to come. But what I saw next was her vision of happiness.
“You are my family, Zara. You were always fated to be.”