Chapter 24
Liz
Ileaned against the kitchen counter, sipping water from a coffee mug and willing my body temperature to drop to something resembling normal.
My reflection in the microwave door showed a woman with hair sticking up at odd angles and cheeks flushed despite splashing cold water on my face three times already.
What was wrong with me? I woke up with Lucan’s arm draped over my waist, his body warm against mine, and I immediately panicked. Not because I was scared, but because every nerve ending in my body lit up, and I wanted nothing more than to press back against him and see what happened.
Instead, I carefully extracted myself from his hold and escaped to the bathroom like a coward.
Now I stood in the kitchen, my brain unable to make a simple decision. Coffee? Diet Pepsi? Or just hide under the sink until my hormones remembered I was forty-three and supposedly past this sort of thing?
I ran a hand through my tangled hair. Lucan was still asleep in my bed. Naked. The sight made my stomach flip pleasantly, and I had to physically shake myself to dispel it.
It was Saturday. He probably didn’t have to work. The decent thing would be to let him sleep in, not wake him up because I couldn’t control myself.
Food. I should make food. That was a normal thing to do, right? Not stand around obsessing over the naked man in my bed and the things I wanted him to do to me.
I opened the refrigerator, staring blankly at the contents. Reese had stocked it for me, along with the pantry, when I’d first moved in. Eggs, milk, butter... I could make pancakes. From scratch. That would keep me occupied.
I started pulling ingredients from the pantry, setting them on the counter one by one: flour, sugar, baking powder, salt. It was methodical work that would hopefully quiet the buzzing under my skin.
I was reaching for a mixing bowl when arms wrapped around my waist from behind. I jumped, nearly knocking over the container of flour.
“What are you doing?” Lucan’s voice was rough with sleep, his lips brushing against my neck as he spoke.
My body went rigid, then melted against him in the same breath. His chest was warm against my back.
“I, um...” My brain short-circuited as his lips moved against my neck again, not quite a kiss but definitely not an accident.
“Pancakes. I’m making pancakes. From scratch.
Because it’s not like I can go out and hunt a pig to make bacon, which would probably solve my—” I bit my lip to stop the flow of words.
His hands splayed across my stomach, thumbs making small circles just above the waistband of my sleep shorts. “Solve what?”
“Nothing,” I blurted. I focused on measuring flour into the bowl as if my life depended on it.
“Do you even like pancakes? I should have asked. Maybe you’re more of a waffle person.
Or an egg person. Or a no-breakfast person.
Some people don’t eat breakfast. Intermittent fasting is supposedly good for you, though I’ve never been able to—”
His lips pressed against the side of my neck, a deliberate kiss this time, and my words disappeared. His fingers slid along the elastic of my shorts, just barely dipping beneath it.
“I like pancakes,” he murmured against my skin, and I felt his smile. “I like a lot of things.”
I set down the measuring cup with a clatter. “Lucan...”
His hands stilled. “Too much?”
I shook my head, not trusting my voice. Then I turned in his arms to face him. He was wearing his jeans but nothing else, his chest bare and his hair tousled from sleep. The sight sent a fresh wave of heat through me.
“Not enough,” I managed.
His eyes darkened, and I watched as he swallowed hard. “You were gone when I woke up.”
I pressed my palms against his chest, feeling his heartbeat quicken under my touch. “I escaped because I was afraid I’d jump you in your sleep.”
A slow smile spread across his face. “That would have been a nice way to wake up.”
I laughed, some of my nervousness dissolving. “I don’t normally feel like this. I don’t know what’s happening to me.”
“I could say it’s the bond.” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “But I think it’s just you and me.”
His fingers traced the curve of my cheek, then followed the line of my jaw. When his thumb brushed across my lower lip, I couldn’t help the small sound that escaped me.
He leaned down, capturing my lips with his. The kiss started gently but quickly deepened when I pressed closer. His hands traveled down to my hips, lifting me effortlessly onto the counter. I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him against me.
The kiss turned hungry and desperate quickly. My hands tangled in his hair as his mouth moved from my lips to my jaw, then lower, trailing fire down my neck. His fingers found the hem of my tank top, sliding underneath to trace patterns on my bare skin.
“Tell me to stop,” he breathed against my collarbone.
I pulled back just enough to meet his eyes. They were darker than usual, the blue almost swallowed by his pupils. “Don’t stop.”
He grinned. “What about breakfast?”
I tugged him to me. “I’m hungry for something else right now.”
His mouth crashed back onto mine, stealing my breath and any remaining coherent thought. The pancake ingredients lay forgotten as Lucan’s fingers moved up my sides, pulling up my tank top. We broke apart just long enough for him to pull it over my head and toss it aside.
The cool air pebbled my skin, but I didn’t have time to feel exposed before Lucan’s hands cupped my breasts, his thumbs brushing over my nipples. I gasped at the sensation, arching into his touch.
“You’re beautiful,” he murmured, lowering his head to replace one hand with his mouth.
The first touch of his tongue sent a jolt through me, and I clutched his shoulders. “Lucan,” I breathed, my head falling back as he moved from one breast to the other.
My fingers dug into his hair, holding him against me as heat pooled low in my belly. His hands slid to my waist, then lower, his fingers running along the skin above the waist of my shorts. He looked up, a question in his eyes.
“Please,” I whispered.
That was all the encouragement he needed. His fingers slipped under the waistband, tugging both my shorts and underwear down my legs. I lifted my hips to help, suddenly completely naked on the kitchen counter while Lucan stood between my spread knees.
He stepped back slightly, his eyes darkening as they traveled over my body. The look on his face made me feel powerful and wanted in a way I hadn’t experienced, maybe ever.
He stepped closer again, his hands sliding up my thighs. “Do you have any idea how many times I’ve thought about this? About you?”
Before I could answer, he dropped to his knees, hooking my legs over his shoulders and pulling me to the edge of the counter. I had one moment of surprise before his mouth was on me, and then I couldn’t think at all.
“Lucan!” I gasped, one hand bracing on the counter, the other finding his hair again.
He hummed against me, the vibration adding to the sensation of his tongue circling and stroking my clit. My hips jerked, but his hands firmly held me in place as he continued his assault on my senses.
When he slid a finger inside me, I nearly came off the counter. He added a second, curling them forward as his tongue focused on the bundle of nerves that had me seeing stars. The pressure built rapidly, my thighs trembling around his head.
“Don’t stop,” I panted, teetering on the edge of release. “Please don’t stop.”
He didn’t. If anything, his movements became more focused and determined. His fingers pumping into me and his mouth working me over was too much. I shattered with a cry, my body clenching around his fingers as waves of pleasure washed over me.
Lucan eased me through the aftershocks, his movements gradually slowing until I was a boneless heap on the counter. He pressed a gentle kiss to my inner thigh before standing.
The sight of him wiping his mouth with the back of his hand nearly set me off again. His jeans did nothing to hide his arousal, and the hungry look in his eyes made me want to clench my thighs.
“Come here.” I reached out to him.
Instead of stepping into my arms, he scooped me off the counter as if I weighed nothing. I yelped in surprise, instinctively wrapping my arms and legs around him.
“Where are we going?” It was pretty obvious as he carried me toward the bedroom.
“Somewhere more comfortable, because I’m nowhere near done with you.” He set me down gently on the bed, then straightened to undo his jeans.
I propped myself up on my elbows to watch as he pushed them down his legs, stepping out of them and kicking them aside. My mouth went dry. He was impressive in every way and clearly very ready for what was coming next.
“Like what you see?”
“Very much.” I felt no need to pretend otherwise.
He climbed onto the bed, covering my body with his. The weight of him pressed me into the mattress in the most delicious way. His skin was hot against mine, his hard length pressing insistently against my thigh.
His mouth found mine again, the kiss deep and thorough. When he pulled back, he positioned himself between my legs. I felt the pressure of him at my entrance, and then he was pushing inside, stretching me in a way that left me gasping his name. He paused, giving me time to adjust.
“Okay?” he asked, his voice strained with the effort of holding back.
“More than okay.”
He moved with long strokes, and the drag and pull of him inside me built the pressure again, my body still sensitive from my first orgasm.
Lucan buried his face in my neck, his breath hot against my skin as he picked up the pace. His lips traveled along my throat, pausing at a spot below my ear.
“Here,” he murmured, his tongue darting out to taste my skin. “This is where I’ll mark you. When you’re ready.”
“Mark me?” I managed to ask through the haze of pleasure.
Instead of answering, he scraped his teeth over the spot, and my entire body jolted.
“Yes,” he growled, repeating the action. “Right here.”
Something about the combination of his teeth on that spot and the way he was moving inside me sent me careening over the edge again. I came with a shout, my body clamping down around him.
He followed me over, his rhythm faltering as he buried himself deep with a groan that vibrated through both of us. For several heartbeats, we stayed locked together, our ragged breathing the only sound in the room.
Eventually, he rolled to his side, taking me with him so we remained connected. His fingers danced on my back as we both caught our breath.
His lips found my neck again, and my skin broke out in goosebumps. “It’s a claiming mark that only other supernaturals will see.”
“Excuse me? What do you mean by other supernaturals?”
“Other shifters.” He laughed as my eyes widened even more. “None here. This is our territory.”
I didn’t know why it surprised me that there were others. My brain had barely had enough time to reconcile the fact that there were dragons and that I was the mate of one.
Mate.
Lucan was my mate.
I felt sure of it. Something had led me to Ashford and to him. Some invisible thread of fate that was woven through every moment since I’d arrived in this town. It wasn’t a coincidence. It couldn’t be.
He cupped my cheek, his touch gentle despite the power I knew his hands possessed. The tenderness in his eyes made something inside me unfurl like a flower reaching for sunlight.
“I’ve overwhelmed you,” he said, his voice soft with concern.
“No.” I swallowed the lump in my throat, fighting to articulate the swirl of emotions crowding my chest. “The opposite.”
His expression shifted, that playful spark returning to his eyes as the corner of his mouth quirked up. “Oh, so I’ve underwhelmed you. Well, damn, I’m going to have to—”
I kissed him, cutting off his teasing with my lips against his. I poured everything I couldn’t say into that kiss—all my wonder, all my acceptance, all my certainty that whatever this was between us, whatever being his “mate” truly meant, I wanted to explore it fully.