13

AMY
I domy best to pant quietly as I lie in bed, still trying to catch my breath.
I…can't believe that just happened.
I'm shocked to my core at what we just did. I mean, as a virgin, I've read books and heard people talk. I know the mechanics. But doing all that with Sam just now…there aren't words to describe the intensity of it all. The way it felt when he pushed inside me, his aggressive dominance that should have scared me but just turned me on even more…all of it feels as if it's unraveled the old Amy and she's lying in pieces here in the bed next to him.
Good pieces, of course. It's all good. I've never felt so very sated.
I've never felt so possessed, either. Even though I'm sweaty and sticky from what we just did, Sam's still plastered to my body, his arm wrapped around me and his hand resting on my throat, as if he has to hold me against him as he sleeps. It makes me feel cherished, even if he is napping when all I want to do right now is talk out what just happened.
He can't talk to you, remember? I remind myself, but somehow I think that's going to change. My head aches and I feel a little feverish, and I can't stop thinking about that bite. My neck throbs with the reminder of it and I remember how he held me close, soothing me even as he sank his teeth deeper. I vaguely remember Claudia mentioning a bite, but every time I asked her about it, she'd get vague.
I suspect this is how the bond is created between dragon and human. This is why she wouldn't say anything to me. It's because it's not just any kind of bond—it's intensely sexual and erotic and she didn't want to discuss it with her little sister. I get that, I do. At the same time, it's frustrating because I feel as if I've been flying blind. Claudia had all the answers and didn't share them with me, and instead, I've been terrified of Sam and his moods. Maybe I could have done things differently if all he needed to do was bite me.
I shift against Sam, because his cock's pressing up between my thighs, where I'm still wet with our release, and I want to squirm away and take a shower. But his arm is tight around me and even in his sleep, he nuzzles against my hair, as if he has to make sure that I'm there against him, and that I'm safe.
So I relax. It's kind of nice being in his arms, held like this. I slide my arm around his and lean back against him, closing my eyes. If I take a small nap, hopefully the pounding in my head will slow down.
Then, when he wakes up, maybe we'll talk. I hope so.

I fall into a deep sleep,full of wild dreams and fire. They don't feel like my regular dreams, but they're so strong and vivid that I don't know how they could be anything else. I struggle to wake up, and eventually manage to open my eyes, only to find that whatever fever hit me earlier has only grown stronger while I slept. I'm on my stomach on the bed, and I rub a hand over my eyes, trying to gather my thoughts. My throat aches, parched and dry. My skin feels flushed and everything hurts, most especially my head.
A hand caresses my back and moves down my hip, cupping one of my buttocks. I can hear the faint sound of a rumble, almost like thunder, except it's coming from the body pressed up next to mine.
That brings me fully awake. I glance over my shoulder and Sam is there, gazing down at me in that ultra-possessive way of his, sliding his hand up and down my back as if petting me.
I am pleased you are not afraid.
The thought floats through my mind at the same time the dragon-man's eyes meet my gaze. I'm shocked at the intensity of the thought, the fierceness of it. If I was standing, I'd have probably stumbled and fallen over. The voice is like liquid pleasure, though, and I can feel the emotions of the owner behind the words/thoughts that float through my mind.
Oh wow. Is this what the mental link is like? It's overwhelming. My head throbs as I struggle to get used to it. “Sam?” I whisper. “Is that you?”
There's a low chuckle, both in my head and aloud, and the dragon-man gives me a half-smile, the look on his face utterly pleased. He traces one blunted claw over my hip, as if fascinated by the sight of my naked body against his. You think my name is this Sahm? Is that what you have been saying all this time? I am amused.
“I didn’t have anything to call you,” I reply. “It seemed a good a name as any.”
There’s a strange delving in my mind, as if he’s diving into my thoughts and picking through the swamp of them. You picked it because it sounded…safe. Nice. His teeth flash in a way that’s both ominous and appealing. You wish for me to be nice, then? Is that it? I am sorry to disappoint you.
I can feel my face flushing with embarrassment. “You don’t have to be nice. It was…just a thought. I was a little scared of you.” I still am…no, that’s not right. Even now I’m more nervous at “meeting” him than I am scared. Worried he’ll find something about me he won’t like.
There is nothing about you I do not like, my sweet Aahm. No…that is not right.I feel him delve through my thoughts again. Amy. Such a delicate, sweet sound. It suits you.
I’m blushing even harder now, especially when his gaze goes to my body and he caresses my buttocks again, that idle caress as if I’m his plaything. “What’s your name, then?”
The dragon-man thinks for a moment, concentration written on his face. Surprise dawns, and then a genuine smile curves his mouth. Rast. I think that is it, but it does not feel like all of it.
“You don’t remember?”
He traces the blunted tip of one claw on my bottom, making circles on my skin. My mind is clearing a little more with every moment, but there is still much that is blurred and inaccessible. Things lost or burned away. They will return in time…I hope. His gaze fixes on my face. Your presence in my mind helps. It anchors me. A mate always anchors her male.
A mate. So I’m his mate for sure.
You doubted?He leans over me and presses his mouth to my shoulder, and I feel his tongue flick against my skin. After what we shared? After I gave you my seed?
I shiver at the casual yet erotic touch. I…I just didn’t know. I’m not very…strong. I hate that my insecurities are leaking all over my thoughts. This feels far more naked than being next to him in bed without clothes. I realize I can’t hide anything that floats through my mind because he’ll pick it up.
Your challenges were unusual, but I eventually understood them for what they were.
Challenges?
Yes. When you pulled me into the water-box and rubbed yourself on me. I knew that was when you wished to mate.His eyes gleam with pleasure.
Now I’m really blushing. “I wasn’t challenging you.”
He goes still, and the look on his face is offended. You did not wish for me to claim you? You mated your mouth to mine. Sucked on my tongue.
I hide my face in the covers, because this is the most embarrassing, frank conversation I’ve ever had. I…no, I wanted that. Even my inner voice sounds ashamed.
Good. There is no shame in wanting a strong mate for yourself, my Amy.His hand moves over my bottom again, one finger tracing the cleft of my cheeks. I squirm at the intimate touch, but I’m also fascinated by it despite the fever raging through me. You are new to mating and shy. I do not seek to embarrass you, my mate. I only wish to learn more about you.
“That’s what I want, too…Rast.” His name sounds strange on my tongue.
A flood of pleasure sweeps through my mind. I like it when you say my name. I am not this “Sam.”
“I won’t call you it again. I’m sorry. I had to call you something.” I lift my head and look back up at him, and his eyes are whirling almost entirely gold, his hand stroking over my bottom again. One finger slides along the part of my thighs, and then I’m gasping as he dips into the wetness there.
You may call me your mate. That is all I need from you.His eyes gleam and he lowers his body so he can press his mouth to my shoulder again, licking my skin with little curious flicks of his tongue. Just those small touches make my nipples hard against the blankets, and I can’t concentrate, because his hand is between my thighs and stroking my wet folds. It’s like my body no longer belongs to me. It’s all his.
“I…” I stutter as he sinks one finger inside me and nips at my shoulder again. “I’m sorry. This is all new to me.”
It is new to me as well. My mind has been nothing but wildfire since I came through the Rift. With your mind linked to mine, though, I am much clearer. My thoughts follow straight paths instead of twisting, smoke-filled ones.He rubs his nose against the back of my neck and slicks his finger deep inside me. I like that you are still wet with my seed, my mate.
I moan, both at his filthy thoughts sliding through my mind and the finger that pumps into me. “I should get up and shower—”
Why? I like you covered in my scent. Why wash away my seed when I am going to fill you with more? His tongue flicks against my nape. Or are you too ill from my fires to let me push my cock into your cunt and pleasure you?
I tremble at the images rolling through my head. Ill? I… “Your fires?”
He sends me a visual image of his teeth locked on my throat even as he pumped into me, and I moan again, because I’m seeing it through his mind and it’s beyond erotic to see myself fucked by him like that. I gave you my fires so we could be as one. His fingers smooth over my neck, petting the soreness there. I only have to do it once, though. I will not hurt you again. It was necessary if I was to give you my seed, or else I would have burned your sweet cunt from within. Even as he says it, he slips another finger inside me and thrusts hard, leaving me quivering and full of need. God, my body is making the wettest sounds and I can tell from our mental connection that he finds it incredibly sexy. He thinks everything I do is sexy. It’s amazing. His mind is so strong it’s almost overwhelming.
“Rast,” I breathe, dazzled by him. I’m just still so surprised he wants me. Plain, quiet Amy with the bad leg.
I see nothing plain before me,he tells me, voice sultry with heat. He leans closer and when I turn my head, he nips my ear with his sharp teeth. I see my lovely, fragile mate who has a soft, giving body, a strong mind, and the most incredible scent. I have wanted you from the moment I scented you.
“My panties,” I whisper, remembering. “You found them. You smelled me on them.”
Yes. I have been hunting you ever since I caught your smell that day.
“I left them for you to find. For someone to find. I thought the other dragon was the one who had come for me, though. And then you killed him.” I think about the confusion and worry from those days, the fear I had of him. Strangely enough, I’m no longer afraid. Maybe it’s because our minds are linked, but I know he’d never harm me. “I still can’t believe you did that.”
A hot stab of jealousy shoots through my thoughts. I will not let another touch you.
“I don’t want another, so that’s good,” I tell him.
The jealousy immediately clears. Then you understand why I had to destroy him.
It’s that part I’m still coming to terms with. But to him, violence is a way of life. I struggle to compose myself. Did Claudia feel like this? So completely overwhelmed at such a strong presence in her mind? Did she have trouble forming coherent thoughts? Or is it more to do with the fingers that are thrusting deep inside me, mimicking his cock, and the subtle heat of his breath on my neck? I try to focus, because I want to learn so much about him. “So…Rast.” I practice his name, rolling it around in my head. It’s short and brutal. I guess it fits him better than the much milder “Sam.” “You remember your name. Do you remember other things from your world?”
He pauses, fingers stilling inside me. It makes me squirm, because I didn’t realize how much I wanted him to keep doing that until he stopped. With a chuckle, he nuzzles my neck again and begins the leisurely thrusts once more. If I try to focus on something other than the body of my mate, at the moment, I can think of nothing. But perhaps they will come to me in bits and pieces. You can ask me things if you have questions, though. His fingers surge deep, even as he pushes my thighs apart and I can feel his scorching body—warmer than even my fevered one—moving over me.
It’s hard to concentrate. There are so many things I want to ask. How old is he? Does he have family? Who was he before? What was the name of his world? Did he have a mate before? I try to focus in, but I’m distracted by the way he gently pulls my hips up until I’m on my knees, my cheek pressed against the blankets. A full-body flush moves over me when I realize this is the same position I was in…last night, when he took me.
I am going to take you again,he purrs in my mind. Unless you ache too badly?
It’s a different kind of ache, I think, and when he chuckles in my head, I realize he heard that. It’s true, though. I’m aching deep inside, and when his fingers slide out of my warmth and leave me empty, I whimper.
No, mate,he tells me in my head. A drakoni warrior mates only once and for life. You are mine and I am yours.
My silly, romantic heart flutters at that. “Really?”
A male can only give his fires once, because it bonds him down to his spirit. If we mate with a female that is not worthy, we spill on her back to let her know she is rejected.
Jesus, that sounds insulting. I don’t know what to think. Has he done that to a lot of women? Now I’m the jealous one.
Do not worry over it. It will never happen to you, sweet one.He nuzzles my neck again, even as I feel the heat of his cock press against the entrance to my core. You have taken my fires. You are mine entirely. Your scent will change to match mine, your thoughts are mine…all of you will be mine.
All of me? I shiver.
All,he agrees. Especially your cunt. And he pushes into me.
I gasp because it’s tight and my body strains against the invasion. A split second later, though, it’s as if my pussy welcomes him, because all the tension eases and then I feel amazing. It’s like he’s scratching an itch I never knew I had until today, and I can’t help but rock back against him as I feel him straighten, his hands on my hips. He kneels behind me, his thighs pressed against mine, his cock so deep inside me it’s shocking.
You have no more questions?he asks, and rotates his hips even as he speaks in my head.
It’s awfully hard to think when he’s inside me like this. Gosh, it’s even hard to breathe. I just want to curl my fists in the blankets and wallow in the sensation of being filled up like this. My toes curl when he strokes into me, and when his next one is as hard and demanding, my gasp turns into a half-sob. I’m overwhelmed with emotion and sensation both. But…questions. “I…yes,” I choke out. “You…you’re a warrior?”
A general,he tells me proudly. It is why my claws are so long. He pauses over me. Used to be long. It does not matter now.
“A general?” I echo. “In an army?”
Of sorts. All drakoni serve our Salorian overlords.A surge of hate floods his thoughts. May they burn in all the fires of every hell imaginable. I will not think of them when I am insideyou, though, he tells me, and gives me another deep, rocking thrust that seems to shake me to my core.
Oh. “You remember so much,” I breathe, barely able to focus. Zohr and Emma—because I have to think of them as a pair—mentioned Salorians. “You’re not like the others.”
He goes still over me. Others? Rast asks, and I can feel him searching through my memories, looking for answers. What others?
“Other…other dragons,” I manage, and my pussy ripples around his hard length. Oh god, I’m going to come just from him being inside me like this. I’m too sensitive, too full of everything. I can barely think. I’m swamped with his erotic thoughts and the way his cock feels inside me.
One big hand grabs the back of my neck and holds me down on the bed, and I have to admit, it makes me even hotter to realize I’m pinned and can’t get up. I moan loudly, my body clenching tight. Other drakoni? he asks. They seek to mate you?
His thoughts are frenzied, furious. “No,” I manage as he reaches down with his other hand and manipulates my clit, as if he’s determined to make me come before I can think of anyone else. “Sister…mate. Friend…” Oh god, he touches me and then it feels like my entire body is igniting. I sob again, because it’s so incredible and I’m so close.
There’s a rush of furious pleasure that sweeps from his mind to mine. Good. You are mine. They cannot have you.
Yours,I agree, lost in my need. I’m talking in my head now, because I’m too overwhelmed to form words. I’m just whimpering over and over again.
You belong to me,Rast asserts again, and thrusts into me hard. He anchors my hips against him and then begins to slowly pump, picking up a slow, steady rhythm that has me crying out within a matter of moments. Each stroke makes me come even harder, until it feels like my orgasms are just cascading on top of one another in one big, endless, ongoing climax. Between this and the fever, I’m barely aware of when he stops, when his come floods inside me with heat and he pins me under him, licking my neck with a surge of possessive thoughts.
But then he’s sliding off of me and pulling my body back against his, tucking my bad leg gently over one of his thighs, as if he knows it needs to be propped up when it aches. He settles me against his chest, and this time his cock is still deep inside me as he relaxes, his legs twined with mine. He hugs my breasts with one hand, stroking and teasing my nipples idly.
I like touching you like this. I feel it in your cunt.As if to prove that, Rast caresses my nipple and it makes my pussy clench and tighten in an aftershock.
Please,I sigh heavily, exhausted. His constant torrent of thoughts and the touches he keeps giving me are suddenly too much to take. Weariness falls over me like a blanket. I think I need to rest for a bit.
He nuzzles my neck, licking my ear. Very well. Let the fires finish their work. You are still too cool yet. His hand slides to my belly and he strokes me there, as if he cannot help touching me. Then he pauses. These others. Are they the ones that harmed you?
Harmed me? A flash of my bad leg passes through my mind. Oh. No, that’s an old wound.
He grunts. Good. If they hurt you, I would destroy them all.
I don’t know whether I think that’s sweet or disturbing. A little of both, maybe. Claudia’s my sister. Her mate is Kael. Sasha’s like a sister to me. And Emma is a friend. They are all mated. We should fly back toward Fort Dallas and meet them soon—
No.
No?I echo, too tired to even look at him. I’m drifting off into sleep, the throb of my pussy being replaced by the throb of my headache as the sickness takes over me again.
No, my Amy,Rast promises. You are mine and no one else’s.
Before I can protest, I’m unconscious once more.