“Rhysander,” I whispered, as his lips mapped the line of my throat. “There are dozens of people right outside that door. We shouldn’t.”
“Oh, that’s the first thing you should learn about me, pet. Denying me something makes me want it all the more. Besides, if either of us are going to get any res, it seems as though I’m going to have to wear you out first.”
He tasted and nipped his way up to my lips, then took them with a commanding sweep of his tongue. I gasped against his mouth, feeling every sensation acutely. From the taste of him—male, a bite of mint, and the hint of mulled wine—to his scent, to the ache low between my legs making itself known again.
His arms caged me against his chest until I couldn’t discern where I ended and he began. I opened my eyes, wanting to know if I had the same devastating effect on him as well. A shockwave passed over my nerve endings when we locked eyes. Strangled whimpers came from deep inside my chest, and my hands grappled for a handhold in the weighty material of the seat cushion.
The more he used the mental connection between us, the more I recognized his presence in my mind. I could feel it like a thread that connected us, one that vibrated under the pressure of my examination. Was this what happened when couples mated? Did it always happen?
“Relax,” he said, “give in to it. Don’t fight it.”
He grinned through our bond and it was like a veil of sunlight washed over me—warm and welcome. I tipped my head up, seeking more, and I felt the responding purr from his chest underneath my hands.
“Are you ready for me to show you?” he asked, peppering kisses on the apples of my cheeks, the curve of my brow, and the tip of my nose.
The words tangled in my throat with each added press of his lips and, dammit, I let his hand tumble through my skirts and drag up the sensitive skin of my thigh. My eyes rolled back as he shared vivid, enticing images of all those things he’d like to do to me. I didn’t pull away from him. In fact, I took his hand where it lay in wait just above my knee and moved it higher.
And for the first time, he was speechless.
The realization made me smile. The sensation was powerful. To have such a man at my whim, under my spell. My lids parted and then widened when I found his eyes had turned liquid again. The shorts of his nails scraped against my legs and a moan slipped out, echoing in the constrained space of the carriage. I gave a fleeting thought to the driver in the little cabin out front, but it was promptly whisked away when Rhys’s fingers found the juncture of my thighs.
I gave a whole-body shudder, and he hissed out a breath in response. “Fuck, you’re going to need to be still, Elena, or I will have to take you here before we even get to the bloody ship.”
Enraptured, I inhaled swiftly. “Can we do that?” I breathed.
His answering growl was cut off by the slash of his lips over mine. His fingers delved into the material covering my center and found me hot and wanting for him. I didn’t know if it was to block out the worries and fear about leaving my home, or if it was the growing connection between us rewiring my brain to want his taste, his touch,him, but I found that I couldn’t get close enough.
He shifted me until I was straddling his thighs, spread nearly indecently above him. “Open wider, sweet—yes, that’s it.”
I draped myself over him, fusing our lips again. The friction from the constant motion of the carriage left me weak and breathless. His fingers returned where I needed them most and I was nearly overcome with how much I wanted him. The urges, the need, I’d been trying to deny since he retrieved me from the other carriage swelled up inside me, blotting out everything but the thrumming connection between us.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said.
“I’m not,” but my voice broke around the words, betraying me.
His hand coasted up to my chin, and I leaned into it without thinking about it. “One day you’ll remember that it’s impossible to lie to me, Elena. You scream the truth to me with your mind. What are you afraid of?”
I didn’t answer him. I couldn’t. Even if he could hear my thoughts, voicing them would only make them a reality. So, I kissed him, resolving to drown out my fears, my doubts, and my frustrations with him instead. Because the harsh reality was, even admitting to myself that I cared for Rhys would make it all too real.
Caring for Rhys was almost as dangerous as the man himself.
12
Rhysander
She filled me up, my head was buzzing with her thoughts, my senses consumed by her scent and taste, her softness and her little mewls of pleasure. I’d relegated her to a carriage of her own with her maid out of self-preservation. But now, the careful reasons I’d kept my distance had turned to ash in a blaze of lust. I could have spent the nights wrapped in her instead of tossing and turning alone.
The carriage came to an abrupt stop, rocking us against one another, but I barely noticed. My dragon felt she was close, and he wanted to have her again.
And again.
And again.
For once, he and I were in agreement.
I wrapped a hand around her hips to keep her pinned to me. There was no point; she was an eager flame in my lap, ready to blaze to life. I liked having her pressed flush against me, without a whisper of distance between us. Too soon. It was too soon to have this need for her, but I didn’t care.
Physical. It was only physical.
