Her fear flowed to him. Pain and… kindling fury. The embers had grown, rising from the ashes of her changed life and upended past.
Luella was sitting back on the stone, hands behind her. The wind had dried her hair, leaving it wild and untamed—the soft feathers behind her were fluffy and full; Vale wanted to run his fingers through them.
He stood, the muscles in his thighs and bare backside flexing as he pushed himself up. Her wide blue eyes dipped to his cock, and he felt it stir at her attention. But the frigid air nipped that in the bud. It was too cold to get hard—rain misted his skin, chilling him to the bone.
Vale took a step toward her, holding out a hand. "I will let you look your fill anytime you want, darling. Just not when it is so cold."
Luella’s cheeks bloomed with precious pink, and his dragon pushed to the forefront of his mind, happy that she felt content enough in his den to do something as innocent as blush. A rumble tore free from his chest.
"Vale?" she questioned.
He shook his head, and hesitantly she took his hand, allowing him to pull her to stand. A small furrow was etched between her brows, and pain lanced down their bond. He smelled blood. Had smelled it for some time.
Smoke escaped his mouth in thin curls. "You’re bleeding."
Luella gave a tiny shake of her head, leaning into him; though, he knew it was because she was too weak to stand on her own—not because shewantedhim or the comfort he could give.
"I will survive. They… will not."
The rain increased in tempo, steadily falling into the turbulent ocean below. Every crash of waves against the rocks was a war drum, the beating of time against his back.
But as she said it, she wavered, skin pale as moonlight.
Vale grabbed her wrist, speaking before he thought it through:
"You’re in no condition to walk. I’m carrying you." It was neither a question nor a call for her obedience.
He shifted his hold from her wrist to her hips, banding his arms around them as he lifted her in one fluid movement. Her thighs hooked around his naked waist, her hands settling on his shoulders. The ruined feathers of her dress rode up her thighs as he held her against him, and her silk-wrapped core brushed against his hipbone. Fuck.
"This is not necessary," she said, but she made no move to get down. Rather, one hand curled behind his neck, fingers tangling in the ends of his messy hair.
All Vale could think of was how easy it would be to shift the lace of her panties to the side, grip his aching cock, and drive himself up into her tight, wet heat. He would not. He could not.
He had made a promise: anything he obtained from her would not be stolen, but given freely with wanton desire and slow, aching wetness, dripping down the pale flesh of her inner thighs. He would build her up and show her how good sex could be. He would drive the vestiges of naivety from her with each pounding of his hips, feeling her inner walls stretch and flutter against him as he?—
"Vale, are you okay? Is it your dragon?" A small hand touched his jaw, tugging his face down to meet her eyes. "Don’t let him take control right now. Please."
He hadn’t even realized his fingers were digging into the supple flesh of her hips so tightly that it could bruise. She did not shy away from him—even when most would, finding the way his eyes shifted from elongated slits back to normal disconcerting.
Vale released a strangled groan. "Give me a moment."
He felt her hand shake as she moved it to cup his face fully. "Stay with me," she uttered.
Protect. Her.
No blood. Do not let her bleed.
Furs, den, safe. Light a fire.
All orders from his dragon.
Claws clicked as they ran over the bars of his ribcage.
Vale seethed,I will protect her now, then you may finish the rest.
Slowly, he gained control, keeping her flush against him. She grounded him.Shewas his control. The perfect bargaining tool to dangle over his inner beast.
Then, Vale moved.
