His position reminded her of someone under arrest. She shivered, wondering if he’d done this before. Atoning for the people he’d killed. For her parents.
His wide shoulders tapered down to narrow hips, to a tight ass made even tighter because all his muscles were clenched. The body of his Dragon trembled, its wings shrinking close to its body. A tremor passed through him, making him flex his fingers.
She approached slowly, her heart as tense as his muscles. The Dragon’s head turned and looked at her. It seemed to be pleading for her to stop its torture. She reached through the water and ran her hand down his back, over the lines of the Dragon’s body. He didn’t jerk, making her wonder if he’d known she was there all along. Of course, no one snuck up on Cyn.
He, in fact, did not turn to her but flattened his hands against the walls. “Ruby, what are you doing?” His voice was hoarse. From cold or something else?
“I could ask you the same thing.”
He turned to her then, and she saw turmoil in the embers of his eyes. “T-taking a shower.”
“Mmm. A cold shower in the cold air.”
The water was cold, already numbing her fingers. They remained on the indent of his lower spine, where the Dragon’s tail dipped to his tailbone. Droplets sprayed her like ice chips. She’d forgotten to put on her coat.
“It f-feels good,” he said.
“No, it doesn’t.” She reached for the shower to turn it off, but his hand clamped over hers, still fast despite how numb it must be. It felt like a glove of ice.
“Ruby, I’ll meet you back at the cottage later.”
She ran her other hand back up to his shoulder, now half in the shower’s spray herself. “I forgive you, Cyn.”
He didn’t seem to register her words, staring fiercely into her eyes.
“I forgive you.” She placed her palm against his cheek. “For killing my parents.”
He shook his head. “No, you don’t get to f-forgive me.”
She arched her eyebrow. “I can do what I damn well please.” He gave her the expression he wore whenever she questioned a command. “You don’t get to tell me what to do on this one.”
He gripped her wrist as though he were going to pull her hand away. But he held fast. “I don’t want your forgiveness.”
“You do want it. You just don’t think you deserve it.” All those words he’d said to her earlier tore at her, how he wanted her, how the thought of not having her hurt so badly he thought he was actually bleeding. “You do deserve forgiveness. And me.”
He groaned, so obviously fighting what she was offering. She stepped fully into the stream with him, pressing her body against his. His Dragon became a deeper, more vivid blue. He resisted, remaining stiff as she kissed the Dragon through the water, up his pecs to his collarbone.
“It’s the magick here,” he said on a raw whisper. “I warned you—”
“It’s not magick. It’s everything about you, Cyn, your honor and loyalty, and even the fact that you’re resisting for me. But all I want is you.” She kissed the place beneath his jaw as he stared at the wall with the ferocity of his resolve. She wrapped her arms around him, continuing to kiss the bristle at his chin.
He broke, burying his face in her neck and pulling her so close that her body was crushed against him. “Ruby,” he whispered, the one word a plea, a thank you, and a declaration felt by her Dragon.
Mine. His.
She nodded, tilting her head back and relishing his surrender. She dug her hands into his hair. “Come back to the cottage. Let me warm you up.”
He held on for another second before releasing her and shutting off the water. His hair stuck out in wild strands, but his eyes entranced her. That was where the magick was.
He grabbed the towel on a shelf but wrapped it around her, carefully drying her even as he trembled. “Let me get another towel,” she said, searching for a door to inside the building but finding none.
“I’ll put this on.” He pulled on the sort of garb she’d seen some of the other residents wearing.
She took his cold, stiff hand and led him to their cottage. As soon as she closed the door behind them, she went to the bathroom and got a towel. He’d already stripped out of the now wet clothing. His Dragon shifted, its eyes as fiery as its human’s.
She removed her cold, wet clothes under his watchful eye. As though she were the most gorgeous, sexy woman in the world. She did move with a new kind of sensuous grace now. It coursed through her as she approached him with a dry towel. She dried him the same delicate way he had done for her, rubbing the towel over his hair and mussing it even more. He took the towel and tossed it aside, tilting her chin up and taking her mouth. His hands pulled her close, one tangling in her hair, the other sliding down her backside.
Despite the cold, he was fully erect, pressing into her stomach. His tongue slid against hers, brushing the edge of her teeth, and she found it hard to focus on all the different sensations rushing through her. She was no longer cold, not with the heat of his hands, his body on hers.
He maneuvered her to the bed, sliding down with her and kissing her as though he couldn’t get enough. In between kisses, he said, “Ruby, if I make love to you, my Dragon will consider you mine. I didn’t get a chance to tell you that part. Your Dragon will consider me yours. It’s—”
She gripped his face, touching her nose to his. “My Dragon already has it in its head that you’re mine. Ours. Whatever.” She kissed him hard, pulling him down so she could feel the weight of him on top of her. She sank into the soft mattress under him, feeling fully encompassed. For so long, she was the tough one, or so she thought. Now she gave in to his strength.
Need.
Not only her need, but also her Dragon’s. Its craving roared through her, nearly sweeping her away. She held on to control, even as its heat licked through her.
Cyn rolled them to the side and nibbled down her neck, sliding his hands around to cup her butt and pull her tight against his pelvis. He met her eyes before kissing her again, wrapping his body around hers.
She pushed him back onto the bed and straddled him, breathless at the sight of his naked body against the moss-green sheets. She leaned down and kissed his beautiful Dragon, feeling its heat beneath her lips. Her Dragon stirred where it touched the side of his stomach.
He caressed her breasts, rubbing his thumbs over her nipples. He’d said he wanted to get lost in her, and she knew the feeling of that madness. She left a trail of kisses across his ridged abdomen and then along his shaft and the velvety tip. He let out a sound between a growl and a sigh that made her smile just before she took him into her mouth. She stroked, licked, sucked, feeling his thigh muscles tighten beneath her hand as she brought him to the brink of orgasm.
Not yet, baby. I have other plans for that big erection. Like burying it inside her.
She worked her way back up, slowly, and then wrapped herself over him. His arms slid around her, squeezing her tight against him for a few moments. Then he rolled her over and ground her into the bed, nudging her thighs apart with his knee. He bowed before her, dipping his head between her legs. She didn’t know which was more provocative, his bowing or his mouth covering her throbbing clit. His tongue danced and flicked and made her arch in pleasure. Then a wave washed over her, and she writhed at the overwhelming sensation rocketing through her. When he made her come a second, and then a third time, electric shocks coursed through her body.
He sat up and pulled her onto his lap, facing him, encircling her waist with his arms. She eased onto him, glad he’d readied her as the length of him pushed inside her. And in the way her Dragon had filled an emptiness she’d harbored since adolescence, Cyn filled her soul. She’d never had sex in this position before and relished how close she was to him. He lifted her butt, his hands firm and warm over the cool skin, and held her aloft so she could move against him.