Dragon Heartstring(33)

“Yes,” he said, nipping at my bottom lip with his teeth. “Keep them right there.”

The sound of his labored breathing, of Demetrius on the verge of letting go of the rigid control he held onto so well, had unhinged my own cool demeanor.

I reached my arms beneath his and clawed down his back. “Harder,” I said. “I want it harder.” I skated my nails lower over his perfect ass, feeling the thrust and release of his muscles as he pumped inside me.

“Shakara,” he groaned.

“Stop holding back. Harder. Deeper.”

He reared up onto his knees and slid out of me. I gasped with the loss of him. With a heavy, dark look, he hooked my ankles over his shoulders and gripped the tops of my thighs as he pushed back inside me with a deep thrust. I tried to bite back my moans while he hit that spot inside me again, like he knew exactly where to stroke me in just the right way. I palmed my breasts. His gaze lowered. He pounded harder, flesh slapping each time he hit home.

I locked on his gaze and squeezed my breasts, then moaned his name. “Demetrius.”

He rocked twice more then held me still, gripping my thighs hard and grinding with his shaft buried deep. He groaned loud. His release was long. When he’d finally finished, he unlocked my ankles but didn’t remove himself from inside me. Rather, he spread out over me with his forearms above my shoulders.

Then he kissed me. And kissed me. Till I reeled with dizziness and an intimate sensuality that brought me near to tears.

When he finally pulled back and gazed down, still panting from exertion, as was I, he held a haunted expression—intense and almost forlorn.

“What is it? Demetrius?”

He didn’t answer.

“Are you all right?” I pushed back the wet strands of his hair hanging in his eyes. I hoped that look on his face was just a poor catch of light. “Demetrius?”

“No. I’m not.” He shook his head. “I’m afraid I never will be again.” He nuzzled into my neck and banded both arms underneath me.

That ache was back in my chest. A low, humming throb. The yearning still there. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him tight.

“I know,” I whispered with a light kiss to his neck. “I know.”

We were silent for a time, clinging to each other. I rested my cheek on his chest while he brushed his fingers lazily over my bare hip. “You know, I thought of you as this cold, ego-centric jerk ever since I met you at the Unity Ball.”

He chuckled, his chest rumbling beneath my ear. “That’s because I’ve been a cold, ego-centric bastard most my life. Following in my father’s footsteps, I suppose.” He sighed. “Though the old man isn’t all bad.”

“No one is all bad,” I said, lifting up and propping my chest on his. “When did you stop thinking about Morgons the way your father thinks about them? Was it when Jessen was injured?”

“No.” He shook his head, threading his fingers in my hair and letting the strands slip over his hand. “It was when Julian was born. When I first held him in my arms, actually. Jessen called me after she’d returned home from the hospital and asked me to come and see my new nephew. I wouldn’t refuse Jessen anything, especially after the guilt I felt about the entire Aron Grayson affair.” His gaze shifted from my hair to my eyes. “I didn’t know you could feel so much love for such a helpless little thing. I held him in my arms, very gently, because he was so tiny. Little arms and legs and wings. He reached up and wrapped his small fingers around one of mine, and I just knew.”

I leaned closer. “What did you know, Demetrius?”

“That I loved him. He was Morgon. And he was human. And he was my blood. In that moment, all the foolishness my father used to preach became just that—foolishness.”

I bent my head, nuzzled his mouth open with my own, and stroked my tongue over his, wanting to devour the delicious man. “I’m so glad Jessen and Lucius had Julian,” I murmured against his lips.

He smiled against mine, “I am, too.”





Chapter 12





“Thank you, Aunt Asheera.” I hugged her close on her hotel room terrace. “It’s been so difficult to wrap my head around the fact that he is meant to be mine.”

She pulled back and squeezed my shoulders. “It is not the first time a human and Morgon were meant for each other. It will not be the last.” She tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear in her maternal way. “Remember that our very existence comes from the union of a human and a dragon.”

I smiled at that. “Morga and Radomis.”

“Yes. As the tales tell, soulfire burned hot and hard within his breast from the moment he saw her. We cannot deny this pull when our dragon calls to us. You must tell Demetrius the truth.”

Readying for flight, I moved toward the edge of the terrace. “I will.”

“I know you’re afraid. But you must tell him.”

“I’m just waiting for the right moment,” I said, looking back over my shoulder.

She smiled her knowing smile and shook her head. “Youth. You’re always waiting for something. Tell him, Shakara.”

I blew her a kiss and beat my wings hard, lifting up into the air. My Nightwing Security shadow wasn’t far off. I’d actually gotten used to him following me. He remained far enough behind so not to make my dragon edgy, but close enough to watch for danger.