Pia Saves the Day (Elder Races #6.6)(25)

Always when he penetrated her from behind, he felt bigger, and he seemed to get deeper. He entered her with a growl that vibrated down her spine. A nearly inaudible whine came out of her in response.

Oh God, oh God. This was a miracle she didn’t even know to hope for.

Pleasure and emotion rocketed through her body. It was her turn to clench fistfuls of the bedspread. His hands clamped down on to her hips, and as he f**ked her, she buried her face in the material to muffle the sound of her sob.

He was mating.

Maybe he didn’t remember their life together, but he was mating with her.

That was the last true coherent thought she had before the swell of her own mating frenzy took her over. Her climax came over her like a steamroller. She flung back her head, gasping at the intensity of it.

Just when she thought the peak had passed, he wrapped an arm around her and found her clitoris with his fingers, and she exploded again. Clawing at his thigh, she urged him on.

This time his thrusts sent her against the headboard. She tried to brace herself, but she wasn’t in control. Neither of them were. As he came again too, an animal sound wrenched out of him.

Silence stole into the room, and stillness. It was a chance to catch her breath.

But only for a moment.

He came down over her, spooning her so that his chest pressed against her back. She could feel his heart pounding against her skin, a powerful, rapid force.

Meanwhile, he remained planted deep inside of her, his erection as hard as ever.

She knew this dance. They had been through it before.

Dragos buried his face in her hair, as he whispered, “I’m still not done.”

Chapter Nine

He dreamed of being buried, lost in darkness.

Beyond his grave, a splendid, graceful creature of shining, ivory light waited for him. She had delicate hooves and legs, and the single, slender horn on her forehead pierced him sweetly through the heart.

Come back, she called. Come back to me.

Yearning toward her, he struggled to free himself. Dust filled his nostrils, choking him. From an immeasurable distance across the starry night, Death, whose name was Azrael, turned to face him.

Azrael whispered his name.

Dragos was well acquainted with that old bastard. They were, after all, brothers. Azrael, also known as the Hunter, was a part of the dragon’s nature, as Dragos was a part of his.

He said to Azrael, You will not have me.

Azrael gave him a pale, elegant smile. At times Death could appear quite alluring. Green eyes glittering, he said, One day I might, brother. You are immortal, not Deathless, and nothing in this universe lasts forever.

Opening his jaws wide, the dragon let out a furious roar, and Death vanished in a blast of heat and light.

Dragos woke with a start.

Sunlight poured through the large windows of the bedroom. Pia nestled against his side, her head resting on his arm. She was deeply asleep.

Shaking off the dream, he lifted his head and let his gaze roam down her nude body. Her luminescent glow was not quite as apparent in the bright light of day. Instead, her skin retained a faint, pearly sheen. While the effect was subtle, it was still all too obviously inhuman.

Her current position accentuated the hourglass shape of her body. She had marks on her skin, faint smudges of bruising and reddened scores of bite and scratch marks. She was already healing, and by midafternoon the marks would be gone completely.

A more civilized man would care that he had marked her. Perhaps the other Dragos would have cared. He touched one fading bruise lightly with his finger. Being neither of those two men, and intensely possessive, he would be sorry to see them disappear.

Then he regarded his own body. He was so much bigger than she, harder and more calloused, and yet he had marks on his skin too. As he shifted lazily against the sheets, the scratches she had made on his back reminded him of her own passionate response to him.

Carefully, so as not to wake her, he leaned over her sleeping form and mouthed, “You are so very much mine.”

He was a fierce creature at the mildest of times. Now, the intensity of his feelings for her shook even him. And so, she was still a fool to have allowed it, let alone to have welcomed it as she had.

He eased her head off his arm and replaced it with a pillow. She never awakened. They had not stopped making love until well after dawn, and clearly he had worn her out.

Slipping out of bed, he went to the bathroom to sluice off quickly in the shower. After a few moments of searching in his closet, he located faded, cutoff jean shorts that he slipped on. He didn’t bother with any other clothes, or with shoes. The summer day was already acquiring heat, and besides, they were alone on the estate.

He left her to search for food in the kitchen. The refrigerator was well stocked with both carnivore and vegan dishes that could be consumed with a minimum of effort. Someone had planned well for them.

Standing at the counter, he ate most of a roast chicken. Once the sharpest edge of his hunger had been satisfied, he went exploring.

The office—the other Dragos’s office—drew him. He took his time discovering all the different components, glancing through file drawers, reading the first pages of contracts, studying building plans strewn all over a round, mahogany table. The construction site by the lake would be quite a compact complex when it was completed, combining both offices and living quarters.

Without having to be told, he knew that nothing left out in plain view would be vitally important. Any sensitive materials were either locked in the recessed wall safe he found hidden behind a paneling, or password protected on his computer, or hidden in the inaccessible recesses of his mind.