Dragon Guardian Page 11

  The level of power she had over him hit her then. He was lost to the sight, his fist stroking in swift beats up and down his thick length while she fucked her fingers into her tight ass. She wanted to see him completely lost to prove to herself that she had control.

  Lowering her other hand, she spread her folds wide so he could see every bit of her.

  “This was when I pictured you fucking me, Aodh.”

  Merely speaking the words made her core clench, a warning that she was close, but it had the desired effect on him. His eyes went wild, his head fell back, and he let out a long groan of pleasure. Vrishti froze, her own body hovering on the edge of an experience she could still only imagine or dream of, but his reaction told her everything about how it felt to find that peak.

  His knuckles went white from the strength of his grip. She stared at his pistoning fist, his fingertips digging into the underside in a way that seemed almost painful, but it was clear he felt nothing but pleasure. After only a few more swift strokes, his body tensed and his hips bucked upward.

  “Vrishti …” he groaned as his semen erupted from his tip in thick white ropes, coating his belly. The voice was Aodh’s … there was no mistaking it, but the wild swirling of his eyes told her the sentiment was most certainly not coming from the dragon.

  They stared at each other, panting in rhythm. After a second, she removed her hands from between her thighs and slowly closed her legs. Her pussy was still tight with desire, but she needed to cool off or she’d go over the edge like he did, and then their entire mission would wind up taking longer. She frowned at that thought. Would it really be so bad?

  “I’m sorry,” Neph said, shaking his head. “That was really not fair of me to do right in front of you.”

  He seemed dazed and all the more endearing as a result. Would Aodh have apologized too? She guessed he would have. In fact, she would bet money that Neph was far less likely to feel remorse for such a thing. He really was pushing the transformation for her sake.

  She stood on shaky legs, retrieved the dishtowel from the back of one of the barstools, and brought it back to him. Simply walking was arousing to her, with her entire nether region fully engorged and soaked from their game. He glanced up at her with a grateful smile when he took the towel and began to clean himself up.

  “Don’t apologize. I think you are magnificent. And at least one of us got to have an orgasm. Um …” She halted, unsure whether she should even ask the question. He knew what they had to do, so she should trust him, right?

  “What is it?” he asked, glancing up at her, his eyes having returned to the pale static glow she recognized as Aodh’s.

  “What would happen if I accidentally finished? Would it ruin everything?”

  “Not exactly. Your estrous would take longer, though. At least it would happen at its normal rate … at the time your body would have naturally reached its fertile peak. This … ah … exercise is simply designed to make it happen sooner. Trust me, it will happen soon, and once it does, you can have as many orgasms as you wish.”

  His gaze slipped up her body and back down, his tongue darting out as he focused on the cleft between her thighs. Her clit pulsed in response to his focus.

  “You are so perfectly him,” she murmured. “Even his tongue.” She reached out and brushed her fingertips over the side of his face, then smoothed them over the nearly translucent, silken strands of his hair. Even on his knees, he was huge, his head coming to her shoulders and his chest wide and thick with muscle. She slid her hand down his neck to his shoulder, squeezing as though she didn’t quite believe the illusion. She didn’t, of course, because she knew better, but he was so real.

  “I am him in just about every sense but the one that matters,” he said softly. “But what I know of Aodh … well, let’s just say that I know the man better than he knows himself in a lot of ways. This …” He gently gripped his now flaccid cock. “… in particular. I am intimately acquainted with every inch of this body, so it’s not a big stretch to assume this shape.”

  Vrishti stroked over his shoulder to his chest and moved to stand in front of him. He shifted his knees apart to make room and she stepped in, gazing down into his eyes as she stroked the smooth, hot skin that stretched across his pectorals. He was pale, but his flesh had a sheen of warmth to it, and was smooth beneath her touch.

  “Is it all right if I touch you?” she asked. “I’ve never seen … well, never been this close to a naked man who I actually wanted.” Heat flushed her cheeks at his upraised eyebrow, pale like the hair on his head.

  “Does it give you pleasure, Vrishti?” he asked in a deep, suggestive tone.

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  “Then may I ask the same question? Is it all right if I touch you?”

  “Y-yes …” she said, uncertain of what she might be agreeing to, but eager to find out.

  Aodh … Neph … whoever he was … only rested his hands at her hips and squeezed gently. She smoothed her hands down his arms, marveling at the ropey strength in them, then stepped closer and bent down to brush her lips across his cheek.

  He stroked his hands up her sides, thumbs grazing the undersides of her breasts, then let them roam back down to her hips and slide back to cup her ass. His touch was light and unintrusive, as though he merely wished to pet her, to experience the same pleasure the softness of his skin gave her as she let her hands explore his body.

  She lowered her head a touch more, teasing her lips at the edge of his mouth, and he shifted just enough to meet her, capturing her lower lip gently between his. A little sigh escaped her just as he slipped his arms around her back and pulled her close, tugging her off balance so she was forced to slide down into his lap. He held her cradled against him, head bent to hers, their lips tangled. His tongue was the only thing that moved, teasing at the seam of her mouth until she opened and allowed him in.

  Her body hummed with ecstasy just from that soft invasion, and though he no longer caressed her elsewhere, she was acutely aware of every place their bodies came in contact. She inhaled through her nose, unwilling to breach the kiss for even a breath, and moaned at his fresh, cool scent—precisely the same scent she recalled from her brief moment in the dragon’s arms the first time.

  They remained entwined like that for what felt like hours, simply holding and kissing, his touch no more than a light caress of her jaw or shoulders as he worshiped her mouth with his. His body responded, however, and he took a moment to readjust himself when his cock pressed dangerously close to her core. When she reached between them to take him in her hand, he pulled her away, twining their fingers and holding her hand against his chest.

  She lost time like that, lost any sense of anxiety or worry, any impatience. The rest of the world fell away in Aodh’s arms. In her mind, they’d retreated back to that solitary mountaintop when he’d first kissed her, only now they were as she’d wished they could be—naked in each other’s arms, on the verge of making love.

  She never wanted this moment to end.

  Her stomach thought otherwise, however. When the first vibration gurgled between them, he faltered and she gripped him tighter, but the moment was over.

  He pulled back and took a long breath, smiling at her. “I suppose that’s our signal to break for food.”

  “We just had breakfast, though. I can wait.”

  But something instinctively felt wrong about that statement. She raised her gaze to the windows. Bright sunlight streamed in, reflecting starkly off the virgin snow outside. She sat up and looked around to the big grandfather clock that stood opposite the dining table.

  “It’s past noon. What the hell?”

  He chuckled softly. “Time flies when you’re having fun. Let’s get you fed. Then we can resume this, if you wish.”

  “Jeez, if I’d known all this involved was being fed and kissed breathless all day, I wouldn’t have been so
nervous about it.”

  “I did tell you it would get easier. How do you feel?”

  “Horny and hungry.”

  “Good. Two things I’m an expert at fixing.”

  Chapter Ten

  Neph

  Shifting focus to food again did little to calm the whirlpool of desire that sunk deep into Neph’s soul. He could barely catch his breath after having Vrishti in his arms for all that time. The fact that he’d been perfectly content just kissing her went against his very nature.

  It was what Aodh would have done, he tried to tell himself, but knew damn well that was a lie. Vrishti had followed his instructions, bringing herself to the brink of orgasm several times, yet not crossing that line even once. He had seen it in her reluctance to stop touching herself once she’d begun, and that look had driven him to his own orgasm. He had no doubt that if he could see her aura, he’d see a cloud of energy around her ripe enough for a dragon to absorb. Aodh wouldn’t be able to resist taking her over that edge.

  But Neph didn’t work the same way. Indulgence was his forte, and indulging in her meant sharing in as many sensual delights as possible. Fucking would be the pinnacle, and while he generally didn’t practice delayed gratification, the reward at the end of this would be worth the wait.

  He had to force his cock to agree, however, and stood in front of the open fridge for somewhat longer than necessary until his stubborn appendage finally relaxed. Being naked around her was as much of a turn-on as seeing her naked, even though what she saw at the moment wasn’t even his own body.

  As far as she was concerned, he was Aodh. At least, if she was humoring him with the fantasy. He needed to embrace his old lover’s quirks again, even the ones he’d found irritating. He’d spent ages inside the dragon’s head. Once upon a time, sharing thoughts with Aodh had been a welcome retreat from his responsibilities as a Dionarch. A pang of regret sliced through his chest. How had he gone so wrong?

  He made himself focus on the interior of the fridge and his gaze finally settled on the ideal lunch. By the time Vrishti returned from freshening up, he had the table set once again with a small feast worthy of her nature and her voracious appetite. She indulged herself in food like a true hedonist, in a way that would make Dionysus proud. Every bite she took of the hearty leftover venison sandwich was accompanied by sweet, joyful noises. She dove into the slice of cold blackberry pie with equal abandon, and after polishing it off, she swept up the remnants of purple filling left on the plate with her finger, sliding the appendage into her mouth and licking it clean.

  Her eyes lit on his as she sucked, lashes lowering slightly as she held his gaze. She must have seen how singularly focused he was on her mouth, because she narrowed her eyes and drew out the tormenting action. She slowly pulled the finger out of her mouth with a pop and then darted her tongue out to lick the length of it one more time.

  Then she grinned at him.

  Neph shook his head and laughed. “Sweet Mother, you are a temptress. Are you trying to get fucked, Vrishti?”

  She inhaled sharply and her cheeks flushed a bright pink. “You are good at being him,” she said. “I keep forgetting that you aren’t.”

  “The idea is for you to forget,” he said. “Let go and enjoy the fantasy I’ve made real for you.”

  Her face screwed up in irritation. “Except I can’t forget that what I need is for my body to do its thing. The waiting is driving me insane.”

  He stood and cleared the empty dishes, shaking his head and chuckling softly. “It will happen. The more you relax and simply indulge in what gives you pleasure, the closer you’ll get. Are you still hungry? There’s more pie …”

  Her dark eyes twinkled mischievously. “I’m full, but if you’d like to watch me eat more pie, I’ll happily indulge you.”

  “I’ll pass,” he said. “As much as I love watching, I do have my limits.” He turned on the faucet, grateful for the mindless task of cleanup to give him a distraction from looking at her for a few moments. He took a deep breath and soaped up the dishcloth, setting to scrubbing the dishes while he thought of reacquainting himself with the Source and the long-unused power of drifting through time as well as space.

  His thoughts were completely derailed by the sensation of Vrishti’s soft hands sliding around his waist and her naked breasts pressing into his back. His blood flow returned full force to his cock and he closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of her.

  “You’re so much more than just a fantasy,” she said, laying her cheek against his shoulder.

  He hooked his fingers between hers and drew her hand to his lips. “I am yours, whether it’s fantasy or something else. Every part of me belongs to you, down to my soul,” he said. He clenched his eyes shut tighter and swallowed. Every word was the truth as Aodh would have spoken it, but his own truth was woven so tightly with it he couldn’t tell the difference.

  “I know,” she whispered, brushing her lips against his right shoulder. “I just can’t not touch you. I don’t even know how to process all this, but it feels more amazing than I could have imagined. I so want to pretend, to let myself believe you’re him, even though I know better.”

  He exhaled slowly. Gripping her hands, he turned and opened his eyes, then smiled down at her, summoning every buried memory he had of his old lover and setting aside his own desires to show her what she needed to see to be fully invested in the fantasy.

  “Vrishti, my love, when I said I was yours, I meant it. That you’ve chosen me is the greatest honor. Your being a dragon’s fated mate makes our endeavor a tricky one, though …” He licked his lips as his gaze shifted down to where her soft breasts brushed against him. “My instincts wish to taste the glorious energy you can only give me by releasing your Nirvana. Waiting for it is killing me, but I know it will be all the sweeter for the delay.”

  He shifted his hands up her sides and brushed his thumbs up the lower swells of her breasts. Her breath hitched and she froze as he barely grazed the underside of her nipples.

  “I confess I wanted your orgasms for lunch,” he growled, bending his head to brush his lips over her neck. He grazed his teeth against the sensitive skin just beneath her ear. “I wanted to fill myself with your essence until I overflow. I still want that. You understand what that means, right?”

  She let out a shaky exhale and nodded, her dark eyes wide with desire when he pulled back to look down at her. “Your brother Gavra told me something once … I saw him at the Rainsong Lodge after he helped service one of the females. He said he never … ah … fucked them. Their pleasure was what sated him.”

  “I am starved for you, my love,” he said, thrilled that she was finally giving into the fantasy enough to mention Aodh’s brother. “So I have to live with food as a substitute. But maybe I can have just a taste to tide me over until supper?”

  He gripped her by the waist and lifted her up, turning in one smooth motion to deposit her on the countertop. Before she could protest, he had both breasts cupped in his hands and one dark nipple in his mouth, his tongue rejoicing at the pebbled texture. He moved to the other, giving it an equally reverent taste, then fell to his knees, pushing her legs apart.

  Summoning his favorite feature of his old lover, he parted Vrishti’s folds and buried his forked tongue between, kissing her slick, silken core with as much fervor as he’d kissed her lips for hours earlier. She let out a cry of surprise and leaned back on her elbows, her hips bucking up into him. The cry swiftly shifted to a moan and when her thighs began to quiver, he forced himself to pull back.

  Vrishti stared up at him, breathless and flushed, her chest heaving.

  “I can’t fucking get enough of you,” he murmured, rising slowly and shaking his head. He leaned on the counter, caging her between his arms and staring down at her. “The very second your estrous hits, I will be inside this sweet pussy, buried so deep you cry my name. Say it now, for me, love, just
so I can have a taste of that too.”

  She licked her lips and took a breath. “Aodh,” she whispered. Her voice caught, but the swift rise and fall of her chest was evidence of the depth of love tied to that name.

  She sat up straighter and lifted both hands to cup his face. In a stronger voice, she said, “I love you, Aodh. So much.”

  The knife of regret grew to a burrowing ember of pure jealousy. Neph gritted his teeth, reminding himself who she was seeing, who she was talking to, and it wasn’t him. In a mad effort to cover up his anger, he kissed her, conquering her mouth savagely. He hoped the kiss conveyed passion and love rather than the overwhelming need to possess.

  It made no sense, if he still had any love left for the man who he pretended to be. And he did, which was what made it so impossible to process. He would see this task through as much because he had to make things right with Aodh as because he needed to experience Vrishti falling apart under his touch.

  Chapter Eleven

  Vrishti

  The pretense forgotten, Vrishti surrendered to the claim Aodh had on her heart, her body, and her soul. Every touch was exactly as she’d dreamed, his warm, hard body enveloping her while his tongue penetrated her mouth, teasing at her tongue the same way he’d just teased her core to the very edge of release.

  He slipped his hands down her body and cupped her ass, pulling her tight against his hips so the hot rod of his flesh was lodged between them. She wrapped her legs around his waist and undulated against him, marveling at the contrast of velvety smooth texture and hot, hard steel so perfectly pressed against her core.

  Neph responded in kind, pushing his hips into hers and matching her rhythm. Her muscles clenched, an almost painful ache taking up residence between her thighs. The need nearly overwhelmed her, and excitement burst inside her chest. Was it happening now? Had her estrous started?

  She let out a sharp gasp and pulled back.