Daughter Of The Dragon Princess(24)

     



 

For a few seconds, she blacked out. When she came to, she was lying in  his arms, his cock still sheathed inside her. She shuddered in the  aftermath of pleasure. He peered down into her face, then leaned down  and kissed her lips.

"Are you okay?" he asked again.

She opened her mouth, but couldn't seem to form the words. A slow smile  curved his lips as he pulled out of her and rolled off her in one fluid  movement.

Shifting her so she lay across him, he ran his hand down the curve of  her spine. His palm came to rest on the soft swell of her ass and he  pulled her closer. Lily lay supine against him, loving the feel of his  body beneath hers. She wanted to stay like that forever, to forget the  past few days, and just revel in the physical. But after a moment, he  dragged himself up so she sat in his lap. He cupped her face and kissed  her, then stared into her eyes. "You will never belong to Vortigen."

So much for not thinking. But there was such certitude in his voice and  in his face that something tight and painful unwound within her.

"Never," he reiterated. "I give my promise."

"So what will you do? What will we do?"

"I don't know. There must be a way and I'll find it. You're my mate and  nothing can come between us. Vortigen must respect that. I'll think on  the best way to approach him. We have some time. I spoke to him earlier  and told him we wouldn't meet him until things have calmed down. He  doesn't know where we are. We're safe for a while."

"Could we not go back to the portal now that Cole is safe?"

"I can't abandon the rest of my people." He brushed her hair back from  her forehead. "I swear to you, Lily, I'll never give you to the King,  but we have to confront him. In the meantime, we pray to the Goddess.  Somewhere there's a purpose in all this, a plan. There must be. And  while we wait, we train you."

"Train me?" Lily wasn't sure she liked the sound of that.

"You have to learn control and we need to assess the extent of your  powers, and you must learn to fight. There are still plenty of sorcerers  out there and I don't want you vulnerable. But before that, we have the  rest of the night. Come on, let's go find a bed."

Rising to his feet, he scooped her up into his arms and strode out of  the room, up the stairs. They passed Cole's room, then the professor's.  Mal kicked open the next door.

***

Mal pulled back the sheet and laid her on the double bed. She was  beautiful, her pale face flushed with passion, and already he wanted her  again, his cock hard, his balls aching.

Sinking down beside her, he breathed into her ear, then licked along the  line of her throat. She moved against him, and a tremor ran through her  body as he kissed down her neck, his teeth biting and nipping at the  soft flesh. For a second, he put his head against her chest, listening  to the frantic race of her heartbeat. Her small breasts were rosy from  his kisses, the nipples still swollen. He licked at one, heard her gasp,  then drew it into his mouth, suckling her until she sobbed from the  pleasure. Almost reluctantly, he left her breasts and moved on down over  her flat, taut stomach. His tongue lazily dipped into her navel, then  lower until his breath whispered through the soft hair between her legs  and he breathed in the hot scent of her arousal. She smelled of Ankesh,  of home, of wildly burning fires that blazed out of control. She writhed  beneath him as he reached out and tasted her with his tongue. With a  shudder, her hips lifted off the bed. He steadied her with his hands at  her hips, and then gave himself up to the delights of pleasuring his  mate.





Chapter 14





When Lily awoke, daylight was streaming in through the open curtains.  She lay wrapped in Mal's arms, her legs entwined with his. As she  wriggled, her body shuddered at the remembered pleasure, and she purred  low in her throat.

Someone coughed from the doorway.

She jumped, scrambling to pull the sheet over their naked bodies. Cole  stood just inside the room, staring at the two of them on the bed. She  couldn't quite understand what was in his eyes, longing perhaps. Then he  blinked.

"Why aren't I dead?" he asked.

Lily dragged herself into a sitting position, pulling the sheet with  her. She glanced at Mal. His eyes were still closed, but she was sure he  was awake. She nudged him with her toe. He ignored her. She frowned and  turned to peer down at him, entranced by his beauty. The clean lines,  the long sweep of his jaw, the thick lashes that lay against his golden  skin like lace. His sensual mouth, normally so stern, now curled  upwards. She couldn't resist reaching out a finger and caressing the  line of his lips. When they opened, her finger slipped into the moist  heat of his mouth, and she shivered.         

     



 

Cole coughed again, and she withdrew her finger and turned to face him.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

Cole shook his head. "I'm going downstairs. I'm going to make some  coffee. I expect you and Sleeping Beauty there to meet me in the kitchen  with some answers in five minutes." He paused. "Or I'm calling the  cops."

"You are the cops," a voice growled from beside her, and Lily smiled.

"Well, I'm calling some more cops; lots more probably. So just be  there." Cole gave another grunt of irritation, whirled around, and  stomped from the room.

Lily turned to Mal. Inside her, something unfurled as she looked at him.  Mine. The word ran through her mind. Mine forever. She bent down and  kissed him with leisurely delight, her tongue slipping into his mouth,  tasting. His arms came around her, pulling her down, and she pressed  herself against him, wanting to imprint the feel of his body on her own.  Dragging her mouth from his, she stared down into the glowing gold of  his eyes. Words of love hovered on her lips, but it was too soon and she  needed time to understand the feelings coursing through her. "I want  you," she murmured.

His mouth was fiercely gentle as he took hers in a long kiss. Her body was singing when he released her lips.

"You're mine," he said. "Mine for eternity."

Lily trembled at the words. Laying her head against his chest, she let  the tears trickle from her eyes. This is what she had wanted all her  life, what she had searched for and never found. To belong. Mal lifted  her face and licked away the tears, then kissed her again.

"Come on. We have to see Cole. Or he will call the cops."

"You could always order him back. Tell him we need half an hour. I thought he had to do what you told him."

"And I think I'm not going to let Cole in on that secret unless I have  to. I have a strange feeling that he wouldn't be happy. So move."

She sniffed. "I've got no clothes. Again."

"Wrap yourself in the sheet. We'll pick up your things on the way down."



Cole sat at the big kitchen table. He'd found a clean shirt from  somewhere, probably the same place she had. For a man who had taken two  bullets the previous evening, he appeared amazingly well. He was  drinking coffee, deep in thought, but he glanced up as they came through  the door.

"At least you've got some clothes on," he muttered.

She smiled and poured herself a coffee before sinking down into the chair opposite. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Bloody marvelous, considering I was sure I was dead only twelve hours  ago." He frowned and rolled his shoulders. "Actually, I take that back. I  just feel marvelous. Period. Never better, in fact." He narrowed his  eyes at Mal. "So, what the hell is going on?"

"Well," she said. "Mal's a dragon, I'm a dragon princess, those men last  night were sorcerers, and we opened a gateway between two worlds." She  turned to Mal, who was standing behind her, one hand resting on her  shoulder as though he couldn't bear to lose contact.

Cole sighed. "I saw it."

"What?"

"I saw the other world. Through the archway. That was it, wasn't it? Lots of flames and smoke. Didn't look too hospitable."

"Not for a human, perhaps," Mal said. "For a dragon, it's home." He sat  down in the chair next to her, poured himself a coffee, and topped off  Lily's.

"You know," Cole said, "when you first mentioned dragons, I thought I'd  got mixed up with a load of nutters, some sort of cult. And those guys  in their long, robey things last night just seemed to confirm it. But I  saw you set fire to some guy, no weapon, nothing, and I saw that place.  And … " He rubbed at his chest. "I know I took a bullet. I should be dead.  And there's nothing." He glanced down. "Maybe a faint scar, but it  shouldn't be possible."

"Two bullets," Lily said. "One went straight through. Mal took the other out, and he healed you."

"How?"

"Dragon's blood."

"Right. Dragon's blood. Powerful stuff, no doubt." He sighed. "I don't  suppose I'm going to wake up and find this is all a dream, am I?"