He swallowed and ran a hand over her hip as she moved a finger gently across his lower lip, setting off sparks inside him and making the dragon within him call to Ran.
“I’m not sure,” he said. But then she rose up and kissed him on the neck. Draven wasn’t a sensitive man, but the thought she was trying to please him made him even more painfully hard, and he hadn’t thought that was possible. “I don’t want to do anything to make you uncomfortable.”
“Draven,” she said, pushing hard on him and catching him off guard as she knocked him back onto the bed and straddled him. “My life has been hard, but there have been some exciting developments lately. Why not help me enjoy those? You said you didn’t know what you should do. I’m telling you now. I don’t want to focus on death. I want to feel just how good life can be.”
“I can do that,” he said, searching his mind for Ran even as she spoke.
“I’m already here,” a low voice said from the door. Ran was shirtless from sleeping, displaying an impressive torso their mate seemed to like.
Draven raised an eyebrow. Did she like his just as much? For some reason, he wanted her to. He reached down and pulled his shirt off and was gratified by the heated look in her eyes as she looked him over, pausing on each group of muscles.
He shared a pleased look with Ran, who looked amused. “Get over here,” he said.
“Don’t have to ask me twice,” Ran said, letting out a growl as he jumped on the bed and wrapped his arms around their mate from behind, holding her tight and making her look tiny by comparison.
Their mate. Draven grinned. That sounded amazing.
Having been inside her mind and seen everything she’d been through, he was more hopeful than ever that she was dragon-hearted.
But even if she wasn’t, right now he just wanted to forget. Just wanted to lose himself in this with two people he cared for more deeply than he ever would have thought possible.
7
As usual, Ran could hear far too many voices in his mind. Melissa’s, anxious to start, his own telling him this was so right, and his dragon howling for freedom.
Ran had seizures twice lately after shifting, before that, it had been every few years.
It was getting worse.
He’d been so happy when he’d come down the hall to see Draven connecting with Melissa. It was everything he’d been wanting, and he’d been running out of time when he’d seen Melissa outside the library.
He didn’t have time to look for another dragon-heart.
Melissa’s soft ass pressed into his abs and he sighed in contentment. She was so warm, so soft, so safe and calming compared to the tempest always swirling inside him. As she leaned forward to kiss Draven on the mouth, Ran enjoyed the interplay of the two beings, wondering what it would be like to be able to give oneself so openly to a lover without worrying about losing control or someone dying.
He’d tried not to be jealous or bitter every time Draven had been able to go inside one of their lovers. Every time his eyes rolled back in ecstasy, Ran told himself it was enough to just watch.
But his dragon was hungry to be trusted with more, and Ran couldn’t.
And that last time with Melissa, for the first time, he’d felt angry, had wanted more, so much more, had wanted to take her and pump inside her until the anger in him was spent, until all that was left was ecstasy and the peace he always saw on Draven’s face.
But Ran would never understand what Draven’s life had been like. He’d been raised with others, while Ran had been kept carefully alone, trained to control the dragon inside him until he could be trusted to even take a partner.
Draven had been his life ever since.
He ran his hands over Melissa’s shoulders, shuddering at the softness of her skin. If only he could trust himself, he thought, distracting himself by placing soft kisses along her shoulder and up her neck, smiling as her hair tickled his face as he leaned in to kiss her ear. She was sitting straight up now as Draven reached from beneath her, fondling her breasts.
Ran avoided the breasts, unless Draven was going inside her. They were so soft, so wonderful, and too much temptation, unless he had something ultimately distracting, like stroking or licking her clit to make her go or watching Draven pound into her. It was a powerful aphrodisiac usually.
She sighed as Draven played with her nipples, and Ran dipped a hand down to stroke in her folds, playing in her wet juices before testing a finger inside her pussy. It was tight, and she gasped and leaned forward onto Draven’s chest as Ran dipped in a little deeper, stroking as she let out a small scream.
It was risky, but Ran couldn’t help wanting a little taste of the heaven Draven usually got to experience.