The scales beneath her skin shuddered but did not recede.
“As your mate, I demand that you open your eyes and listen to me,” he ordered again.
“I. Can’t. Stop. It.” The sultry smoothness of her voice was gone, replaced by a rumbling growl. When her eyes popped open, they flashed between brilliant blue to gold and back again. She was losing the battle against the dragon. They had to complete the mating ritual. Otherwise, she’d never be able to shift to her human form again.
“Listen to me, Stella. You’re not doing this. You’ve held on this long. You can hang on for a few more minutes.” He stood, and threw his bundled clothes next to hers. She looked up at him, and the shifting color of her eyes slowed so that they stayed blue for a few moments before going back to gold.
“That’s right, sweetling. I’m here. Look at me. I’m going to take care of you.” He knelt down and took her into his arms, and leaned his forehead against hers before standing again. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left you. I won’t make that mistake again. Not ever.”
A spark of hunger burned in the gold depths of her eyes, sending burgeoning hope zipping through him. The dragon could be stubborn, and if she decided to refuse him, nothing he could do would make a difference.
Her eyes flashed blue again, and she pressed her lips to his, tentative at first, getting bolder as he tunneled his fingers through her hair and deepened the kiss. He turned her so that her back was against the smooth rock and wrapped her legs around his waist, pressing the length of his cock to her hot core. “Please, tell me you want this. Stella, I need to hear you say it.” A pained expression crossed her features, and Brycen wanted to roar.
“I do. Please, make it stop,” she whispered, her voice cracking a little.
“I swear I’ll make this up to you,” he promised. He positioned himself at her entrance, and filled her with one hard thrust. He didn’t budge for a heartbeat, reveling in the moist heat engulfing him.
Stella closed her eyes, moaning as he started to move. More than anything he wished he could have better prepared her, but they didn’t have the time. He slid his cock out, only to drive it back in again, careful to keep her from slamming against the rock behind her. He’d never forgive himself if he hurt her any more than she’d already been.
The dragon inside him surged forward. His skin stung with the scales poking to get out. The small contractions already starting deep inside her had him moaning. Already too close to losing control, he pulled himself back, not enough to piss off her dragon, but to rein his in. He would have to take her like a fucking beast, but he’d hold on for as long as he could.
More than anything, he wanted her pleasure rippling through her as he laid his final claim on her. Neither his, or her, dragon needed it, but the human side of him did. Reaching between them, he circled her clit, stroking and teasing it as he continued pounding inside her. Her muscles rippled around his cock as she dug her nails into his shoulders, the sting bringing him closer to the edge. When he looked down, she had her eyes closed, and her mouth gaped open. Already, the shift had begun. Her teeth, usually perfectly blunt, had sharp, pointed tips. They could tear and rend—or mark her mate.
Brycen pulled her closer, pressing her against him. Her hardened nipples scraped against his chest, and he moaned again. Later he would ravish them along with the rest of her. He’d spend every day worshiping every part of her, but only if he could finish the ritual.
He tilted his pelvis, as he drove inside her again. A rumbling growl followed her soft keening wail. The dragon was close. His heart raced, and for the first time in his life, Brycen bared his neck to another dragon, getting no resistance from the beast inside him. This time, he would gladly take her bite. He would leave himself vulnerable to allow her to stake her claim.
“I’m ready to be your mate. Claim me, mark me as your own,” he demanded as he kept thrusting into her.
The sharp edges of her teeth scraped against the skin of his shoulder, and he shuddered. His cock swelled inside her, and he was lost. Nothing had ever prepared him for the sizzling heat racing in his veins, or the pleasure streaking through him, as his dragon rose up to meet hers.
When she started to move with him, thrusting down onto him as he thrust up, his teeth pointed.
Stella half moaned, half growled when he removed his finger from her clit, but not for long as he gripped a handful of her hair in his fist. Her pussy clenched around him, so he tugged a little harder.
“Brycen…”
“Do it, Stella.” He pounded harder and harder, scraping his knuckles against the stone behind her head with every thrust. He didn’t care if he broke every damned bone in his hand, as long as when they were done, she was his—forever. Brycen tilted his head to the side again, exposing his neck. He hissed as her nails dug into the skin of his back. Faster, and harder, he drove into her. Each sexy whimper and growl slipping past her lips made his cock throb inside her. When her hot breath skimmed across his shoulder, he moaned and tilted his head a little more. He held his breath as the sharp points of her teeth pressed into his skin. One moment of scorching pain, then nothing but white-hot pulsing pleasure radiated from his neck and shoulder where she bit him straight to his cock.