DarykRogue (20 page)

“I could go with her. You would no longer need to keep track
of my whereabouts.”

“No.” His voice lowered to a determined rumble. “Do not dare
to think about it. She’s not to be trusted.”

“And you are?” She heard the doubt in her own voice.

“You can trust me with your life, damn the hells.”

His statement transfixed her. Rayder, for a flash in time,
looked totally stricken. Vulnerability filled his eyes she’d never seen before,
and it melted something hard and cynical in her chest. She didn’t know what to
say or how to say what his statement did to her. She’d never imagined a man
wanting her this much physically. Could he feel more for her emotionally? No.
Perhaps not. This mating thing he spoke of was more physical than anything, a
biological imperative that glued men and women together to ensure continuation
of their species.

His took the cloth away from her again and tossed it on the
table. “I’m sorry.”

“About what?”

“That I couldn’t return fast enough to get you out of that
damn dungeon. By the god.” His voice lowered to a harsh whisper. “That bastard
Aramus!”

She flinched at the sharpness in his voice. “You couldn’t
have known. I’m glad you helped your friend, otherwise I never would have known
Ketera is safe.”

His fingers slid over her shoulders, and she touched the
dusting of dark hair on his chest.

She feared what she wanted. She wanted his touch, more of
the lovemaking she’d experienced before.

His hand slipped through the tumble of hair at the back of
her head. “I’m angry and I might scream or even break something. The thought of
the admiral harming you fills me with a rage I’ve never experienced in my life
before. I don’t know how to control it.” He drifted for a moment. “But always
remember, you should never fear me.”

Comfort eased into her tension, and she closed her eyes. “I
only know that you’re here safe and alive. That’s all I need for the moment.”

He lifted a strand of hair to his nose and sniffed it. A low
rumbled cleared his throat. “My beauty.”

His husky voice sent a wild thrill through her body, and she
shivered. He gathered her close.

Before this moment she’d always wondered what it would be
like to possess a man as much as he possessed her. On Magonia such a thing
couldn’t happen with their morals and beliefs. Yet it hadn’t stopped her from
wondering.

His eyes burned into hers, conveying the message of how much
he needed her. Rayder brushed his lips over hers, teasing each lip with one
sweet kiss and then the next. She didn’t respond, too drugged by the feeling.
All she could do was enjoy. Jerking her closer, he kissed her with a ferocious
taste of lips and tongue. He delved deeply. Stroking, he teased, flirted until
excitement danced along her skin with sweet, sweet tingles.

Xandra responded, wanting him inside her though she’d never
experienced his masculinity within her most private flesh. She needed his flesh
melding, stroking until desire consumed her. She skimmed her hands over his
nakedness with greedy desire, enjoying the metal-hard muscles as they bunched
and flexed. Her body understood what her mind hadn’t.

This was inevitable.

Destined.

Exploring him, she brushed her fingers over his chest,
tantalized by the arousing sensation of his chest hair along her skin. When she
touched his nipples, he gasped against her mouth. She did it again. Again. Each
time he quivered, his throaty moan delighting her, giving her power she never
imagined she’d have over a man.

He cupped her butt and lifted her slightly until her pussy
nestled over his cock. He rubbed his length against her clit and a fire started
deep in her womb. He walked her backward until the back of her knees hit the
bed. She sat down and he knelt to slip off her shoes. He tossed them in a
corner and looked at her. He yanked her pants off then lifted her tunic above
her head. She was naked in moments, breathless with the quickness of his
approach, stunned by desire.

Ruthless need heated his eyes as he stared at her with clear
hunger. His gaze turned as red as a star extinguishing at night. She crawled
onto the bed then scooted backward to make room. Rayder hovered over her.

“Show me…” she whispered.

“I’ll show you everything. Everything your heart desires.”

Chapter Thirteen

Desire pooled low in Xandra’s belly. She’d never seen him
like this, beyond frantic, eager and overwhelming with passion. With any other
man, the swiftness of her craving would have astonished and perhaps frightened
her. Yet they’d been here before, and with skin against skin, she craved what
they’d had. That silky slide into heat, the unstoppable plunge straight into
euphoria. Pleasure like what he’d shown her couldn’t be explained, catching a
human’s soul and stripping away barriers.

“My mate,” he whispered in her ear.

Overwhelming joy twisted inside her. She couldn’t deny the
connection, the unbreakable heat that brought them together. He palmed her butt
and brought their bodies even tighter together.

Crispy hair on his chest teased her nipples and they tingled
and tightened. A stirring swirled in her belly and moved with liquid fingers to
the soft folds between her legs.

Oh yes. Yes. She wanted this. Ached for it. Every texture
became new as his muscles moved against her, cradling and protecting, arousing
with each movement. He stared down with those red eyes, and the heated glow
added fuel to the fire starting to climb. One muscled thigh slipped between her
legs and pressed her clit. It felt so wonderful she closed her eyes and just
felt. Too many emotions and too many sensations bombarded her. It all felt
delicious and amazing.

Rayder’s emotions flew around inside him like a beast
determined to break loose. He’d never known a more beautiful woman in his life
or a more infuriating one. She’d risked her safety for him, and while he
admired her courage, anger sank deep teeth into him. She’d been reckless.
Punishment was in order. He needed to torment her with pleasure so undeniable
she’d never want to be free of him. Eager, he tightened his arms around her.
His gaze swept her. Though he’d seen her naked before, this time it felt more
precious and meaningful. Her body was creamy white, a bruise here and there
marking the trauma she’d suffered during the shipwreck. He traced one small
bruise on her shoulder and felt her body react with a small shiver. He kissed
another bruise on the opposite shoulder. Tenderness assaulted him, causing his
gut to clench not only with physical need but a driving desire to fuck. He
wanted her. Now. By the god, now.

“Never do that again.” His voice roughed. “Ever.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Do what?”

He brushed his index finger over her nose with a soft,
teasing touch. “Try to save me. You should not.”

“Why?”

“You know why.”

Exasperation crossed her face, and she allowed her hand to
slide down his broad shoulder. “Yes, I know. You think it’s dangerous. That
something bad could have happened to me.”

“It almost did.”

Those eyes sparked, flamed as her lips flattened into a
tight line. As it had from the moment he’d first spoken with her, his body
craved hers, his delight in the back-and-forth-banter requiring that he put his
stamp on her. When she licked her lips again, he couldn’t help but stare. He
wanted to taste each lip, to caress her mouth until she parted for him in
surrender. Her hair drifted over her shoulder, and he reached for the long
tresses. He buried his nose in the pretty scent. God, she smelled finer and
more edible than any meal. He trailed his lips down her neck.

Her body quivered. “But nothing bad really happened.”

He growled softly. “You defy me.”

A surprised and satisfied sound entered Xandra’s voice as
she said, “Yes.”

“I like it.”

She laughed. “I thought Dragonian men were dominating and
expected compliance.”

“I’m not dominating.”

Her eyes twinkled with amusement. “You’re not dominating?
Hmmm. I do not think I agree.”

His fingers swept down her arm to snatch her hand and bring
it to his mouth. He pressed tender kisses to the back of her hand and when he
looked up, her pupils were dilated. She licked her bottom lip. His cock,
already hard as spike, grew even harder.

Fluttering his tongue in her palm, he tickled Xandra and
hoped she felt as out of control as he did. “By the god, you are sweet. I want
to lick every inch of you, suck your nipples and pussy until you can’t stop
screaming with pleasure.”

“You are too explicit, Rayder.” Her voice was breathless
with a feminine huskiness that betrayed her arousal. “It is too…”

He tormented her arm as he kissed upward, upward until he
reached her neck. “Good?”

Once there, he teased with tiny kisses. Under his lips, her
pulse jumped wildly. He licked over that pulse point, loving how her skin
prickled and she shivered and moaned. Every sigh drove him to do more, to take
more. Tasting. Lingering. Brushing. Until her body arched in his arms, pushing
up against his hard thigh, rubbing against him to increase the beautiful
sensations that grew with every movement. He looked down at her body and
admired those small shoulders, long arms and the perfect jut of her plump
breasts with their tantalizing reddish center.

He cupped both breasts with tenderness, aware a woman’s
breasts could be over-sensitive when first touched. This was going to kill him.
He wanted to devour her on the spot. Instead, he reined in his desires, knowing
it might take some time to bring her to an orgasm.

Women needed special touches. Special attention to feel
wanted and sexually motivated. His mouth teased her right nipple. She gasped as
he licked, drew the bud into his mouth and tantalized with tiny flicks of his
tongue. She tasted more appetizing than any fruit.

Moving to her other nipple, he sucked it, used his tongue to
taunt her flesh into a tight, hard bud. He worked his way across her breasts
and heard the pleasure on her lips as he swept his tongue over and over each
crest before sucking them into his mouth and feeding on them with ravenous
attention. His cock felt so hard and tight, he wondered how much longer he
could wait. He wanted her writhing and helpless beneath him. Soon he fell into
a trance where only the moment mattered. The past was gone. The future never came.

All was now.

He maneuvered down her body until he reached the rounded
curve of her hips. Hungrily he took in reddish-gold fluff between her legs. It
curled tightly, barely covering her pretty little clit as it peeked out from
its protective folds. His groin tightened unbearably and he wanted to sink his
cock inside her. He held back.

Protectiveness also welled inside him—he wanted her safe,
but he wanted her to know she could trust him. Rayder gave her the first taste
of what he could to soothe any caution she might feel about what he planned to
do.

Xandra watched in anticipation as Rayder swept his tongue
between her legs. She gasped in delight. Pleasure escalated and built as he
explored one fold and then another.

“So slick.” He smoothed her moisture over her clit.

Another lick and another tortured her until the unrelenting
way he searched brought her craving that much higher. She wriggled, trying to
get free of the continuing torment.

“Please, Rayder.”

He worked her, the movement of his thumb on her clit
threatening to drive her mad. “What do you need, my beauty? Do you want to
come?”

Her head tossed from side to side as she tried to escape.
“Yes. Yes!”

He slid two fingers slowly inside her tight passage, pushing
deep, deeper. He began to move them in and out. She didn’t know what to ask
for, and when his mouth fastened on her clit and sucked, she came apart in
shuddering waves of paradise. She cried out as bliss rocked her for what seemed
eternity. As she came down from the high, she lay completely replete and
joyful.

With a soft growl he released her only long enough to slip
between her thighs. As a maiden she knew so little, and under his patience, she
witnessed physical love in a far sweeter way than she could have imagined. She
knew there was more to come, and curiosity mixed with apprehension and
eagerness.

Her body tingled from end to end as she looked up at Rayder.
She sighed. He was beyond beautiful. No. Not beautiful. The stark lines of his
hard jaw, eyes dark and hungry, lips parted and nostrils flared. All of it sent
new, hot feelings straight to her pussy. She shivered with longing.

“Please, Rayder.”

To her surprise, his eyes weren’t red. They simmered with a
tenderness she hadn’t expected. “What do you need, my beauty?”

Slowly she shook her head. “I don’t know.” Her hands
clutched at his shoulders. “I don’t…”

His mouth smothered her words, his tongue plunging in to
stroke hers. His cock settled between her folds, the teasing sensation and the
caress of his tongue in her mouth made Xandra squirm. Writhing, she pushed up
against Rayder and his cock slid inside her. She gasped and moaned against his
lips as his thick length spread her wide.

“Easy.” His soft groan into her mouth sounded rough,
unsteady.

“You’re so…big.”

He chuckled, and she opened her eyes to his smile. His lips
brushed hers with tender touches. “Does it hurt?”

“No. It’s…” Her hips surged against him, and his cock slid
deeper. “Oh… That feels wonderful.”

“Mmm.” He shuddered against her. “Do you know what you feel
like? Hot. Wet. You’re squeezing my cock.”

She tunneled her hands through his hair. Allowing the
sensual slide send sweet sensation over skin. “Is that all? I mean, what
happens next?”

“Don’t you know?”

“I know some of it, and this feels good, but—”