Chapter 11

“That lion has a thing for you.” Gage said nonchalantly without a hint of jealousy.

We strolled through the forest, having left behind the pride a while ago.

“So does the tiger. Saw the way they both stared at you, stripping you with their gazes.”

I glared at Gage, who had his hands stiff by his sides, not ready to deal with emotions when technically I was pushing everyone aside until I fixed my problems.

“Are you jealous again?”

“Again? Honey, I’ve been watching men devour you with their eyes since I first met you years ago, and this isn’t jealousy, but admiration. I’d give anything to watch the lion or tiger take you. But you’re still mine.”

“What?” I slapped his arm while he reached down and adjusted his package. “Are you getting off on this?” It never occurred to me he’d enjoy watching me with other men. The concept seemed foreign because maybe this whole time I’d misunderstood his protectiveness for jealousy. Was he into swinging with other couples because, while I’d never contemplated it, now it tickled me inside.

“If we were dating, it wouldn’t bother you if I slept with another man?” Or two?

“No, but it would have to be someone who adored and worshipped the ground you walked on like I do.” He grinned as his eyes glazed over. “Do you even understand how fucking sexy you are? Those gorgeous curves and that ass. You’re on my mind every day. I want to claim you, make you scream out my name until you forget everything else.”

There was that word again. Claim. I loathed what the witch and gargoyle had done, keeping me in the tower against my will, yet for these powerful men stating that they want to take me as theirs, I only melted in response. I yearned for them to assert themselves over me in ways that would stimulate me to no end.

You’ve got one twisted mind.

“Yep, that’s me.” I shook my head. “Anyway, don’t say shit like that, Gage.”

“Why? Turning you on too much?” he teased.

I bit down on my cheek and sauntered ahead while Gage laughed. He always pushed his limits, and the scary part was that I loved it. Like the time he’d insisted on making love to me on a thick branch up in the tree where he’d had his house built. Sure, the tree was encased in a thick canopy of leaves, making it close to impossible that anyone would see us, but he had neighbors in other trees. It had terrified me at first, but once we’d started, I hadn’t been able to stop, loving the idea that we might be seen.

“Knew it,” he said. “You want it so bad.” He jogged up behind me as we entered the ruins and headed toward the tower, then he grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him. “Come on, Elliana, admit you’re dying to scream with an orgasm and you’re just aching for me to fuck you.” He licked his lips and already his sexy eyes hooded.

I gasped for air, catching my balance as his grin agitated my libido in all the right ways, but I also didn’t want to lead him on. “Don’t think so.” I wrestled free from his grip and moved backward, but my heel caught on a rock, and I stumbled, my arms pinwheeling.

He moved with such swiftness, he might as well have been the wind. His arm swooped under my back, catching me, but instead of bringing me back up, he fell to his knees and laid me onto my back in the lush grass rustling around us. He joined me, his body against my side, his head rested on a bent elbow.

“Damn, that was smooth.” I laughed as he blew on his bent fingers before rubbing them across his chest.

The moon’s halo reflected in his green eyes. I had no intention of getting up when arousal drove through me unannounced and ready for explosion.

“Elliana.” He whispered my name on the wind and brushed away a leaf caught on my sleeve. “Do you want to be with me?”

“Of course!” No hesitation. “But—”

“No.” His fingers crossed my mouth. “Tonight we are free. No restrictions. Nothing. Just us two.”

I adored that so much, and I smiled, giving him a slight nod. I longed for the time when every day I could do whatever I pleased.

The overgrown grass swayed, rustling, concealing us. My breaths picked up speed being so close to Gage, having his gaze swallow me. He had always been there for me, never pushed me away, even after I’d walked away from our relationship. With the prospect of Kahlo’s help, part of me toyed with letting down my walls, with finally falling into Gage’s arms and allowing myself to believe a blissful future was possible.

Reed’s words swirled in there too about him claiming me, and it excited me to have two incredible men desire me. Unsure how this would work out, I thought back to Gage’s comment about watching me have sex with another shifter. Was that just a fetish thing or him willing to share?

Yeah, because the lion will share! And oh, what the hell are you waffling about? Focus on the mission. Eradicate the gargoyle, then you can go all sex-crazy.

But with Gage’s thumb caressing my collarbone, thinking straight seemed too hard. What could I offer him if tomorrow I found freedom? For so long I’d craved escape, but now that I might gain liberty, fear squeezed in my mind. What would my future entail? What if I couldn’t stop the dread from owning me? Could I be normal? And it terrified me that such a simple concept seemed foreign. I’d lost part of myself so long ago. So who was I?

“Why didn’t you tell me about you not turning into a real dragon until you found your true mate?” I asked.

His eyes wandered to the field momentarily and the corners of his mouth tightened. “What difference would it have made? I didn’t want you to feel pressured or responsible. The love must be real for it to work.” He rolled onto his back alongside me and stared up into the speckled night sky.

How could I respond to that? It wasn’t too different a reason from why I initially hadn’t told him about my own problem. It reminded me of his earlier worries about letting me down by not being able to provide the dragon’s tooth.

I lowered my hand between us, our fingers intertwining. We were a lot more similar than I thought. “Why haven’t you found someone who can love you like you were their universe?” I felt stupid asking because deep inside I wanted to be his goddess, but for so long I’d driven him away, it wasn’t fair to make him wait on the off-chance I escaped my curse.

His fingers clutched mine. “Because I’ll never want anyone the way I do you. I don’t get a choice if my heart’s already yours.”

My stomach twirled, and I stiffened, biting down on my lower lip. “I’m sorry.” My throat thickened. “I let you down. Fuck, I’m a selfish bitch. I keep wanting to tell you to stop wasting your time on me. Find someone who can love you better. But I don’t because I want you.” Guilt iced my gut, and I might as well have been frozen. I yearned to be with Gage as if my life depended on it, but I didn’t deserve him. It felt as if a vise gripped my ice-cold heart because my chest ached like I’d explode.

I drew my hand back and rolled away, hating how my stomach hurt at disappointing Gage when he’d always been there for me.

His arm looped over my waist, and his chest plastered against my back. He held me close, embracing me from behind. “This was why I didn’t tell you. You overthink things, and I don’t give a shit about becoming a true dragon. My asshole of a family abandoned me as a child in the woods, so why the fuck would I want to be like them? And you know why I gave that lion shit? Because when I was young and homeless, a pride of lion shifters found me. Instead of helping me, they tied me up like a dog, threw me food, and called me their bitch. They taunted me, pitted me against their teens in battles while everyone watched and cheered each time I fell. I was a fucking child in human form!” His voice trembled behind me.

“Fuck!” I clasped on to his arms, shocked because he’d never opened up before about his past when I’d pried. “I had no idea. Was it Reed’s pride?” I held my breath, praying it wasn’t the case.

His response came fast. “No. It was another, but seeing all those lions today brought back an anger I’d thought I’d dealt with. But I learned long ago that lions look after their own. Anyone else is disposable. Like tonight, you went for help, we gave them assistance, and they left us hanging dry. Their pride is priority.”

I couldn’t deny what he’d said, but if I were in Reed’s position, I’d do the same thing. Priority went to the task with the most urgent need.

“I’m so sorry that happened to you. Shit, it’s like we’re both broken somehow, you know.”

“Must be why I was first attracted to you.” He dipped his head down and kissed the back of my hand. “You always looked over your shoulder, clearly scared to trust people, and you resonated with me. I’m not sure I’ll ever stop caring for you.”

I curled into his embrace, adoring his warmth and how he let me see the real him. Not just the brave man who’d tackle the world.

“Thanks for letting me in,” I said. “It means so much.”

His breath skipped across my nape, warm and ticklish. “For your ears only, honey. I may not trust most people, but for you, I’d lay down my life.”

“No!” I pulled his arms around me tighter. “Don’t you ever do that.”

His lips brushed the side of my neck, and a warm spark zipped down my legs. My toes curled as he kissed me in the tender spot beneath my earlobe. “I’ll never make such a promise. I’d leave my job as a guard, sell my home, sleep outdoors if it means saving you. You’re all I live for.”

My mouth opened to protest, but when his tongue found the length of my neck, I moaned. “It’s unfair of you to tease me.”

“I plan to take you right here and show you what you’ve been missing.”

I turned to face him, and his mouth found mine, obliterating every thought. Worries evaporated, and I savored his lips, drowning in my desire to have him move his hands under my shirt and feel me all over. He clenched my hair into his fist and tilted my head back. He licked my chin and down my neck, taking small mock bites of my flesh.

Every inch of me sizzled. His other hand pried open the cords of my vest and the buttons on my shirt.

“Touch me,” I purred as he dragged my top up and over my head. I sat up and lifted my hands as he drew them off me without hesitation. My breasts spilled out into the cool breeze, puckering my nipples.

Night covered everything, but considering how rare it was for anyone to enter the field, I had no worries of someone walking in on us. Though it might have excited Gage further if someone had.

“Sexy as fuck,” he said. “Love your tits.”

I collapsed onto my back in the grass, the blades cushioning against me, and I surrendered myself completely. Gage followed me, his tongue tasting a breast, sucking me, flicking my tight bud. Fire soared south, and I writhed, adoring his attention, his sexiness. I grabbed handfuls of his shirt and drew the fabric over his head, breaking our connection. He never stopped and sailed across to the other breast, tugging on my erect nipple, his teeth gently gnawing on me. My heart skipped, and I moaned in ecstasy as I pictured him pounding into me.

Our breaths raced, and I sensed everything, his quickening pulse, his hungry fingers plucking at my pants, his roaming eyes.

My hips rocked back and forth, grinding against him, drowning in the intensity. Fire enveloped me, and Gage’s hands were an inferno.

He kneeled beside me, wearing a mischievous smirk. I reached out and ran a hand over his strong chest, following the line of thin hair down his stomach and vanishing into his trousers. I kept moving my fingers to his hardness pushing the fabric into a tent-shape.

I shivered in anticipation. “You’re too far away.” In a click, I unbuttoned his pants and pulled the front open. His erection popped out, thick and long, greeting me with his musky scent. I adored the way he smelled. It drove me insane with lust. I rubbed a thumb over the tip coated in pre-cum, and he rolled his eyes back, moaning that guttural sound that did things to my insides.

He brushed my hand aside. “No, I’m too close.” Instead, he stared at me like a starving dragon, eyes alight and vertical slits for a few moments. His fingers hooked into the top of my pants and underwear. In one fast move, he jerked them down my legs and off me with such speed, it left me gasping and rocking backward from the motion.

“Shit, give a girl warning.”

He laughed, and I loved the gravelly sound, how the edges of his eyes creased with happy lines. “Here’s my advanced notice. I’m about to fuck you like never before.” He moved to between my bent legs.

I chewed on my lip and tightened my thighs together, driving home that deep tingle provoking me to an explosion.

His hands hooked under my knees, spreading me, and he hauled me closer. He lifted the bottom half of my body off the ground as if I weighed nothing, resting my lower back and ass against his chest. My calves rested over his shoulders, his hands interlaced over my stomach, his face right between my legs. I balanced myself by gripping the grass on either side of me.

Breaths came too fast, the anticipation of what was coming instantly took over.

“Picturesque view from here.” He whistled, his eyes locked on to my privates.

“You sure are a tease, and—”

I moaned loudly when his mouth clamped around my inner lips. I lost all words, all thoughts. I arched, groaning. He ate me—the noises he made ought to be illegal, as they screamed raw sex. Nothing compared to having him tongue-fuck me over and over.

I writhed under him, and despite me half-hanging upside down, I didn’t care as his lips mashed against my pussy. He gently pulled at my lips and swept his tongue over my clit so fast, I forgot myself.

“Fuck, Gage!” I looked up into his green eyes. They smiled with arousal. He reached for a breast, kneading it. His tongue was magic, and my skin was a frenzy of static tingles.

At once, I was caught between the intoxication and trying to make the moment last, but it crashed through me like waves. Slamming against my libido. I screamed and convulsed faster, harder.

Gage never released his hold and licked my wetness, moaning his approval.

All tension floated from my body, leaving me spent and floating on a cloud. My smile hurt my cheeks, but I couldn’t get enough. When Gage raised his head, his mouth and chin glimmered and winked. “You taste fucking incredible.”

He gently lowered me to the ground, then climbed to his feet and removed his pants.

I admired his erect cock, the tightness of his balls. But his shoulders curled forward, and his body shimmied.

Something was wrong, and I sat up. “Gage, are you okay?”

“Honey, I’ll be amazing in a few moments.” There was a familiar split of skin as his enormous black wings spanned outward, blotting the moonlight and drowning me in complete darkness, all except for the glistening golden tips on his wings.

“Oh, my. I so love where this is going.”

His arms found me, he lifted me with ease, but my attention fell on the iridescent scales spreading across his shoulders. Beneath my touch, they were solid but shifted with Gage’s muscles, and not slippery at all. For some reason, I expected them to be smooth, when in fact, they were rough. The rest of him remained human. Then there was his cock. That thing had a mind of its own, erect and ready, twitching between against my stomach.

“Wrap yourself around me.”

I hugged his neck and my legs hung off his hips, meeting his vertical slit eyes—golden and sexy. He kissed my nose, and suddenly his hardness nudged my opening. I wriggled over the tip, rubbing myself with him.

A gust of wind swirled past as he beat his wings in a powerful down thrust as we moved off the ground. He gripped me tightly, both hands on my ass. I held on. The world grew smaller and below us stood the tower in the woods. On the roof sat the damn gargoyle. I wished we could fly away and never return, but those were stupid dreams.

“Can anyone see us up here?” I asked.

“Not in the dark, but if they can, we’ll give them a show.” He kissed me long and deep. Without hesitation, he thrust into me. I groaned into his mouth, my jumping breasts rubbing across his chest.

“Ahh…” The breeze did little to cool me down when his cock filled me. I’d fumbled around with two other men before I met Gage, but I lost my virginity to him and wouldn’t change a thing about that.

I rocked up and down on him, meeting each slap, but the higher we climbed, the more my head swirled. His hands fell to my hips, guiding me quick, harder. I clasped his shoulders, lost in a dream of delirious excitement. I moaned at how much he stretched me open with his girth, yet I kept glancing in every direction, fearful that I might fall over.

His attention hovered on my bouncing breasts when he pivoted forward. Panic gripped me as I began to fall backward, but he’d already snapped his arms tighter around me.

“I got you, beautiful.”

With him still buried deep inside me, I now lay underneath him. We flew as he hammered into me, plunging so hard, I cried out with pleasure. The beat of his wings acted as a harmonic sequence to the thrusting of his dick. The breeze buffered against us, ripping at my hair, doing zilch to cool the inferno between us. Already a rousing electricity rushed forward with such speed, it spun my head. The explosive spark detonated within me, and I yelled.

“Fuck, yeah!” Gage roared louder and pulsed inside me. His eyes clamped shut as he rode his own wave. Both of us bursting with arousal. This was a point of no return. His lips and hands awakened me with every touch.

Except the wind picked up too fast, and my vision twirled. The world came rushing at us. We plunged toward the ground, head-first.

Terror dug its claws into my chest. “Gage!” I yelled.

“Trust me,” he whispered.

I clung to him, unable to catch my breath, and the whole time he remained inside me. Moments from us splattering into the rocky ruins, he swooped upward and landed on his feet with such grace, I could have sworn he was a bird. He stood upright, and I clung to him like a terrified leaf.

“You all right?” He lifted me off his delicious cock and placed me on my feet, but my knees wobbled beneath me. He kept a hand on my waist to steady me.

The ruins surrounded us, the tower and gargoyle in the distance, and my earlier excitement deflated. I embraced Gage, not ready to return to reality. “Please don’t leave just yet. Dawn is still a while away.”

“I’m not going anywhere. Now or ever.”

Just hearing his reassurance and promise, I let myself believe happy endings were a possibility.