Embraced by Fire (27 page)

She felt so strange, all squerly and tingly inside. Restlessly, she arched against his mouth. The Ryu of her dreams never made her feel this wonderful. The reality of his touch surpassed her fantasies, it was pure magic.

His fingers stroked down her ribs, over her stomach to her hips. While his clever tongue made her mindless, his nimble fingers traced her dips and curves, pushing her closer to the edge of insanity.

He shifted his leg between her thighs, pushing them further apart. All she could think was;
thank God
, and,
please
, and,
now
.

As his fingers traced a sizzling course over her hip closer to her centre, she arched her hips instinctively. She knew the soft cries coming from her mouth sounded like pleas but she didn’t care. His fingers eased under the elastic of her panties, and stopped.

Chapter 27

Kait opened reluctant eyelids as Ryu’s lips lifted from the pulse point on her neck. His hand withdrew and he stared at her for a moment, his eyes dark with desire.

Then he sat up, turning his back on her and dropping his feet to the floor. She thought he was going to stand, but he didn’t. Instead, he rested his head in his hands, his shoulders heaving as he struggled to get his breathing under control.

Trying to catch her frayed thoughts, Kait blinked and sat up, running her fingers through her tangled hair. What was going on?

“Ryu?” Her voice sounded husky with the desire still surging through her.

“I’m sorry, Kait, I can’t do this.” He lifted his head but he didn’t look at her, staring instead at the empty bed across the room.

What?
She mouthed the word at his back.

Swallowing hard, she fought back an urge to scream in frustrated desire. He’d seemed eager enough a moment ago.

She licked her lips. “Can’t or w…won’t?” Or worse, had she done something wrong? She didn’t voice the last.

He looked over his shoulder, and something in her face made him turn toward her. He hooked one knee onto the bed and leaned forward to run a finger across her cheek.

“Kait, you’ve had a terrible and confusing night. I can understand trying to lose yourself for a little while but…” He took a deep breath. “I don’t want to take advantage of how vulnerable you are right now. In the light of morning I don’t want you to regret being with me.”

When she opened her mouth, he held up his hand. “You hardly know me.
I
might know I’m a decent guy but you’re just guessing. You don’t strike me as the kind of woman who sleeps with someone on that level of information.”

I don’t sleep with anyone at all
, she thought,
but if I want him to finish what we started that’s probably the worst thing to say
.

Instead, she said, “Thank you for playing guardian angel. At the event the other night, about my car, during the fire, when I was crying. In those moments, I needed you like that, but now…now, I need you differently.”

He wiped a hand over his face. “It’s all the adrenalin and emotions playing games. Get some sleep and we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

Her stomach dropped as he set his foot back on the ground and turned away from her. Everything about him screamed “conversation over”. Before he could stand, she rolled onto her knees so she was right behind him and slid her hands up his back and along his shoulders.

“What if I told you...” She kissed his neck. “…that wanting you didn’t start tonight.” She’d never seduced a man before. It looked like this was going to be a night full of firsts.

“Kait—”

She kissed his shoulder, flicking her tongue out as she did so, enjoying the way he shivered. “You’re wrong. What happened tonight didn’t suddenly trip a switch for me. I’ve wanted you from the moment I saw you standing outside Fantasia Alive. The kiss in my office should tell you I want you, that I’ve wanted you for a while.” For a long while, she added silently, although her childhood dreams had long been surpassed by something more powerful.

“Kait—”

He tried again, but again she distracted him. Slipping her hands down and around his waist, she undid the button on the jeans he’d put on after his shower. She felt his breath hitch and his whole body tense.

“You said I don’t know you, but you’re wrong about that too. I knew you growing up. Enough to know you’re right when you say you’re a decent man. Plus, I’ve seen more of you in the last few weeks, days, and hours, than many women ever see of the men they sleep with.”

His hand grabbed hers, stopping her from pulling down his jean’s zip. “What have you seen?” The roughness in his voice shivered through her.

“You like playing with fire.”

He chuckled at her words, and she laid an open-mouthed kiss against his shoulder, enjoying the taste of salt and desire. She nibbled her way down to the oriental dragon tattooed on his arm. His chuckles vanished in a rush of air.

“If this is a mistake then I’ll learn from it. I’m a grown woman, you don’t have to protect me from my mistakes.”

He unwrapped her arms and turned to face her. “Are you sure?”

His eyes searched her face for what? Doubt, fear…She didn’t know.

“Ryu, make love to me.” She never imagined herself saying words so bold, but she didn’t regret them, she revelled in them. Awareness of her feminine energy welled forth and, leaning forward, she upped the ante. A kiss to confirm her desire.

****

Their lips touched. His resistance crumbled.

Outside the night was quiet, the hush broken only by the occasional swish of traffic. Inside passion flared, every moment heavy with anticipation and yearning.

Ryu knew he shouldn’t be doing this, Kait had been through a traumatic experience. He tasted the tender skin of her throat. She wasn’t thinking clearly, but hell, right now he wasn’t either.

The lush fullness of her breast filled his palm and he flicked his tongue over the sweet peak. All the powers-that-be help him, he couldn’t stop. He maintained just enough mental coherence to grab a condom before shedding his jeans, then his hands once again feasted on the bounty of her body.

She’d been a teenage wet dream, but the grown-up Kait far surpassed any fantasy he’d ever had. The clever, funny woman she’d become was simply too much to resist. She stroked her hand down his back, making him shiver. The purity of the moment struck him with the force of an angel’s kiss.

He moved, taking her mouth with his, plundering its sweetness. He touched and stroked, delighting in every soft sigh, every insistent whimper. He could feel how ready she was for him and suddenly he couldn’t wait any longer. Spreading her legs wider, he swallowed her husky moan as he settled between them.

He lifted his head, looking into her eyes which were soft with passion. His heart swelled and he felt gloriously free. He loved her.

He dropped his head to kiss her again as the realisation sank in. He loved her. He wanted to share the amazing knowledge with her. To shout it out. To passionately whisper,
I love you
.

But it was too soon, she wouldn’t believe him. It had been creeping up on him ever since he met her. He knew for him this was more than simply sex.

He would make sure she understood later. Let her know he would court her properly. Wine her, dine her, and make her his. She arched under him, pressing against his erection. He growled. She smiled, her eyes dragging him in. He smiled back, his body tightening in anticipation. They would talk later. Right now, he needed to be inside her.

As he pressed into her a slight tingle tickled the corner of his awareness but he ignored it, focused solely on the woman beneath him. He began to push, inch by thick inch, into her slick depths. He groaned. She was so tight. He flexed his hips and that’s when he felt it.

Bam
, like a noose around his soul.

Virgin blood.

He stopped as suddenly as a car hitting a brick wall. The room was silent except for their harsh breathing. He tried to keep still. Desperate to get control he rested his head against the side of her neck, his face buried in the flames of her hair.

His blood pounded a wicked tattoo in his head. His brain tried to understand the consequences of virgin blood while fighting his body’s desire to sink even deeper and make her his, to plunge them both beyond pleasure.

How had this happened? Never in his life had he failed to ask the woman he was about to have sex with if she was a virgin, but there was no doubt that’s exactly what Kait was…had been. He could feel the link like quicksilver in his blood.

“Ryu?”

He realised he was still buried to the hilt, unmoving. No wonder she sounded worried.

“You’re a virgin.” He hoped the words didn’t sound as much like a snarl in her ears as they did in his. But this was his life, damn it, virgins were anathema.

“Not anymore.” He could hear the hesitant smile in her words even if he couldn’t see it.

This wasn’t her fault. Yet it was. He raised his head and looked down at her troubled face.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I didn’t think you’d do this if you knew.” Her flushed cheeks darkened further. “You were already worried you were taking advantage of me. If you’d known I was a virgin you’d have pulled back. You’re too honourable to do otherwise. So I didn’t tell you.”

His teeth began to ache, his jaw was clenched so tight. She was right, he wouldn’t have gone this far if he’d known, but not for the reason she thought. Well, maybe for that reason as well. However, as a dragon, honour wasn’t ever going to be his main reason. A virgin!

He was trapped—his freedom lost.

He wanted to turn back time, to never have met her.

He wanted to turn back time, to never have entered her.

He wanted to turn back time, but he couldn’t. She'd bound him forever.

And she didn’t even know he was a dragon.

She moved beneath him, trying to get comfortable. He gasped as her muscles clenched. Not only was he squashing her, if he didn’t pull out right now he would fly right into the danger zone. He began pulling out slowly when her hands gripped his hips.

“Ryu, I’m sorry. Please don’t stop.”

His heart stuttered and his flesh already buried inside her pulsed. What did it matter? He was trapped regardless.

He hesitated a moment then brushed his lips over hers. Pleasure flooded his veins as she smiled. He slid back into her hot depths, and drove them both to oblivion.

****

When it was over, he lay beside her, gasping for breath. It had never been like that for him before. He wanted to be angry but the power of their passion burned it out of his blood.

His muscles were so relaxed moving seemed impossible. And his body was warm, especially where Kait curled snugly against his side, her head resting on his shoulder. Their position not that different from the one that started his downfall.

His breathing slowly steadied. Closing his eyes he relived the experience of joining with her. Never in his life had he been so close to anyone, not just physically but…he struggled to find the words for a feeling that overwhelmed him. Almost spiritual. The term soul-bond took on a whole new level of clarity.

The bond allowed him the amazing sensation of experiencing Kait’s pleasure with her. He’d known when she wanted him to go faster, harder. He’d felt her explosion run though her as a blaze of light in his mind. Her satisfaction and delight enhancing his own. His resentment at being caught mingled with his astonished pleasure. Had it worked both ways? Had she felt his orgasm ripping though him like a tidal wave?

“I didn’t know it would be like that.” Exhausted wonder filled her voice. “If I had known, I never would have waited.”

“That wasn’t normal. That was exceptional.” Exceptional, mind-blowing, incredible.

“Really?”

He gave a tired laugh. “Really.”

His laughter faded and he turned to look at her resting beside him. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips rosier than usual. Guilt flickered through him when he spotted a few places where her skin was brushed pink from his late night stubble.

Vibrant red strands of her hair caressed his arm. His fingers tingled in memory of tangling through her bright locks. Unable to resist temptation he picked up a strand lying across his chest and twisted it around his fingers before smoothing it out again. Like the fire it reminded him of, he always expected it to be hot. Instead the cool silken lengths were yet another seduction.

He couldn’t believe he was her first. This incredibly sexy woman was a virgin—had been a virgin. Were other men blind that none had seduced their way into her bed before now? Then he thought of what his own seduction had won him. A bond that reduced his freedom to ashes. He swallowed. Why him? Why had she let him in when she must have spent her life saying, no?

“Why did you wait?” He pulled away a little so he could see her face.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” Her white teeth bit down on her bottom lip and she refused to return his gaze.

“A man likes to know something like that.” A dragon even more so. “So, why wait?”

She shrugged, her shoulder jostling his. “Rachael thinks I’m a freak.”

He snorted. “Rachael would.” She wasn’t a freak she was freaking amazing, but up until a little while ago she had been an amazing virgin.

Enough strength finally returned to his legs that they would support his weight. He untangled himself from her arms and stood up. He needed answers, but first he needed a moment on his own to still his churning thoughts.

“I’ll be right back.” He made a quick gesture so she’d understand his disappearance then vanished into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

After quickly sorting out the condom, he ran water into the basin and splashed his face. The cold did nothing to calm the chaos in his head. He stared at his face in the mirror. He didn’t know what he expected to see but it wasn’t there. He looked no different, yet he was. He was mated for life. The dragon curled contentedly under his skin. At least one of them was happy.