Carter gazed lovingly at Amy. She had fallen asleep halfway back to town, and he had never seen anybody look so beautiful. He parked the van in front of her apartment building, not really knowing what else to do with it. He glanced around the car and found a blanket to wrap around his waist before walking around and opening her door. He had every intention of caring her into the apartment, but she stirred when he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
“What’s going on?” she mumbled sleepily.
Carter’s heart surged with warmth. She was more beautiful now than he had ever seen her before. Now, she knew that she belonged with him.
“It’s nothing. We made it back to your place. I’m going to walk you inside, if that’s all right with you.
Amy furrowed her brow, sighed and nodded. She allowed Carter to help her out of the van and they walked togetheruntil they made it to her door.
Carter stood awkwardly outside, and Amy searched around for her keys and opened the apartment door. She paused, looking at him with a small, shy smile. “You want to come inside?”
Carter smiled in relief, relaxing immediately. He nodded. He wouldn’t rest if he wasn’t guarding Amy day and night from now on. Especially now that he knew for sure that she was his to protect.
“Come inside then,” Amy said softly, opening the door wider to allow room for Carter to step inside. He studied her, his eyes gentle, and followed Amy’s gaze. She was looking at him strangely now, her face tinted read.
“Do you want something to put on?” she asked, her voice meek.
Carter was confused and glanced down at the blanket he’d had clenched around his waist, realizing suddenly that he was still naked. Undergoing a shape shift left him completely nude, which is another reason that it was not permitted for them to shape shift within city limits unless it was a dire emergency.
“Yes, I would, thank you,” Carter said quietly. “But first, I’m concerned about your wrists and legs. Let’s go wash them out, okay?”
Amy nodded and led Carter to the bathroom. She handed him a towel, which he wrapped around his waist, and then dug through the medicine cabinet until she got some ointment. Carter took it and had her sit down carefully on the railing of the bathtub as he cleaned the wounds gently.
“Thank you,” Amy said softly, taking Carter’s hand as he completed bandaging her, “you saved my life.”
“I would do it one million times over,” Carter replied, his eyes boring seriously into hers. “You are the one I love. And I will love you forever.”
Amy’s eyes filled with an intensity of emotion that brought her close to Carter, and he wrapped his arms tightly around her in a loving embrace. Their lips met suddenly, electrically. Carter’s body responded immediately, and he lifted Amy up from the tub. She held onto him willingly, deepening their kiss with a passionate urgency. The dragon within Carter awakened immediately. He could sense her arousal. Almost taste it. The dragon was fighting with all its strength to be released; going insane to touch her. He wanted her more than he had ever wanted anybody in his life. And he was going to take her.
A low growl emanated from his throat as he held Amy close against his bare, broad chest and carried her through the apartment, his purple-hued eyes darting around for her bedroom. When he found it, he stepped inside, suddenly overwhelmed by the delicious scent of his fated mate. This was where she slept. Where she dreamt. Where he was going to claim her, finally, once and for all.
A low moan of desire reverberated in Amy’s throat and Carter responded immediately. She wanted him. Needed him. And he was going to give her exactly what she wanted.
Amy let out a soft gasp when Carter laid her in the bed, swiftly stripping her and climbing on top of her. His loins were ablaze with the depth of his longing, and he pressed his hips down against her, the urgency of his arousal hard and unapologetic against his mate’s body..
Amy responded enthusiastically, her hips arching involuntarily as Carter caressed her hair, her body consumed with fire. She let out a soft sigh as the shifter man’s body brought her to trembling on the bed. He allowed his eyes to roam the ins and outs of her body in an intimate way he hadn’t at the beach. She was beautiful. Perfect. His.
He began to roam his hands up and down the softness of her skin, the gentle but angular slopes of her hips, with a slow tenderness that quickened the woman’s breath and stirred a desire within her so deep that Carter could feel it. He knew it for what it was. He smiled against Amy, kissing her neck gently. It sent a shiver through her body and she gripped him tightly, her face flushed a deep red. Carter’s body responded with an assertive grunt, and he held her close, gripping her waist gently as he dropped his lips against the soft pink mound of her nipple. He tightened them around them, watching her intently for her reaction; his body on fire with pure longing.
The contact of his tongue against it brought a sharp gasp to Amy’s lips and she rolled her hips against him, urging him to fill her. It brought a wildfire to Carter’s core and he inhaled deeply, slowly beginning to push himself inside.
The blissful heat that awaited him there enveloped his member and brought a low moan of satisfaction to Carter’s lips. Amy’s breath caught in her throat as Carter filled her entirely, the delicious friction sending blissful currents of ecstasy through them both until he was hilted inside. She gazed at him, startled briefly, and then smiled slowly.
“Your eyes…”
The dragon was coming out in full force, and its power consumed Carter fully. Amy cried out in rapture as he began to use that power to his own advantage, thrusting his hips to enter her again and again with a slow, steady motion. The act brought the fire within him into a raging inferno. Amy’s fingers dug into his back as he made love to her, their bodies in perfect synchronicity as they found the deep beat pulsing within their bodies. They had entered a place that belonged only to the two of them, the pleasure crashing over them in waves encouraging them to act as one.
Soon, the personal realm of pleasure they had entered became too much and Amy’s body began to tremble. Carter gazed down into her eyes, stroking her soft, gentle cheek lovingly.
“I will always protect you. You are mine.”
Amy was too near her peak to answer and simply nodded her head rigorously, clenching her hands around Carter’s biceps and bracing herself as a powerful orgasm began to sweep over her body. Carter moaned deeply, his member engulfed by the sweet heat of his lover’s middle. It felt better than anything he had ever felt before, and he let out a low, gratified growl as he hurried the pace of his hips. Heat consumed him, and he felt himself tremble just as he began to release himself and join Amy in climax.
Amy arched her back wildly when she felt Carter unload himself within her, the heat filling them both until she was writhing against the sheets, her chest rising and falling heavily with the passion of her release.
“Something’s different,” she said as soon as she could catch her breath. She gazed down at her abdomen curiously. “Something is very different.”
Carter’s heart surged. He had felt it too, but he hadn’t known what it meant until Amy looked down at her stomach. “Amy…”
“What?” she asked, her face contorted in confusion. “What is it? What’s going on?”
Carter could hardly contain his excitement. “You are pregnant. Blessed with the life of a sacred child. We are going to be parents!”
“Parents?” Amy whispered, touching her stomach gingerly. “I thought with my illness I would never be able to have kids. Are you sure…?”
Carter smiled at her, nuzzling her gently with his nose as he slowly pulled out of her and gathered Amy into his strong arms.
“I’m sure. I love you, you know,” he said again. “I mean it. Nothing bad will ever happen to you again. Or to our child. Especially now. You have come into your power. And we are going to be able to teach you how to use it. Everything is going to be all right. We will have a family together, and we will protect it. Even if that means I never leave Earth. I will stay wherever you need to be, to be happy.”
Amy’s eyes filled with happy tears, and she buried her face in Carter’s broad chest as he held her. They had found each other at last, and nothing was ever going to get in the way of their happiness again.