Chapter 10
Though it wasn’t quite dark outside, little light reached the inside of Lyrian’s sleeping cave. The flickering light from the lantern illuminated the room, the shadows dancing over Brad’s bare skin.
Lyrian drank in the sight of him. For a few moments, all the worries of the day filled her mind, clamouring for attention. It was hard to let go of her responsibilities, even though she knew Taurian and Verrian could handle them.
But this moment wouldn’t ever come again. A dragon only mated once in their lifetime. She deserved to enjoy it. So she let the fears and worries be carried away on the wind and focused instead on the man in front of her.
Focusing on Brad made everything else fade into the background. With him she felt safe, protected. She had no doubts in her mind that he’d do anything he could to look after her. Of course her brothers would too, but that was different. They had so many people who needed them. Brad just had her. And Anarian of course.
He stood in front of her smiling, running his fingers over her body. She’d shed her clothes as soon as the fur covering the entrance fell behind her, partly out of a need to complete the mating quickly, while they still had time, and partly because she couldn’t wait to feel his skin against hers.
He’d followed her example without hesitation.
Brad took a step towards her and pulled her into his arms, and Lyrian sighed in enjoyment at how good his body felt against hers. For a moment, she just rested her head on his strong chest. His hardness pressed into her stomach, just below her belly button. She needed it lower. But his closeness was enough to stave off the urgency, just for a little while.
Enough to give her a chance to just enjoy his presence.
Nothing had ever felt more right.
She ran her hands over his chest, down over his hard abs, the strength of the muscles at odds with the softness of the skin. The contrast that fitted so well with his personality, hard and determined, but with a soft centre. Lyrian felt a love for him well up in her, mingling with the need. The need not just to feel his body, but to be one with him.
Brad must have been thinking along the same lines. “So, is there… anything special we need to do, to form this bond?”
His fingers running across her bare bottom made it hard to think. Hard to even form the words to answer his question.
“I… uh… No. Just… mate.” The word sent a shiver up Lyrian’s spine. Sent waves of longing pulsating through her. Her feelings for Brad had always been strong, but right now, they were consuming her.
Brad’s eyes widened a little. His hand stilled for just a moment, then resumed its stroking. “I think I can manage that.” His voice was low and husky, and his words sang through Lyrian’s veins like molten rock, settling in a bubbling pool in her stomach.
“Are you… Are you sure you want to do this?” It was a struggle to get the words to form, even more of a struggle to give him any out. She wasn’t sure if she could bear it if he changed his mind now. Once they were mated, it wouldn’t matter. Neither of them would doubt this again.
Which was why she needed to be doubly sure now.
“Not at all,” Brad said promptly.
Lyrian’s heart skipped a beat, then thumped uncomfortably hard as Brad continued.
“I think this is the scariest thing I’ve ever done in my life, and I’m not sure it’s the right choice at all. It’s not sensible, or practical, or like any other choice I’ve made. But it’s what I want. There’s nothing I want more than to mate with you right now.”
Lyrian’s heart was torn. He’d said he wanted it. But did he mean now, or forever. “There’s no turning back, you know that, right?”
“Good. Because I don’t think I could make this choice twice.”
Lyrian reached up to cup his cheek and stared into his eyes. She searched his face, looking for some sign. Something that would tell her what she should do.
“Lyrian, I never would have imagined I’d say this, much less feel it, but I want you to be my mate. I want to be by your side as we watch our daughter grow into a beautiful young dragon, and as we grow old together.”
Lyrian’s heart sang at his words. Of course he was nervous and uncertain, this was a big step for anyone, but huge for Brad, who was so used to controlling everything in his life. But that didn’t change what was in his heart. And he’d just offered that to her. Her eyes filled with tears. “I want that too,” she whispered.
Brad bent down and claimed her lips as he pulled her body up hard against his.
Lyrian kissed him with a desperation that had been building all evening. It had stilled, just for a moment, while they were talking, but now it returned with a vengeance, the desperation only intensified by their conversation.
Now that she knew he was committed, that he wanted this as much as she did, she couldn’t get enough of him. She wanted to fill her mind with his scent and taste, with the feel of his body under her fingertips. She wanted to touch and caress every part of him at once.
But she didn’t know how long they’d have. At any moment, they could be interrupted by an emergency. And most of all, she wanted to feel him inside her.
Brad seemed to feel the same urgency. He lifted her up, his hands under her buttocks, and held her against him.
Lyrian swung her legs up and wrapped them around his waist, eliciting a groan of desire from him. “Can you hold me?” Lyrian asked, uncertain. Brad wasn’t a dragon, he didn’t have the strength and endurance that came from flying.
“I feel like I could do anything right now.” His voice wasn’t even breathless, though it was a little ragged.
Her mind freed of its one concern, Lyrian let herself focus on the moment.
She could feel him, nudging at her opening, and for a moment, she let herself enjoy the anticipation. How good would it feel to have him thrust into her? His teasing promised so much. Lyrian let the longing build, knowing the anticipation would only increase the ecstasy.
Brad was the one who gave in. With a groan, he buried himself into her in one swift motion.
Lyrian clung to him, knowing her fingernails were digging into his back, and not caring in the moment. “Brad,” she said breathlessly, her mind unable to form the words to say what she wanted to tell him.
She didn’t need to. He knew. He began to thrust in and out of her in long, swift strokes. Building in intensity with each thrust.
Each thrust sent new waves of pleasure through Lyrian. It felt amazing. Intense. Like coming home. This felt right. How had she managed to wait for this for so long? How had she not mated with Brad far earlier?
Each thrust seemed to burrow deeper and deeper into her core, bringing them closer and closer, until it felt like they were one.
Lyrian clung to him as emotion and ecstasy flooded through her, exploding through her body in a kind of pleasure she’d never known before. She’d thought she was prepared for this, for how intense the mating bond would be, but intense didn’t even begin to describe it.
Suddenly she realised that up until now, until this very moment, she’d been alone. Her connections with her brothers, her clan, all that had been superficial. Distant.
Her heart beat in time with Brad’s, and for a few seconds, it was as if they were one person.
*****
Brad gasped in astonishment and wonder. Emotions washed over him—love, connection, belonging, all coloured with pure joy.
He’d never felt anything like it in his life before.
The way he felt about Lyrian, the magic he felt when they were together, he’d thought it couldn’t possibly be any better than that. Until this moment, when it was as if his heart fused with hers.
It wasn’t ordered. It wasn’t under his control. And yet, it was perfect.
Truth be told, up until this moment, he’d doubted that the mating bond they all kept talking about could even exist. It had seemed impossible. Even more impossible than accepting that Lyrian could transform into a giant blue dragon.
But it was true. All of it. And more. So much more.
His heart beat in time with Lyrian’s and it felt like she was all around him, like he was encased in her love. Everything else faded away. All his fears, all his need to control. He just was. He and Lyrian were part of each other. Nothing had ever felt more right, more certain.
His legs began to shake, and he wasn’t sure if it was from the intensity of the emotions running through him, or the fact that he’d been holding up both of them for several minutes.
He gently set Lyrian on the ground, reluctant to pull out, half afraid that if he did, the bond would be broken. He didn’t ever want to lose that connection to her.
Lyrian stumbled a little, and they parted, then she leaned into him, giggling slightly. “Well, that was well worth the wait,” she said breathlessly.
That was an understatement.
Brad leaned forwards, resting his forehead against hers. The connection was still there. As though he were aware of her through some unseen sense. He had no doubt that if he closed his eyes, he would be able to point to her unerringly, even in a crowded room.
The words, the declaration that he’d never made, hovered on the tip of his tongue, but for some reason, he hesitated over saying the words out loud. It wasn’t as if he’d never said them before, to other women, but that was different.
They hadn’t really meant anything then.
“I love you,” he thought, trying to convince himself to say the words out loud.
“I love you, too,” Lyrian’s voice in his mind was warm and loving.
Brad pulled back to stare at her. “You… you heard that?”
Had she read his mind? He knew that dragons had telepathy, but he didn’t.
Did he?
Lyrian looked confused. “You didn’t mean me to?” Her voice was hurt and uncertain, and Brad could almost feel her pain.
He pulled her close, enjoying the feel of their naked bodies up against each other.
“I was just testing it out before I said it,” he thought, trying to project his words to Lyrian, hoping she heard them. “But I definitely want you to know it, and I intend to repeat it. A lot. I love you.” The second time wasn’t nearly as hard. But maybe he needed to try it out loud too. “I love you,” he repeated.
Lyrian smiled up at him. “I love you, too,” she said softly. She stood on tiptoe and planted a kiss on his lips. Her body pressed up against his.
Brad had thought they might have a chance to have a bit of a rest before everything went crazy again, but his body responded instantly to her closeness.
This time though, he suspected they should use the bed.