I didn’t know what time it was when I woke up, but the sky was still dark, and the grounds were still quiet.

I felt him behind me—his warmth, his strength, his protection. His body. I was keenly aware of that, too, its lines and planes, the way it seemed to fit perfectly around mine.

I wriggled slightly, not even noticing at first. Not until he stirred in response.

We were still half-asleep, but our hands began traveling over each other in a slow, easy sort of exploration.

I soaked him in, wanting to remember this moment always. His thick forearms and even thicker biceps, the way the muscles flexed as he moved.

I touched his thighs, where it pressed against mine, and let my legs slid against his. His breath was hot on the back of my neck, his lips brushing against my skin as lightly as the touch of butterfly wings. But no butterfly had ever sent bolts of fire all through me, the way he did.

I turned in his arms, facing him, and his mouth covered mine almost before I could take a breath. Nothing was standing between us anymore.

I gripped his shoulders, then slid my hands over them and down his broad back as we kissed again and again, tongues swirling together, both of us gasping and grunting, sighing and groaning. It was the sweetest thing I had ever known, just lying in bed with him and letting him love me.

He gripped one of my thighs and wrapped it around his own, positioning his leg between mine. I pulled him in, gasped when he pressed against my already aching mound.

Just that slight touch was mind-blowing, making me want to beg him for more. My body spoke for me, writhing against him, helping him take off his shirt and feasting my eyes and hands on him. He groaned, throwing his head back, eyes closed. A powerful feeling, knowing I could pleasure him.

It made me want to give him more.

He ran a hand over my body, taking me in. Lingering over my breasts, cupping them, running his thumb in circles over my nipples until they stood at attention.

“Yes…” I whispered, my head rolling from side to side. “Yes, yes, please…” Only I wasn’t certain whether I was begging him for more or to stop, since I didn’t know how much more I could take.

I was already close to exploding, and he was only making the ache worse. Sweet, delicious torture.

His lips skimmed my throat, my chest, as he took the row of buttons down the front of my dress one by one, peeling it open as he went. Goosebumps rose over my skin when the night air touched it, followed by Miles’s warm, wet tongue as he tasted me. I sank deeper into pleasure, running my hands through his hair, holding his head close while muttering incoherently as he licked every inch of me. I needed to tell him how good it felt, how much I loved him, how much I needed all of him.

He lifted my hips, and I helped him take off my panties. His strong hands parted my legs, running over the sensitive skin of my inner thighs before his fingers stroked my moist slit.

My entire body jumped like a spring, my hips jerking upward, acting without my thinking. Working for satisfaction. He went deeper, sliding into my folds, working my clit with a gentle touch that still managed to set my world on fire.

I raked my nails over his back, panting for air as the tension built and built and finally burst.

“Miles! Oh, God!” I tensed all over, then fell back against the mattress with a contented sigh as the orgasm receded.

That didn’t stop him. He kissed me again, deeper and harder than before, grinding his erect shaft against my hip. Grunting, panting breathlessly, his tongue thrusting into my mouth the way he wanted to thrust into my body.

I moved against him, grinding back, losing all inhibitions in favor of sensation.

He was losing control of himself. I could feel the animal inside struggling to break free, wanting its satisfaction. And even that excited me, maybe more than anything else had. Being taken by a dragon.

I raised myself up on my elbows, letting the dress fall from my body to leave me naked, then I pulled him back down on top of me.

“I need you,” he grunted between kisses, the pressure against my thigh proof enough. He was huge, hard and more than ready.

I wanted to take him inside me, all of him, to complete the connection we had forged. I trembled with impatient desire as he took off his jeans and shorts, then lowered himself over me again.

His weight was welcome, as was the heat of his body and the touch of his sweat-slick skin against mine.

“Yes?” he whispered, shaking as hard as I was with the strain of holding himself back.

I looked deep into his eyes, more certain than I had ever been in my life.

“Yes.”

And he parted my folds, sinking deep into me, wiping away every other thought but the startling, mind-numbing pleasure of him. He groaned through gritted teeth, pulling back to drive forward again. Again. Taking control the way his dragon wanted him to. There was still so much for me to learn, and this was my first lesson.

I lost myself gladly, arms and legs wrapped around him, letting him take me the way he wanted to—the way I wanted him to.

His thrusts sharpened, deepened, sped up until our bodies crashed together and I realized another orgasm was already building.

I realized he was saying something, too. With every thrust. Mine. Mine. Whispering it against my throat as he thrust.

I held him tighter, overjoyed, whispering back that yes, I was his. I would always be his. He had given me my life back, and I would love him until the day I died because that was how it was supposed to be. From the moment I opened my eyes and saw him sitting there, so concerned about me. I was his, forever.

I clenched around him, moaning softly as I did, and he slammed into me one more time before finding his own release.

I was never so happy, so satisfied in my entire life. And so full of hope for the future.

We stayed that way for a while, wrapped up in each other, still connected. Our gasps for air eventually quieted down until the room was silent. I didn’t want to move. I didn’t want to break the sweet, solemn, almost holy feeling of it all.

“I love you,” I whispered, kissing his shoulder and the side of his head. “I love you so much.”

“I love you.” He raised himself up, and I was glad to see he was smiling. I had satisfied the dragon. It was a real boost to my ego.

He settled in behind me again, clutching me close. I belonged to him, wholly and completely. My shoulder ached slightly—when I noticed the bite mark, I craned my neck to shoot him a confused look. “What’s that?”

“You didn’t notice at the time?”

“I guess I was a little… overcome,” I grinned.

“That’s a mark. You’re mine now. It’s what we do. One of the many things I have to tell you about us.” He frowned. “Does it hurt?”

“No. Just a little ache. But it’s almost pleasant. Like after a workout.”

“I think you just got a workout, didn’t you? I know I did.”

“Just call me your personal trainer.”

He laughed. “I would be all right with you whipping me into shape, if every workout were like that.”

The sky was beginning to lighten, revealing the damage done to the grounds during the storm.

“We’ll have to leave soon,” I murmured, realizing I would never see St. Lucia again. Realizing I didn’t care. I would be leaving nothing behind. Nothing worth missing.

“We will.”

“And you’ll go home? With Gate and Martina?”

“You’re coming home with me too. You know that, right?”

“I do.”

“I haven’t even told you where home is yet,” he murmured, chuckling softly as he kissed my shoulder.

I closed my eyes, burrowing deeper into his embrace. “You poor thing. Don’t you know?”

“Know what?”

“You don’t have to tell me where we’re going. Home is where you are.”