“Can I ask you something?”

Smoke’s question roused me from near-sleep in the passenger seat of the Jeep. We hadn’t been on the road for very long, but I could barely keep my eyes open all of a sudden. I thought happiness would be enough to keep me awake—if anything, relief and lack of adrenaline were putting me to sleep.

“Of course. What is it?”

“It can wait if you’re sleepy. I didn’t know you were almost out over there.”

I reached over and rested my hand on his thigh. It was so good, being able to touch him even in the simplest way. How had I kept myself from doing it back at the cave? “I’ll be fine. Ask away.”

“You might end up wishing I hadn’t, but all right.” He looked over out of the corner of his eye. “What do you look like under what I see right now?”

Oh. That was unexpected. “What makes you ask?”

“Bradley, of course.”

“He showed you his real self.”

“Right.”

“Nasty, huh?”

“You knew what he looked like under his skin?”

“Sure. We can see through the glamours we put up for humans if we want to. I deliberately keep myself from doing it—you can’t un-see a thing like that—but I couldn’t help it in my uncle’s office when he told me I had to get married. I had to know what I would be marrying.”

“Poor thing.”

“You’re telling me.” I took a deep breath. “So, you really want to know what’s under this? I mean, the funny thing is, I’ve spent my life thinking of this as me. Myself. My parents always encouraged us to adopt our human skins as our own. They were very progressive that way—I know it might not sound like that to you—”

He snorted. “Did you forget what’s on the other side of what you see right now?” he asked.

“Right. I do forget sometimes. It’s easy to.”

“I don’t know how to think of myself sometimes,” he admitted in a low, soft voice.

He was opening up to me. He trusted me. I was his mate, and he was mine, even if we hadn’t sealed it yet. The significance of the moment wasn’t lost on me.

“Am I Smoke? Or the dragon? I think of him as being separate from myself—we all do, it just makes it easier to live without going nuts—but that’s not the entire truth. He’s half of me. Sometimes more than half, depending on the situation. Like earlier tonight, and every time I thought of you needing help. Being hurt. There was a lot more dragon in me then.”

“Because you wanted to protect me?”

“Because I love you.” He placed his hand over mine and laced our fingers. “I love you.”

I couldn’t breathe. My heart was going to burst, and there was nothing I could do about it. It was the sweetest moment of my life, the most perfect.

“I love you, too,” I choked out.

“And I love whoever you are,” he added. “You don’t have to show me if you don’t want to. But after seeing Bradley earlier, I couldn’t get the thought out of my head. There’s somebody else inside you, too. Just like me.”

I believed him, but that didn’t make things easier. I had never shown that side of me to anybody outside my family. Even Jasmine hadn’t seen the real me in years and years. “Later,” I promised. “When you’re not driving.”

“You don’t think you’re going to scare me, do you?”

“No! At least, I hope not.”

“Because after what I saw tonight… I mean, I’m fairly sure I can handle anything.”

I laughed. “It’s not bad. I don’t think so. But it’s a shock, is all.”

“Fair enough.” He let it drop there, and I felt comfortable enough to let sleepiness overtake me again.

* * *

When I woke up, I was in bed. Alone. But I wasn’t alone in the room. I could hear breathing that wasn’t mine.

I sat up and looked around. There was a small lamp on a table in one corner, giving off just enough light for the person sitting by the table to see by. I had to squint to make out Smoke in an easy chair with a book open on his lap. His chin touched his chest.

It was about the sweetest thing I had ever seen—he fell asleep watching over me—but I could just imagine the crick he’d have in his neck if I left him there. I cleared my throat, and he jumped, looking around.

“Sorry,” I whispered with a smile. “I couldn’t leave you there like that.”

“It’s okay.” He closed the book and rubbed his eyes with a sleepy smile of his own.

“I guess I went out pretty hard, huh?”

“You were definitely asleep,” he chuckled. “Slept through the walk through the tunnel and everything. I carried you the whole way.”

“Oof. I hope I wasn’t too heavy.”

“You know you weren’t.”

“Why did you stay there, in the chair?”

He tilted his head to one side. “I wanted to make sure you had everything you needed when you woke up. And I couldn’t imagine spending the night alone, knowing you were on your own in here. I wouldn’t have slept a wink.”

I blushed. “You know I was comfortable here before, when I stayed with you all.”

“You’re not gonna let me get off easy, are you?” He shook his head, grinning. “I wanted to be close to you. I don’t want to be any further away from you than I am right now, whenever I can manage it.”

My cheeks burned warmer than ever, and the flush extended over my neck and chest. Along with that went the goosebumps that rose up over my arms and legs. He was so intense, so honest and true and strong. And he wanted me.

“Come here, please.” I held out my arms. I didn’t want to spend another minute in that bed without him.

“You’re sure?”

“Don’t make me beg. Please. I need you.”

We would’ve made love back at the motel if the guys hadn’t shown up when they did, but I was sort of glad they interrupted us. It was better there. More private. More comfortable, for sure. And it made sense to do it there, in his home, where he had lived for so long. It was right.

He didn’t wait until he got into bed to start peeling off his clothes. He kicked off his shoes without breaking eye contact, then pulled the black t-shirt over his head.

I had ogled him when he wasn’t looking for as long as I’d known him, but this was something else. Every line, every plane was perfect. Lean but thick with muscle, smooth but hard. Arms that could’ve easily crushed me and I would’ve let them, because what a way to go.

He stopped at his boxers and pulled back the blankets. Instantly, my body went on alert. My heart took off at breakneck speed while my nipples hardened into almost painful points. Wet heat bloomed between my thighs in anticipation of what was coming next.

“I wouldn’t ever want to hurt you,” he whispered as he slid in beside me, leaning over me as I stretched out on my back. He was so close, so warm and real and vital.

“You couldn’t hurt me,” I whispered back as I reached for him and trailed my fingertips down his throat. He closed his eyes as a groan escaped and sparked a blaze in my core. “Make me yours, Smoke.”

He groaned again—or was it a growl? I didn’t have time to decide before his mouth covered mine and crushed me, forcing my lips open.

I gave in joyfully, running my hands through his thick hair as his tongue plunged in and explored.

My body arched without my thinking about it, like something else was taking over. My need. It was so deep, so dark and untouchable. But he was touching it, peeling back layer after layer, undoing years of putting up walls and losing myself in my work. I wanted to lose myself in him. It was time.

His hands slid down, down, over my thin shirt until he reached the mid-thigh hem and touched bare skin.

I gasped, pulling my mouth from his to whisper his name. He grunted in response while his mouth took a slow tour of my neck. I could’ve stayed that way forever, with my arms holding him tight, wrapping him in me as he drove me wild with deep, sweet pleasure like I had never known.

“So good… so good…” I whimpered when he stroked the curve of my butt, then around to my inner thighs. Muscles jumped and twitched when he stroked my legs, drawing closer and closer to the center of my need. I gripped his shoulders tight and worked my hips in circles, urging and begging and straining for relief from what he had so quickly stirred in me.

“I need you, Alina.” His voice was a throaty growl, almost animalistic. A shiver ran up my spine.

He needed me. The dragon needed me, too. Who was I giving myself to? Did it matter? When he hooked his fingers under my flimsy panties and pulled them down, I lifted my hips to help him get them off.

He positioned himself between my legs and lowered his head until his nose lingered over my moist, aching mound. His breathing grew ragged and harsh as he breathed in my scent. Knowing how I affected him got me hotter, wetter.

He spread my thighs to make room for his wide body before pulling his boxers to his knees. His hard, thick cock stood up straight and made my eyes go wide with surprise. I shouldn’t have been surprised—he was a big man, after all. It pressed against my leg when he lowered himself over me, kissing me again as he worked my shirt up to my chest, then kissed my breasts and flicked his tongue over my tight nipples.

“Oh!” I gasped, arching my back, lost in sensation. He was so big. There was so much of him to touch and taste and grip. Like his bulging shoulders, and the way my fingers sank into them as he drove his hot, erect cock into me. My eyes flew open in shock as he filled me, stretching me, sending me into spasms of ecstasy with that first thrust.

“Alina… yes…” He pinned my body still with the weight of his and drove himself into me again and again, taking me hard. I didn’t have a choice but to submit—and I wanted to. I wanted him to use me for his pleasure because oh, yes, it brought me pleasure. Unthinkable pleasure.

He slid his arms under me and held me close as he rolled us over until I was on top. Even then, he didn’t let me take over. His hands held my hips in a vice grip and moved me up and down in time with his upward thrusts. I could only lean on his chest and go along for the ride as my body was wracked with bliss again, muscles pulsing around him as I fell over the edge again and came with a stifled cry.

“Don’t hold back,” he grunted before slapping my butt. “I want to hear you. I want to feel you come and hear you scream, Alina.” He pulled me down until my breasts hovered over his face, then drew my nipples into his mouth one at a time and sucked until another orgasm built and overtook me almost before the last one had subsided.

This time, I let myself go, screaming and moaning and whimpering his name when it was all over.

He eased me up and off him but still wasn’t finished. I wasn’t sure if I could take anymore, but he didn’t waste time finding out before he positioned me on my hands and knees. I could feel his eagerness, his desire to take me his way. I thrust my hips back in his direction, and he growled in approval just before parting my folds again and sinking deep inside. I threw my head back with a delighted moan, and he chuckled darkly in approval.

That was the best of all. I could take him deeper and meet his thrusts with my own, and I did. I wanted to let go the way he did, to let passion take over for a reason.

He wasn’t tender or loving as he pummeled me with deep, sharp, pounding thrusts that made our bodies crash together and took my breath away. He was more of an animal than I had ever seen him before. The dragon was close to the surface, and I welcomed it. I loved being that close to the both of them, both the reasonable, thoughtful man and the wild, raging dragon. I loved them both, because they were what made him who he was.

I gasped with every thrust. We were both sweaty and breathless and lost in each other, and it was coming close to the end. I could feel it in the way he lost his rhythm. I could hear it in his breathless, ragged panting. My sheath tightened once more as I raced to the finish. We got there together.

“Mine!” he shouted into the darkness as he came, thrusting once, twice more before leaning down to bite into my shoulder. I hissed in the middle of my orgasm, confused and aroused and satisfied. There was only one thing I still needed to do.

“Yours,” I breathed before collapsing into the pillows. “Yours, yours, always yours.” He wrapped me up in his arms and pulled my head back to his chest, holding me tight. His heart hammered wildly, matching the beat of my own.

“Are you all right?” he whispered almost right away. “I didn’t hurt you?”

“Not even when you bit me,” I assured him.

“That’s something we do when we’ve found our mate,” he explained. “Maybe I should’ve told you before we got started.”

“No—it was better in the moment,” I decided with a sleepy smile. I couldn’t have imagined it turning out any better than it had, with him setting my body on fire and rearranging everything I ever thought was important. We were all that mattered. All that would ever matter. Right there, in that bed, with the rest of the world outside. I would’ve stayed there forever, with his breath hot on the back of my neck and my body coming down from that burst of mind-blowing pleasure.

“Thank you for saving me,” I whispered as I slid into the happiest sleep of my life.

He chuckled softly. “Thank you for saving me.”