Chapter Nine: Dara

It took them an entire day to recover. Once they made it out of the maze, Henrik had alerted another dragon—a distant cousin, he’d told Dara. His cousin was a fire dragon, shockingly red against the white of the snow when he arrived a few hours later. Dara had watched his arrival from the safety of a window.

Henrik didn’t want to deal with Alistair himself, and so the fire dragon had taken his uncle away. Alistair would pay for his crimes, and Henrik would finally have a home free from guilt and old pain.

There were lots of things Dara wanted to talk about, but that would come later.

First, they’d spent an entire day curled around each other in Henrik’s large bed. He’d lit a fire in the fireplace and they’d pulled the covers over their frozen bodies, hiding from the world in their cozy little nest.

They’d been too tired to do more than just kiss and hold each other tightly. Henrik had still been limping a little when they’d made it out of the maze and back to his home, despite the way the diamond Dara had recovered had seemed to energize him. But his uncle’s claws and fangs had left wounds in his skin—even though Henrik had reassured her that shifters healed quickly.

When Dara finally woke up the next morning, it was to the seductive scent of coffee and the sight of a freshly showered Henrik with nothing but a towel wrapped around his hips, the wounds already faded to scars.

“Morning,” he murmured when he crawled back onto the bed to kiss her.

Dara eagerly melted into his touch, her arms coming up to wrap around Henrik’s neck.

“Morning. Mmm, coffee. I could get used to this,” she teased and then playfully wriggled out of Henrik’s grasp to grab a mug instead.

“You can, you know.” Henrik sat up to look at her, suddenly all serious despite the way his hair was still curling with dampness and his towel was slipping down. “Actually… I’ve been hoping you would decide to get used to this. To me, and to my home. And to stay here with me.”

Sudden warmth burst within Dara’s chest. She had to bite her lip to hold back laughter. “Henrik Drakeson, is that a proposal?”

“Oh!” he said, his eyes widening as he stared at her. Slowly, the towel was sliding down even further.

Dara kept biting her lip. The vision was too delicious to interrupt. Also, she wanted to see what Henrik would come up with…

“Oh,” he murmured again, flushing a little for the first time since Dara had known him. “Wait. I really messed this up, didn’t I? I should have come with a ring…”

Now Dara couldn’t hold back her soft laughter anymore. She reached out to touch the heavy, priceless diamond that hung from a chain around her neck, together with the smaller necklace Henrik had first given her.

“All things considered, I think I can let you off the hook when it comes to that. Given that I seem to have stolen your dragon’s favorite diamond yesterday.”

She reached back as if to take it off, but Henrik quickly reached out to stop her.

“No,” he said, his voice hoarse. “No, that’s what I was getting to. I’m sorry—it’s a little different for dragons and their mates. If this is what you want too—all it takes is for my dragon to claim you.”

“Claim me,” Dara repeated playfully. “Hmm. I like the sound of that.”

“That doesn’t mean that I don’t want to have a real ceremony, with a big party and your friends and family—but what I want most of all is for you to be mine, and to be yours in return. And for that, I want you to keep this.” Gently, Henrik reached out to touch the diamond that even now seemed to pulse warmly against her skin at his touch.

This was the secret to his power. His greatest strength, and also his greatest weakness.

“It’s my dragon’s heart stone,” he explained earnestly. “It’s my gift to you—along with my own heart. If you will have us.”

Dara shivered. He trailed his hand a little lower, allowed it to gently cup one of her breasts. Instinctively, she arched into his touch. It wasn’t really a question of if she wanted to be his mate, because deep in her heart she knew she already was. She’d always known, from the moment he found her in the snow and carried her to safety.

“Yes,” she then whispered. “Yes. I’m your mate. And you are mine.”

Very gently, he pushed her down onto the bed. Her own hands came up to trail down his back, pushing the towel aside as she allowed herself to be spread out.

“Traditionally, there’d be more gold involved,” Henrik murmured as he looked down at her with all the possessive pride of his dragon. “But I’ve given you my greatest treasure, and that is more than enough for the bonding.”

She flushed as she rested on the bed, the soft curve of her belly rising and falling. Her nipples were hard, taut little buds that ached for his touch.

She couldn’t look away from him. He was just as glorious as his dragon—all hard muscles and sinew.

Every time he moved, she could make out the shifting of muscles beneath his skin, his rippling abs crating little ridges and valleys that she wanted to explore with her fingers—or her tongue. He smelled good, too. There was always something of the ice to him—that peculiar crisp, clean smell of freshly fallen snow, mingled now with the smoky undercurrent of the fire and a touch of masculine musk that made her stomach tighten with want.

Between her breasts, the large diamond was still resting, heavy and warm. If the small diamond he’d first given her as a gift had been worth more than she’d ever earned, this one was worth more than she knew she could earn in her entire lifetime. But where before, the thought had made her feel insecure, as though she didn’t truly belong here with someone who could afford to casually give away such gifts, now that doubt had completely vanished.

They’d fought a dragon together. They’d made their way through a maze and to his treasure cave, and they’d nearly died. All that had saved them was that they’d worked together, as if they’d been made for that one moment when their eyes met and Dara had been filled by a deep certainty. She’d known in that instant that the glistening diamond was hers as much as it was Henrik’s; that for the diamond and the land, there was no longer any distinction between her and Henrik.

A dragon and his mate—that was what they were. With or without his treasure, they’d still have this overwhelming connection, as if fate had finally shown her all the things that had been missing in her life.

No, she no longer felt as if she didn’t belong. She was Henrik’s, and Henrik was hers. And the diamond pulsing with his dragon’s power was only precious to her because it carried a part of his dragon in it.

Henrik’s mouth was on her belly now, pressing little kisses to her skin as he made his way lower and lower. Dara bit her lips as she let her thighs fall apart in invitation. She was already wet, dripping with her need for him—but wicked as he was, his mouth avoided her for a moment to press adoring kisses to the inside of her thigh instead.

“You’re gorgeous,” he breathed, a finger finally taking mercy on her and trailing upwards, sliding through her slickness. There was something of the dragon in his voice now—that possessive pride that made her shiver with need.

Then his finger slipped inside her, and she arched up at the sensation just as his mouth moved upwards. His tongue was teasing her, licking little circles of fire around her clit. She couldn’t keep from writhing as his demanding finger slid in and out, twisting inside her just a little to touch her where it made her tighten around him for more and more.

“Henrik,” she gasped, her fingers sliding through his hair.

She’d wanted to pull him away from her, wanted to feel him inside her when she came. Instead, he seemed to take her moan as encouragement and fastened his lips over her clit instead, sucking on the sensitive little nub until she felt as if she was flying apart. Waves of pleasure raced through her, and she throbbed around his finger in a sudden, dizzying climax, panting for air.

Then Henrik at last released her, only to slide over her instead. She was exhausted, but even so, the sensation of that powerful body atop her made her moan anew. His eyes were filled with the dragon’s power now, that stunning, gleaming blue of a glacier.

Against her thigh, she could feel his arousal. His cock was hard as a rock, and large enough to make her moan with overwhelming need as he finally slid inside her.

It was just as good as the first time. He filled her perfectly, so that every thrust made her body tremble and tighten around him as pleasure raced up her spine, setting all her nerves on fire. But this time, with his diamond resting on her damp skin, with his blue eyes watching her every move as if he was still afraid that somehow, he might lose her, there was something even deeper than the pleasure.

It wasn’t just Henrik making love to her. It was his dragon that was claiming her. She could see it in his eyes, the stunning blue that shone with power and which was completely focused on her. And she no longer had to wonder what he felt, because she knew.

She knew.

In her chest, there was an answering surge of heat, like two lonely souls finally touching and fusing—a dragon and his mate truly becoming one, not just in body, but where it truly mattered.

Overwhelmed, she threw back her head. Her chest was heaving. Inside, she was on fire, Henrik’s shaft deliciously large as it filled her again and again until the pleasure overwhelmed even her ability to think.

It had never felt like this before. Her toes were curling, all the nerves in her body ablaze as he pushed them higher and higher—and then the pleasure broke.

Crying out, she tumbled off the cliff, soaring together with his dragon as she throbbed around him. Dimly, she could feel the heat of his own release fill her. His breath was hot against her sweaty skin as he gasped her name, and she clutched at him, riding out the climax that went on and on as he bucked against her.

Between them, the diamond pulsed warmly, joining the rhythm of their hearts, which were beating in sync now.

Dara pressed her damp cheek against Henrik’s shoulder. Her fingers found the rippling muscles of his broad back, stroking them as they drifted through the afterglow together. The dragon had claimed her as his—she could feel it in her heart now, the overwhelming joy of this powerful part of Henrik. But at the same time, she’d claimed him for herself as well. They were one now, and nothing had ever felt so right before.