Titus carried Bree quickly toward her bedroom, feeling her body temperature rise gradually in his arms with the growing heat of the moment between them.

The kiss between them had only further verified everything he already knew. And he was going to make sure he won his mate over in the bedroom.

He entered her room, realizing he hadn't been inside yet, and quickly noted the cute decorations and paintings hanging on the walls. Cozy.

But of far more importance was Bree, cheeks flushed, wanting him, just as he had wanted her from the moment he’d first laid eyes on her.

Titus came onto the bed over her and kissed her again. But this time it was more frenzied, more heated as she opened her mouth eagerly to let his tongue swipe inside, giving her a taste of the things he could do to her.

She moaned lightly, the soft sound muffled between their mouths as his hand cupped the back of her neck, teasing at her soft hair and skin.

While they kissed, pressing into the soft covers atop her bed, his hand found her breast, squeezing it and enjoying the feel of her curves against him as he pressed his body into hers. She moaned again, signaling her pleasure, and his lips came to her neck. He kissed along the pale skin there, playing with her earlobe between his tongue and teeth, gauging her body’s every response to the things he did.

“That feels even better than I imagined,” she admitted as he bit down lightly on the tip of her lobe.

“We haven’t even started, Bree,” he said lightly, arousal making his blood hot like dragon’s breath. He had to take things slow, easy for his mate. He wanted to let her savor every second of it, not rush her. Convince her this was right in every way, without pressure or forcing.

As he continued to work a slow trail down the side of her neck with his kisses, his hands found the hem of her shirt, pulling it up slightly as he caressed her curves, the soft rise of her belly, the small dip at the corners of her thighs that disappeared beneath the jeans she’d been wearing all day and that he wanted very badly to take off this instant. She squirmed lightly, but he didn’t relent, running his finger inside her belly button before pulling the shirt up even higher, revealing her breasts and the contraption that held them.

Thankfully, he knew how the damned things worked, having seen them in movies. Before she needed to take care of it, his fingers found the small clasp at the back, undoing it quickly so she didn’t have to lift a finger.

He lifted her off the bed slightly, just enough so he could pull her shirt and the thing off with it, baring her torso to him. Her face flushed more deeply, showing her cute freckles, and the sight almost broke him.

He’d traversed centuries of time and thousands of miles to end up here, finally with his mate, pleasuring her as he’d always wished.

Titus answered her aroused expectance without hesitation, squeezing both breasts in his hands as his thumbs pressed into her beautiful pink nipples. The less clothes she wore, the more apparent her curves were, arousing and more perfect than the titanium dragon could have ever hoped for.

Granted, she could be the shape of a carrot and he’d still love her. But it didn’t hurt that she had the silhouette of a goddess and an ample figure made for making love to.

As his hands worked on her breasts, making her arch lightly into the sheets, from the gradually building tension, he claimed her with his mouth, kissing and licking her exposed skin everywhere he could reach. Anywhere that made her gasp or twitch with want.

“You’re very thorough, aren’t you…?” She trailed off, breath caught by a moan as he sucked over one nipple.

“I want our first time to be memorable,” he said, leaving her breast as he came down to kiss up along the side of her hip.

“First time?” she asked, slight alarm in her voice, distracting her from pleasure.

“I mean just the two of us together like this, for the first time ever. Not holding back,” he quickly added, hoping to assuage her worry.

“Ah, I see,” she said, relaxing again as he continued to kiss her.

As much as Titus wanted to say it, telling her this was just the first of countless times he planned on making love to her for the rest of their lives after they were officially mated would definitely not go over well.

Even if he still knew in his heart she was his mate, Bree needed to go slow. Be courted.

Titus would have to be careful to not get too close, too fast.

So he’d just make tonight all about her.

He undid the button of her jeans, then held the small metal zipper with his teeth, pulling it down slowly, noting with satisfaction the way she looked at him in surprise and arousal as she held her breath.

Her scent, as delicious as it was tantalizing, filled the air around him as he pulled off her jeans, leaving her in just her pink cotton panties.

Titus brought his hands to her thighs, running them up the soft, curved lengths. She shuddered as they reached the edge of her hips, and they came behind her, squeezing Bree’s ass, relishing the feel of it after so many days of lusting after her.

She was already so tense, so close that it wouldn’t take much to encourage her over the edge.

And Titus couldn’t be happier about it.

His fingers found the apex of her thighs, exploring her body as her hands twisted into the sheets around her. Then, with one gentle flick, he pulled her into her first orgasm.

It was as sudden as it was incredible, and Bree writhed beneath him, biting down on her lip as her eyes flew open, overwhelmed by the sensation of it. Titus was patient, letting her ride out every last second of the pleasure until it had run its course.

Judging by how pent up she’d been, Titus guessed it had probably been a long time for her.

He’d make sure she never had a dry spell ever again.

Only one article of clothing remaining, he pulled off her panties and tossed them to the side, spreading her legs as his hunger for her grew more with each passing second. She didn’t have time to protest or question, the haze of release still over her as his tongue covered her clit immediately, making her mewl with shocked arousal.

This was everything to Titus. Pleasuring his mate wholly like this, no barriers between them. Only a dragon and his mate.

Even if the mate didn’t know about the whole “dragon” thing yet.

Bree was so sensitive it only took a couple strokes for her to come again. But this time she was unable to hold back, calling out his name into the room as her body tightened. His hands found hers, and she clenched onto them with surprising strength while, for many long seconds, she came in a frenzy of release.

Once she’d released, she gave a long, overwhelmed sigh.

“Nobody’s ever done that before,” she said, sounding very satisfied.

Titus couldn’t determine if he was incredibly satisfied that he alone had pleasured her like this or if he was jealous there had ever been other men before or if he was angry at the sad state of mankind that men failed to pleasure their women fully.

It didn’t really matter now, he guessed. He was going to be the only man Bree ever cared about or looked at ever again.

He’d make sure of it.

Instead of saying something, he went back to her clit, this time teasing around it with his tongue, gently stimulating her so she wouldn’t go too quickly. As he did, he brought one hand between her legs and felt inside her with a finger. She was so wet, so slick that he could imagine them coming together. How immeasurably wonderful it would feel to be one with her.

But he steeled his resolve, despite how hard he was right now, and just focused on Bree. He hooked his finger inside and stroked while his tongue continued to test her limits, licking lightly until her breathing raced, then pulling back for a moment to let her recover again.

And each time he stopped, he admired just how beautiful she was, so captivating in the low light of the room filled with the soft glow of the moon trickling in through the windows.

Titus quickened the pace, using two fingers instead of one now and thrusting into her, filling her like he wanted to fill her right now, licking fully over her clit with his tongue as he did. At that, Bree’s body raced toward release, her hands finding his tightly braided hair and tugging, holding on to anything as he relentlessly pleasured her.

She came again, longer and louder than ever before, and Titus released her, holding her closely as she clung to him like a lifesaver, adrift a raging sea.

“Titus. Oh, Titus,” she called out, clinging and thrashing at the same time, anchored to him as he felt wave after wave of pleasure come over her, crashing and receding in countless succession before finally ebbing.

Completion.

For at least a minute, Titus held Bree close, letting her sort out the remaining aftershocks as she came to amidst the fog of physical exhaustion and pleasure.

“What about you? I feel like I should be doing something, too,” she exclaimed, so breathless it was a wonder she could speak at all.

He loosened his hold on her so he could look into her beautiful blue eyes, made even more blue by the reddish hue of her cheeks.

“No. Sharing tonight with me was the greatest thing you could have done, Bree. Besides, I’m pretty sure you’ve taken all you can handle,” he said, unable to hold back a slight grin as she looked up at him.

She didn’t protest, but still looked unsure about the whole thing.

In response, he pulled the sheets over them both, only now realizing he was still in his clothes but more than happy about the fact that he could enjoy her soft, naked figure a few minutes more.

“Don’t overthink it,” he said quietly into her ear, and she giggled lightly, even as sleep quickly overtook her.

An ironic statement, given that Titus was most certainly doing exactly that. But he vowed he would try not to and instead just focus on doing what was right for Bree. He figured things would work out between the two of them if he did.

Fate had already showed it was on Titus’s side when she’d led him to his mate.

He just needed to take every chance he had to win her over.

* * *

The next morning, Bree sat on the porch swing with Biff, enjoying the warm breeze and trying to ignore Titus and Sever, who were bickering.

It was kind of a nice break from the tension between her and Titus. It had boiled over last night and resulted in one of the most mind-blowingly pleasurable moments of her life, but she still didn’t know what to make of it.

She’d gotten up and seen him asleep beside her, then gone down to make breakfast. They’d eaten quietly, not really talking, and she got the sense that he was holding something back.

Which was only fair because she was holding back, too. She’d given in to physical sensation, but she was still determined to protect her heart.

At least for now, while she was still trying to recover and be on her own and while she was relying on him for work.

It was all too complicated to start a relationship, and she got the feeling that he understood that without her saying it.

Even if he was comically possessive of her house, nitpicking on Sever whenever he tried to help with it. Once in a while, she caught him calling the gray-haired man Platinum and didn’t really know what that was about.

When they were together, they both seemed more normal and yet more detached from the normal world.

She rested her cheek in her hand and watched them, admiring Titus’s huge form, thinking about his body as it had been over her, so close. His eyes, which were usually frosty, had been hot and intense, like a white-blue flame.

He caught her looking and paused, his expression softening obviously as he looked over at her, making her embarrassed as she turned her attention to the road.

Her brows lowered as she saw a car there, coming up to her drive. Her private drive.

She stood, walking to the rail and leaning over it as she watched the long, black car bump and rumble over the dirt toward her house.

A shiver went over her shoulders and her stomach twisted with nausea.

It wasn’t his normal car, but she still had a feeling it was Geoffrey.

Her eyes darted to Titus and Sever, who had both stopped working and were looking in the same direction, alert in a way that was just like Biff when he sensed an intruder.

Biff scuttled off the seat and made his way clumsily down the steps toward the car, and Bree jumped up with a gasp to stop him, but Titus put out a hand, and the dog skidded to a stop obediently.

“Stay, boy,” Titus said, keeping his eyes pinned on the car, which stopped a few yards away.

She wasn’t worried, though. Titus was huge, and Geoffrey was tiny. And even if Sever didn’t get involved, she knew Titus wouldn’t let anything happen to her. She wasn’t sure exactly what was happening between them, but considering how protective Titus was on a daily basis, she was sure of that.

Geoffrey got out, his slim form in an ill-fitting gray suit, as usual, his brown hair slicked back, a pencil mustache on his face.

Titus leaned on his shovel, glaring, and Sever took a step forward, interested.

But then the two back doors opened, and two huge men got out, hulking dudes in black suits that were obviously hired security. Probably the type who knew how to fight and did it professionally.

Geoffrey was far worse than she’d thought if he meant to try and use physical force to get her to go back with him.

As he walked forward, looking smug, she glanced over at Titus. Should she tell him to go, given that they were outnumbered, and as big and strong as he was, he seemed more like a lover than a fighter?

She’d never seen any hint of him losing control, and even when her neighbor had been there, he’d been polite in getting the man to leave.

She didn’t want him to get hurt trying to defend her.

Sever snorted. “She’s worried about you.” It was almost like he’d been reading her thoughts. Was she that transparent?

“Shut up,” Titus said. “Stop doing that.”

Stop doing what? What were they talking about? Sometimes it was like they were in a whole other world.

She stepped down from the porch, but Titus walked in front of her, joined by Sever. Both men folded their arms.

“You got a problem?” Titus asked.

“I just need to talk with my employee,” Geoffrey said, sneering at her from between them.

“No,” she said. “I have nothing to say to you, Geoffrey. The gallery doesn’t have any contract with me, despite what you think, and the house is getting fixed and will pass inspection.”

“Is that right?” Geoffrey asked, eyes narrowing to slits.

She stepped out around Sever. “Yes. So get off my land.”

“This is the gallery jerk?” Titus asked.

“Who?” Sever asked.

“Tried to use her work against her. Control her. That’s why her house needs to be fixed so quick. He was going to try to evict her.”

Why was Titus giving up all her personal information? She put a hand to her head. Oh well. She guessed Sever had a right to know since he was involved now.

“Look,” she said. “Will you just go—”

She stopped as Geoffrey darted forward, grabbing her hand and yanking her toward him as he turned and started to run for the car.