swallowed hard as her heart hammered in her chest. She never imagined that touching the dragon would have such a startling result. But what was more: Tem was more distressed than she.

Pressing her lips together, she stepped forward again and pressed the washcloth to his chest.

Is this too hot?

Not hot enough, replied Tem.

She felt then how terribly cold he was in this cell, day after day, year after year and shivered.

I’m so sorry, she thought.

So, he replied, am I. But with you touching me, not.

She continued the slow decent of the soaped cloth down his chest and got lost in the landscape of his broad pectoral muscles. He seemed to sigh and then, incredibly, rumble in a low grumbly purr. It soothed her to hear that sound though it should have alarmed her. It wasn’t a human sound.

But I’m not human, Tem replied.

She rinsed the cloth and made it hot again, then retraced the motions of her hands. He sucked in a deep breath.

Does it matter? she thought. That you aren’t human?

It always mattered to me, replied Tem. But why shouldn’t it matter to you?

Astrid didn’t know. In all the lore she ever studied she never heard of this, of telepathy between humans and dragons.

It’s very rare, he replied. Almost a myth.

Astrid was in a rhythm now: rinse, stroke, rinse his skin, her hand swirling on his neck, chest and abdomen. She had removed the mess from Tem’s chest, but that wasn’t what was motivating her to continue touching him.

If felt so good, so very satisfying to have her hands on his body, it didn’t occur to her she should stop. It was as if she was in a fever dream where the line that marked reality blurred. Her only awareness was her hands brushing on his skin, which drew the most delicious purrs from the man.

Or dragon.

It hardly mattered.

His scent rose to her nose, leading her along a path of intoxication that drew her farther, not just into him, but herself.

His rhythmic purrs turned into thrums that vibrated through her body. She felt as if she were a violin on which he was playing the most intimate tunes. The vibrations surged down her spine, and up her thighs to her core, setting alight a fire that had been only hinted at in her young fumblings at love. But these pulses were deeper, fuller, searing pathways of white heat through her nerve endings.

You must stop, said Tem’s mind. You don’t know what you are getting yourself into.

Stop. How could she? There was only one purpose, here, now, and that was to touch this man, this dragon, this gorgeous male, and resonate with his essence.

You don’t sound like you want to stop.

Damn me. Wanting and needing are two different things.

And what do you want? What do you need?

I want your hands on me. I need you not to do that.

Astrid smiled the kind of smile that only an inexperienced woman could, one of innocence and mischief. She was on the edge of discovery, of treading a new and foreign country, and she did not care if she had the visa to do it.

Her breathing sped as she untied the string of Tem’s sweats. He pulled against his bonds in protest.

Do not act as if you don’t want this, she told him with her mind.

God help me, yes, I do.

All I’m going to do is touch you, she sent innocently.

All? All? You have me begging against my better nature with a sponge bath, woman.

She chuckled and pulled down his pants to reveal the magnificent piece of him that pointed straight and proud toward her. Astrid closed her eyes as she stroked it tentatively and was surprised at how soft the skin felt, almost like velvet, yet held what seemed like a steel rod within. Pre-cum leaked at the tip and she palmed it. The heat from his head filled the palm of her hand and she cooed as she twisted her hand this way and that, spreading around his natural lubrication.

His scent, rich and musky, rose off him and she could not resist the urge to bend her head and touch her tongue to his flesh.

Oh, good Lord, groaned Tem.

She had never done this and the taste, slightly salty but laden with undertones that declared “male”, intrigued her.

I need more.

You are playing with fire.

Yes, but you are a dragon.

That should be your warning.

Of what? How delicious you are?

Tem made a throaty noise that teetered between approval and disapproval of her intended action.

You have me at your mercy, he replied.

I think you enjoy that.

I think you do not know the depths of a dragon’s appetites, and how far we will go to fulfill them.

Oh? Is that meant to scare me?

Yes.

Too bad. You don’t.

I should.

With a shrug of her shoulders, she smiled and brought both of her hands up the length of his shaft. He shuddered.

Your hands are soft.

You are not.

Pre-cum leaked on her hands and he made a throaty purr as she wrapped her hands around his shaft and stroked again.

Is this your idea of torture?

Are you in pain?

Flames.                                            

She inched her hands down his shaft and cupped his balls.

Does that help?

No, he growled.

She massaged them with her fingers, enjoying how they felt against her fingers. Her breathing sped up as she imagined Tem’s thick cock inside her. A curious burn and tingles raced through her body and pooled between her legs. The sensations rushed through her, like a tiny flame consuming dried moss and tiny branches. They built from insistent pulses to a searing flame that raced through the dry kindling of her incipient desire.

She let one hand reach between her legs and she bent her head to Tem’s shaft. As her tongue flicked against the flame red head, her fingers touched the raw flesh beneath her panties.

Tem drew in a deep breath and she licked and nibbled the velvety head of his cock. The taste of his precum was exquisite and she lapped at it eagerly.

Good Lord. I need my hands in your hair.

Astrid reached for the keypad in the shackles and pressed the code that released his hands. Without waiting, Tem ripped the stupid lenses off her eyes, and dropped them to the ground and fisted his hands on either side of her head. He urged her lower, to take him more fully, and she opened her lips wide and sunk down on his delicious rod.

His cock filled her mouth, stealing all her senses except for her awareness of how very much she wanted him. Her hand explored her own flesh more forcibly and she found the center where she sunk her fingers.

Oh fuck.

Raw images of what she was doing flooded her mind from Tem’s perspective. There were no words, just his rising passion at the carnal pleasures she performed and his desire to take her fully, to sink himself into her sweet heat.

His passions nearly overwhelmed hers with their intensity, but she rose, higher and higher, both loving and insensate to his shaft filling her mouth. Want drove her further than she had ever been, though she wasn’t sure just where that need would take her.

Tem thrashed as her tongue lashed his cock and low noises came from his throat. His shaft grew thicker and throbbed and then he cried out as pulses of cum shot into her mouth.

She had never tasted anything so delicious and she eagerly swallowed everything he gave her. She suckled every drop and the thought of having that part of him inside her spurred a final flurry of her fingers on her desire wracked flesh.

Astrid shuddered as a wave of fire crashed on her, exploding every nerve ending in her body. The walls of her core pulsed on her questing fingers and sent more delicious shocks through her body.

Oh, God.

Was that Tem, or her, or both of them? She pulled off Tem and he pulled up upright to hold her against his chest.

They stood there lost in each other, listening to each other’s breathing.

Astrid?

Yes, Tem?

Are you okay?

Of course. Why do you doubt it?

You released my shackles.

Only your hands. You needed them.

Yes. I did.

Astrid raised her head and pressed her lips to his, enjoying the feeling of his body against hers. But his muscles grew hard and bunched as if he was trying to defend himself.

Tem?

I shouldn’t have done this. Lord, what have I done?