Erelah watched Leksander sleep.
His soul was the most beautiful part about him, but she had a new appreciation for the physical beauty of the man, now that she’d spent the better part of a day in his bed, making endless love that left her floating, even after he’d drifted to sleep an hour ago.
Even dragons tire eventually.
Angelings were blessed, or perhaps cursed, with little need for sleep.
She squirmed, heat still percolating between her legs. How could she still want more lovemaking from him? They’d reached that climax of pleasure he was always urging her towards—come for me, Erelah, he said, again and again—more times than she could track. She wasn’t wild with it—this need she had now between her legs was born of the experience of what it wrought. Closeness. Intimacy. A celebration of their love. This lovemaking they did with their bodies… it brought them together in a way that mere words couldn’t serve.
She eased up to sitting and let her wings release magically from her back, unfurling and stretching. She checked the feathers once again, but every single one was snowy white, shining as bright as the first day she took her vow. How could this be, when she’d done nothing but sexual acts for the last twenty-four hours, only ceasing because she had exhausted her mate?
Only he wasn’t her mate… not yet. And that lingered over their bed. Could she carry a dragonling and bear it for Leksander, for the treaty, and for all of humanity? She desperately wished for it, but she wasn’t even sure it was possible. She was half human, yes, but she was also half angel. Yet somehow, her True Love had banished the shadow from her soul, and she burned bright with light.
This she attributed to Leksander. His constant and True Love—for decades unceasing—and the brilliance of his soul… all of it had made the impossible, possible. Her lack of restraint broke her vow of Chastity. That dropped her into the shadow realm. But Leksander—with his undying faith in her—restored her in every way.
If she could give him a child, she would.
But the dragon sealing that required? She wasn’t sure it would take. Or whether she could endure it. In truth, she wondered if she were still angeling at all. There had always been an edgy conflict whenever Leksander was near—her angel blood sensing his dragon and fae natures and spoiling for a fight. Then she took some of his blood into her body, where it healed her but also helped unleash her shadow side. Now, with constant blissful contact for hours on end, it seemed as though her angel side had all but vanished. She kept unfurling her wings just to see if she still possessed them. If Leksander sealed her with his dragon magic, to make possible a dragonling, would her final vestige of angel-ness be snuffed out?
The thought sent an uneasy tremor through her.
Leksander rustled the bed behind her, then he surprised her by rising up and caressing her wings. She felt the heat of his chest at her back. He started halfway down her wings, a hand on each side, and lightly traced his fingers along the top feathers all the way to her back where wings met flesh. He dropped a kiss between her shoulder blades, which was both ticklish and gushed more heat between her legs. Her skin was hot—even hotter than a dragon’s, as it turned out—so his lips were always slightly cool, tightening her nipples.
That and the heady feel of his soft lips on her flesh.
He reached around to cup her breasts. He seemed very fond of that—holding her female parts in his hands—and the pleasure of it had her arching back to rest her head against his shoulder.
“Do you know how often I’ve dreamt of waking with an angeling in my bed?” His words were hot whispers of promise across the back of her neck. “How often I’ve dreamed of having you just as you are now?”
“Ten times?” she asked.
He chuckled softly and nipped at her earlobe. She tilted her head to give him better access. That particular habit—using his teeth as often as his lips—gave her an electric pleasure that quickly rendered her senseless.
“Ten times in a given night,” he whispered against her skin. “You do know that dragons are insatiable lovers, right?”
“I’m coming to find that.”
He laughed again, squeezing her breasts with both hands. His laughter quickly fell into a groan, and she could feel his cock, large and swollen, at her back. He released her breasts and slid his hands up her shoulders then out along her wings again. “You have no idea how much these turn me on,” he said, digging his fingers into her feathers. They were surprisingly sensitive, as she was discovering… and that fact did not escape Leksander. Her small gasp as he stroked them, one at a time, seemed to encourage him. He dug deeper to the bottom of the shaft, pinching it slightly, a quirk of pain that was somehow pleasure and made her suck in a breath. Then he stroked the shaft down through the vane, where the feather widened. “You like that, don’t you?” he asked, his voice full of pleasure-promise.
“Yes,” she breathed, closing her eyes as he did it again and again, each hand finding a new sensitive shaft to stroke. Not every feather was lighted with pleasure this way, just the ones that carried her angel blood and sensation, but he seemed to know exactly which ones to seek. Her breath was coming faster, and he made that rumbling sound, deep in his chest, that she had learned was a sign of his pleasure.
“Erelah,” he groaned. “I need you riding my cock.” He released her feathers and wrapped an arm around her waist. She thought he meant her to bend forward so he could enter her from behind—and truth be told, when he gripped her hips and took her that way, growling with beastly pleasure, that was her favorite way to have him—but instead, he pulled her into his lap and scooted them both to the edge of the bed. There, he dropped his legs over the side then twisted her around to face him.
Leksander was large compared to her—his rippling dragon muscles covered his body like a suit of armor—and she easily balanced her bottom on his thighs, facing him. She looped her arms around his neck with her legs extended onto the bed behind him.
His cock was large like the rest of him, and it loomed between them. When he first took her with it, she was certain the simple geometry of the situation would not work. And the delicious stretching had almost overwhelmed her, both with surprise and the tremendous feeling of fullness. Even after a night of endless lovemaking, she still felt as if he were expanding her body and her heart every time he thrust inside her.
“Stretch out your wings,” he said, gripping onto her waist and pulling her sex up against the hardness of his cock. He ground her there for a moment, finding that sensitive spot that made pleasure spike through her. She did as he said. “All the way,” he commanded, and she spread her wings wide, the full span of them taking up half his bedroom. “Oh, yes,” he breathed. “Sweet angel of the light, you’re mine. All mine.”
This possessiveness that came out when they were joined, or nearly so, sent unexpected thrills through her. “I live to serve,” she said with a smile, knowing he liked that.
He groaned. “Fuck. Erelah.” Then he lifted one of her legs up to his shoulder, nearly bending her in half. She had to lean back and brace her hands on his muscular thighs, but that seemed his intent, as he lifted her other leg up to his shoulder as well. Then he grabbed her around the waist and lifted her entire body until her entrance was poised above his cock. He slid her down, thrusting up at the same time, and she nearly cried out with how deep he went with this position. “Ride me, angeling,” he commanded, lifting her again and slamming her down on his cock. But in truth, she was barely hanging on, gasping with each thrust, each delightful impaling that felt like it was splitting her apart in the most pleasure-filled way. It was already a tight fit with her small, inexperienced body and his large, muscular one, but this position not only made that fit more tight, but it also rubbed against her most sensitive spot with each thrust and drove him deeper than he had previously been.
“Leksander,” she gasped. “Does this please you?”
“So. Fucking. Much,” he grunted out, picking up the pace and slamming her down on his cock with each word. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes, and it flushed a hot satisfaction through her that she could bring him such pleasure. As he continued to slam her down and thrust up into her, she gripped one thigh for balance but then slipped her hand to the back of his neck, pulling his face forward to her.
His eyes popped open, and she gazed into them as she used magic to levitate just a little more… and then pump down a little harder on his cock.
“Oh, fuck,” he gasped.
“You are mine,” she said through gritted teeth, still magically assisting the slamming together of their bodies. “I claim you for my own, dragon prince.”
“Yes. Oh, fuck yes.” His grip on her waist tightened, and she could tell he was close. Her own climax was climbing, but not quite at the peak, and for some reason, she felt the need to have them reach the summit together this time. Always, he saw to her pleasure first. Always, he took her to the top before his own climax was reached. This time, she wanted their joining to be truly shared.
“I am…” Her words were interrupted by a thrust that went even deeper and stole her breath. “I am an angeling of light,” she continued. Then she eased her legs off his shoulders and pushed him back on the bed. “And I will have you as I wish.”
They were still joined, only now Leksander was on his back, and she was on her knees, straddling him. She slammed down on his cock, and he groaned his pleasure at that. She extended her wings wide, giving him a full view since that seemed to give him pleasure. Then she used her magic assist in riding his body, fast and hard.
“Fuck, Erelah,” he panted, watching where they joined together, his cock disappearing repeatedly and swiftly into her body.
She grabbed hold of his hair, forcing him to look up into her face. “Yes, I will fuck you. Hard, dragon prince. Prepare yourself.”
“Oh, fuck,” he whispered in the most soft and delicious way. She burned with the love they were making and each time she impaled herself on his cock, it drove her coiling need even tighter. But she would do exactly as she said, drive him on relentlessly in his own need, making their joining a passion so ardent she feared they might break the bed.
It would be worth it.
He grunted and groaned as she pounded down on him, holding his hair tight as one anchor, her hand splayed on his chest for another. His hands still gripped her waist, but her magic assist in her stroke was stronger than anything he was attempting.
“Oh, God, Erelah, fuck, yes, yes, don’t… fucking… stop,” he babbled on, and his ramblings thrummed pleasure through her, pushing her close, so close. Through the many, many climaxes he had brought her, she had learned to control the pulse of power that blasted from her when she came. Mostly. But in this position, with her grip on him, if she lost control, at least he would blast across the room with her. Then suddenly, he let out a groan that convulsed his entire body even as she held him firmly to the bed. She felt the twitching of his engorged cock inside her, the hot spurt of his seed… and that, plus the contorted look on his face drove her right over the brink.
She cried out, channeling her burst of magic into a scream just short of angelsong. She came and came, clenching down even harder on Leksander’s cock. He was her beloved. Her mate. She could give him every pleasure he could dream of, and it still wouldn’t be enough. She would need years to explore their love and all the endless ways to show it—that was how deep and how strong it was.
But they wouldn’t have those years, not if she couldn’t somehow give him a dragonling. If he remained unmated—and no other woman could have him, not now, not ever; Erelah was sure she would succumb to the Sin of Envy in a moment and smite her—then Leksander would pass into wyvern form. The fate of the treaty and humanity and his duty… all of that paled in importance for her now, not compared to Leksander simply living.
That was everything.
As she wound down from her climax, she floated in the pleasure he had given her and she to him. Above all else, her beloved must live. And that was worth the risk of losing what she had left of her angel nature.
She slowed and finally stopped her stroking of his cock with her body. Leksander, for his part, had released her, his hands falling limp by his side. His eyes were closed, and his head slumped to the side, his entire body loose with pleasure and seemingly sated… at least for the moment. She would think he was dead except for the still-rapid breaths and the heaving of his chest.
She bent forward and whispered in his ear. “You liked that, didn’t you?”
He groaned, long and deep. Then his hands found her hair before she could lean back again, and he brought her lips to his. “Holy magic, woman. You can do that to me anytime. Any at all. Don’t bother stopping to ask.”
“I shall remember that.” She grinned. Pleasing this man gave her a joy that was matchless.
His hands fell limp to the bed again. “Just give me a minute, okay? Just a minute, and I’ll be ready for more.”
She gingerly climbed off him, making him groan again as his cock slipped from her body, then she snuggled next to him. “I shall give you three. Then I expect you will be ready to pleasure me with some new feat we haven’t yet tried.”
“I’ll do my best,” he breathed, still limp with pleasure but gamely pulling her close as she cuddled up against him.
“And then we must make a dragonling.”
Leksander’s eyes popped open, and his head jerked up to look at her. “A dragonling.”
“It is necessary.” She bit her lip then realized what she was doing and stopped.
He frowned and struggled to turn on his side to face her. One hand propped his head up to talk while the other brushed back some of the hair that had mussed and flown wild during their lovemaking.
His gaze searched her face. “You’ve been thinking about it.”
“Yes.” She hesitated. “We must attempt it, even with the dangers.”
His frown grew even darker. “Dangers.” He swallowed visibly then cupped her cheek and leaned across the close space between them. His kiss was gentle and tentative. Like the first one he gave her. She still had that one—and every other one—emblazoned in her memories. When he stopped, he didn’t pull back, just pressed his forehead to hers. “I suppose it’s too much to ask, just to be here, like this.” Then he pulled back and looked her straight in the eyes. “Forever.”
She snaked her hand between them to touch her fingertips to his cheek. “My beloved… you do not have forever. Not for this. And I will not lose you.”
But that just drove his expression to be more pained. “I can’t bear losing you—not to the sealing or the pregnancy. Erelah, it would kill me faster than any wyvern.”
“Angelings are very hard to kill,” she said, matter-of-factly. This was something he shouldn’t fear.
He smiled, but the pain was still there. “They don’t usually carry dragonlings.”
“True,” she conceded. “But I doubt that will spell my doom.” This time, she couldn’t help biting her lip. “It is much more likely that I will simply fail you, Leksander. Or that I’ll succeed but…” She hesitated to give voice to her fear.
“But what?” He frowned again.
When she dropped her gaze, trying to figure out how to say it, Leksander pushed himself up to sitting and pulled her from lying on the bed. Then he brought her once again into his lap, her legs wrapped behind his back, her sex opened wide and snugged against the firm muscles of his belly. His cock was still sated from their lovemaking, but this position brought her once again face-to-face with him. He kept one arm locked around her waist, holding her close, while the other hand traced patterns on her cheek and across her lips.
“Erelah, angeling of light, Protector class,” he said softly. “I’ve never known you to fear, well, pretty much anything. So tell me… what do you think will happen if you bear my child?” His concern was etched deep in his frown.
Seeing the love in his eyes, held skin-to-skin like this, bared and open to him… there was no possibility for secret fears or thoughts. “My angel nature,” she said softly. “It may not survive.”
The arm around her back tightened, but his hand fell away from her face. “That’s not going to happen.”
“You don’t know that, dragon prince,” she admonished lightly. “And if I lose my wings but give you a child, it is a fair trade.”
He scowled. “No. It’s not.” He seemed greatly troubled by this… far more than he should be.
“As you say, it may not happen,” she tried. She should not have mentioned it. Now, he would only worry about a thing that neither of them could control. “Tell me about the sealing. I know it leaves a mark and prepares the human body to endure the birth of an immortal. Before, I never thought to ask more. I have a rather obvious need to know now.” She gave him a small smile, but it did not banish his frown.
“First, we have sex,” he said.
“This does not sound difficult.” Her smile grew.
He scowled. “The sex is to flush your body with pleasure so that it can endure the pain.”
“Ah.” She nodded. “I am familiar with pain. Perhaps the sex will be unnecessary. However, I still think we should have it.”
He dipped his head to the side, silently chastising her attempt at humor. “Do you want me to tell you, or not?”
She banished the smile from her face. “Yes.”
“Then stop interrupting.” He scowled, but it seemed less serious.
Her grin returned and conquered her face. Leksander’s eyes gained back some of their sparkle. He pulled her closer, grinding her sensitive spot between her legs against the hardened muscles of his stomach. His hand wound into her hair, and he brought her in for a thorough kiss.
When he pulled back, he said, “Definitely more sex first.”
She was already a little breathless. “And then?”
His fingers were back to playing along her face. “Then I infuse your body with my dragonfire. It will leave my mark and prepare you to carry my child. Then, when your body is ready, we make love again… only this time, the baby will be made.”
She nodded. “My angel nature may fight it. How long does it take, this sealing with dragonfire?”
His expression was twisting with something like pain. “Only a few minutes. But then we have to wait…”
She lifted her eyebrows. “To see if it takes?”
He grimaced. “For a human, it’s the first danger point. She may be consumed by the heat of it.”
“I’m already hotter than you, dragon prince.”
He burst into a short laugh. “In so many ways, my love.”
“I mean the one involving temperature.”
He grinned. “Perhaps that will work for us.” But then uncertainty cast its cloud over his face.
“The dragonfire may burn up my human side,” she said, leaning back to tick the dangers off on her fingers. “It may war with my angel side and win. Or lose.”
“Rosalyn’s witch magic was unharmed,” Leksander tried, hope rising on his face.
“Angel magic is not like mortal magic, dragon prince,” she said.
He released a breath and touched her cheek again. “I know.”
“The most likely thing is that we are simply… incompatible.” She bit her lip again. This was her greatest fear. That she would fail him outright. And then she would have doomed not only him, by not pushing him away or producing a dragonling, but all of humanity as well. It was truly the worst outcome.
“I think we’re meant to be together,” he whispered, love filling his eyes.
“There is one way to find out.” She swallowed. Was she ready to do this? The answer was no. But it was best for them to move ahead quickly.
Leksander’s eyebrows lifted. “Right now?” She could sense the trepidation in him.
She leaned into him, grinding her sex against his belly. “Sex first, I believe.” She pulled his face to hers and kissed him, rubbing her chest against his, striving for all the contact she could. Already, she could feel his cock rising to the task, growing stiff below where she had straddled him.
A strange buzzing sound started up, but Leksander’s hands were busy grabbing hold of her bottom and lifting her up. She thought he might go straight for taking her this way, but he only relieved the pressure of his rising cock, now trapping it between them, where it deliciously rubbed against the very spot already inflamed by the prior lovemaking.
“Oh, Erelah,” he breathed into her face when he released her from the kiss. She was actively grinding on his cock now, bringing pleasure to both of them. “I don’t know if I’m ready for this.”
“A few more practices first?” she asked then bit down on his shoulder.
“God, yes,” he groaned.
The buzzing happened again, annoying and distracting. Leksander didn’t seem to notice, especially when she moved her bite—not strong enough to draw blood, but none too soft either—up to his neck. His moans were almost enough to cover the sound of the buzzing, but her annoyance with it was escalating.
She pulled back. “What is that infernal noise?”
“What?” Leksander asked, dazed.
Then it buzzed again, and Leksander’s attention whipped to the large screen that filled one wall of his bedroom. He must have manipulated it with magic because the screen lit up with an oversized image of his brother Lucian’s face.
Erelah flushed as she realized their compromising position.
But neither Lucian nor Leksander seemed the least concerned. “Leksander!” Lucian said. “Sorry to interrupt, man, but you need to see this.” He held up his phone to the screen, showing a scene of mayhem in a city street. Emergency vehicles and flashing lights dominated it, although Erelah couldn’t see it clearly enough to determine the source of the emergency. Or even where it was happening. “There’s a demon uprising in the city.”