He moved without warning, scooping her up into his arms again to stride toward the door. He seemed to like picking her up and carrying her, but she didn’t protest, curling up against his broad chest as if she’d been made to be there.

“Oh, you are, little bug.” He pushed the door open with a foot and strode through. “You always have been. You just didn’t know it.”

Her reply was to lean in and plant a soft kiss on the side of his neck. His sharp intake of breath was enough to make her do it again, and again, planting tiny kisses along the stubbled length of his jaw. She’d been fascinated with him from the moment she’d met him… had spent many boring meetings fantasizing about running her fingers against his jaw to see if his skin was as prickly as it looked. Of kissing him.

Reality was way better than fantasy.

He turned his head and captured her lips, parting them with a swift move to thrust his tongue into the soft sweetness of her mouth. Letting go of her knees, he didn’t drop her feet to the floor like he had before. This time, he slid her slowly down the front of his body, letting her feel every hard plain of muscle along the way.

“Pretty as this is,” he hooked a finger under the neckline of her strapless gown, between her breasts, “it needs to come off.”

She nodded, her breath catching as she turned and swept up her hair, presenting her back to him. Strong fingers found the zipper and eased it down. Shivers rolled down her spine as cool air washed over her skin.

The gown slipped and fell to the floor in a silken cloud around her feet, leaving her standing in her panties and heels. Refusing to cover up, she turned, her chin lifted despite her nerves, to watch his reaction.

He held her gaze for a moment, and she couldn’t have looked away even if she’d wanted to. Then, slowly, he looked down. His gaze raking over her was like a caress. Her back arched, nipples tightening to hard points as though he’d actually touched her. A flush hit her cheeks when he growled, a soft sound in the back of his throat, and his eyes darkened.

“You’re beautiful.” The murmur was in the lowest voice she’d ever heard from him and she wanted to whimper as his deep tones seemed to stroke every nerve ending she had. Biting her lip, she waited for him to touch her.

“Gods’ sake, Cadie, don’t look at me like that,” he growled and the next second she was in his arms again, his strong hands smoothing over her curves. “Or you’ll be under me in a heartbeat, your legs spread as I—”

He didn’t finish the sentence, his mouth crashing down over hers. She felt the battle within him, need and desire waging with the control he was famous for. His body shook, tense as he shoved his hand in her hair again, holding her still as he plundered her lips.

She didn’t make it easy for him. Arching her back, she pressed herself against his body and wrapped herself around him. Lifting her foot, she tried to stroke it seductively down his leg, only to stab him with the heel.

“Crap, sorry…” she broke the kiss enough to murmur against his lips, embarrassment flooding her cheeks with color. But he didn’t let her go, grabbing the back of her knee and lifting it up over his hip.

The move opened her completely. He shoved his thigh between hers, holding her close and grinding his hips against hers. His cock, thick and hard in his pants, pressed against her pussy lips and she whimpered in response.

“Don’t be.” He nipped lightly at her lower lip and then nudged her chin higher so he could kiss down her neck. “I’m not.”

All she could do was cling to him, hands roving over his broad shoulders as he blazed a trail of fire down the front of her throat. Easing the fabric of his shirt off, she hissed in pleasure as she found warm, satin skin to stroke.

His hand on her knee slid down her thigh, and he grabbed a handful of her ass as he bent her backward. Totally supported in his strong embrace, she arched her back, clit aching as he bent his head to her breasts. The hot breath across her nipples made her pussy clench and a second later, he swept a warm, wet… rough tongue over one.

“Ohhh!” she moaned, pleasure arcing from her tightened nipple straight down to her clit. Her hips rocked against him, the movement involuntary. Another swipe of his tongue and she slid her hands up into his short hair, holding him to her, but the pleasure was nothing yet… He took her nipple into his mouth and she cried out as the sensitive peak was drawn into the warm cavern. He sucked and she whimpered. He licked and she shuddered in his arms. Then he nipped her lightly and she clenched hard, liquid heat escaping her to soak her panties.

He growled in approval, walking her backward until the back of her knees hit the bed. A small push and she fell, his big, hard body following her down. She made a soft sound of pleasure, relishing the pressure of him over her, pressing into her. His mouth didn’t leave her breasts, moving from one to the other as though wanting to make sure neither felt left out. Bracing himself on one elbow, he used a hard knee to spread her thighs as his free hand slid down her curves.

She shivered and gasped at the dual sensation, her stomach tightening as his fingertips teased the soft skin. Abruptly nerves hit her. She was on the short and curvy side… did he like what he saw?

He reached the thin ribboned straps of her panties and hooked a finger beneath. She expected him to tease her, slide them down. But instead he wrapped the ribbon around strong fingers and she gasped as he tore them off her.

“Better,” he growled, kissing the underside of her breast and starting to move down. Her breathing caught and then practically stopped altogether as he kissed down her stomach, heading south. Heat burned her cheeks, her body tight with anticipation and need as he shoved her legs farther apart to settle between them. So wide she felt open and exposed… on display for him.

The rough masculine growl didn’t scare her. Instead it made her feel powerful and desired. Then he blew a cool breath over her pussy lips and her thought processes scattered. Grabbing the sheets on either side of her head, she couldn’t help a small groan as he swept a lick between her lower lips. Hot. Wet. Wanton… she needed more.

And he didn’t make her wait, latching onto her clit and sucking hard. She keened, the sound one of pure need as pleasure cascaded through her. Not letting up, he curled big hands around her thighs and held her still as he feasted on her like a starving man. She gasped and writhed beneath him.

Her hips rocked as the twin needs to get away from his teasing lips and tongue but also get more of the delicious torment drove her. With each pass of his tongue or hard suckle of her clit, he drove her higher and higher. Her breathing caught, her body like a live wire until, abruptly, she was there. Time slowed, her back in a hard arch as she waited for the next lick, the next touch, that would tumble her over into bliss.

But he stopped.

“No…” The word was little more than a guttural grunt. “When you come, it will be with me inside you… when you come it will be over my cock.”

She moaned in frustration as he pulled away, hard hands yanking her down the bed toward him. Before she’d processed the movement, he was there, braced over her as the broad head of his cock pressed against the entrance to her body.

His face was a hard mask as he pressed inward and she gasped. He was big… no, he was freaking huge. Whimpering with nerves and need, she pressed her hands against his steely upper arms, her mouth forming a small “ooo” as he sank into her.

Her body parted, stretching wide around the thick girth of his cock, and the sensation was pleasure that bordered on burning, stretchy… something. Not pleasure, not pain, but it felt right. Felt good. She held her breath as he pushed more, using his weight to drive his cock deeper into her depths.

Lifting her legs, she wrapped them around his hips, welcoming him into the haven of her body, and he slipped a half-inch deeper. This time he groaned too, his expression twisting from control to pure, feral need for a split-second.

He didn’t stop. Didn’t draw back. Just kept on pressing, parting her farther and wider as he sank into her. Finally, he was seated to the hilt, balls pressed against her ass and his entire thick, hard length throbbing within her. She moaned, hands spread on his shoulders as she waited for her body to adjust. She tried to move, but he stopped her with a small shake of his head.

“Don’t. Not yet. I’ve wanted this for so long, I might not last.”

The admission and the expression in his eyes made her pause, but before she could ask, he moved. Pulling back, he drove into her again, faster this time and her eyes rolled into the back of her head at the feeling. He did it again. Each time faster and faster until the bed rocked between them and her arousal, fed by his mouth on her pussy, ramped up to critical.

She gasped and moaned, whimpered and cried out, writhing beneath him on the bed, her hands, nails, across his back as she urged him on faster. Braced over her, he gave her what she asked for, every muscle of his hard, champion’s body bent to giving them both pleasure.

“Please… Sawyer. I’m gonna—”

He grinned as she broke off and slammed into her again. This time he added a roll of his hips. Grinding his hips against hers, he trapped her clit between them and she came hard and fast, screaming his name.

Pleasure rolled through her, fed by his movements as he sped up. Three hard, heavy strokes and he stiffened above her, threw his head back and roared…

Her name.

* * *

He’d found his mate. He just couldn’t keep her.

Frustration ate at Sawyer like acid as he emerged from the bedroom the next morning. Having Cadie in his bed, having her, had been the stuff dreams were made of. His dreams. Even now, he was still half hard, his cock pressing insistently against the inside of his pants.

She’d been so responsive, reacting instantly to his every touch, that he hadn’t been able to sleep. Instead, he’d lain awake next to her while she did, watching and waiting until he could wake her and make love to her all over again.

And it had been making love. Having Cadie in his arms was totally unlike any sex he’d had with any other woman. Even though he’d thought he’d been in love before, had thought he’d known what love was all about, making love with his mate blew all that out of the water. He’d tasted heaven and now he would never be content with anything less.

The only problem was it ended today. He couldn’t keep her, no matter how much he wanted to. She was a queen and he was… an ex-soldier born and bred on the rough city streets. There was no way he was even good enough to kiss her delicate little toes.

Keeping his dragon’s snarl to himself, he walked through the door into the kitchen and stopped dead. Cadie was in the middle of the kitchen, humming softly to herself. He leaned one shoulder against the door frame and watched her as she bustled around. She was making what looked to be coffee and toast wearing nothing but one of his shirts.

The early morning sun streamed through the large windows behind her, the shutters now raised, and bathed her in light. It caught her hair, giving her a golden halo and silhouetting her mouthwatering figure beneath the white cotton.

His heart turned over in his chest, filling with love. His dragon rumbled in contentment at the sight while the man looked on in appreciation. She was so tiny his shirt practically buried her, hitting her at mid-thigh, and she’d had to roll up the sleeves so they didn’t get in the way.

He didn’t care it was one of his best shirts. He liked it, his dragon liked it. Seeing her in his clothes was like a mark of ownership. It was something… even if he couldn’t give her his bite and bind her to him for eternity.

The reminder dampened his mood. A sudden, savage ache to stop time filled him. To pause everything and live in this moment—where she belonged to him—forever.

If he closed his eyes, he could see it. Waking up with her in his arms every day… Coming in here to cook breakfast together each morning… Coming home to her each night to take her in his arms and have dessert before dinner… Her swollen and big with his—

The sound of his cell ringing cut that thought off before it became dangerous, and he dug in his pocket.

“Huh, it’s your cousin,” he said at Cadie’s curious look. She pushed a mug of coffee in front of him as he swiped his thumb over the screen to answer the call.

“Sawyer.”

Nodding his thanks to Cadie, he took a swallow of coffee as Calan spoke.

“Sawyer? It’s Cal… You need to get back here with the queen. We have a development, and… well, neither of you are going to like it.”

Sawyer frowned, mug halfway to his lips. His mood turned grim as Calan continued speaking.

“Henrick demanded to see Cadie this morning. Apparently there was some sort of alliance signed when she was a kid. She has to marry the prick.”