Dragon lost himself inside Jade.

His body responded to her moans and gasps, changing speed, giving her all of himself in every thrust and kiss. He felt her tightening around him, her tongue pushing inside his mouth, and he reached between them. A mere brush of her pearly nub sent her over the edge and drew him deeper inside her.

“Dragon!” she screamed against his mouth before arching back.

His own explosive release was only a few heartbeats away, but he wanted to prolong her pleasure and slowed his movements, letting her ride her high as he kissed her eyelids, the point of her nose, her lips, the hollow of her throat. Then he gently pushed her away so that he could reach her nipples and tease the peaks with his teeth. When he started pulling and suckling them, her channel tightened again, and he sped up his thrusts to give her another release.

The second time, she mewled his name, collapsing against his chest, her arms and legs softly trailing in the water. Smiling, he kissed her forehead and walked to the shore, where he lay on the moss floor and brought her on top of him. They were still united, but he wasn’t moving any longer, just happy to feel her around him.

“Dragon?” Her voice was sleepy, but the sated tone was hard to miss and it filled him with male pride.

“Yes, Jade?” He caressed her back in long, circular strokes, savoring the feel of her against him as he was still buried into her flower.

“You didn’t spend,” she said, trying to raise her head from his chest.

“It doesn’t matter.” He loved her weight on him, the way her body softly molded against his hardness, her long legs intertwined with his.

“But—” she started saying.

He silenced her with a kiss on her red lips that were swollen and delectable.

They had one night and he would make the most of it. Tomorrow, they would fly back to Sol Palace, and the reality of who he was would weigh on his shoulder again. But now, the Cove was their haven, and he didn’t want to think of anything else but his beautiful assassin.

“You are the first woman I’ve ever brought here.” Whatever happened tomorrow, Dragon wanted her to know.

“Why?” Her whisper caressed the small hair on his chest.

“Because there has never been anyone like you before in my life.” Small waves lapped at his legs, soothing his senses.

Her palms against his chest, Jade pushed herself up. Her eyes were wide awake and so dark, he could see his face mirrored back at him. “Dragon—”

It sounded like a warning, but it could have also been a plea.

There was no point in arguing if she didn’t want to believe him, and he didn’t want to waste any of the few, precious moments they still had together. Dawn would soon color the outside sky pink, bringing the new day that would shatter his perfect dream in so many pieces he would never be able to put it together again.

They had one shot at happiness, and it would be brief.

He brought his hand up to her shoulder where he started tracing her tattoos. His finger followed the white filigree that shadowed the contour of her cheekbone. Jade shivered and leaned against his touch.

“Did it hurt?” he asked.

“Immensely.” She looked at him, her eyes shining brighter than the lightning-bugs flying all around them. “When an assassin graduates from trainee to active member of the Academy, she is asked to pledge her loyalty with her body.”

“How long did it take?” His finger outlined the long stem that sprouted in several peacock flowers alongside the slender column of her throat.

“All my life. The marking is a work in progress. Every time we return to the Academy after a successful mission, we get another tattoo. Only a few elected sport the whites on their faces. They are the Master Assassins. There are only three of us with eye-marks. Maarlo is one of them.”

Raising his hand, Dragon drew the delicate design circling her eye, memorizing every detail for later.

“The first session lasted more than a month, and toward the end, I only fainted when the stylus hit the same spot for longer than an hour at a time,” she said, a proud spark in her obsidian pools. “The dye is extracted from the crushed leaves of Celestian white amaranthine.”

“Isn’t it poisonous?” he asked, remembering bits and pieces of conversations from his time in the Merchant Council on Lupine.

The Academy kept a closed lid on its practices, but rumors abounded about the use of illegal drugs and venoms that remained its mercenaries’ trademark. The Celestian government’s effort to shut down the institution met with strong opposition from the Outer Belts where ransoms and thefts kept several planets—inhabited for the most part by space pirates—alive and thriving.

Jade nodded. “We use the black amaranthine for our arrows, and reserve the white variety to tattoo our bodies.”

“You shoot a paralyzing agent under your skin?” He hoisted himself up on his bent elbow, taking her with him.

“No, only the extract from the black amaranthine is a paralyzing toxin. The white poultice used for the tattoos is a corrosive acid.”

Dragon couldn’t help but widen his eyes in horror. “They burned you from the inside out.” Fury filled him at the thought that the beautiful marks on her body were the visible sign of prolonged torture.

“Only the strong survive for the glory of the Academy.”

“You went through so much.” He kissed her marks, wishing he could erase all the pain and humiliation she had suffered at the hand of her tormentors. “And still, you are as regal as a queen.” His lips found hers one more time before he leaned away to look at her. “My queen.”

“Dragon—” She shook her head in warning.

“I want to know you.” He brushed her mouth. “All of you.”

“There isn’t a lot to know.”

“I disagree.” His hand caressed the swell of her breast.

Jade’s breath sped up. “I’m a nobody who escaped the worst Celestia has to offer. Ended up owing the Academy a big debt of gratitude, and eventually screwed up things when I met you.”

“Your family?”

“The Academy is—” she grimaced “—was my family.” A shadow passed over her eyes. “I have no family anymore.” Her stern expression made it clear she didn’t want to talk about that topic. Her breathing hitched, but not because of Dragon’s hands on her body. Underneath her blank façade, Jade seethed. He could sense it as if it were his own sentiments churning his stomach.

“Let me protect you,” he finally said after a long moment of silence.

“You can’t.” Her voice didn’t admit a reply, and he kissed her instead, his hands traveling up and down her curves.

“Dragon,” she whispered, her throaty voice signaling the end of their conversation as she pushed him down. As evasive maneuvers went, he couldn’t complain. They were still united, and she slowly moved her hips, caressing him inside of her.

He cupped her neck and lowered her mouth to his, taking possession of her lips as she stoked the fire of his desire with her athletic body. She pushed herself up and slid her legs to the sides, then sat on him and started undulating. Jade commanded his body with her precise movements, and her small, perfect breasts begged him to play with them. The position was a novelty for him, and the friction she created brought him pleasure hard and fast.

His release built up in his mind, powered by the sight of the only woman he had ever allowed on top, and spurred by her scent surrounding them. He wanted her to call his name in ecstasy one more time. With one hand, he took care of her stiff nipples, while the other reached for her core and made sure she would reach her release before he did. It took only a few, well-placed flicks, but Jade’s eyes went wide as her mouth opened in a silent “O,” followed by his whispered name. Her pulses sent him over the edge, and this time, he didn’t deny himself, but let his thighs shoot up as he grabbed her waist and kept her down. Waves of pure, undiluted pleasure washed over him, filling him with peace.

“Jade,” he murmured, guiding her down to him to kiss her. “I’m whole with you.”

She hid her face in his chest as she had done before.

“Look at me.” He gently raised her chin with his finger.

Her almond-shaped, black eyes stared into his, moisture gathering at the corners. “We both know this—” she took a shaky breath, “—isn’t real.”

He caressed her back, following the contour of her sculpted curves. “I disagree—” His hand lingered on her bottom, then slowly resumed its path backward. “This is very much real.” He hoisted himself up and brought her with him. “What I feel for you is real.” He dipped his head to catch her mouth. “The way my body responds to yours is real.” To prove his point, his spent manhood stirred back to life inside her. “And I know you must feel it, too.”

“It doesn’t matter what I feel,” she said, keeping her liquid eyes on him.

“Nothing else matters more to me.” He wiped the solitary tear that escaped her eyelashes.

“You’ll be married soon.”

“That’s the way of a dragon High Lord.”

Something passed through her black pools, but she was fast in hiding her sentiment.

“It’s my duty to propagate the dragon shifter’s line,” he said when she didn’t talk.

“I know.”

The sadness in her voice echoed his.

“What were you planning when you left with Contessa?” he asked, trying to find an entry for the proposition he wanted her to consider.

“To steal the assassin’s clockwork wings and fly to the next spaceport where I’d purchase passage to the nearest Outer Belt planet.” She paused before adding, “It’s still my plan.”

“What if I asked you to stay?” He caressed her skin softly, wanting her to relax.

“Impossible.” She closed her eyes, automatically pressing against his touch when he skimmed the side of her breast. “The Academy will keep sending assassins until we are both dead.”

“I’ve thought of a way out for both of us—”

“There’s no way out.” She kept her eyes closed.

He kissed her before cupping her chin. “Let me talk.”

She nodded after a long, frustrated sigh.

“I’ll pay the Academy twenty times what they were promised to kill me if they will leave us alone.” The sum would probably be astronomic, but he wanted to be sure that his offer couldn’t be refused. And most of all, he hoped to give her a reason not to run away again.

Jade’s eyes shot open. “It’s going to be too much, even for you.”

“It’s going to be okay.”

“You could save a fortune by asking only for yourself,” she said, averting her gaze.

He placed both hands on the side of her face. “Look at me.” When she did, he said, “If they ask me three times that amount for you, I will pay it.”