Lead’s heart was thundering in his chest as he carried Brittany downstairs, taking the steps two at a time and heading toward his room.

He’d tried to hold back, but at the sight of her about to kiss Cadmium, the dragon inside him had exploded in possessive rage. Now he didn’t care what the others were thinking about him. Didn’t care that he’d made Cadmium angry by hitting him when he probably didn’t think he deserved it.

As far as Lead was concerned, anyone who put their hands on what was his had to pay. In his mind, Cadmium and the others had gotten off easy.

Brittany was his.

And after a day of watching her taunt him and dare him to come after her, he was going to show her just how much his she was.

He kicked open the door to his room, then kicked it closed, taking her to the bed and plopping her down on it. Brittany just looked up at him, nervousness and excitement mingling in her eyes.

Why on earth would she be excited about the fact that he was losing his mind?

“What’s going on?” she asked innocently.

“How could you do that? How could you want to kiss him?”

“Is there any reason I shouldn’t?” she asked. “You don’t want me.”

“How many times do I have to tell you? I want you so badly I can’t breathe, but I’m no. Damn. Good. For. You.”

She sighed. “Why don’t you let me decide that?”

How was it this woman tested all his boundaries, all his self-control? Made him forget all the rules?

Lead got onto the bed, coming to kneel over her, watching with satisfaction as her eyes widened as he surrounded her.

“We… we didn’t do anything,” she said. “And I don’t see why I have to answer to you. You said there was nothing between us.”

“I’m an idiot. Is that what you want me to say?” Lead asked. “Because I am. Because there is no assurance in my world that you can be with me, yet I can’t keep myself away from you. You’re beautiful and kind, and you’re making it too damn hard.”

She blinked slowly, lips slack with shock. “What?”

“Didn’t you feel it last night? Or do I still need to show you? All I can think of, all I’ve been thinking of all day is you, Brittany. You and me.”

At that, his lips crushed over hers, enmeshing together roughly as he claimed her with his mouth. She moaned and immediately parted her lips, allowing him entrance. He didn’t hesitate, swiping inside her mouth deftly, lighting her up beneath him. The muffled sounds of her moans tinkled in his ear like music, and he pushed deeper with his tongue. Her body bucked against him in arousal.

He left for a second, giving her a chance to catch her breath, watching her beautiful blue eyes as they glanced up at him.

“Why should you try to tell me what to do, who to talk to?” she asked, her hands grasping at the edge of his shirt, tugging on it.

But instead of obliging her, his hands grasped her wrists, firmly but gently, and pushed them down onto the bed, trapping her there. Brittany’s mouth parted slightly as he did, either in surprise or excitement; he wasn’t sure.

“Because you’re mine,” Lead said, lowering himself to her ear. “And you will always be mine.”

At that, he bit down softly on her ear, dragging the lobe between his teeth and his lip, and Brittany gasped loudly. She struggled for a moment, testing his strength, but Lead wasn’t moving. He wasn’t going to move from Brittany’s side ever again. Even if it killed him.

The dragon inside simply wouldn’t let him.

He kissed her again, harder this time, claiming her everywhere inside her mouth. Then, still holding her down, he kissed her ears, her neck, moving down to the hint of cleavage showing at the edge of the shirt she wore.

He wanted to make her his everywhere, put up a sign that showed the entire world that Brittany belonged to him. He wanted to kick everyone and everything out of their lives so it was just them.

Somewhere, there was a reasonable Lead who understood what was logical and what was just his emotions getting out of hand. But that Lead was in a place far away, leaving him with just raw, passionate lust for his woman that could only be slaked in one way.

Lead gathered both her wrists into one of his hands, her petite arms easy to hold, her futile struggles against him arousing as he pulled her shirt up, leaving it bunched up around her elbows above her.

“Don’t stop,” she gasped out as he kissed along the swell of her breasts in the bra she wore, every soft inch of her belonging to him, calling for his touch.

“Never,” he said, unhooking her bra and pulling it up as well, letting her breasts fall free, her nipples already peaked, begging for him. He kissed them, suckled on each soft tip, squeezed them with his free hand, making her moan with pleasure with each touch.

And the more she struggled against him, the more he bucked his thigh against her center, trapping her beneath him, the more he could feel the tension in her growing, could sense her arousal with the predatory instinct he’d possessed his entire life.

Lead reached his hand down, going beneath the soft linen pants she wore and finding her clit. He flicked once, applying just the right amount of pressure, and she came beneath him, crying out his name over and over.

He’d make her come so much that the only word she’d remember would be his name.

Not stopping, he continued to press his finger lightly against her clit, pushing her even deeper into her release. And when her orgasm abated, he continued to torture her with his touch, building it again and again and sending her crashing over the edge just as quickly.

She was so beautiful. Sexy curves beneath him, cute facial features that were so unique, so her, blond hair spread over the pillow in waves. No wonder his dragon had been attracted to her from the moment he’d seen her. And not just her physical appearance. Her personality, too, the way she tested his limits, brought out the side of him that nobody else could.

Satisfied with what he’d done so far, he released her hands, and she tossed her shirt and bra to the side eagerly. But before she could do anything else, he’d pulled off her pants along with her underwear. Then he hoisted her thighs over his shoulders, kneeing slightly so her shoulders could rest on the bed, holding the rest of her body with his arms.

Brittany opened her mouth as if to say something, but her words were caught in a husky gasp as his tongue swept over her clit. Her hands clenched into the bedsheets at her sides, her neck arching backward at the sensation of it. Every response he got from her, every signal and sound she gave showing her pleasure only made Lead that much more desperate to claim her.

She orgasmed, thighs clenching as he held her through the storm of desire swirling within her, then made her come again and again. He wanted her to come so fast, so hard that it stole the very breath out of her lungs, wiped her mind of all thought, erased every memory of every moment she’d had without him in her life.

But the further Lead fell into his desire for Brittany, the harder his mind pushed against him. He knew he was being dishonorable.

The oracle had never said she could belong to any of them. And at this point, he was afraid to ask. But he couldn’t help himself, couldn’t fight back the bone-deep urge to claim her, show her exactly how much she meant to him.

At this point, Brittany was so close even Lead’s breathing could make her come, and he laid her back down on the bed, at odds with himself.

“So…” she gasped out, attempting a laugh but sounding out of air. “You’re making it pretty clear you do want me, contrary to how you were acting earlier today.”

“Of course. I want you more than life itself,” he replied.

“Then why does it feel like you’re hesitating?” she asked, sitting up on her elbows. “Why are you stopping?”

Lead didn’t know. There were too many unanswered questions. Too many rules that he’d upheld his entire life and only now was starting to break down. What if he lost her? What if the oracle took her away?

It would break him.

But regardless of what was right or wrong or up or down, Lead’s dragon knew it wanted her. Had from the very moment he’d laid eyes on her.

Lead pulled the small square packet from his pocket, running his thumb over it. This would allow him to be one with Brittany, come together with her without mating. But would that be enough? She was it for him.

His thoughts were interrupted by the packet being pulled from his hand, followed by Brittany’s small fingers hooking around his belt, tugging him forward.

“Just stop thinking and start living, Lead.”

The dragon inside him roared to life.

If such a thing as fated mates existed, then this was it. It had to be.

* * *

Brittany saw the fire return to Lead’s eyes as she undid his belt, and before she could even finish, he pulled it off for her, tossing it aside and undoing the button to his jeans.

He’d been so possessive, so dominant, so unleashed. Brittany loved it. Like he was actually here, fully with her for the first time. All of him, even the parts he kept hidden from everyone else.

But before he pulled off his pants, he came forward, pushing her onto her back and placing his hands on both sides of her head, raw, masculine energy emanating from him.

“I won’t be letting you out of my sight, ever again,” he said, practically growling.

She tried to respond, but her heart was whizzing past her mind at a million miles an hour, her entire body reacting to his presence.

“You’re mine now. Mine.”

So this was the possessiveness he tried to hold back. Brittany felt she could pass out. Her lungs were uncooperative as his yellow eyes practically glowed in the low light of his bedroom. For a split second, his eyes did that thing where the pupils turned to slits, but then they were normal again, devouring her with his gaze.

He popped off the bed, pulling off his shirt and pants and everything else in record time, giving her the perfect view of his substantial assets. Brittany’s throat went dry. Bulging pecs, broad shoulders, abs for days, muscular thighs.

So. Much. Man.

She beckoned him back onto the bed, tearing open the condom wrapper and moving to put it onto Lead’s thick member. It was so big she wondered if he’d even fit inside her, but her body was too hot, too ready and wanting to give up now.

Lead flinched slightly as she pulled it over him, and for a second, he looked down at it, curious.

“So that’s how it works,” he commented.

“Now you just need to put it to good use,” she teased, lying back on the bed, every part of her aching for him to be inside.

He grinned, a feral look in his eyes as he placed his hands on the bed, surrounding her, making her feel safe as only he could, and positioned himself between her legs. Every nerve was poised at attention, waiting, wanting.

Then, with a slow, careful thrust, he came into her, and everything went white. Perhaps it was because she was so sensitive, because he’d pushed her so hard and made her come so many times before doing this. Perhaps it was just because she’d been anticipating this for too long. But instantly, it felt as though there were a big, red button labeled “orgasm” somewhere within her, and he’d just pushed it.

Instantly, Brittany came harder than before, her entire body almost foreign to her as pure sensation overwhelmed her, filled her entire being from the inside out. Lead thankfully stayed steady, not moving, though just the thickness, the length of him felt it was pushing her even deeper into her own release.

For an interminably long time, her body’s response to him overtook everything. And even as it subsided, she was still aware of him, still turned on and wet and willing to take anything and everything he could give.

“I… I don’t know what to say,” she said, mind blank, lungs heaving from effort. “It’s too amazing.”

“Then don’t say anything. I’ll take care of the rest,” Lead said, his hand cupping her cheek for a moment, then moving back to her side.

He slid out of her, every ridge of his member sending off sparks inside her, then pushed in again, just a hair faster, making her mind buzz with erotic pleasure. It was like a cup so full that the water line actually extended past the edge of it, but wouldn’t spill over.

She’d known Lead was a good lover from last time they’d been together. But this was something else entirely.

Brittany would never be able to get enough of him.

He moved into a slow rhythm, each thrust timed as if with the very beating of her heart, and she tried desperately to hold off her own release, wanting to come with him. So when Lead thrust again, she pushed her hips to his, doubling their speed, begging him to come faster.

Lead responded to her, the muscles in his forearms flexing, his jaw clenching as he started to go quicker and quicker. Every centimeter of his length was like fire within, surging into her as soon as it retreated, so hot Brittany had to dig her nails into her own palms to try to hold back.

But it was like trying to stave off a hurricane, trying to tell a tornado to change directions. Lead was a force of nature, the way he knew her so perfectly, inside and out.

Brittany pushed harder and harder, her body a train headed toward the end of the tracks on the edge of a cliff. But she couldn’t stop it, could only ride it out to its incredible end. And Lead was close, too, his tanned skin glowing with a slight sheen of sweat, the only noise in the room his breathing and the slick sound of their bodies coming together faster and faster.

And then she careened off the edge, the ground opening beneath her into a free-fall of pleasure. A second later, she felt Lead pulled with her, thrusting in deeper than ever before, all the way to the hilt, and then jerking inside her as her own body pulsed with even greater release.

To her surprise, Lead held her close, his arms wrapping around her as they came together. Every sense gave out, short-circuited by the pleasure, and instinctively, she held on to him, too, his thick muscles an anchor in the tumult of her orgasm.

For many long moments, he held her, even long past their releases. Then slowly, he came out of her, making Brittany’s nerves go a little haywire. She was still so sensitive. He headed to the bathroom, cleaned up, and came back onto the bed, pulling her into him to spoon from behind, making her all too aware of just how tiny she was next to him.

“Mine,” he whispered, his breath warm against her neck.

Brittany could only hope he truly meant it. Even if she didn’t know what that meant between a human and a dragon (let alone a dragon from another planet), it felt right, felt like it should be.

And as Lead drifted off to sleep, his breathing deep and melodic, Brittany just hoped when she woke up, he would still be there. That whatever had kept him holding back, he would be able to overcome it.

Because even if the future was uncertain, there was one thing Brittany was sure of.

She wanted Lead in it.