Chapter 9
He’d wrapped her in his great, obsidian arms and flown her to the other end of the island. There were no villas or modern day comforts there, but what was there was even better. The ancient trees created a tall canopy overhead, blocking out the hottest rays of the sun, but letting through enough light to illuminate the waterfall that fed into a crystal-clear river.
So many questions whirled through her mind, but there was only one thing she wanted to focus on right then: Cade. She reached for him as he shifted back to human form, and the fire deep inside her sprung to life. She let her hands wander, grazing over chiseled muscle and firm flesh. He closed his eyes, and she felt the struggle in his mind, but she swooped in quickly to wrap her hand around his long length.
“Hope,” he whispered hoarsely, but before he could capture her wrists to still her movements, she stepped back wearing a devilish smile of her own.
She stripped off her clothes, yanking the T-shirt over her head and shimmying out of her pants as quickly as she could. The wound Victor had left and the bruises that had marred her arms and wrists were gone. They’d healed miraculously as she’d thrust the poison from her body.
His gaze swept over her body and relief washed over him seeing her healed flesh. Perhaps just to be certain, he ran his hands across her, trailing down her arms and up her ribs. His fingers grazed over her breasts, and her nipples hardened instantly in response to his touch. He cupped her in his hands, and she could tell by his firm grip he’d already begun to lose the tentative control over himself.
He closed the distance between them and kissed her, crushing her lips beneath his as his shaft pressed hard against her abdomen. The ebony dragon flashed through her mind and a jolt of desire shot through her like lightning.
“Shift for me, Cade. Please.” She didn’t know exactly how to articulate what it was she wanted. There was suddenly a burning need deep inside her to experience his real being. She wanted to see him, to touch him, even to feel him against her.
“Hope, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Please,” she whispered again.
“Alright, but you have to keep your distance. It isn’t safe…”
Reluctantly, he took a step back, and then another. She watched as his muscular frame gave way to magnificent scales, and the tan coloring of his skin turned to an iridescent shade of black. His eyes though, they were the same; the same brilliant green eyes filled with desire stared down at her. He was watching her, trying to read her response while he fought to maintain control.
She closed the distance between them and reached up to graze her hand along his solid chest. A roar rumbled in his throat and he took a step back. He was afraid he’d hurt her. “It’s okay, Cade. Please.”
She could feel the way he held himself in check, not moving, barely breathing. She reached for him again, but as she did, he withdrew from her and in a flash, he was human again. She could see the same heat in his eyes that had radiated from the dragon’s emerald orbs.
“Hope, I can’t believe…” but he couldn’t finish his sentence. He lunged for her instead, pulling her hard against him and covering her lips with his.
She pulled away first. She wanted to taste him, to feel his hard length between her lips. She dropped to her knees before he could catch her. She ran her tongue down the length of him and glided back to the tip, circling the ultrasensitive ridge.
“Oh God, Hope,” he groaned as his hips rocked forward.
She opened her mouth, hollowing her cheeks, and drew him in, savoring the steely hardness covered by smooth flesh. His hands were at the back of her head a moment later and she felt him tremor as he struggled to keep control. She worked him in deeper, taking him into the back of her throat.
“God damn it, Hope, I need to fuck you—now,” he growled as he grabbed her beneath her arms and lifted her up, clear off the ground like she weighed almost nothing.
He captured her lips as he guided her down to the ground, and she felt him against her. Just like before, he drove in to the hilt in one, hard thrust and she wrapped her legs around him. She loved the way he couldn’t contain himself with her. She’d never felt more desirable than when he couldn’t wait a moment longer to have her. She wondered if it would always be this way between them, and somehow, she knew it would be. The same sense she’d so quickly come to trust told her so.
Her fingers roamed over his back as she tilted her hips to meet his every thrust, his pace growing more frantic with every moment that passed. He broke their kiss and gazed at her. Brilliant green and crystal blue locked on one another as he leaned up on one powerful arm and slipped his free hand between them. The second he found her clit, her hips rocked wildly and she cried out as the pressure mounted within her.
“I want to watch you, Hope. I want to see you come for me,” he whispered as he rubbed the sensitive bundle of nerves in tight circles.
Her nails dug into his shoulders as her moans turned to cries, and her cries turned to screams of pleasure as her back arched clear off the soft carpet of grass beneath her and her body splintered into a thousand pieces, floating high in the clouds despite never leaving the ground.
“You’re incredible, Hope. I love you. I’ve always loved you,” he groaned as he reached his summit and toppled over the edge.
She knew exactly what he meant, though it made no sense. “I’ve always loved you, too,” she whispered as her body started back down from the heavens.