Carla
They lay together on their sides.
While she would have liked to say it was because they wanted nothing more than to cuddle with her back pressed into his chest, the truth was it was the only position that worked on the small military bed. It was slightly bigger than a infantryman’s rack, but not much.
“Can I ask you something?”
Her back shook from the rumble of his voice, the closeness of their bodies transferring the vibrations from his chest to her. It was a funny feeling, but she didn’t try to pull away from him.
“Ask me anything,” she said softly, kissing his wrist to reassure him.
“Out there. During the battle. You said something to me.”
Her heart skipped a beat. Carla nodded breathlessly, not trusting her voice.
“You beat the Outsider away.”
“I did.” The right side of her mouth pulled upward in a half smile at the memory. Damn, that had felt badass.
“Then you called me your mate.”
Her stomach wrapped itself in so many knots she thought it had just been used as a shoelace.
“I did.”
Thorne paused, and she was fairly certain that over the beating of her own heart she could feel his pounding against his chest, the thumping audible at such close range.
“Did you mean it?”
That was his question? Carla’s lips moved into a full grin as she accepted the answer, taking the time to think about it now without the heat of combat.
“Yes,” she said quietly, rolling over carefully so she could look at him. “I did. I meant it, and everything that goes along with it, Thorne. I know it wasn’t the best time to tell you, but I—”
Thorne’s lips stopped her from talking, though at least one more word came out mashed between their lips. She started giggling with him over that before tilting her neck back and letting him continue with what he’d started.
Her body arched into him.
“I love you,” he growled happily.
“And I you, Thorne,” she told him. “I love you as well.” She laughed gaily. “I can’t believe I’m saying that, but I mean it completely and utterly. I could just shout it from the tallest building now!”
“That can be arranged,” he murmured. “We do live in the tallest building in the city.”
She nuzzled into his neck, chuckling along with him. “Maybe.”
“So just for clarification,” he asked, his topaz eyes twinkling with mischief. “Does this mean I was right when I told you that you would fall for me?”
Carla’s eyebrows lowered dangerously. “Yes,” she admitted. “Now if you know what’s good for you, you’ll never, ever mention that again.”
Thorne just laughed and pulled her in even tighter. Carla gasped audibly as his body pressed into her.
“Are you hard?” she asked, shocked.
“Maybe,” he growled, nipping gently at her ear.
“What are you doing?” she hissed, looking behind her. “The door isn’t locked!”
“I know.”
Fingers slipped between her legs, instantly finding their target. Carla moaned softly, then shook her head. “Thorne, no. We can’t do that here! People could walk in at any time. They could hear us!”
“If you can’t keep quiet, I can gag you,” he suggested, his fingers continuing their painfully delicious work.
“I’ll just bet you could,” she growled, constantly checking over her shoulder.
“Turn over,” he ordered, and she did as he said, now facing the door.
Fingers slipped her pants and underwear down to her knees before doing the same to himself. Then strong hands grabbed her ass and pulled it in to him. His hard cock slipped between her legs, and she ground against it slowly, realizing that she wanted it just as bad as he did. Though he wasn’t inside her yet, she knew it was just a matter of time.
“Hurry up,” she growled a minute later. “I want you. Now. Stop teasing me.”
Thorne lifted her right ass check into the air and a moment later the tip of his cock slid deep inside her, already soaked in her juices from the grinding.
Both of them made noises of pleasure as they were once again bonded together in the reaffirmation of life following their battle. Carla thrust her ass backward, capturing as much of him as she could in that position.
Together they writhed back and forth in sinuous motion, each action designed to give the other the most pleasure possible. Thorne’s hands played roughly across her chest, slipping under her overshirt to tweak her nipples as he thrust deep inside of her.
The pleasure of having her man take her, mixed with the fear and thrill of being caught, was an intoxicating elixir that had her riding on edge right from the start. It took no more than a few minutes before both of them were panting and ready to crash over the edge together.
“Don’t you dare explode,” she ordered, pushing her hand between her legs.
“How am I supposed to not do that while you’re touching yourself as I fuck you?” he asked plaintively.
“I have no idea, but don’t,” she said, losing his reply in her pleasure as her own fingers provided the extra stimulation. Carla gasped and twitched violently in his arms as she orgasmed right then and there in the middle of a base with an unlocked door just inviting anyone to push through without warning. It was the hottest, most intense feeling of fear and excitement, and it heightened every touch.
“Now can I cum?” Thorne begged from behind her.
As her senses returned Carla could feel him pulsing deep inside her, ready to explode at the slightest touch. He’d actually stopped moving against her, the sensations too intense.
“No,” she said, slipping forward and pulling up her pants.
Moving to the floor, she pulled him to the edge, taking his hard shaft in one hand, and the tip of him into her mouth.
Thorne groaned with pleasure, and within seconds she felt him tighten. Wet warmth filled her mouth as she watched his face contort with pleasure, huge muscles straining violently against his clothing as he arched backward, his hips thrusting forward toward her mouth.
She greedily swallowed him up, not a single drop escaping as he pitched backward onto the cot, the bed creaking and groaning as his weight was abruptly flung down onto it. Moving with him, she continued her motion at a much slower rate, ensuring that she got everything from him.
“That was unexpected,” Thorne gasped, his lungs still heaving from his climax.
“I’m glad I can still surprise you,” she said, giving him a wink and poking at his pants, not wanting anyone to walk in on them like that. “Now put that away until we’re done.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, rising to his feet and saluting before bending over to yank up his pants.
Carla groaned. “Oh brother. That was a sight I could have done without.”
Thorne was busy doing up his belt, but he paused to flash her a lustful look.
“Uh, I can come back.”
She whirled around to see the door open, a red-faced private looking at them wide-eyed.
Shit.
“No,” she said, trying to maintain a straight face as she heard Thorne snickering behind her. “It’s fine. What is it, Private?”
“Uh, Colonel Mara sent me to check on you two, ma’am. To see if you needed anything, and how you were recovering from the battle.” His mouth opened to say more, but he clamped it shut again, military discipline taking over.
Carla took pity on the fresh-faced new recruit. “Go ahead, Private, ask your question.”
She’d expected him to hold back, or to perhaps pretend like he didn’t have one, but obviously he was more eager than she’d suspected.
The words came out in a rush so fast she could barely understand them. “Is it true you killed an Outsider, ma’am?”
“I didn’t,” she stressed. “A team of two dragons and I did.”
“But you took it on. In a battlesuit. By yourself, right? Everyone’s talking about it.”
Carla flushed, unable to hide her embarrassment at the realization that gossip had taken hold and word of her antics was probably halfway across the country by now. “It wasn’t quite like that, Private,” she stressed. “I had no choice. We had to ensure it didn’t get through the portal.”
“She was fantastic,” Thorne boasted, stepping up next to her, his size immediately dragging the overwhelmed soldier’s attention away. “I was busy trying to keep it occupied.”
“By letting it smash your face in?” she muttered.
“Be quiet,” he shot back under his breath. “Anyway, I was keeping it occupied, and she comes up behind it and is like, ‘Don’t you fuck with my mate,’ in one of the most badass proclamations of love that I’ve ever heard of, or even dreamt about. And then,” he said, stepping forward and taking the private by the shoulder, wheeling him out of the room. “Then she takes it by the arm and slaps it into the ground, throws it into the air, and blasts it with those fancy guns the suits have. You know the ones under the arm?”
“Yeah, their double-barreled quadri-fi—”
“Yeah yeah, whatever,” Thorne said as they disappeared out into the hall, his voice growing more distant. “Anyway, the Outsider is midair, and she just unloads on it, hitting it twice while it’s flying through the air. Bam! Bam! And the Outsider goes down, and…”
Carla stood there, shaking her head. She was never going to live this down now.
Though hearing Thorne boast about her to everyone who would listen was secretly rather awesome. He was her dragon shifter, and he was proud of her.
Damn, she loved that man. It had taken her a long time to come to the conclusion, and even then it was only as she rushed to get her battlesuit on while he fought the Outsider that it had occurred to her. As she’d entered the metal confines of the suit, her only thoughts had been about not being too late before it killed Thorne.
That realization—that she not only wanted him to live, but needed him to, so that he could stay with her—had opened her up to the acceptance that despite her initial proclamation way back when, she had in fact fallen for the dragon shifter. And fallen hard. Harder than she’d hit the Outsider even. It was a complete and utter thing that had needed the spark of a life-or-death situation to get her mind to accept that it was not only real, it was amazing.
She was scared, still, but with Thorne at her side, she felt they could accomplish anything.
Together.