CHAPTER 13
Anais rested in Loke’s arms, her gaze on the fire as the flames flickered, sending warm light dancing across the black ground around it. When he shifted and sighed, she pulled her focus from the flames, twisted so her front pressed against his left side while carefully avoiding his wound, and looked at him. He lay with one arm bent beneath his head, cushioning it, and his eyes closed. He looked content. Happy. Handsome.
Hours had passed since they had surrendered to their desire and they hadn’t moved from this spot. They had passed every minute in each other’s arms and in silence, sharing the moment.
Loke’s eyes opened and lowered to her, their striking aquamarine depths warmed by the light of the fire off to his right. He raised a single dark blue eyebrow at her and she had the feeling he was trying to figure out why she was staring at him.
Why wouldn’t she be staring at him?
He was gorgeous, and the way he was laying, with his arm beneath his head, showed off his muscles and rekindled the heat within her, making her think about climbing on top of him and seeing if he was interested in an encore.
It had been a long time since she had experienced anything as intense and blissful as making love with Loke. When he had unleashed his strength on her, she had found Heaven. He had sent her shooting into the stratosphere, or possibly beyond it. Heat pooled in her belly and she had to close her eyes to shut him out as she fought the urge to lower her mouth and kiss a trail across his chest to awaken his hunger for her.
There was something she had to ask him first, and it was something that was liable to ruin the moment. She didn’t want that to happen and she didn’t want to upset him, but she had to know or it was going to hover at the back of her mind and mar her time with him.
“Are the dragons who took the other hunters like you?” Her voice sounded too loud in the silence, even when she felt sure she had whispered that question.
He frowned, raised his other hand away from the small of her back and brushed her hair behind her ear for her. “Like me?”
She nodded and when his frown didn’t shift, the quizzical look in his eyes remaining, she decided she needed to say it straight. “Are those dragons going to be nice to my friends like you are to me… or are they going to be like Zephyr?”
He looked away from her, towards the fire, and his expression gained a troubled edge. Her heart sank into her stomach and she couldn’t stop her mind from filling with images of her fellow huntresses being mistreated.
“I do not know if they had a reason for taking their females… but if they did… their reason would not be as mine was. It would not be noble.”
She frowned as the slender ribbon of hope she had been clinging to slowly dissipated. “That blond one back at the village said they were spoils of war, Loke. What does that mean? Zephyr made it clear he had been abusing whoever he took.”
She felt sick just mentioning that and her mind raced through every female hunter she had known in her team, wondering which he had taken.
“Not all will be like him. Others will charm the female… but if that fails, they may employ magic to convince them.”
“Like drugging them?” She stared wide-eyed at him.
When he nodded, she barely tamped down the urge to spring to her feet and demand he take her to every dragon home he knew of so she could help her kin.
Zephyr had fought him and had almost won. The green-haired bastard had wanted her as a second spoil of war, a replacement for one he had broken. She had no doubts that the other dragons would fight to defend whichever huntress they had stolen from the battle. The thought of Loke having to fight again turned her stomach and she looked down the length of his body to the thick scar over his left hip.
He was in no condition to help her save her fellow huntresses, not right now. As much as she wanted to head out and rescue them, she needed to gain enough information to form a plan first and give him a chance to regain his strength.
“Could you fly me around to the homes of the dragons you know? We could scout them and see if they have any of my friends. If they do, we could help them.”
He nodded. “I will do that for you. I will be able to scent whether they have company.”
She smiled and thanked him with a kiss, pressing her lips to his cheek. The light dusting of dark blue hair on his jaw scratched at them, taking her back to kissing him on the mouth while making love with him, and it was difficult to tamp down the desire that rose within her and focus on their conversation. When she pulled back, he was smiling too.
“When you’re better though. Not right now.” She stroked his bare chest and avoided his glare as he narrowed his eyes on her.
“I am fine.” He kept saying that, but it didn’t mean she had to believe it.
She had noticed him flinching when she had wrapped her legs around him.
She would give him another day in which she would use the time to strategize with him and learn more about the other dragons who had fought as part of his clan in the battle. Once she was sure he was strong enough, she would take him up on his offer to help her. First, they would scout the locations and see if the dragons who lived there had one of her friends, and then they would plan their mission to save them.
They would have to move quickly once they decided to take back her friends and do it all in one perfect run. If word spread about what they were doing, there was a chance the other dragons might go into hiding or might prepare themselves to fight Loke. She didn’t want him to fight again.
She didn’t think she ever wanted to see him fight again.
It had terrified her.
“Anais?” he whispered and she pulled herself out of her thoughts and smiled at him, trying to show him that she was fine.
“I want to help them.” She didn’t hide how much she wanted that as she looked at him, right into his eyes. They were more than just her friends. They were part of her family.
He nodded. “And you will… but I will not place you in danger.”
“Because of the visions?” She studied him for a reaction, wanting to see whether there was another reason he might not want to place her in danger, one that might hint at whether what they had shared was more to him than just mutual attraction at play.
He had said he wasn’t interested in dalliances.
Did that mean what was happening between them was more than just a fleeting moment in his eyes?
His handsome face darkened and he gave a clipped nod, and her foolish heart took it as an answer to her unspoken question.
“Tell me about them.” She refused to give up when he shot her a warning look that said he didn’t want to talk about them. She did. “You’ve had more than one now, Loke. Do you see the same thing?”
He shook his head and wrapped his free arm back around her. “Let us not speak of them. My visions are mine to know and deal with.”
She tossed him her best glare and shirked his grip, knocking his arm away from her as he ran his fingers up and down her side. He wasn’t going to get around her by stroking her and distracting her.
“They’re about me. I have a right to know.” She pressed her hand against his chest and went to get up, but his arm clamped around her waist and he pinned her to his side.
“I am only trying to protect you, Little Amazon.” His gaze implored her to listen to him and let it go, but she couldn’t, no matter how badly she was spoiling the moment.
“I can protect myself.” She tried to wriggle free of his arms but he held her tighter, crushing her against him, and she gave up and settled for glaring at him instead.
“Can you not let me protect you?” he whispered and she faltered as he gave her a boyish look that made her want to sigh.
She didn’t mean to trample on his male pride, and she wasn’t saying that he couldn’t protect her too, but she was a big girl and she was used to taking care of herself.
It had been a long time since someone had wanted to take care of her.
It felt strange.
She sighed. “Fine. You can protect me too… but you have to let me in. I need to know what you see.”
“I see your death. Is that not enough?” He looked away from her and the pain in his eyes clawed at her, making her feel awful for pushing him. “I will tell you soon. If the visions come again… I will tell you. I swear it.”
She nodded when he looked back at her. She could go along with that, because part of her hoped that he never had another vision, and therefore she wouldn’t have to worry if she ever found herself in a similar place or situation to what he had seen.
“Let us focus on finding your friends.” He smiled at her, flashing straight white teeth, his attempt at charming her not failing to hit its mark.
He had realised that her friends were important to her and she could see that he was going to use it to place himself in her good book and score some points with her. She didn’t mind. She needed help and he was the best there was. He knew the local dragons, could fly around the forbidding terrain and cut travel time down exponentially, and he was strong enough to convince whichever dragons had her friends to hand them over.
Sable would probably love him and she was sure her leader would appreciate his help when she came to save them.
“Sable,” Anais muttered as she realised that her leader would be coming for her and the others.
“The other huntress?” Loke said and she nodded. “What of her?”
“She’s the leader of the Archangel team that came to Hell to fight in the battle. I know her. She won’t leave us behind. She will come for us all.” Even though part of Anais hoped that Sable never found her, because that part of her was happy here with Loke.
Loke’s expression turned grave. “You desire to be rescued?”
Anais wasn’t sure how to answer that question. There was a part of her that wanted to stay here with him, but the rest wanted to return to her world and her job.
“No,” he barked and his face blackened into a scowl. “It cannot happen. I will not let it happen. I must stay with you to protect you. I must save you.”
She smiled and shook her head. “You’re making no sense. You can’t save me from yourself.”
He looked blankly at her and then frowned again. “I was speaking of saving you from the foe in my vision.”
Foe? There was someone he kept seeing then? Someone who was going to kill her. An icy shiver blasted through her and she wished he would tell her about the things that he had seen. His gaze flitted between hers, a flicker of fear in it that she knew came from the thought that she was going to press him to tell her about the visions. She wanted to know what he had seen that had left him so shaken, but she didn’t have the heart to ask him, not when she knew it would hurt him.
She would wait for him to tell her as he had asked.
His handsome face softened and his blue eyes warmed, turning tender as he brushed his fingers through her hair and held her gaze. “You are safe with me, Little Amazon. I swear it. I will keep you safe… with me.”
She knew that, but she also knew that she didn’t belong in this world. She wasn’t sure she could stay as he clearly wanted, and part of her also wanted. The thought of leaving him didn’t sit well with her. It turned her stomach and sent her thoughts churning, filling her with dread and making her want to wrap her arms around him and hold on to him.
She didn’t want this time with him to end, even when she felt deep in her heart that it would.
No matter what they did to stop it.
They would end up parted.
Ice formed in her veins and she did the only thing she could to make it go away.
She pulled herself up Loke and kissed him.
He was quick to respond, wrapping both arms around her as he craned his neck and returned the kiss, his lips dancing softly across hers and filling her with heat that melted the ice.
Anais didn’t resist him when he rolled her onto her back, his right leg wedging between her thighs and pressing against her mound. She slipped her arms around his neck and ploughed her fingers through his blue hair, clutching him to her as he kissed her breath away. She moaned and he followed her, groaning as he slid one hand down her side, tracing the curve of her waist before stroking her hip and then her left thigh.
She raised it and he nudged it with his hand, pushing it open. A soft gasp escaped her as he trailed his fingers down the inside of her thigh, tickling and teasing her. His lips left hers to blaze a path down her cheek and she tilted her head back as he devoured her throat, his mouth working magic on her as a thousand hot shivers tumbled through her.
His right hand slipped between her thighs and she gasped louder, arching up to meet his touch as his fingers eased between her folds, seeking her nub. A fiercer bolt of desire shot through her as he found it and rolled it between his finger and thumb, torturing her with a touch of pain before giving her pleasure. He lowered his hand and stroked the entrance of her sheath, drawing moisture from her and cranking her desire higher.
She closed her eyes and gripped his head as he kissed her throat, pressing his tongue in hard to the line of her artery, and drew his fingers back up, swirling them around her aching nub. She tensed her muscles, desperate for another hot blast of pleasure. It came swiftly, sending her rocketing higher as he stroked and teased her.
“Loke.” She couldn’t hold back as she rocked against his fingers, flexing her body beneath his.
He grunted against her neck and then he was kissing her again, fiercer this time, his mouth dominating hers as he ground against her hip, rubbing his hot hard length between them.
She moaned and unleashed her passion, trying to match him as he took her mouth. His hand dipped lower and tore a gasp from her as he plunged two fingers into her sheath and began to pump her. She gave up trying to match him and surrendered to him instead, giving him control over her and letting him master her body, sure that he would give her another earth-shattering climax.
She moaned as her passion hijacked her body, making her roll her hips to meet every wicked thrust of his fingers. She breathed harder, straining for the one push that would send her tumbling into bliss.
Loke denied her.
He withdrew his fingers at the critical moment and snatched his lips away from hers.
She growled in frustration and tried to pull him back to her, but he easily resisted, her strength no match for his. She flicked her eyes open and moaned, heat sweeping through her as she saw him kneeling in front of her, a glorious vision of pure unadulterated masculinity.
Thick ropes of muscle coiled tightly beneath pale skin. His hard cock rose from its nest of curls, dark with need that made her body yearn in response to the sight, aching for him to fill her and to give him pleasure.
Anais shifted before he could make a move, coming to kneel on all fours in front of him, her hand seizing his cock. He grunted and then moaned as she stroked him, the guttural sound filling the cave. She wanted to hear him making that noise when he was in her mouth and she was tasting him.
She lowered her head and wrapped her lips around the blunt head of his cock.
He grunted again and his hands seized her shoulders, his nails pressing in hard as she swirled her tongue around the crown, seeking his sensitive spots. He moaned whenever she found one and went to war on it, not relenting until his hands trembled against her and he was as hard as steel in her mouth.
“Anais,” he husked, his passion-drenched deep voice commanding her to give him some relief from the torture.
She took him deeper into her mouth and began sucking him, pressing her tongue hard into the underside of his cock on each withdraw and swirling the tip around the crown. She raised her right hand and played with his sac as she sucked him, ripping a feral grunt from him. He gripped her shoulders harder and began to rock into her mouth, shallow thrusts accompanied by soft grunts of pleasure. She moaned, the sound of his pleasure giving her a shot of it too, drugging her and making her hungrier for him.
When he was on the verge, she pulled away, giving him a taste of his own medicine. She looked up the height of him and met bright blue eyes that swirled with gold flecks of fire. His handsome face turned deadly serious, a dark edge to it that thrilled her.
She had pushed too far and she had a feeling he was going to make her pay for it.
He clamped his hand down on the back of her neck and pulled her up to him, searing her with a kiss that sent an inferno sweeping through her. His other hand delved between her thighs and she moaned and shuddered as he thrust two fingers into her, spearing her and making her quiver with a need for more. His answering groan was deep and guttural, more beast than man.
It thrilled her.
It made her want to climb up him and impale herself on his long hard cock.
Loke had a different idea.
He grabbed her behind her thighs and pulled them upwards, sending her flat on her back with her bottom in the air. She lay at a diagonal, her eyes on his, goading him into doing it. She needed him inside her again, filling and completing her.
He snarled, flashing twin rows of sharp white teeth, and grasped his cock.
He gripped her hip with one hand and fed his cock into her with the other. He didn’t take things slowly this time. The moment the head was inside, he drove home, filling her with one deep stroke. She cried out as her body stretched around him and he struck the deepest point inside her.
He paused only long enough to catch the desire in her eyes, the passion and need for him that commanded him not to stop, and began thrusting. His hands clamped down on her hips and his eyes locked with hers, dark and hungry, making her burn for him. She moaned in time with him, the sound tearing from her lips whenever their hips met and he filled her.
The cave filled with the sounds of their lovemaking, their wild noises and each hard meeting of their bodies drowning out the crackle of the fire.
Anais threw her hands above her head and clutched the furs, twisting them in her fists as Loke took her, hard and fast, every delicious inch of him tensed. The sight of him only added fuel to the fire as she stared up at him and he stared back at her.
He was incredible.
A perfect blend of danger, sensuality and lethal beauty.
One hundred percent male, and that masculinity spoke to her feminine side, filling her with appreciation and need.
She moaned and tried to hold his gaze, but it was impossible as her desire reached a crescendo. She screwed her face up, lost in her passion and her spiralling need. He grunted and thrust harder, leaving no part of her untouched with each powerful stroke of his cock.
The universe detonated in a shower of stars across the darkness of her closed eyes and she cried out as fire swept through her and her entire body quaked from the force of it, her limbs trembling as it pulsed through her, each wave growing stronger rather than weaker. She breathed harder, her heart pumping faster as Loke kept thrusting, driving her towards a second climax. It came in a blinding rush as his cock jerked and began to pulse inside her, shooting hot jets into her core. She cried out with him, her hoarse shout matching his as they shook and found Heaven together.
Awareness of the world slowly came back, the thick sound of her rapid breaths and Loke’s panting filling her ears at first. The feel of his hands clutching her hips, his grip so tight her bones ached came next, followed by how big he still felt inside her, filling her completely.
She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him.
His eyes blazed blue fire at her, his expression still deadly serious, and she had half a mind to ask what that look was for, but he took her back out of her head before she could get the words out.
He eased back, making her think he was going to withdraw completely and release her.
He didn’t.
He slowly rocked into her, filling her again, the fire in his eyes growing hotter. Each slow thrust stirred passion in her veins again, reawakening her desire for him and driving the last two climaxes to the back of her mind as her body came alive to seek a third with him.
Anais had the feeling that she had seriously underestimated the power and stamina of a dragon shifter and she was about to find out just how high Loke could take her.
He leaned over her, not breaking his rhythm, and his lips crushed hers in a kiss that seared her right down to her soul and left her in no doubt of what lay ahead of her.
Heaven.
She had found Heaven in Hell.
And she never wanted to leave.