She stirred against me when I made a move to separate myself from her. There wasn’t so much as a hitch in her breathing to indicate that she’d woken up. She simply wanted to be near me.

I understood the sentiment, as I’d struggled with it for the last several hours as I held her in my arms, going in and out of light sleep while knowing all the while that I ought to check on the others. I’d left Pierce with the task of spreading the word to the rest of the clan and coven but had yet to follow up on any further progress.

Now that my mate was mine, fully and truly, I could turn my mind to other matters.

But only for a short while. I would need her again, and soon. It seemed there was no end to the wonders of her body and her mind.

A body which was at that moment draped over me, arms and legs akimbo. I did what I could to extricate myself without waking her, then pulled together some clothing and slipped as quietly as I could from the room.

The cave was quiet, which told me most of those who made it their home were in bed. But there was always someone on watch, both in the control center and out in the sky.

I padded down the long hall in my bare feet, wondering who I would see upon reaching the last room across from the kitchen.

Sitting with his ankles crossed atop the desk was Pierce himself, hands folded on his chest. On the monitor before him was a face I recognized.

She looked at me when I entered. Uncanny, that.

While the camera could only have picked up a limited amount of space, she somehow noticed me on the other side of the room.

“Owen. How nice to see you. I understand you met a special young woman.”

Pierce shrugged. “I thought she should know. We recovered part of the coven’s treasure, after all.”

I mirrored his shrug and pulled up a chair. “You won’t hear any complaints from me. Did you tell her our theory?”

Mary answered for him. “He did, and I must say I find it intriguing. The more I think about it, the more sense it makes. We know by now that the Gwydions were behind the attack in Scotland, and they forced the coven into hiding. I could imagine this—I know not what to call it—this grudge could easily go back that far.”

“I certainly remember them from those days,” Pierce muttered. “Always trying to one-up the coven, trying to prove their might. They were never able to establish their superiority.”

“Because of us,” I added. “Once they had the coven separated from us, however, they were able to wipe them out.”

“I only wish we could’ve made it here sooner,” he said. “Here I am, regretting something that took place a thousand years ago. We were separated by storms. I’ll never forget how intense they were. The flooding afterward, the lives lost—the area wasn’t nearly as populated as it is now, and still there was so much destruction.”

“Storms.” I leaned in closer. “Such as the storm we just endured upon our arrival?”

His eyes lit up. “You can’t mean—”

“I do.” I looked to Mary, whose face filled the monitor in front of me. “What do you think?”

She adjusted her glasses and smoothed back her prim, gray bun. “I think it may be time for me to send backup. I mean no offense, but there might be quite a bit more working against you out there than we bargained for. I hope you have the extra room for a handful of lion shifters.”

Lion shifters. Why not?

When I returned to my bedroom, my head spinning a bit at the thought of even more shifters to contend with—not to mention the Gwydions, who were quite enough on their own—I expected to find my mate waiting as I’d left her.

Spread out on the bed, dead to the world, without a stitch of clothing.

Instead, she sat on the edge of the bed with her hands folded in her lap, fully dressed and all but glowing in anticipation. “Well? Can we go flying now?”

“Oh, that was exhilarating!” I was still so excited from the flight on my mate’s—my dragon mate’s—back.

I reminded myself that he was part dragon, part man, but all mine.

He held me close to his warm, firm, unforgiving body.

And when his long fingers hooked into claws as he ran them over my back, I imagined his real claws raking over my skin, and it didn’t scare me. Flying together as we had, that had removed all my fears.

I didn’t push him away. I melted against him, instead, and my body responded. Nipples tightening, back arching, and a deep, wet heat building in my core.

“Yes…” I whispered just before his mouth closed over mine and we were back where we left off hours earlier. I yearned to indulge myself in feeling his firm, rippling muscles under my hands.

He was so beautiful and perfect, and he was all mine. I kept reminding myself that he was all mine, and he wanted me, and I could let myself stop worrying or thinking or feeling anything but sweet, burning pleasure. We would solve the mysteries, all of us combined. And we would live happily ever after, without fear from anyone that hunted the witches or the dragons.

It raced through me in little tongues of fire, lighting me up from the inside while Owen’s tongue slid into my mouth.

I tilted my head back and sighed, eyes closing, and the groan from deep in his throat made my core tighten deliciously.

His mouth moved lower, to my chest, his tongue licking and swirling.

I arched my back to press my body closer to him, moaning as he closed over one of my aching nipples.

“Beautiful,” he panted as he lapped at them, making me smile and squirm and writhe.

I had never felt anything like it before. Not just pleasure, though the pleasure was overwhelming. It was knowing the perfect, beautiful man on top of me was moving with me, groaning and grunting because of the taste of my body and the sound of the pleasure he stimulated in me.

My pleasure turned him on. It made the dragon just underneath the surface growl. I wanted his dragon, and that surprised me.

His hands slid over my hips. His fingers dug into my flesh.

I parted my legs, and he growled louder.

I watched as he ran the sides of his face along the insides of my thighs, letting his lips touch my most intimate places, and the primal nature of it made me growl the way he did.

My hips rose up from the bed in response to his mouth was enough. He was there to pleasure me and to take pleasure in me. That was enough.

His breath came in short, hard bursts as he went on and on, licking and tasting and digging his fingers into my thighs, holding me down when I threatened to buck him off and when I climaxed, going rigid all over, he waited until I finished before running his tongue over the insides of my thighs.

He was barely holding his dragon back—it was obvious—nipping at my sensitive skin and growling, breathing hard and heavy.

I looked down, and he looked up at me. His eyes took my breath away, glowing in the dimness of the semi-dark room.

My heart raced faster than ever. I spread my legs wider.

“I can’t promise I’ll be able to take it slow, lass,” he groaned. He didn’t even sound like himself.

“I don’t want you to take it slow,” I whispered.

He crawled up the length of my body—God, he was gorgeous—and settled over me.

With the firm heat of him on top of me, between my legs and under my hands. I felt his hardness pressing against my entrance.

Our eyes locked just before our bodies did and something passed between us, just like the first time. That something, I didn’t know what. Something wordless and instinctual. Something deep and basic and primal.

And then he pushed forward. I bit down on my lower lip to hold back the cry that threatened to spill out.

He moved over me, inside me, taking what he wanted while he gave me so much more. So much of his love. Of his soul. Of his dragon.

I tightened my grip on every part of him I could, dragging my nails across his shoulders and back, squeezing him with my thighs.

He rewarded me with a barrage of deep, sharp thrusts that made me dig my teeth into his shoulder as he filled me completely.

“Yes…” I met his kiss, thrusting my tongue against his. It was so sweet, so hot, so right.

We moved faster, breathed faster, harder, perspiration making our bodies slide against each other as the pressure grew.

I knew I was going to explode again.

And when I did, he did, and we both froze in one delicious moment before collapsing together.

My heart swelled, and I smiled as I stroked the back of his head while he rested against me.

He pushed himself up just enough to look down at me. “I never would have thought this type of love—”

“I know.” I cut him off. “I know. I wouldn’t have either.”

“You see it, but you just can’t believe it.”

I nodded against his face. “I know.”

And I did. I knew exactly. Who would have thought this type of love really existed?

“I want to be good to you,” he whispered hoarsely. “I want you to lose yourself in me, the way I lose myself in you.”

“I do…” I whispered, closing my eyes and letting the sensations take over, marveling that he got lost in me.

I did lose myself in his touch, his kiss. Strong, firm, demanding lips which landed on my jaw and slid down my throat. His tongue flicked over my skin and set it on fire.

“I need you.” Over and over as his hands owned my body, stroking and caressing.

As he rolled me onto my back and I opened my legs to take him inside.

His hoarse, broken, throaty growl. The dragon in him was struggling to break free.

When he thrust forward, I closed my eyes and let him carry me away to something beyond what I knew existed.

Keep reading for an excerpt from the next book in the series!