Palin
It was cold that night.
He glared at the tarp as it rattled in the window. After he’d calmed down and accepted Sandy’s decision to stay in her house, he’d started making some phone calls to get someone out to repair the window as soon as possible. He’d made it clear money wasn’t an issue; time and quality of workmanship was.
Only one person had accepted the job, and they’d said they would be there the next day to measure and order it up, but that they couldn’t promise how long until they could be on site. That was fine by him, but it meant several more chilly nights.
They were on the couch, sitting at opposite ends, though they weren’t really apart from each other. It was simply the easiest way that he could gently massage her feet while she relaxed in front of the fire. Logs crackled and fell as one turned to ash, exposing fresh wood to the flames, making them leap higher for the time being. Soon he would have to add more logs, but for now he focused his thumbs on rolling across the soles of her feet, prompting happy noises from his mate.
The blanket was stretched across them, though it barely covered his frame. It was there mostly for her feet, not for him. The breeze didn’t bother Palin, but he could tell that Sandy was chilled. Once again he felt guilty for not keeping his composure during the fight. He was better than that—he’d trained for situations like that—but in his first real combat of any sort he’d panicked and tossed the guy through the window. Not a great start.
Beside him his phone lit up once again. It was Rowe, or maybe Torran, he really didn’t know. Either way, his hands were busy, and he didn’t want to talk to them anyway. The longer he stayed with Sandy, the more irritated they were getting with him. Their comments toward humans, which they insisted on lumping Sandy in with, were getting on his nerves.
Couldn’t they see there were good people out here, people with dragon blood in them? It irritated him that they were so blind to this fact that they wouldn’t even believe him. The phone finally fell dark again as they hung up, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Something wrong?” Sandy asked, sitting up. “Are you cold? Do you need to get under the blanket?”
“N—Actually, that might be nice,” he said, catching himself in time. Being under the blanket with her would give him a chance to get closer to her, something he’d been wishing for desperately all day.
The events of the night before wouldn’t leave his brain, nor his balls. All day they had ached dully, a reminder that though he’d broken yet another barrier with his mate, he had yet to claim her. Palin wanted her more with each passing breath, and the barrier that held back his desire was growing more ragged every time they locked eyes or touched. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold out.
Sandy held the blanket up and he sidled close to her until her legs were draped fully over him and they were pressed tightly together. He rested his right hand on her lower leg, gently stroking it, but his left hand he was forced to leave on the back of the couch. Otherwise it would be awkwardly in his own lap, or resting on her chest. Despite the temptation, he kept his hands to himself.
He felt her gaze upon him. With no television to watch, it was either the fire or each other, and apparently she had chosen him. He continued to watch the red-orange flames dance and cavort wildly for a few minutes, then turned his head to regard her. Sandy was looking up at him, the glow of the fire giving her eyes an added flicker. Neither said a word, the only movement his hand running up and down her blanket-covered shin.
“You’re a persuasive person.”
The sudden break in silence startled him slightly. “Oh?”
“You’ve been in my life for a week and change now. From that time you’ve gone from stranger to a man I’m comfortable enough with to curl up on my couch under the same blanket.”
“I’d just like to point out for the record that you invited me under the blanket. I didn’t persuade you into that.”
She grimaced. “I know. That’s how well you’ve wormed your way into my life.”
“Is that a bad thing?’
There was a pause, long enough that he began to worry.
“I don’t think so,” she said at last, her voice quiet. “But I have my doubts when it comes to my track record of trusting people.”
“It’s cliché as hell, but you can trust me, Sandy.”
“I hope so, Palin. Because I’m thinking about doing something that I really shouldn’t if you’re not to be trusted.”
“Ohh?” It was all he could manage to get out, and even then his voice wavered slightly, thrown off balance by the heat in her voice.
Could this be it? Was Sandy ready to take the next step in their developing relationship? He hoped against wild hope that maybe it was, but he had to let her say so. As she’d said, he was already persuasive; this had to be her decision. Not his.
“How do I know that you can be trusted?”
He shrugged. “You don’t. I can tell you a thousand times over that I will never hurt you and will do whatever it takes to protect you from harm and pain, but in the end, you’ll have to make that decision. I can’t make it for you, nor would I, even if the power to do so lay with me. I think I’ve made it clear that I want you, Sandy, and only you. All I can do is repeat that until you decide to give me a chance.”
She regarded him silently, brown eyes thoughtful and focused, examining his features in detail as she mulled his words over in her mind.
He was about to speak again when she started talking. “And what if I’ve already made a decision?”
His stomach flip-flopped. “Then all you need to do is tell me what it is.”
She nodded. “What if I can’t speak the words?”
Mouth dry, he licked his lips nervously, trying to wet them as best he could given the circumstances. “Then you’ll have to show me.” His voice was the barest ghost of a whisper in the firelight. He gripped the couch tightly and kept stroking her leg to prevent her from catching on to the fact he was trembling ever so slightly.
Who was this woman who had such power over him? Even as his mate, he couldn’t believe the power she held to make him feel like a nervous teen discovering women for the first time all over again. It was intimidating.
Not that Palin was going to back down from the challenge.
Sandy reached out and grabbed his hand from the back of the couch, and with a gentle tug, pulled it toward her. He leaned over her, covering her mouth with his. The moment their lips touched a shock of electricity jumped between them, stinging skin.
He pulled back slightly, both of them giggling. Then, after stroking her face slightly, he kissed her once. Then twice. When he tried to pull back again she locked her arms around his head and kept him pulled tight. Her legs opened slightly on his lap, inviting him to slide his hand farther up. He did.
Things devolved rapidly from there. Unmet need met cautious exploration, and they lost themselves in each other’s world. The fire kept them warm. He fed it as she stripped off her clothes, adding enough logs that it blazed brightly and merrily while they moved to the floor, blankets and rugs the only padding they needed.
Together by the firelight he touched her bare skin for the first time. As he’d suspected it was soft and tender, but not weak. Life on the farm had bred her with some muscle, which showed when she flipped him onto his back and slid down between his legs, her tongue sliding up and down his cock.
The warmth and slow, gentle strokes of both hands combined with her lips and tongue had him on fire. He tried to stop her, to push her away, but Sandy wasn’t having any of it.
“You’re going to lie there and enjoy it,” she ordered, pushing his chest down firmly when he tried to sit up.
“I am enjoying it,” he growled. “A little too much, if you know what I mean.”
She paused, looking up at him and meeting his eye, before sliding her tongue back down to the base of his shaft, all the while maintaining eye contact. “Good,” she mumbled a moment later, her mouth full.
Palin realized she obviously had plans. Maybe she felt she needed to pay him back for earlier? He wanted to tell her that wasn’t how it worked, that he gave to her freely, but too late she cupped his sac and took him deep in her mouth, stroking vigorously with her hand on what she couldn’t fit.
It was too much. His groans became a full-fledged roar as he called out her name, hips bucking as he exploded. His cock pulsed in her grip, but she didn’t stop, working him perfectly until he shook slightly and sagged back to the floor with a sigh that couldn’t begin to convey the pleasure she’d just inflicted on him.
Sandy kept at it, slowing her movements until she sat up. Licking her lips, she smiled up at him, taking in what he knew had to be a dazed, eyes-unfocused face red with bliss. Hopefully she thought it was a good look on him.
“See, now that wasn’t so bad, was it?” she teased.
He growled and pulled her to him, smothering her with kisses that altered between hungry and hard and tender and delicate, always changing it up, never letting her know what was coming next. His hands grabbed her naked ass, squeezing and massaging it gently, much to her delight.
“No, it was pretty good,” he admitted after a few minutes. “But now it’s my turn.”