Chapter 15
“I’m not sure leaving Gayle at Pendragon Castle with your brothers and sisters-in-law was exactly the kind thing to do.” Holly chewed worriedly on her bottom lip.
“For whom?” Dylan came back dryly. “She was raising enough hell before we left to have reduced my whole family to tears by the time we get back.”
“True,” Holly acknowledged ruefully.
They had only managed to get her sister to Wales basically kicking and screaming all the way. Although Gayle had been slightly mollified when they arrived at the castle and Aeran offered her the use of his extensive computer room and state-of-the-art technology.
Even so, Holly expected to hear a lot more from Gayle on the subject of having “dumped me in the wilds of Wales so you can go and have some uninterrupted nooky with loverboy”—Gayle’s words, not Holly’s—when she and Dylan returned.
Dylan had waited only long enough to hand Gayle over to his family’s care before flying them both to his cave in the French Alps. An exhilarating flight that had left Holly breathless by the time they arrived, the views magnificent as Dylan landed on a ledge outside the cave before shimmering back to his human form.
Although, “cave” didn’t seem an accurate description of the comfort of this cavernous room deep in the mountain.
Admittedly, the walls, floor, and arched roof were smooth rock, but there was also a comfortable seating area, a sturdy mahogany king-size bed, thick rugs on the floor, paintings hung on the walls, along with a fully fitted kitchen and bathroom area. The lighting and cooking facilities were powered by a generator.
Not exactly a five-star hotel, but neither was it the rustic cave Holly had been expecting.
She also felt a little shy now that the two of them were alone together. Their lovemaking yesterday had been everything Holly could have hoped for, and Dylan had been the lover of her dreams. But that had been twenty-four hours ago, and the two of them hadn’t had a moment alone together since.
First, Gayle had wanted to talk about it being Gregori Markovic’s own female personal assistant who had paid Gayle to divert millions of pounds of the Russian’s money.
Dealing with Gaye’s displeasure once they told her she was going to Wales with them had taken up even more time.
After finally taking that soothing soak in the bath, Holly had spent the rest of the night in her sister’s bedroom to ensure Gayle didn’t try to sneak out a second time.
Then there had been the long drive to Wales, with Gayle sulking in the back of the car, followed by yet more time settling Gayle in with his family.
There had been no opportunity in all that for any privacy between Holly and Dylan, which meant their mating was still incomplete.
“Hey.” Dylan placed a gentle hand beneath her chin and lifted her face so she was looking at him. “I’m not suddenly going to pounce on you now that we’re alone together.”
“Pity,” Holly mumbled.
“What?” Dylan eyed her speculatively.
She shrugged. “I feel as if I’ve been waiting for this, for you, all my life. Not as long as you have, obviously.” She grimaced at the thought of Dylan having waited sixteen centuries for his mate to appear. “But long enough.” The mating aphrodisiac in Holly’s bloodstream had now intensified her arousal to a degree it was becoming unbearable. “It doesn’t seem to be bothering you, but I’m feeling decidedly uncomfortable.”
Dylan frowned at the realization Holly thought he wasn’t burning up with the same desire for her. He wanted her so badly, it was taking every measure of his control to remain in the least civilized. Not just him; his dragon was clawing him to pieces inside in an effort to get to Holly. “Strip,” he instructed gruffly.
She blinked, slowly moistening her lips with the tip of her tongue before answering him. “Strip?”
He nodded abruptly. “I’m not sure how many changes of clothes you brought with you in that little bag, but right now, I want to rip your clothes off before throwing you on the bed and showing you just how much not being inside you isn’t bothering me.”
“Oh.” Holly felt the color burning her cheeks as she began to unfasten the buttons on her shirt top with shaking fingers.
“Too slow,” Dylan growled as he grasped each side of the shirt and ripped it open, several buttons flying off in different directions before he took the shirt off completely and threw it on the floor.
He dealt with her lacy bra next, extending a talon and slicing down the center of it. Her breasts instantly tumbled from their confinement, the nipples fully engorged and aching.
Her hand slapped down over the top of Dylan’s as he would have dealt with her jeans in the same way. “I have other tops, but I only brought this pair of jeans with me.” She removed her shoes and socks before unfastening and disposing of the jeans herself. She gave a gasp as that lethal talon then sliced through her panties, leaving her completely naked.
It wasn’t cold in the cave, but it certainly wasn’t hot either, Holly’s skin was immediately covered in goose bumps. Great, now she looked like a plucked chicken. “Dylan!” she cried out as he lifted her in his arms and carried her over to the bed. He placed her down on the covers, his gaze holding hers as he straightened to throw off his own clothes with the same disregard for buttons or zips.
“Goddess, I want you,” he groaned as he lay down beside her and captured her mouth with his own.
A long and possessive kiss before Dylan’s hands and mouth once again worshipped every inch of her body with a reverence that left her breathless.
She loved this man. This dragon. Loved them both with every particle of her being.
None of her previous caution regarding relationships existed when it came to Dylan. She was his. One hundred percent his.
He’d lived for hundreds of years. Had selflessly served first his brother and king, and then any worthy cause that needed the help of their dragon army. There had been his brothers for company during that time, of course, but everyone else Dylan came to know or care about eventually died. He deserved so much more than that.
Holly reached down to thread her fingers through his hair before lifting his head and looking deep into the blue of his eyes. “I love you.”
Dylan’s heart stuttered, stopped, and then frantically started beating again. “You love me?”
She nodded. “I have since the moment I first looked at you. That feeling has only intensified the more I’ve come to know you.”
He could barely breathe, his emotions so deep and so strong, his heart was now threatening to beat right out of his chest. His mate loved him. No, Holly loved him. The mating aphrodisiac caused her body to hunger for his, for the pleasure they created together, but it couldn’t make her love him.
Holly loved him.
She chuckled huskily. “Don’t look so worried. I’m not expecting any declaration of love back. But neither am I excusing you from the chocolates, flowers, and romance,” she added teasingly. “I just wanted you to know before we complete our mating that love is why there was no reason for me to wait. How could I not want to mate with you, be with you for the rest of your long life, when I’m in love with you?”
Dylan kissed her long and deeply. “I was attracted to your unique scent first of all— I said attracted, Holly,” he chided as she gave a grimace. “But I believe I fell in love with you when you told Garrett I was an arrogant pain in your ass.”
Holly stared at him. “What?”
He grinned. “No one has ever spoken to or about me like that in sixteen hundred years.”
“No. Well.” She frowned. “You were being an arrogant pain in the ass.”
“In your ass,” he corrected huskily.
The color deepened in her cheeks. “You were telling me you’ve fallen in love with me too,” she reminded, her gaze not quite meeting his.
Dylan’s arms tightened about her. “I love you, Holly Wilson. Your beauty. Your intelligence. Your compassion. Your patience. Your beautiful soul. The way you blush when I say something a little too intimate. I love all of it. All of you,” he said with feeling. “Will you marry me?”
Holly blinked. “M-marry you?”
He nodded. “I want to bind you to me in every way possible, human as well as dragon.”
Her brows rose. “Before or after the mating?”
“Oh, definitely after, because we aren’t leaving this cave again for days and days,” he growled possessively.
Holly snuggled deeper into his arms. “I like the sound of that.”
“And marrying me?”
“Oh, I’ll do that too,” she assured him slightly breathlessly. “But later.” Holly rolled over until she was lying on top of him. “Much, much later.”
He chuckled throatily. “I think we’re in slightly the wrong position for mating. I’m supposed to be behind you, not underneath you.”
Dylan was right. She did blush when he said something intimate.
He moved to place her gently on the bed beside him. “On your hands and knees, love.”
She blushed even more once she was in such a vulnerable position.
Then all she felt was pleasure as Dylan’s cock pushed between the slickness of her nether lips before entering her fully in one smooth stroke. “Oh God, yes,” she gasped as he began to thrust slowly in and out of her wet channel, rising as his arm about her waist lifted her up and against him.
She barely felt the sting of his sharp teeth on her nape, was aware only of the rush of pleasure as Dylan sucked on her flesh, taking her blood and giving back the aphrodisiac. She cried out in ecstasy as she climaxed longer than ever before.
She felt that barb latch on inside her, joining her to Dylan, and he began to thrust deep and fiercely, taking her again and again as their souls meshed and their bodies mated.
She had captured a dragon’s heart.
She was a dragon’s mate.
Dylan’s mate.
Soon to be his wife as he would be her husband.
For as long as they both lived.