CHAPTER 18
Abigail
Abigail cried out as Jasper entered her. He was so hard and hot and so, so perfect. Pleasure built inside her, so strong already she almost came as he buried himself fully inside her.
Her whole body felt as though it was about to fly apart. Was this magic? The lights had followed her from the front room— they danced around her, and inside her, too, she was sure. In her blood. Her heart.
She stared up into Jasper’s ember-bright eyes. The lights were there, as well. And the gold…
Jasper was pinning her wrists with one hand. Still buried deep inside her, he reached up for something on the pillow above her head. Then he pressed something into her hands. The jasper heart.
She still blushed when she remembered the inscription. It was so cheesy, so ridiculous. So true. Jasper had her heart. He had stripped away her spiky walls and all her fearful defenses, and her heart was his. Forever.
Jasper closed both his hands over hers, trapping the heart between their palms. His dark hair fell over his face. With his burning eyes, he looked somehow more than human. More primal and powerful.
She shivered with anticipation— and then something else.
Jasper leaned down, whispering in her ear, “Do you feel it?”
Something was ghosting over her skin, tracing feather-light trails down her wrists and arms. She looked up. “The gold?”
Gold was flowing from the heart, shining tendrils winding like metal ribbons down her arms. Several tendrils looped around her wrists, and others kept moving down her body. She twitched as they tickled over her ribs and Jasper groaned, thrusting against her hips. Her head fell back, pleasure pulsing through her as his cock pressed against her most sensitive places, so overwhelmed she barely noticed where the other gold went.
Then it tightened around her ankles, pulling her legs apart.
She looked up at Jasper, shocked. She had already opened her legs for him, but this was different; the gold was spreading them further apart, transfixing her beneath him.
Gold at her wrists, gold at her ankles. The tendrils were slender— there hadn’t been much gold on the heart, after all— but she knew that if she tested her bonds, they would not break. Her heart fluttered.
Jasper pulled out of her. “Is this alright?” he asked, his voice rough.
His eyes were darker than she had ever seen them, the pupils so large there was only the barest hint of gold and red around the edges. His hair fell over his face, tangled and wild. His skin was flushed. Muscles bunched in his shoulders and biceps. His whole body was like a bow pulled tight, powerful and strong.
She couldn’t move. That didn’t matter. She didn’t want to move. She wanted him, here, now. Forever. Hers.
“Make me yours,” she replied, her own voice throaty with passion. Jasper groaned out loud and thrust into her. Harder than before. Primal. Perfect.
He pounded into her so hard it left her breathless, then thrust in again, until she had no breath left even to moan. Desire built inside her, every thrust stoking the bonfire of her love until she thought her whole body would catch fire. She was completely open beneath him, helpless and vulnerable and lost in passion.
She gasped and cried out, toes curling, and then opened her eyes to find herself caught in Jasper’s gaze. His eyes were like coals, black with heat. His fingers tightened around her own. The stone heart seemed to pulse between their palms, and the gold burned on her wrists and ankles.
“My mate,” Jasper gasped. Abigail’s breath caught in her throat. “My own. Forever. Always. My mate, my Abigail…”
His voice was low and hitching, as though he could barely control it. Barely control himself. Abigail flexed underneath him. She was trapped by the gold but she could still move her hips, her body, returning his thrusts with the same frenzied passion until—
Abigail cried out wordlessly as pleasure overtook her. Stars burst in front of her eyes. Real, or magic? She didn’t know. She didn’t care. She was dissolving, floating in an endless ocean of stars, strange constellations stretching out on all sides. She was the stars, burning and shining and so alive with happiness she thought she might cry.
She opened her eyes. Her vision was hazy; she blinked, found Jasper’s face, drowned herself in his gaze. His ember eyes. Her dragon.
She raised her head, demanding a kiss. When he kissed her, she bit down on his lip until he gasped, then softened, teasing his hips until he groaned. The noise reverberated against her lips, deep into her bones. She could no longer tell where her body ended, and his began. They were together, bound by love, floating in a velvet sky of stars.
“Mine,” she gasped. Pleasure was still cascading through her, new waves shuddering through her body with Jasper’s every thrust. “My mate.”
Jasper cried out, thrusting deeper and harder into her as he came. The chains around her wrists and ankles tightened— and then released, and he was in her arms, falling beside her in the bed, limbs tangling together and lips locked in a kiss she hoped would never end.
They lay still together, lost in wonder and happiness. Jasper’s eyes were embers again, dancing like firelight as he kissed her. Slow kisses. Leisurely. Endless.
Abigail smiled and stretched, pressing her body against his as he slowly trailed kisses down her neck. She shivered as he reached her collarbone. She was sated, exhausted— but these kisses might convince her otherwise…
Then he reached her breastbone, and she jerked. “I feel it!”
Jasper was up on his elbows in a second, eyes furrowed with concern. “What?”
“The— the—” It was too wonderful. She couldn’t put it into words. She pressed her hand against his chest, hoping he would understand.
His eyes widened. “The mate bond? You feel it, too?”
Abigail nodded. There it was, in her heart. In the space that she now realized had always been waiting for it. A warmth, a light, like a sun inside her chest— and a glowing chain that linked her to Jasper. If she concentrated, she could feel it. If she closed her eyes…
She could see it, stretching between their bodies. Glowing gold-bright, like the gold that had bound her during the ritual. Connecting her to him, and him to her. Forever.
She smiled. “Too late for me to run away now.”
Jasper narrowed his eyes mischievously. “Too late indeed.” He buried his hands in her hair. “I guess I’m stuck with you.”
“And I’m stuck with you, dragon-man.”
“Your dragon-man.”
“Mine.” She liked that. God, how she liked that. “My Jasper. My mate.”
Desire kindled in his eyes and Abigail laughed. “My mate,” Jasper echoed back at her. “Say it again.”
“Mine.” Jasper’s eyes burned brighter, and she knew she was playing with fire. Excitement flared inside her. “My mate. My— Jasper!”