Cobalt was taking the stairs two at a time when he momentarily lost purchase at the edge of one step. He slipped slightly forward, then regained his balance as he made it to the end of the flight.

Sylvie giggled. “Are you sure there wasn’t something else in that champagne?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” he replied, striding toward his room and the necessary privacy he required so he could do all the sinful things he wanted to do to her now.

The entire night, she’d been tantalizing him. With every sway of her hips, every smile on her lips, every moan and sigh and glance, he’d reacted to her like a predator to its prey.

And now the dragon inside him was roaring to pounce.

He reached the door to his personal quarters and, momentarily forgetting how doorknobs worked, opted to take the shorter route and kicked it open. The door slammed against the wall, and he butted it shut with the heel of his foot as he came in.

“Why the rush?” Sylvie was teasing him now. He knew it. “Egging him on,” as humans liked to say, with her breasts pressed together and against him. He looked down and watched as she practically licked her lips, her delicate fingers gripping his shoulders.

He looked over at the bed at the end of the spacious room, then immediately noted his writing desk next to them, posted near the door.

His hazy mind tried to do the speediest of calculations, do what was more logical, but he couldn’t even think anymore. All he could feel was need.

No, he had to have her now. Fuck waiting ten more steps.

Sylvie gasped as he cleared the desk of the entirety of its contents. Books and papers and other instruments clattered to the ground, and some obsessive part far in the back of his brain shook its head in disapproval.

That part of him could go fuck itself right now.

Cobalt set Sylvie on the desk, pressing her toward the back and against the wall as his mouth claimed hers once again. It had felt like an eternity since the ballroom, but maybe the alcohol was just messing with his temporal cognition.

Regardless, he wanted to own her in every way possible.

Sylvie didn’t fight him, opening her mouth to let him enter. He swiped along the roof of her mouth, then entwined their tongues together, flicking roughly against hers. To his surprise, she wrapped her legs around his midsection, pulling him in closer to her as his hands, now left to their own devices, roved over her body.

The thin fabric of her dress left little to the imagination, and he let his hands do the things his eyes had been desperate to do all night.

She moaned as he squeezed her breasts, pressing his thumbs into her nipples slightly as he lowered his head to her neck to kiss the delicate skin there over and over.

“You drive me crazy. I don’t know what I’m going to do, Sylvie,” he muttered, listening to her sighs of pleasure as he wandered freely over her open skin. “I can’t think around you. I can’t think about anything but you.”

“Then don’t think. Just do.”

She shocked him a little by biting lightly on his ear, making his nerves twitch, and Cobalt more heard himself growl than actually felt it as his hands swiftly cupped her ass, pulling her to him as their hips came together. Even through the fabric of his suit pants and her dress, he could feel her heat, feel her legs trembling with want.

He wanted to be in control. Wanted to be the one giving pleasure tonight.

She trembled against him as he returned the favor, nibbling at her ear, then licking over the soft lobe. One hand pulled the silky blue dress aside from her legs, and he reached between them. He felt over the satiny lace of her panties, finding her center, and stroked against it, wanting more than anything to hear her come. Right here, right now.

She arched her neck backward, moaning loudly, and he pressed his finger over the soft nub again.

If he had a thousand hands, he’d touch her everywhere at once. As it stood, he was going to use everything at his disposal to pleasure her, to own her.

Cobalt was relentless as he stroked over her again and again and again. Her moans soon became sharp gasps as she got closer, and he went quicker, using his other hand to anchor her at the small of her back while his mouth nipped and kissed all across her neck and shoulders.

Her legs tightened, and as he felt her come, he covered her mouth with his, claiming every sound of her release for his own.

Everything about Sylvie was delicious. Her scent, fresh and uniquely her own. The way she reacted to the lightest of touch. Her deep, bright eyes, so glossy as they opened slowly and looked up at him as she returned from orgasm.

“That was amazing…” she said, sounding delightfully lost in the pleasure he gave.

“Who said I was anywhere near finished?”

She started to say something, but never finished as he knelt down, spreading her legs before him. He noted the black panties she wore for a moment before he pulled them off unceremoniously and tossed them aside.

He didn’t wait or play games and went straight to her center with his tongue, flicking against it. She cried out loudly, her voice filling the room, but he didn’t let up.

Thankfully, his room was far from everyone else’s in the mansion. So she could scream all she wanted so long as it was his name on her lips.

Cobalt licked against her clit over and over, running not on logical curiosity tonight, but on pure, animal instinct as he claimed her. She shuddered, hands falling to her sides in a weak attempt to keep herself propped up.

Not losing his rhythm, he gathered her hands with his, placing them on his scalp so she could grab his hair. It would make a much better thing to hold on to than a flat, polished wood desk.

After all, Cobalt was a jealous dragon intent on pleasuring his mate. Not a barbarian.

He sucked lightly on her clit, and Sylvie’s hands held on tightly to his hair, the sensation a kind of thermometer that let Cobalt know exactly how well he was doing.

She was so close. Cobalt could feel it in every twitch of her muscles, every buck of her hips as he held her against his mouth. Then, with one last lick, savoring her slick wetness on his tongue and in his mouth, she came.

This time, she called out his name, saying it again and again into the solace of an unanswering room. He licked her once more, further intensifying the release, then simply waited as she rode out the entirety of it.

Oh, there were so many things he wanted to do to her. So many things he could do to her, given time. But just because he could go all night didn’t mean Sylvie’s stamina was limitless. And from the hungry look in her eyes, matching the soul-deep hunger he felt both in his heart and pressing against his pants, they weren’t quite finished here.

He picked her up, carrying her toward the back of the room, and she held on, appearing more than eager for the next event.

Cobalt had perhaps lacked the foresight to start things at the bed tonight. But he sure as hell was going to finish things there.

* * *

Sylvie could hardly believe her own eyes at seeing this new, ultra-possessive, ultra-dominant side of Cobalt.

Yet, despite the stark contrast it made with the gentle, nerdy dragon she’d met her very first night here, somehow this all felt like a very important side of Cobalt. The one buried beneath a façade of books and logic and thinking.

A relentless, hungry dragon obsessed with rocking her world over and over.

He carried her over to the bed as if she weighed nothing and set her on the plush sheets. Then he kicked off his shoes and came over her. Maybe it was just her own eyes playing tricks, but the look in his eyes seemed so much more feral, so much more dangerous right now.

And every time he looked at her, it sent a shiver of excitement along the skin of her back and neck.

Her toes were already tingly from multiple orgasms. But she was in too deep to not want to go all the way with him right now. Everything leading up to this had just been a precursor, foreplay.

She wanted him completely, at least for this moment.

Sylvie fumbled with the buttons on his shirt, the effect of his unashamed pleasuring of her body a hundred times more potent than alcohol on her senses. He pulled back for a moment and, to her shock, tore the shirt off as though it were tissue paper, revealing that gloriously hot bod that had been getting her in trouble since day one.

But he was so much more than just a perfect man on the outside to her now. Beneath the sizzlingly tight abs and bulging pecs, beyond the thickly corded muscle of his biceps and forearms was a sweet, protective person that had treated her better than anyone in her life ever had.

And if she only could allow herself to feel it, there were things much deeper than just raw attraction stirring inside her, too, however frightening it all was.

Cobalt’s touch as he slid her dress off of one shoulder snapped her back into the moment, thrilling her with the anticipation of so much more than just what they could do with mouths or hands.

Take it one moment at a time, Sylvie. She had to remind herself.

Her hands caressed the iron-hard velvet of his pecs and shoulder as he attempted to pull her dress off. But after a moment of struggle, he ripped a long tear down the side, allowing him to remove it completely.

“I’ll get another if you were particularly fond of that one,” he muttered apologetically.

“It’s just a dress,” she replied, unable to help laughing a bit. Maybe he was still feeling the champagne a little.

Or, based on how his eyes were devouring her, maybe this side of Cobalt wasn’t fond of waiting for certain things.

She warmed from head to toe, glad her blush wouldn’t show, but not caring either way. Sylvie had always been fairly confident in her appearance before this, but being naked in front of such an attractive, perfect man who was looking down like the earth began and ended with her was an altogether different experience.

She never wanted it to stop.

“So. Fucking. Beautiful.” Each word was sworn like an oath, and he lowered himself to one breast, caressing it with his tongue and laving with warmth.

But as incredible as that all felt, as much as letting Cobalt ravish her all over again sounded wonderful, she just couldn’t ignore her body’s true response to him.

She reached for the belt of his suit pants, undoing it fairly deftly. But when she went for the zipper, he shooed her away with one of his hands.

“I’ll take care of it. No more making you wait. I promise,” he said, standing off the bed and pulling off everything in one motion. Without shame, he stood there watching her hungrily for a moment, appraising her as Sylvie’s throat tightened and her mouth went dry.

Hot damn. Was it even bigger tonight?

He came back onto the bed, his body magnetic in how she felt herself gravitate toward him. As he did, he opened a drawer in his nightstand and pulled out a condom, ripping it open with his teeth before pulling it out.

Sylvie couldn’t help feeling a little touched that he cared enough to take precautions for her sake.

Could dragons even get people pregnant? She’d have to ask later.

Then again, she didn’t really know how long she was going to be around anyway.

To Cobalt’s dismay, as he tried to unravel it over his cock, it refused to budge. Cobalt, not realizing he was trying to put it on backward, tugged hard enough that it ripped through the thin latex, forcing him to produce another one from the nightstand.

Had he never used a condom before?

So freakin’ cute.

Before he could get too stuck on the next one, Sylvie reversed the direction of the small thing, allowing him to pull it over completely.

“Sorry.” His voice was husky.

“It’s okay. I can think of a great way you can make it up to me.” She wiggled her hips enticingly.

He grinned, the fire instantly coming back into his gaze as he positioned himself between her legs. Her entire body was practically throbbing with want when he finally slid into her in one mind-blowing slow motion.

It wasn’t just the tightness of the fit or the friction created between them as he thrust in. Or the fact that she was already close to coming from her last orgasm. It was everything and more, that something indescribable between them amplified a thousand times as he was inside her.

Sylvie tried to hold off as he began to move, but it was such a tight fit that the friction was unlike anything she’d imagined. She’d never thought sex could be intense like this, searing her to her very soul. As he varied his movements, muscles flexing, breath coming roughly, she dug her nails into his back and knew she was close. She wanted to last longer, but clearly, her body had other ideas.

Cobalt braced himself against the bed and stayed perfectly still as everything coiled into a tight ball of heat that released in all directions and exploded within like a bomb of pleasure.

By the time she was finally finished, Cobalt looked pretty close himself. His deep-blue eyes were intensely focused, and his muscular body was rigid and taut, ready to let go at any moment.

Which was good because she didn’t know how long her body was going to last.

Or how long her heart could last either.

Luckily, Cobalt began to move again, finding the perfect movements to pleasure her with every part of himself, fitting them together in the most exquisite way, then withdrawing in one aching movement before doing it all over again.

It was sex on an entirely new level, and without even going fast, he was pushing her to the best release of the night. Or maybe ever.

She’d never felt so close to another human being. Even if that human being was really a giant dragon man whose sole purpose seemed to center on her somehow. And in spite of herself, she couldn’t help responding to him, answering him on some soul-deep level she didn’t understand.

“Come with me,” she pled, grasping desperately onto his shoulders to brace herself for each thrust pushing her past her ample self-control.

“Anything you want, mate,” he replied, moving faster and doubling the slick friction that was like fire in every vein, every cell right now.

It was that word again. The word other dragons and shifters used with their significant others. The kind of word reserved for partners, not just casual lovers.

But any doubt or thoughts of anything other than sheer pleasure were blasted upward as Cobalt filled her completely one last time.

Instantly, everything went white and black and bright as her vision blurred and her body tensed with the pressure of her own orgasm. Everything burst at once with such force it was hard to breathe, let alone think, for several long moments.

A second later, Cobalt came with her, the sensation of him jerking and tensing deep within her throwing Sylvie even further into the throes of her already mind-blowing orgasm.

Time seemed to stop, then slowed, then returned to normal as reality slowly seeped back into her pleasantly exhausted muscles and senses. And as the fevered intensity of the moment drifted away, a heavy stillness in her heart slowly penetrated through the warmth of a moment ago.

Cobalt, ever caring, slowly and thoughtfully slid out of her. Then, first pulling some blankets over her, went to the bathroom and cleaned up before coming back to bed.

“No leaving.” He looked down at her expectantly, and she nodded in assent.

“Tonight?”

“Forever.” He wrapped his arms around her possessively, and she wondered if it was just the alcohol talking or if the alcohol was merely letting him be who he was.

“You’re amazing, Sylvie.” He placed a kiss on her hair and relaxed slightly, holding her close, and Sylvie almost died from the sweetness he showed. But as he slowly drifted off to sleep, Sylvie’s thoughts were left racing.

Sure, she was connected with Cobalt. In just a few days, she’d gotten closer to him than maybe anyone else. She trusted him. Had slept in front of him. And of course, from the start, had wanted him.

But words like “stay” and “forever” haunted her mind as she lay there in the darkness.

She’d always been the one to stay and fight. The one left to cover the rent. The one who tried to convince her mom to believe her but got left out in the cold as a result.

She knew what happened when someone claimed to care about you and how quickly the tables could turn.

But turning in Cobalt’s arms to face him, watching his gentle features as he slept, she thought that no one could hurt her like he could.

She’d never meant for it to come to this when she’d first acted on her attraction to him. She’d thought they could just pass the time while she was in the mansion with nothing to do.

But she realized now that was denial. He’d always been more to her, right from the start.

She rested her cheek on her hand and looked around the room. Her torn dress was on the floor, heels strewn about. It had been a fairy-tale evening, and she winced as she thought about the awkward moments when she’d been out of her depth.

Cobalt might like her for now, but he struck her as someone innocent, new to love. He didn’t really know anything about her past, though that was somewhat her fault for always keeping people out.

But eventually, he’d realize she wasn’t right for him. Wasn’t worth fighting for. Wasn’t healthy like him.

She was damaged.

She quickly crept from the bed, moving and replacing his arms so as not to alert him to her leaving.

She’d said she wouldn’t leave, but she was sure he wouldn’t mind eventually. He’d realize he just got caught up in the first girl to come on to him. That he fell too hard, mistaking sexual attraction for love.

After all, people who’d known her far longer and far better had known better than to love her. How could he be any different?

Her heart hammered with a stoic resolution as she crept out of his room in the dark. His breathing was deep and even as she closed the door softly, and she hoped the alcohol would keep him asleep for a bit.

As she went to her room and quickly packed a few things, she looked out the window and noted a road that wound around the mansion and led down a hill and through a forest. She thought she could see faint lights in the distance. If she followed the road far enough…

She didn’t really have a solid plan, but she’d always been able to take care of herself. His face flashed in her mind, asking her not to leave him, and her heart felt cracked as she forced herself to push the image away.

She’d never forget him or the great times they had together and, hell, would probably love him the rest of her life.

But she was getting out before he could turn the tables on her.

For once, she would be the one to run before getting hurt.