Brittany lay back as Lead crawled toward her, feeling she’d finally won.

Won what?

She’d gotten the stubborn warrior to override his own sense of right and wrong and hop into bed with her, but was she letting her horniness overcome common sense?

She didn’t care, as Lead came forward, putting a hand on either side of her head and kissing the crook of her neck in a way that made her instantly shudder.

Was it her awareness of him as such a big, handsome man? Was it the hard length she saw pressing against his jeans? Or maybe it was just the feeling in the air that this was somehow right.

That she was meant to be here and doing this with this man. He liked her. He wanted her. He’d just been trying to hold himself back, and that made him that much more irresistible. Why didn’t he understand he’d be any woman’s fantasy, with so much brooding, protective hotness?

Her nails dug into his back as he continued to kiss and lick at her neck, and she wondered what Fifi would say about her doing this with her “protector.”

But Lead was more than that now. He was a man who wanted her, and she wanted him back.

She had to, or her body wouldn’t be reacting the way it was, with little lightning shocks of pleasure moving through her at every touch.

She’d been with men for months who never made her feel this much for them, even though they were perfectly capable in bed. It wasn’t Lead’s technique so much as who he was. Honorable. Kind. Sincere.

The muscles didn’t hurt either, she thought as she ran her hands over his shoulders and arms, trying not to hurt his back with her nails.

He pulled back to look at her, closing his eyes as her hands moved over his biceps.

When he opened them, his gold eyes were glowing, and she thought she saw the pupils switch to slits for just a moment.

Was that the dragon in him, or had she imagined it?

Then he was normal, and his hands grabbed hers, pinning them over her head as he came back to kiss her again, this time on the lips.

It was their first kiss, and it was tender and hot and desperate in a way she’d never experienced.

I long to be with you always, he’d said with that innocent face. No one had ever said something so romantic to her.

It made the kiss hotter as his tongue stroked inside her, awakening something deep and wanton that had never been awakened at any other time.

She bit his lower lip and sucked as he gasped, then pulled back. His eyes narrowed slightly as he adjusted her hands again, even tighter over her head.

But though he was holding her captive, she felt like the one in control.

“Take me,” she said sultrily, and he gave a small shake of his head.

“I cannot.”

She squirmed in frustration, but his free hand on her thigh stopped her, his touch warm and coarse and unmistakably masculine. She’d know it was him even with her eyes closed.

“I will give you what you want, but go no further,” he said, stroking along the curve of her hip and thigh, feeling up to her soft belly and squeezing slightly. She would normally be self-conscious, but the way he touched her made it clear just how attracted he was.

“So soft,” he said, closing his eyes as if experiencing sheer heaven. Then he released her hands so he could use both of his to caress her, exploring her as though she were a map he had to memorize every bit of. His hand even curved under her leg, lifting it so he could study her toes. She was shocked when he took one of her feet and kissed it gently before setting it back on the bed again.

The next moment, he straddled her, his trim hips over hers, his wide shoulders towering above her.

His hands held her waist and then crept higher, and his dark eyebrows raised, as if silently asking her permission. She nodded, and his hands grabbed the hem of her pajama top and slowly raised it, pulling it over her head and tossing it aside much as she had done with his shirt earlier.

He stared for a long moment, then cocked his head in confusion at her bra.

Hadn’t he seen one before?

Laughing, she reached behind her to unhook it and was about to set it aside when he held out a hand, asking for it. She handed it over and watched as he studied it.

Her bra looked oddly small in his big hands, and he turned it over, examining the hooks, and then nodded, setting it aside.

“I understand it now. I won’t mess up again,” he said, leaning down to kiss her forehead. It was oddly tender, but before she could recover, his hands found her breasts, covering them completely. “So soft.”

She arched, pushing her nipples into his touch, feeling herself harden and become more sensitive. He moved his hands to the side of each breast, still cupping her but letting his rough, calloused thumbs gently caress her nipples.

She gasped and jerked, but couldn’t get out of his hold as he continued to apply his slow torture.

“Amazing,” he said. “So sensitive.” Then he lowered his head, taking one nipple into his mouth, and it felt like her world exploded in liquid heat.

How the hell had she come so quickly? She arched as her body convulsed, and he kept his mouth on her nipple, swirling his tongue and sucking as she rode out the ripples of her release.

When he finally sat back, and she was lying there gasping, she gave him a frustrated look.

“You’re relentless, you know that?”

He cocked his head, making a lock of thick, dark hair fall over his forehead. “I have been told as much. Many times.” A rakish grin lit his face. “Mostly by people who were about to be defeated.” He planted a hand on either side of her face and leaned forward until their faces were close. “Of course, I think the kind of defeat you experience won’t be unpleasurable for you.”

His lips fell over hers as his hand slipped between her legs, massaging her wet heat over her pants and panties. She squirmed because the contact wasn’t enough and felt him jerk her pants down, then shove his fingers in her panties until he was directly over her.

For a moment, he just explored her folds, his tongue diving in and out of her mouth, making her feel sensitive and claimed, making it impossible to even wriggle as his hand stroked along her most secret areas.

She was embarrassingly wet already, something he must have known as his finger dipped down to her slit and played slowly before coming back up to her clit, circling slightly.

She gasped and arched, nearly biting him at the shock of it. He smiled against her lips and pulled back, watching her face now as his finger circled more lazily, switching up the pressure, going faster and then slower as he studied her face.

He was watching her with the intensity of someone logging every moment, as if this were a battle and he was calculating every possible move to win.

It was interesting seeing him like this, so different from their time together during the day. He wasn’t stubborn or angry or flinching or cold and detached.

No, he was all sensual heat and hawkish gold eyes and sexy, mussed hair, and as his finger pressed down on her center, she felt release overcome her again.

He’d won. She could see it in his eyes just before she closed hers against the unbearable pressure running through her in waves.

How was he doing this to her?

She’d been the one taking control, the one who felt a bit sexy persuading him to give in to his baser urges. Now she felt like another person falling in his sway, giving in to his orders, his wishes, his wants.

And all he seemed to want was for her to come, she thought as his hands found her breasts, kneading and tweaking as he kissed her shoulders and cleavage, getting her ready again.

When his hand moved back down between her legs, his other was resting on her breast, and his lips found the curve of her neck where it met her ear.

Where it was especially sensitive.

She let out a squeak and felt him smile in surprised satisfaction as he started to lick her again. His lips caught the bottom of her earlobe as his finger felt along her folds and came to her clit again.

His teeth grazed her lobe slightly as his finger stroked in small, diagonal strokes that just drew out the inevitable. She struggled against him, raising and lowering her hips, desperate for more of his slow, languid touch that was becoming torturously drawn out.

He sucked on her lobe one more time before moving to her lips, capturing her mouth just as his finger sped up, quickly moving her to orgasm so when she screamed, her cries were caught by his lips, muffled by his touch.

She screamed into his mouth, enjoying the way his whole body had command of her, was protecting her, keeping her pinned while experiencing pleasure due to his weight above her, keeping anyone else from hearing her sounds as he kept them all for himself.

Perhaps that was the feeling she’d gotten from him most earlier. That he wanted her all to himself. She found that unbearably sexy.

As she calmed, so did his kiss, settling into a warm embrace that simply emphasized how well their lips fit together, like two parts sculpted perfectly to be together.

His lips were surprisingly soft for such a hard man, but she knew they could also be firm and demanding, and she liked that in him, too.

She liked all sides of this amazingly confusing man.

Winding her arms around his shoulders, still feeling his hand resting lazily between her legs, cupping her sex, she let out a satisfied sigh. “So amazing.”

“Good,” he said, slowly removing his hand from between her legs and pulling back to get off of her.

Oh no. No, wait. No blue balls. Or whatever a lady equivalent could be.

The orgasms he’d given her so far had only awakened a deeper hunger, and looking over him as he knelt beside her on the bed, she knew she wanted so much more.

She got up on her knees, ignoring the slight shakiness of her body after having such powerful orgasms, and moved so they were knee to knee. She had to look up to look into his eyes, but she did as her hand moved down to the hard length pressing against his zipper and stroked it.

He closed his eyes and firmed his lips into a line, and when his eyes opened, they were blazing, that slit in the center showing for just a second again.

This time she was sure she hadn’t imagined it.

His hand moved over hers, as if to pull it away, but she let out a growl and began pulling at his belt.

“Wait, we can’t do that,” he said gruffly, trying to move her away.

She sat back in frustration. “Why not? Obviously, I want you. You felt me.”

She saw his eyes light at that, but then he shook his head. “We can’t. Not with me being a dragon.”

“You mean we can’t P in V?”

He cocked an eyebrow. “What?”

“We can’t get it in,” she said. “I mean. Intercourse.” She scratched her head. “What do you call it?”

“Sex, I suppose,” he said. “Or mating.”

“I see,” she said, playing with the buckle of his belt and then slowly undoing it. “But I mean, you could still… do some things.” She gave him a seductive glare, just to let him know she could be relentless, too, and he wasn’t the only one who could win a battle. “I want to see you come.”

He closed his eyes as if he’d been struck, and she took his hiss for consent as she pulled the belt from its loops and pulled down the zipper.

His hand shot out to catch her wrist again, in a gentle but firm grasp. “You don’t have to do that. Or anything. This was about me giving you release.”

“About giving me what I want,” she said quietly. She was too overcome with lust right now to think clearly. That hard length was hidden behind soft boxer briefs, taunting her with its shape and size.

Besides, he was so hard it had to be painful, and she wanted to take care of him, too.

“Let me do this,” she said.

“It’s dishonorable,” he said in a tortured voice, hand still on hers, stopping her.

She sighed and sat up on her knees for a second, glaring at him. “I think it’s more dishonorable to give without letting me give in return. How you want to see me, don’t you think I want to see you like that?”

He bit his lip, and it made her lose all control. She hadn’t been around a dick she wanted to see in too long, and this one promised to be amazing.

Besides, she wanted to see this big warrior trembling, fighting and then losing control, all because of what she could do with her little human body.

She waited a second for him to stop her, but then his hand fell away from hers, and she looked up to see resignation in his face, along with passion and heat, as she slowly slid her hand in his briefs and pulled out his member.

It was even more beautiful than she’d thought, long and thick and velvety and not covered with many veins, with a delectable, sculpted head.

It could have been a piece of art it was that beautiful. Then again, she’d always been a little bit horny and obsessed when it came to dicks.

She’d forgotten about that side of her, about anything she enjoyed, when she’d been scared and alone in a prison. Finally, that part of her was waking up again.

She leaned forward and took him in her mouth.

* * *

Sorcery. It was sorcery what she was doing. Utter magic. Her small, wet mouth closed over his tip, and he felt all his muscles clench up.

He’d been painfully hard while playing with her, but hadn’t paid any attention because tonight was supposed to be all about her. That’s how he had justified it, anyway.

But now she wanted more from him, and who was he to say no?

Not to mention, she wasn’t taking no for an answer.

Not when it was so obviously what he wanted.

Not that he’d ever thought of her using her mouth on him, though the sensation was incredible, to be sure.

He’d wanted to be one with her more than anything in the world, but he’d had to pull back because he didn’t think he could hold on any longer.

But then she’d been so desperate, with a hunger that he answered from deep inside, and he couldn’t tell her no.

The dragon in him was fighting, surging forward to claim his mate, and he had to constantly focus to stay calm. Was this how dragons felt about human mates in general, or was it truly something between him and her? He hoped the latter, but until he knew, he couldn’t mate with her, and he wasn’t sure how to have sex without it counting as mating. Not with a human.

He closed his eyes as another wave of pleasure came over him, her tongue playing over his head.

“Brittany,” he said, like an oath, like a prayer. Her name was the only one he wanted to say ever again.

She looked up at him with heated blue eyes, a confident gleam there as she moved a hand to stroke him where her mouth couldn’t hold him.

It was a foreign sensation, strong and satisfying, yet having to stay here, let her please him instead of him pleasing her, was torture in a way.

But she was happy this way, moaning as she took him in and out, and he had to assume maybe she felt some of the same pleasure pleasing him as he did her.

He read her mind. He couldn’t help it. He had to know what she thought in this moment. Had to know she truly wanted this and wasn’t debased by it.

Instead, he heard thoughts of ownership, power over him, lust to see him lose control.

She didn’t know she already owned him. She had from the first moment. She already had power over him. And as for losing control? He couldn’t seem to stop doing that ever since he’d been around her.

He tensed as he felt release approach quickly. She sped up, licking and sucking as her hands milked up and down him, increasing the pressure that was building in all his muscles and threatening to overwhelm him.

And then it broke and he came, feeling his whole body jerk and then shudder as powerful waves shook him from head to toe, resonating from inside out.

He kept his eyes on her the whole time, knowing she was watching him for every tiny movement. He was losing control all right. Control of his possessiveness of her, control of his desire to take her, control of his need to keep her away from the rest of the world.

But he held on, focusing on the sensations inside him as he finished, and she finally pulled back, looking happy but slightly confused.

“I… um.” She wiped her mouth and sat back on her heels, beautiful breasts bouncing slightly. “You didn’t… um.”

“Didn’t what?” he asked hoarsely, still breathless.

“Ejaculate.”

“Oh, right. That’s something a dragon only does when a mate is wanting to conceive. At least on my world.”

“Ah,” she said, looking adorably flushed and tired.

He quickly got up and grabbed one of his robes, wrapping it around her and pulling her into his lap as he sat up against the headboard.

The possessive dragon in him was raging, and he didn’t think he could let her go if he tried.

“Lead,” she said quietly. “That was amazing. Thank you.”

“I could not possibly deserve that,” he said, still feeling endorphins and adrenaline running through him. He’d never expected to have this much with her, yet he still wanted more.

He wanted forever.

After a few long moments of cuddling, she lifted her head from where it’d been resting against his chest. “I suppose we should get to bed.”

“Yeah,” he said, not letting her go.

“Sleep in the bed with me?” she asked. “I would feel safer.”

He nodded, finally setting her on the bed and helping her gather and put on her clothes.

By the time they were both dressed, his heart rate had returned to somewhat normal, and doubts started to creep in that he’d tried to ignore while in the heat of passion.

Hopefully, sleep would take him before he could feel anything else. She was on her side, and he curled next to her, putting an arm over her waist possessively.

“Mmm,” she said, apparently enjoying the touch. “But if you get uncomfortable, you can let go.”

No, he couldn’t. He knew as she slowly drifted off to contented sleep in front of him.

He couldn’t let go. That was his whole problem.

A problem for the morning, he decided, as he curled around the woman he wanted badly for a mate. Tonight, he would just pretend things could be fine.