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Their return to Germany brought April a level of peace she hadn’t anticipated. Despite only being there once before in her life, she experienced the undeniable sensation of returning home. When she stepped into the huge fortress, she saw it with the eyes of a weary traveler finally coming to a place of rest. Something unknotted itself in her chest and she almost broke down in tears. She had to turn away from Mads and blink until the stinging sensation passed.
“Are you well?” Mads asked.
“Yes. I’m fine.” She smiled up at him, hoping he wouldn’t notice the tears still swimming in her eyes. “I just need a few minutes to freshen up.”
She didn’t leave the bathroom until the tears were dry and the wave of emotion completely passed over her. She showered, changed out of her traveling clothes into comfortable pajamas and then went in search of her man. She found Mads in his library, standing knee deep in books, his face creased with a thoughtful frown.
“Busy?”
“Not at all. I was just doing a bit of reading.”
“On what?”
“You. I wanted to be prepared in case you had any further questions.”
“I’m sure I’ll have a lot of questions for you.” She stepped forward and gently took the book from his fingers, scanning over the open page. Her eyes fell on the illustration of Medusa—a monstrous face with a crown of hissing snakes. “But I don’t know if I feel like talking about it right now.”
His hand fell over the page, obscuring the image. “I know how it feels. Looking for yourself and finding a monster. But April, you’re not a monster.”
She let him take the book from her and his arms closed around her. She melted against him, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, blocking everything else from her senses. She reacted that way each time he held her, utterly devoting herself to the experience of the embrace, doing her best to brand every second to her memory, as though it could all be taken from her in an instant. It nearly was stolen from her. It almost ended before they really even could begin.
“Oh, Mads,” she cried, burying her face in his chest. He stiffened slightly and she could feel the tension in his arms and along his ramrod straight spine and suddenly his silk shirt felt as rough against her cheek as a burlap bag. She tore at the garment mindlessly, tugging the buttons open until she finally felt his skin. She sought out the heat of his body with her mouth, inhaling him, tasting him, still needing more of him. The mark on her thigh throbbed as her lips moved over the expanse of his chest.
“April—”
“I need you. I need...I need to know that you’re here. I need to feel the fire that burns inside of you.” She kissed him with each word, tears streaming down her cheeks, her mouth ravenous, moving up his throat, along his jawline, back down his shoulder. She felt like she was in a freefall until the moment he grasped her arms, his fingers like bands of iron hot from the forge.
“April!” Her name was a joyous roar, a sound that felt like long nails scratching down her back. Her spine arched and she tingled with goose bumps. Her mouth became bolder, her hands exploring every inch of him she could reach. She scratched and teased with her nails until she felt a shiver work down his spine.
His hands were busy, too, removing the silk pajamas she wore after her shower. They fell from her without a sound, pooling at her feet to reveal her sensitive body to his questing fingers. His left hand went directly to her breast, cupping her with a possessive, yet gentle, touch. His right hand moved to her waist, pulling her closer against his erection, then moved over the sensitive skin at the small of her back. He found every sensitive spot, every place that made her knees quiver.
April had the taste of his skin in her mouth, but it wasn’t enough. Not even close to enough. She hooked her fingers over his pants and tugged them down, not even allowing him to step free of their confines before closing her mouth around his cock. She closed her eyes and nearly whimpered with the delight of him—of the texture of his skin, the salty taste, the heat, the rhythm of his vein against her tongue. She inhaled deeply to take in the scent of his skin as well, and it mingled and created the true, living scent of him.
His fingers threaded through her hair, his palm coming to rest on the back of her head. He didn’t try to guide her, simply held her, as if to anchor himself. She eagerly took his full length, drawing the fat tip to the back of her throat and holding him there, using her tongue and throat muscles to draw long moans from him. They were so deep and low they were almost growls, punctuated only occasionally by words. Yes. Oh yes. Oh April.
Her pussy clenched with each vibration of sound, reminding her incessantly that she still needed him. That as good as he felt in her mouth, as good as he tasted and smelled and sounded, it still wasn’t even close to enough. Her clit throbbed, and the mark in her thigh was now almost screaming for relief from an itch that went deeper than any human fingers could scratch.
“God, I can feel you,” he said on a sharp intake of breath, and she knew he didn’t mean her mouth or her hands. He meant he could feel the fire roaring through her. A fire that couldn’t be quenched or drowned. A fire that could only be stopped with matching flames.
Mads jerked her from him and lifted her like she weighed no more than a doll, carrying her the short distance to his desk. She spread out over the wide, smooth mahogany expanse and drew him as close as she could.
“I want to see.”
“What do you want to see, mein Schatz?” He leaned in close, his mouth moving over hers.
“My dragon.”
She felt his smile and then his broad wings filled her vision. They were still wounded from battle, but not truly damaged, and they were still majestic. She felt his shaft against her thigh, moving up her leg, and she unconsciously moved toward him, rocking closer. She knew she could never take his full length, but her pussy was so wet, quivering and ready that she didn’t stop the tip from sliding between her lips.
“My dragon,” she said between gritted teeth, thrusting her hips forward and impaling herself.
First, there was the sensation of stretching, a low burn that was only chased away by the other, immediate sense of relief. She bent her knees, bracing the bottom of her feet against the desk and thrust forward, claiming even more of him between her legs. It was too much but just enough, just right, and it felt so good, like she could never survive it and she could never get enough of it. Her body was made for his, and soon there was no twinge of pain, nothing to match the explosive pleasure she felt with every long, slow rock of her hips.
He was hers. Nothing, not even death, could claim him. He was hers to claim, take, and have. She didn’t know how to understand her new identity, what it meant to her and how it might change her, but she did understand this. The balance they found between them, the sense of the completion of one whole from two halves.
April’s body was fully unleashed, unlocked, unhindered. Wave after wave of pleasure rolled through her, finite and dazzling. She knew there was something more, though. A final release that she couldn’t quite conceptualize but she still raced towards. Her blood boiled and her skin pulled tight and she thought she might be on fire. She might have created actual sparks between their bodies and was being consumed by a glorious, merry haze. Eyes unseeing, she reached for him, fingers running over scales and talons and then his hands closed around hers.
Her eyes focused just as Mads thrust into her raw body, his velvety smooth shaft filling her to the hilt. His eyes were green when they met hers—no sign of the dragon at all. The moment between the gorgon and her dragon gave way to the touching of man and woman. She saw herself reflected in his eyes—beyond that, she saw a reverence she’d never experienced before. Wrapping herself around him, she pulled even closer, as close as she could, and buried her face in his neck as the final lightning bolt reverberated through her. She clenched down on him, holding him deep while she rode out the final crests of pleasure.
“Oh April…oh my sweet.” She felt him tense and tremble, felt the moment of his release like another shockwave through her. She shivered and jerked her hips, every incidental moment of contact an overload to her system.