But he moved downward, undressing her with his bejeweled hands as if he was unwrapping a precious gift. She shivered with excitement as he lifted her and loosened the ties of her corset. Her uncovered nipples hardened in the air, and he bent to kiss and lick each one. She gasped at the touch of his tongue, which sent ripples of flame through her body. All her senses were on fire.
As he moved downward, stripping off her dress and kissing every inch of skin as he slowly exposed it, she shuddered and writhed, instinctively trying to bring herself closer to his mouth. Every movement made the soft velvet of the bed cover stroke her body, caressing her back and ass and thighs. Lucas’s chains slid smoothly along her skin. The contrast of the cool metal and the heat of his touch was almost more than she could bear. She heard herself making helpless little moans of pleasure. She couldn’t remember ever sounding like that before, but she couldn’t help it.
But before she could become self-conscious, Lucas lifted his head and said, “I love those moans of yours. Maybe later I can make you scream.”
“I bet you can,” Journey managed, before breaking off with a gasp as he flicked his tongue into her belly button.
Then he tossed aside her dress. He’d stripped her bare, and she lay naked and exposed before him. His gaze traveled hungrily over her body, and she could see in his expression that he found her infinitely beautiful and desirable.
“You’re everything I’ve ever dreamed of,” he said huskily.
Then he bent his head to taste her. His tongue was like a caress of fire, sending her nearly to the brink of orgasm with its very first touch. She grabbed the bed cover in both hands, clenching it in her fists, her back arching. Ribbons of flame licked at her clit and her sensitive inner walls until she felt like her entire body was on fire. She felt herself poised on the edge of climax for an endless moment, every cell of her body yearning for completion. And then she went over the edge in a white-hot burst of fulfillment.
Journey opened her eyes, which had fallen shut. “Did I scream?”
Lucas smiled like the cat that ate the canary. “Yes.”
He began kissing and caressing his way back upwards. Journey had never come more than once while having sex, nor had she ever come just from having her body touched. But as Lucas slowly worked his way upwards, she began to think that she just might do both. Even his slightest touch sent ripples of pleasure through her nerves. She could tell by his loving attentions exactly how much he adored her and every inch of her body.
She didn’t quite come from having her breasts kissed, though it was a near thing. Then he was poised atop her, his steel-hard cock pressed against her sensitive mound. He began to rub himself against her slick folds. Journey moaned as her clit swelled and throbbed. But she couldn’t quite abandon herself to pleasure, forgetting all else.
“Wait,” Journey said, though she hated to say anything that would make him stop, even for a moment. “I’m not on the pill— I haven’t had sex in three years.”
“I’ll try hard to make up for that,” Lucas replied. “But dragons do not have offspring easily. Unless I’m deliberately trying to make you pregnant, it can’t happen.”
Journey blinked. It sounded like such a line. Back in Lummox, guys were known to tell girls they couldn’t get pregnant if it was their first time or they had sex in the shower or the man drank lots of Mountain Dew. “Seriously?”
“Seriously,” Lucas assured her. “But if you’re worried, we don’t have to do anything that could even conceivably get you pregnant.”
Journey looked into her heart, searching for any warning of danger, and found none. “That’s all right. I trust you.”
He again began to rock against her. She relaxed, giving herself completely over to passion. His rock-hard length rubbed against her clit, making her moan and cry out. It was so hard to keep her eyes open, but she loved looking at Lucas, at the gold of his eyes and hair and dragonmarks, at the sweat beading his forehead, at his muscular arms and shoulders. His chains had been warmed by her body, and now they felt hot against her skin.
Journey wrapped her arms around his back and held him tight as he pushed into her. She opened to him easily, loving the feeling of having his hard shaft inside of her. Every thrust stroked her clit, sending electric shivers through her body.
He moved faster and faster, harder and harder, pushing her down against the bed. She too felt hot and frantic. They kissed each other everywhere they could reach, her lips, his throat, her forehead, his cheeks. She tasted the salt of his sweat. His stubble was rough against her lips and skin. His spicy scent rose up, making her dizzy.
“Journey—” Lucas gasped. “My mate— Mine—”
He gave a hard thrust, sending her over the edge. Her climax shook her entire body. Journey heard herself cry out as she gave herself up to ecstasy. It seemed to go on and on, an exquisite moment stretching out forever. And then she descended from the heights like a dragon flying down to land.
“My dragon,” she murmured. “I still can hardly believe this is real.”
Lucas kissed her, his lips warm and gentle over hers. “I can hardly believe it either. And yet here we are. Together.”
She buried her face in the crook of his neck, breathing in his spicy scent. His hair was smooth across her skin. As Journey fell asleep, she crossed her fingers that she wouldn’t wake up and find that it had all been a dream.
Chapter Seven
Journey
Journey stretched and opened her eyes. A shaft of sunlight fell across the bed, making Lucas’s hair and dragonmarks shine like the purest gold. He slept beside her, arms flung out and blankets tangled around his hips, his breathing steady and deep.
She watched him sleep, treasuring the intimacy of being able to do so. His eyelashes were long and golden, his full lips slightly parted. The long fingers of his left hand were curled around her wrist as if he didn’t want to let go of her, even in sleep.
A wave of love and tenderness rose up in her, as powerful as the passion of the night before. He was a prince and a dragon, but also a man who had risked his life for her and let her see his pain. She couldn’t imagine how any relationship between them could possibly work out, but neither could she imagine letting him go. Just the thought of it made her heart ache.
Lucas opened his eyes. He didn’t seem surprised or alarmed to see her watching him, but smiled up at her as if she was the best possible sight to see upon waking.