Conrad laughed, leaning over to elbow her affectionately. Without even thinking about it, she took advantage of their closeness to claim his lips in a quick kiss… a kiss that lingered, Conrad catching his breath with evident surprise. Mira was surprised, too. After the exhausting and terrifying day she’d had, and with all of the after-effects of the evening’s adrenaline and terror, she’d expected her body to collapse under the weight of its own exhaustion. But with the faintest brush of Conrad’s lips, electricity shot through her, skin tingling, breath catching in her throat. She’d never felt so awake.
And suddenly, sleep was the furthest thing from her mind.
Chapter 14 - Conrad
Conrad was half convinced he was dreaming. Ever since they’d fled her house, he’d been waiting for Mira to tell him to get away from her, dreading the inevitable moment she’d tell him to leave and never come back. But instead, she’d stayed with him. He could hardly believe she was still by his side after what he’d revealed to her on the beach… especially knowing that she’d never so much as known dragons existed, let alone seen one before. How could his instincts have been so wrong about what she was? It didn’t make any sense… but he wasn’t going to push it. He answered her questions as best he could, the two of them talking long into the night.
But the real shock came when she kissed him. His body seemed to react without his input, claiming her lips, heat moving through his whole body from that single point of contact… and as the kiss deepened, he realized she wasn’t moving away. Quite the opposite… he felt her shift closer to him on the bed, felt her arm slide around to draw him closer. What could he do but oblige? He wrapped his arms around her, caution warring with a desire so intense it left him breathless. Earlier, she’d told him that she wasn’t frightened of him. He couldn’t allow that to change… but as their kisses grew deeper and more urgent, he could feel his body resisting his control. He wanted to hold her closer, to kiss her harder… he wanted to tear off every scrap of fabric that hid her gorgeous body from him and to lose himself absolutely in the feeling of her skin against his.
And she wanted him too, he was beginning to realize, heart pounding against his ribs. Her breath was coming quicker as his hands caressed her, roaming across each curve and dip of her voluptuous body. He found himself taking note of particularly sensitive places, as though he was drawing a pleasure map. For future reference? Conrad scolded himself for his presumption even as he slid a palm down her lower back, drawing her possessively closer to him and feeling her shiver in response.
He’d held himself back the night before, knowing instinctively that it was best for them to go slowly in the strange new space between them. That was, if anything, even more true now than it had been last night, and he did his best to keep his cool… but there was something demanding in the way she kissed him, a kind of intensity that hadn’t been there last night. Last night, she’d been all but falling asleep in his arms—but the woman he was holding now was far from drowsy. Her hands were balled into fists around the fabric of his shirt, pulling him closer, kissing him deeply. He was so distracted by her lips that he barely noticed that she’d unbuttoned his shirt until she was shoving it impatiently from his shoulders.
Who was he to refuse her what she wanted? Conrad broke away long enough to pull the shirt free, and Mira snatched it from his unprotesting hands and tossed it across the room. He chuckled hoarsely, remembering a similar gesture from more than a few of their dream encounters… but as often as they’d been together before, this all still felt brand new to him. She’d shrugged off her tattered jacket long ago, but now she went to unbutton the blouse she was wearing, and he felt a shiver of longing run through him as her gold eyes flicked up to meet his, dark with desire.
Alright, he thought faintly. This was the best night of his long, long life. He let his eyes roam hungrily across her bare skin, gorgeous even in the hard light of their little room, and when he found her gaze again, he was surprised by the vulnerability he saw there, just for a moment. He leaned in to kiss the tip of her shoulder, kissing his way along her collarbone to her throat, murmuring against her throat how beautiful she was… and before long she was giggling and breathless at the tickle of his lips against her sensitive skin. Emboldened by her quickened breathing, he kissed his way lower, paying close attention for any sign of hesitation or reluctance… instead, Mira arched her back, wordlessly encouraging him. He caressed her breasts, gently at first, more firmly as the neediness in her whimpering gave way to impatience.
He could have happily spent the rest of the evening finding every sensitive place, every imaginable way of drawing whimpers and gasps of pleasure from her, every combination of lips and tongue and fingertips on the sensitive swell of her nipples, on the soft warmth of her breasts. But it wasn’t long before her desire overcame her, and suddenly she was kissing his lips again with a fresh ferocity, pushing him back until they were lying face-to-face on the bed, legs and arms entangled… and Conrad suddenly found it difficult to think when he felt her hand rake down his front and caress the straining bulge of his manhood through his pants.
He froze solid, half convinced it had been an accident… but then that thoughtful hand moved, and he groaned against her throat, his hips shifting helplessly at her touch. More, he wanted more, more friction, more of her… he groaned again as he felt her fingers unbuttoning his pants, caught his breath as she shoved them impatiently down his legs. He kicked the pants away, adding them to the growing pile of clothing on the floor of the room… then caught his breath again at the look in Mira’s eyes.
“Are you sure—” he started to ask, his voice hoarse… but before he could even finish the question she was on top of him again, the hunger in her kiss all the answer he needed to his question. She was touching him again, her hands roaming across his skin hungrily, far less polite than his own explorations of her body… taking inspiration from her, he let a little more of his desire show as he pulled her hard against him. The way she moaned was all the encouragement he needed, and his hands slid with much more confidence across each delicious curve of her body. He hesitated for a moment when he reached the waistband of her pants… and with an impatient huff, she pulled them down herself and kicked them away.
Finally, there was nothing between them any longer… nothing but skin, nothing but the delicious friction of their bodies. The night air was cool against his skin, giving him all the more encouragement to hold her scorching body close against him. Every touch was intoxicating… the heat of her, the slide of her soft skin, even the scent of her seemed to make him dizzy. He’d never imagined anything like this could happen to him. Even the delicious encounters they’d had in their dreams paled in comparison to what it felt like to have her right here in his arms.
She breathed his name into his ear, sending shivers down his spine, and even more arousal pooled in his gut as her hand slid down to caress his manhood again. He’d been cautious about how close he strayed to the heat between her legs, too, sensing an almost imperceptible hesitation in her when his fingertips inched closer… but now he felt her take hold of his wrist with her other hand and guide his fingertips to her sex. Holding his breath, he brushed his fingers lightly against her lips, heard her whimper against his throat. Her folds were slick with her own arousal, and the heat of her was intoxicating as he began a careful exploration, paying close attention to the way her body tensed in response. As adventurous as they’d been in the dream world, Conrad knew that as far as the real world went, this was new ground for her.
But with each caress, he could sense her eagerness growing, some of her uncertainty relaxing as he explored her most sensitive place with his fingertips. Before long, she was gasping and moaning, rocking her hips eagerly against his hands as he found the places that brought the most pleasure. Her arms were wrapped tightly around him, hands clutching at his back—even the sensation of her fingernails digging into his back seemed to drive his arousal to a higher peak, his whole body aching for her. But when she reached down to take his manhood into her hand, he bit back his groan of need, drawing on every shred of willpower he possessed to pull back and meet her gaze instead.
“I want you,” she whispered, her breath coming hard between her parted lips. “Now. Please.”
“You’re sure.” His voice shook with need, but he held himself back. If he rushed her, if he hurt her… he’d never forgive himself. Mira’s golden eyes were dark with lust when she nodded, and he couldn’t stop the groan that ripped itself free from him. Her arms tightened around him and she uttered a surprised little gasp as he lifted her effortlessly, rearranging their positions until she was on her back beneath him, propped up against the pillows. He took a moment to appreciate the sight of her, reclining there in all her splendor, her sweat-damp curls spread out on the pillow around her head like a halo. She smiled back at him for a moment… then made an impatient sound in her throat, reaching out with both hands to draw him closer.
How could he have denied her anything, in that moment? Conrad claimed her lips again in a searing kiss, his heart thundering in his chest as he felt his manhood brush against the heat of her sex. For all her seeming impatience, he felt her stiffen a little at the touch… and he slowed down, body trembling a little with the effort, ever so slowly sliding the tip of himself between her slick folds. He waited there for just a moment until he felt her cautiously shift her weight to draw more of him inside her… and at her gasp of surprise and delight, he slid himself a little further. By the time he was completely inside of her, she was gasping for breath, rocking her hips against him with wordless impatience. For a moment, he was convinced he was simply going to pass out. This felt—nothing had ever felt this good. Groaning against the soft skin of her throat, he drew back, the new friction winning another gasp from her as her nails dug into his back. And more quickly this time, he slid himself deeply inside her.
The word she uttered wasn’t from his language, but he recognized it as a profanity nevertheless… though not an unhappy one, judging from the way she’d thrown her head back against the pillow. Cautiously, he thrust again, earning the same response… and slowly but surely, they built up speed. Before long, Conrad knew that he could no sooner have stopped himself than he could have turned back the tides. Every time he drove himself into her, her pleasure seemed to grow… and every buck of her hips in turn drew more and more pleasure from him. Still trying to hold himself back as his pace grew frantic, Conrad heard himself groaning against her throat, heard a new urgency to her cries of pleasure as they hurtled towards the inevitable peak of their pleasure. His body was shaking with strain, pleasure crackling across every inch of his skin, and still he held himself back, determined not to let her down.
And finally, she gasped his name, and he turned his head to seal her lips in a kiss as her climax cascaded through her. He was only seconds behind, his body finally giving in to the building pressure, his orgasm blasting through him with more power than he’d ever believed was possible… and yet, all the while, somehow the best part was Mira’s lips against his, both of them moaning into each other’s mouths as their passion spent itself. Finally, breathless, bodies still shuddering in the aftermath of the orgasm, they broke apart, gasping for breath.
Mira murmured something in her language, her golden eyes shining with wonder as she looked up at him. He didn’t need to ask for a translation—only smiled back with breathless exhaustion, closing his eyes a little as she ran her fingers through his tousled hair, damp with sweat. Somehow, they managed to find their way into the bed, Conrad reluctant to relinquish any contact with her. Some part of him, he realized, was still petrified that this was a dream… that at any given moment, he might wake in his own bed again, back in the Palace.
“This really isn’t a dream, is it?”
He blinked in surprise, for a moment convinced that she’d actually read his mind. Her sleepy golden eyes were inches away, full of drowsy contentment that he could feel a mirror of in his own body. “I hope not,” he whispered. The lazy smile that curved her lips upward was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, and he opened his mouth to tell her so… only to be interrupted by a huge yawn.
And then, as if all of the exhaustion of the evening had finally caught up with him, he felt the comforting embrace of sleep rise up to claim him.
Chapter 15 - Mira
Mira drifted in and out of a strange, twilight doze for a long time after she heard Conrad’s breathing settle into sleep. She needed sleep too, she knew that … but somehow, she couldn’t quite seem to drift past that final frontier into true sleep. Every time she got close, some memory of Conrad would stir her awake again with a twinge of arousal. She’d never felt so utterly satisfied in her life… and paradoxically, she’d never felt more eager for more.
Was this what her friends had been talking about for all these years? She owed each and every one of them an apology for every time she’d rolled her eyes when they’d insisted that a terrible boyfriend was good in bed. Only now could she understand how that could matter. Right now, she’d have forgiven just about anything of Conrad if it meant he’d dothatto her again… she felt her cheeks flushing in the cool night air.
She had genuinely been trying to keep her expectations low, especially after all the time they’d spent together in their dreams. It would have been unfair, comparing the real world to a fantasy. After all, from what her friends had told her, your first time was meant to be uncomfortable and awkward. Sex took practice, that’s what they told her. Nobody ever really enjoyed the first time—like any new skill, the first time you tried it out was always the worst.
Well, if that had been theworstsexual encounter she and Conrad were going to have… her blush intensified, and she felt herself grinning like an idiot in the darkness.
Eventually, she must have drifted into a proper sleep, because the next thing she knew, she was blinking in the bright morning sunlight that was peeking through the curtains of their room. Blearily, she sat up, reaching out instinctively for Conrad. He was gone. For a moment, Mira felt her heart freeze in her chest. Was this it? Was this the moment she’d been waiting for—the realization that he’d been nothing more than a dream? Then she realized that she could hear the distant rush of water in the bathroom. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before he emerged, wrapped in a towel with that faint smile on his lips and his sandy blond hair darkened by the water.