eventually mated with as well. It wasn’t an easy thing to find a woman who could accept such an arrangement, but Krysta already seemed comfortable around Nellin and the dragon liked her as well.
She felt really good in his arms too. This trip was all very serious business, but Mace couldn’t help but feel the tiniest bit of glee at the fact that Krysta was snuggled up against him for hours on end. Sure, he had the hard-on from hell to prove her nearness, but it was a sweet sort of torture.
“Can you follow the trail from up here?” Krysta leaned back to speak near his ear, shocking him to an even fuller awareness of the soft woman in his arms.
He pressed forward, tightening his hold around her waist as he leaned close to her neck. “Easily. Nellin’s eyesight is much better than mine, but even I can see the telltale marks of the company’s passage from this height.”
She nodded, but Mace couldn’t move away from the tempting softness of her skin. Giving into temptation, he licked just under her ear, nuzzling in closer as he tasted the salt of her skin and breathed in the essence of her. She was delicious on so many levels.
“Mace?”
One hand rose over her breast, squeezing gently as he tested her response. He could feel the increase in her breathing as she leaned into him, pressing herself into his palm. He tucked his other hand downward, insinuating it between the dragon’s hide and her hot core, clothed in her soft, well-worn uniform trousers.
“Mace, stop. We can’t.”
“Just let me hold you like this, Krysta.” He nuzzled her neck from behind. “I’ve dreamed of you since our time together. Every single night.”
Dragons were exhibitionists and that proclivity tended to rub off on their knights, so Mace didn’t particularly care if Drake and Jenet could see what he was doing. In fact, he felt a primitive urge to publicly stake his claim on this woman. If Krysta was meant to share his life, she’d have to get used to the idea of another man watching—and even joining—in her rapture, but he didn’t want to push her too far yet.
Mace hadn’t planned to touch her like this, but for once in his life, he decided to go with the moment. He was taking a page out of Drake’s book, being spontaneous and impulsive.
Drake definitely had the right idea if this pleasure was the reward for breaking with Mace’s carefully laid plans. Krysta shifted, rubbing her taut ass against his straining erection, and he bit back a groan. She was fire in his arms, and he never wanted to let go.
“Do you dream of me, Krysta? Did you enjoy our time together as much as I did?”
“You know I liked it, Mace, but we can’t do this now. Drake might see, and I don’t want to hurt his feelings.”
Krysta couldn’t get over the feel of Mace’s strong hands on her body. She’d been in turmoil since almost the first moment she’d climbed on Nellin’s back, and she’d been seated for hours now in front of the strong knight as they flew in pursuit of the lost prince.
Mace was a special man. Already, he’d claimed a piece of her heart she would never get back, though she hadn’t told him yet. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever tell him. Things were so unclear to her about the future—as they’d never been before.
There was Mace. And there was Drake. How could she reconcile the growing feelings she had for both men? Unless things changed in a drastic way, the scenario could only lead to heartache and personal disaster. But she felt powerless to stop it all.
And now this. This slap-dash flight across the land after a stolen prince. And both men working together, with her, to save the boy that meant so much to their land.
Mace pressed her farther, his fingers igniting little fires of need through her body. She grabbed his wrist, stilling his motion, though the flame in her core sparked higher. She couldn’t do this. She didn’t want to hurt either of these brave men.
“No. Mace, I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry too. I lose my head when I’m around you, Krysta.” He removed the hand from between her legs, returning it to her waist, but his other hand remained just under her breast, cupping her. He kissed her neck, nuzzling close as he spoke into her ear. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known—inside and out.”
“Flatterer.”
“You’re easy to flatter,