do just that. I wasn’t a possession. I couldn’t be his. He shouldn’t fucking be mine. This was all a terrible idea. But he had his thigh thrust between my legs and ground me down against it until my vision began to white out around the edges.
Maybe his kisses were drugs, or maybe I’d gone soft in captivity. This was stupid. Why was I letting myself get swept away on the rising tidal wave of wanton desire flooding through me like a firestorm? With sure hands, he stroked up and down my sides, then over my breasts, pinching and twisting my nipples through the fabric. It was just enough pain to set my teeth on edge, and the moan I released was fucking embarrassing.
I didn’t give a damn. I was so close, my orgasm dancing just out of reach, when he jerked back and pulled his head up. Shock had me staring at him, riveted as he flicked open his jeans freed his cock, then he gave me a slow smile and twirled his finger.
“Turn around, Kitten. Brace those claws against the tree.”
“Fuck you,” I snarled, but I turned and gripped the tree, because damn if I didn’t want exactly what he offered.
Then the dragon did something I did not expect. At all. Instead of lifting my skirt and getting down to business, he leaned forward, bracing his hands over mine on the tree and then pressing his face into the crook of my neck. After a deep inhale, he pressed his lips against my throat with such absolute care, that I had to close my eyes. Another press of his lips, and he kissed just over the pulse point. He traced the mark there with his tongue, but no teeth scraped my skin.
The sheer fact that he remembered and behaved accordingly had me going soft, and I sighed.
“Did you miss me, Kitten?”
I wanted to tell him no and to fuck off and just get on with it. I had zero problems with his cock, and he definitely knew how to use it.
“Yes,” was what I said, however. “I didn’t want to. But I did.”
He rubbed his cheek against my temple. The faint rasp of his skin was a tease and soothing in the same breath. “So much of what you didn’t want has happened.” That was the truth. “I’m sorry for that. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my word to you. I’m sorry that you had to transition because I couldn’t bear to lose you. I should have taken you from Alfred and done it myself.”
I didn’t point out that he and the guys had been trying.
“He’s an arrogant bastard,” Maddox continued. “And I will be forever grateful to him for saving your life.”
I sighed.
“But I will leave him today if it will get you to stay.”
I twisted to face at him, shock piercing the lust-filled haze. “You’ve…you’ve been with him for centuries.” Easily, if not longer.
“I don’t care,” Maddox stated, his hazel eyes with their gold flecks sober and intense as he met my stare. Even with his swollen pupils, he seemed grounded. “He is my friend, my brother. He has made many calls over the years that I haven’t agreed with. But you’re my mate. If staying with him costs me you, then I won’t stay.”
Fuck me.
The weight of that revelation settled heavily on me. This… “Maddox,” I exhaled, and he dipped his face closer. His hands remained braced on the tree behind me, and his heavy cock was still out. I swore the vein on it throbbed almost in time with the one on his forehead. I dragged my gaze over him and then focused on his eyes. “This is why succubi shouldn’t do relationships.”
I wouldn’t comment on the lack of conviction in my voice or the empty note at the end.
“It causes no end of problems.”
“What you are,” Maddox said slowly, “is mine. You are not wholly a succubus anymore, nor are you wholly a vampire. You are both.”
“And we don’t even know what that means,” I admitted, sagging against the rough bark and tilting my head up. He slid a hand down to wrap against my throat, no pressure, just resting there. Yet he used the tips of his fingers to nudge my chin up higher so I focused on him.
“We’ll learn,” he told me in a dark, heavy voice. “We’ll learn whatever it is we need to know. But my first loyalty is to you.”
How could he…
“Trust me.” It was a request, a