SavedDragon (9 page)

“Like that, baby. Fuck yes… like that.”

“So much love for so tiny a thing,” Saul murmured huskily against her ear. “Later I will taste you, Chloe, as you tasted me. I will feast upon you.”

Holy. Fuck.
His words alone made her hotly clench and constrict around him. “I want that,” Chloe blurted. “I want that so much.”

The image conjured up by her wild imagination of Saul’s face between her spread thighs flushed heat through Chloe’s body. She clamped down around him and arched her back away from the wall, her body drawn taut. The next stroke through her tight channel pushed her over the edge and snapped the tension.

“Saul!”

Her dragon’s growl reverberated through the room. His body pounded against her in a furious tempo, driving her orgasm to continue on and on. There seemed to be no end to the delicious tremors slamming through Chloe’s smaller frame.

For the third time since their meeting, Saul filled her with his seed and she accepted it without question. Without regret.

She
needed
every bit of him.

If not for Saul’s strong grip, Chloe would have slid to the floor in a boneless heap. They lowered to the floor together, sprawling out beneath the sunlight. Her body continued to react, occasionally spasming in climax. She writhed and groaned while palming her own breast.

“You certainly know how to greet a girl. Mm...” Her entire body felt boneless and weak, and fine little flutters of orgasm continued to ripple through her core. She giggled and squirmed in closely against him while Saul stroked his fingertips over her sleek, newly waxed skin. It was nice to remain conscious for once.

“I watched pornography while you were asleep,” he confessed.

Dragons do blush. His cheeks are so red,
Chloe noticed. “Saul… I’m not making fun of you, baby, but how are you so old without knowing the most common things about sex between humans.”

Saul glanced away as the heat continued to sweep into his cheeks and cutely color the skin beneath his soft golden-red beard. “As I said to you before, you are the first and only female human to provide ample motivation.”

Better words had never come from a fantasy monster or any man.

“I craved your touch every morning, Chloe. Every night. I would have you always at my side.”

From anyone else, those words might have worried her. Saul turned them into a loving promise.

“I have two requests.”

“Anything,” he replied to her.

“Mating is for animals, and from what I can tell… you are very much a man right now,” she teased. “Humans make love and have sex. We fuck. I’ll take any of those over mating.”

His laughter thrilled her and sent another series of ripples through her core. “Acceptable. What else troubles you?”

“Will you show me your dragon body one more time?” she asked quietly.

Chloe hadn’t known Saul long, but something - their bond perhaps - had made him an open book. His smile faded, giving way to impassive features lacking emotion. That meant he was hiding something from her. That he was uncomfortable.

“It will only frighten you again.”

“I’m sorry for hurting you. I can’t tell you enough times that I’m sorry… but I want to see you. The real you. Because if we’re going to make this work, I need to accept that you’re more than a man, Saul,” Chloe whispered. She raised her hand to her lover’s cheek and quickly became elated by the way he leaned into her touch. Like a puppy or a kitten appreciating a pet from a human hand, he also pushed appreciatively against her.

“Not here,” Saul finally spoke aloud to her. “First I have something I must ask of you in return.”

“Anything.” Chloe smiled down into Saul’s face. Her fingertips brushed against his bearded jaw. “You can ask me anything.”

Saul’s golden eyes locked onto her gaze. He might as well have been peering into her very soul.

“Stay with me, Chloe. Move into my home and make it your own. Allow me to care for you. To provide for you.”

“I…” She blinked, breath caught in her throat.
Leave my home? My friends? What would I do? Is there more than lust between us?
“I’m not hearing a question in there, Saul…” she hedged, too uncertain to answer.

Saul’s palm lifted to her cheek. “Will you stay with me, Chloe?” he asked, correcting himself. “Will you share your life with me?”

What he asked was life changing.

“I…” Chloe dragged in a nervous breath. “I need time to think about it, Saul. Maybe dragons are able to make snap decisions that alter their entire life, but us humans need a little time.”

“I will give you time,” he agreed. Still, he was her open book and the crushing disappointment radiated so thoroughly that it swept through her and settled in her soul. She felt what he experienced, enduring the echoes of his elation, his pleasure, and even his sadness.

“I won’t leave your home now, Saul. I don’t plan to leave you. It’s only that… I can’t stay here in your home without anything to do. I like to work and do things. I have friends and a life I’ll be leaving behind.”

The disappointment ebbed.

“I wish only for your happiness, Chloe. If work is what you desire, then work you shall have. If you have a friend you want close by, invite them. This will be your home now, to do with as you please.”

“You mean it?”

“I do.” He leaned in close and stroked her cheek before pressing a kiss to her nose. The hard peck made her giggle.

“I know I have much to learn to please you, Chloe.”

“You please me now, but the rest we can learn together,” she said quickly. The last thing Chloe wanted was for him to feel inadequate when that was the furthest thing from the truth.

They held each other in silence, soaking up the heat from the slate floors while Chloe dozed against his shoulder. Eventually, she awakened to Saul relocating her to another room of his house. Ever so aware of her needs, her dragon carried her into the humid bathroom where a steaming bubble bath awaited. Someone had strewn the water with fragrant rose petals.

“How did you…?”

“How did I what?”

“Have a bath ready. How did you know I wanted one?”

Saul shrugged. “Mahasti.” He stepped into the tub and lowered into the water without releasing Chloe. The water was the perfect temperature and just shy of boiling. Just how she liked it.

“Saul?” she asked again, unable to let the matter rest.

“Yes?”

“How did Mahasti know my favorite things?”

“She is a Djinn.” Chloe’s confused expression prompted him to elaborate. “Humans know of her people as genies. Anything you desire will be granted to you, although I must ask you to remain considerate. She does this of her own volition as a repayment for a kindness I once showed her.”

“Oh?” she asked curiously.
Seriously? A genie?

Her dragon cut his golden eyes away from her briefly and gazed toward a large bay window designed to overlook the expansive pasture land and forest. “I must divulge certain truths to you, Chloe.”

She felt his anxiety and anticipation, which made her equally anxious to match.
I knew this was too good to be true. He’s probably going to tell me the hot chick maid is his lover or something.
Preparing herself for the worst, she eased out of his embrace and into the water.

“It appears Mahasti interfered during our separation and is responsible for our dreams. She meant no harm to you, Chloe. I apologize for the trouble she has caused while securing our reunion. I swear to you, such ploys were not devised by me.”

Chloe jerked her head upward and stared at him. The hot water lapped against her shoulders and brought dewy beads of sweat to her brow. Her fair hair trailed behind her in the water and clung to her wet shoulders. Without Saul’s arms around her, she discovered his tub was more of a stone basin than a bath. Practically a pool.

“She did that?”

“Yes,” he admitted. “I only discovered this morning, but you have my most humble and sincere apolo-”

“Thank her.”

“What?” He blinked at her.

“She led me back to you. I don’t care about her reasons, or how much she drove me mad; I’m just glad to be here.” She touched the colorful stain of purple and red just above her collar bone. “Tell me more about our bond. You bit me twice, but you didn’t do it again in the solarium.”

“The Dragon’s Brand is a soul bond, Chloe, and permanent once consummated unless one mate rejects the other. Your mark faded over our distance, but I was able to rekindle it when we…” Saul stumbled over the word, but she provided him patience. “Made love again.”

Saul had required only a single gentle correction since Chloe had told him she preferred the term over ‘mating’, which made her feel like a sassy mare waiting for a stallion to mount her.

“I never thought I’d say this but I kinda like knowing how you feel about things.” She wrapped her sudsy arms around his neck and touched their noses gently. “I have one a final question.”

“You may ask whatever you like. I keep no secrets from you.”

“Will I get to see the rest of your home, or do you plan to keep me a sexual prisoner in your bedroom and bath?”
No complaints if you do...

He smiled and pulled her in close. “Soon. After I have tended to your needs.”

Chloe learned the true meaning of pampered. Saul soaped her back and tenderly scrubbed every inch of her body. His gentle side emerged and Chloe happily introduced him to the sweeter side of human love. She taught him kisses could be slow and decadent and trailed whisper light touches of her lips across his body until Saul was as relaxed as she was.

“I’m going to turn into a prune if we stay in here much longer. Dragons like lengthy baths I take it?”

“We do.” His quiet answer sounded like a purr. “But as you wish. I have more I wanted to share with you today and your request comes in good timing.”

Chloe’s freshly cleaned and pressed clothes waited for her on the bed. She tugged on her jeans and top, but traded her boots for the comfy house slippers. Saul waited for her on the wide balcony without a single stitch of clothing on his magnificent form.

“I thought you said we were going out…”

Saul grinned. “We are. Do you trust me, Chloe?” He climbed up on the stone ledge overlooking a green stretch of pasture.

“Of course I… what are you doing?”

Saul leapt clear over the edge and plummeted beyond her sight. Chloe involuntarily shrieked and rushed forward onto the balcony. Her heart leapt into her throat, punctuated by the drum beat of her pulse racing in her ears. “Saul!” she screamed, expecting to find his broken body on the ground below.

An unexpected sight awaited Chloe when she reached the rail. She skidded to a halt and stared with her jaw slack.

Beneath the sunlight, Saul’s hide wasn’t dark as she previously believed. The dragon’s leathery skin reminded her of aged terracotta, a deep and warm reddish brown color. His black-feathered wings glimmered faintly beneath the noontime sun, accented by flight feathers of gold and bronze.

“God you’re beautiful,” she said, breathless with awe.
How was I ever afraid of such a gorgeous creature?

“Climb astride me.”

“You can talk!” The revelation surprised her. In his draconic form his voice rumbled more deeply, but it was still his. Still Saul.

“Of course.”

Thankfully, Chloe had no fear of heights. She leaned against the edge of the railing and peered down at the dragon’s massive body. He sat on his haunches, much like a dog or any other four-legged animal, steadying his incredible weight on the stone exterior of his home. His large talons curved around the balcony wall.

“I won’t fall off?” Chloe asked tentatively. Part of her jumped for joy on the inside, but the other part of her, the wise and prudent half of her psyche, demanded for her to show caution.

“I will not allow you to fall.”

Saul extended his neck forward. That movement placed his large snout within biting distance. Contrary to his reptilian appearance, his skin felt warm and alive beneath the sun. She caressed him boldly, dragging her fingers over his nose until she reached between his eyes and patted his horned eye ridge. His head was nearly as big as her body and the teeth she spotted had to be as long as her arm. Yet she felt no fear. Only comfort and a sense of safety.

“Let me show you how it feels to fly, my Chloe.”

The tour of the grounds lasted less than an hour from start to finish while Chloe rode on Saul’s back. According to her lover, the incredible stretch of land was off limits to satellite imaging. Dragons such as Saul carried great weight and influence across the world, and wherever they built their homes, vast amounts of money shrouded their existence in secrecy.

“Fly again!” she cried, feeling like a little girl on her first pony ride.

Laughter shook Saul’s body. Fortunately, Chloe had found the perfect spot to sit astride him between his magnificent wings. She sprawled there with her cheek against his downy soft feathers, breathing in the subtle wild and earthy scent. He smelled so good.

No one would ever believe me if I told them dragons are warm-blooded and that our fantasy stories have it all wrong,
she thought.

Saul took off at a lurching jog that bounced her initially. With a secure hold of the feathery mane at the base of his neck, she remained firmly in place. Behind her, a row of spinal ridges trailed down his back until they reached the tip of his tail. The first was as long as she stood in height.

Occasionally, he treated her to moments of flight while she clung to him for security and joyfully whooped out loud while the wind blew through her hair. Saul soared above the grassy pastures and promised to catch her if she fell. Eventually her dragon landed in favor of taking an ambling pace that cruised the periphery of his property. They were nearly two miles away from his mountain home, having discovered a comfortable little grotto with a clear running stream. The deer who inhabited the area prior to their arrival bolted the very moment Saul came into view. At that moment, he tensed beneath her and his muscles wound so tight she instinctively tightened her grip.

“I will not give chase, Chloe. Relax and take comfort in the day’s fair weather.”