“What?” she finally asked.
But he didn’t answer. Not with words anyway. Instead, he quickly pulled out of her, and flipped her around until she was on her knees and he was behind her.
She was about to ask what he thought he was doing, but her words were cut off when he was suddenly inside her once more.
He was hard again. Already!
She’d never had a man come that hard for her and then be ready to go again that quickly. But then she remembered Gaius Domitus was not a man. He was dragon. And now the sounds from her sister’s room late at night made sense. Actually . . . the sounds from all the females in that blasted castle late at night suddenly made complete sense.
Gripping her hips tight, Gaius powered into her with as much vigor as if this were their first time. It was so hard and fast and delicious that all Kachka could do was plant her hands hard in the ground and take it. Something she was not used to doing. But he wasn’t giving her much of a chance to take back control.
Then he slid one hand down around her waist and between her thighs. His fingers gripped her clit and began to squeeze and toy with it.
That felt so damn good, her arms gave out, and she was resting on her elbows, her forehead pressed against the backs of her hands while Gaius stroked her clit again and again. Then he circled it. Then he squeezed the gods-damn thing and that’s when everything exploded around her.
She heard herself scream out into the night, surprising herself more than the birds in the trees.
Then, to either her dismay or her sheer happiness, he didn’t stop. He’d already come once, so apparently he was ready to keep going. And he did, taking Kachka over the edge two more times before he pulled out of her and placed her on her back.
Gaius entered her again, going slow now, staring down into her face until he kissed her.
His kisses, like his fucking now, were slow and sweet, taking his time with both while his fingers played with her nipples or stroked her hair or simply touched her bare skin.
When he finally came this time, she came with him. They gripped each other, groaning and panting into each other’s mouth, their hips grinding against the other until they were both so spent that they were too weak to push their partner away.
Kachka couldn’t even get up and leave, something she would normally do since they were outside. If they had been in her room, she would have thrown him out. But he’d worn her down and she could do nothing but fall asleep in his arms.
The dragon bastard!
Gaius woke up when he felt something balanced on his nose.
It was a loaf of bread.
“What’s happening?” he asked the naked woman who was sitting there, watching him silently.
“Thought you might be hungry.”
“I’m a dragon. I’m always hungry.”
He took the loaf of bread off his face and sat up, his back pressed against the tree they’d happily fucked under.
Gauis tore the bread and handed one half to Kachka. They ate in silence at first until Gaius asked, “Why have you never chosen a husband, Kachka Shestakova?”
She smirked at him. “In love with me already, Rebel King?”
“We both know you’d be lucky if I were. I am a king and,” he teased, “pretty damn benevolent.”
Kachka laughed. “So you say. In answer to your question, I chose no husband because husband and children would lock me into life in Outerplains. I always felt I was . . . destined for more.”
“To be Anne Atli one day?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “That is not life for me. Nor the life I desire. What about you? Is this life you want?”
“This is life I have. In the Sovereigns, you’re born into your life.”
“You were not born into your life. You took it from the hide of your uncle.”
“Only because he made me.”
“So you think you would have been happy being just a royal? A title with no power?”
Gaius let out a breath. “I honestly don’t know. When Vateria took my sister . . . all bets were off, as they say.”
“Meaning?”
“They gave me no choice but to kill them. Each and every one of them. There are, of course, a few of my kin still roaming free. But I’ll find them, too. If I have my way, I’ll find them all.”
Kachka suddenly smiled.
“What?” he asked.
“I was just thinking . . . if you were woman, you would make good Daughter of Steppes.”
“I would?”
“You have strong sense of vengeance. Daughters of Steppes were born of vengeance. The first Anne Atli, it was need for revenge that sent her to take control of the tribes. Once she started, she never looked back.” Kachka studied him closely. “Will you look back, Rebel King? Will you have regrets?”