She changed back to being human. “I should never have feared you. I’m sorry, Maxis.” Completely naked, she did what she’d never done before. She embraced his dragon form.
Closing his eyes, Max savored the sensation of her warm, feminine flesh against his scales. Damn, it made him so hard that for a moment, he couldn’t breathe.
“Um, I do have one question.”
He opened his eyes to look down at her. “That is?”
“How do I get my clothes back?”
Laughing, he returned to being a man so that he could gather her into his arms, and press the part of him that was most desperate for her against her hip. “Are you sure you want them?”
Seraphina sucked her breath in sharply as he ran his hands over her bare skin and nibbled the flesh of her neck. “Not if you’re going to do that.”
And then he stepped away and released her, and started that circling thing he did that always made her so dizzy and hot. It was a combination of his scent and the sizzling way he looked at her. Like he was going to devour her, to savor every inch of her body. Which he invariably did. With a thoroughness that was inhuman and intoxicating.
And that particular combination of wild beast and sexy man was deadly.
“Max…”
He dipped down low in front of her and came up for an incredibly sweet, passionate kiss as he lifted her from her feet and held her flush to his hard, muscled body. She wrapped her legs around his waist while he lowered them to the ground so that he could deepen his kiss. Leaning her head back, she moaned at how good his mouth felt on her throat. How incredible it was to have all the hard strength pressing down on her again.
“I’ve missed you so much,” she breathed as she explored the wealth of his satiny skin with her hands.
“And I, you.” He cupped her face to stare down at her eyes. “When I heard what Zeus had done to your tribe, I want you to know that I went after you, to free you.”
She blinked in disbelief. “What?”
He nodded. “I tried to barter for your release. I’m so sorry I failed you.”
How could he apologize to her after what they’d done to him? After what she’d allowed them to do? “Are you the one who placed my stone under a shelter?”
Heat stained his cheeks as he gave her a bashful stare. “Since I couldn’t free you, I wanted you protected. Zeus had forbidden that any of the stones be removed from where he’d placed them. He would have splintered you. So I built the shelter over you to keep your stone from harm. I would have done the same for the children, too, had I known.”
She stared up at him in wonder. “You can’t help it, can you?”
“What?”
“Looking after me.”
He took her hand into his and kissed her marked palm. “You are my dragonswan. My Strah Draga. It is my honor to care for you.”
“Is that the only reason?”
Shaking his head, he nuzzled her neck. “No.” His hot breath scorched her skin and sent chills over her entire body. “You are my heart, Seraphina. And leaving you was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
She sank her hand in his hair and cradled his head against her as love for him flooded her. “I’m so sorry, Max.”
He kissed her lips and pulled back to offer her a sad smile. “It’s all right. I was born cursed. Even now, I know I won’t be able to keep you with me.”
“You’ve said that before, but you never explained it. How were you cursed?”
He ran his fingers through her hair as sadness darkened his eyes. “My mother conceived me to steal from my father. When I refused to allow her to use me, she cursed me for it. It’s why Illarion was captured as a young dragon and had his throat cut. It was done to punish me. I’m not allowed to have happiness, as others.”
“Oh, akribos… it wasn’t your mother’s curse that separated us. It was my stupidity. My selfishness. But I promise, I won’t let anything else come between us again.”
Max wanted to believe that. He really did. Yet even as she said those words, he knew that some things were much easier said than done.
And no matter the intent or heartfelt emotion, not all promises could be kept. The gods were bitter bitches who often made liars of man and beast. And mercy had never been shown to him or his species.
He’d been so hurt that he couldn’t allow himself to believe in anything anymore. He knew better.
But at least he had her for a little while. And he vowed to savor what little time they were granted.
Closing his eyes, he dipped his lips to hers and breathed her in. Her body was so incredibly soft and warm. So sweet. He’d forgotten how good it felt to be held. How much he loved the sensation of her limbs sliding against his as she nipped his lips and chin. She’d always been a woman of incredible appetites. Most men would have been terrified of the way she didn’t hold herself back.