He nodded. “We have to get you ready first. You’ve probably had other lovers, but dragons are kind of a different thing in that department.”
Her eyes widened, but she nodded. “Well, I mean… I haven’t exactly.”
He stopped, his body frozen on top of her. “What? You haven’t exactly what?”
“Done… that,” she said. “I mean, I’ve played around. On my own.”
“I thought you dated before,” he said.
“It never went that far. I wasn’t ready and didn’t really feel up to it when I was grieving, you know. Ed was just company, and I just thought he was willing to wait. I never knew he was just using me. Now that I think about it, he probably never thought I was attractive, just the boss’ daughter he could use—”
Tears came to her eyes, and he couldn’t stand it, so he leaned in and kissed them gently away, salty and sweet. “Don’t be sad, sweetheart. Who cares what he thinks? Not me. He’s gone now, and I’m going to wash him away from your memory. I’m going to make you so happy that you can’t remember being sad.”
“That’s the thing,” she said, reaching up and playing through his hair. “I’ll always remember being sad. A lot has happened to me. I’m bringing you baggage.”
“No,” he said. “You’re bringing me a reason to live.”
She didn’t say anything to him, just wriggled slightly against his fingers, reminding him what she really wanted. He felt even more pressure now to make this amazing, to show her she was beautiful and desirable. And to make sure she was ready and he didn’t hurt her.
A tall order for a dragon.
She shuddered as he kissed her again, picking up the pace with his fingers, playing deftly over her as he released her hands so he had another hand to please her with.
That hand dropped to her breast, squeezing softly as she moaned, while his other hand kept up quickening circles on her clit. And he kissed her, keeping her emotionally close to him, feeling she communicated most honestly when they were together like this.
Her body told him he was special. Her body communicated trust. He wouldn’t let her misplace it.
He kept going as her writhing became more frantic and could sense her getting close to the edge. He deepened the kiss, thrusting deep inside as she let out a muffled scream and arched back, finally coming.
She clenched her legs around his hand, locking him against her as release overwhelmed her, and he held the kiss, loving the bite of her nails on his back, the way she bit his lip as she cursed out her pleasure.
When she stopped and pulled back, her eyes were apologetic. Guilty. “I’m sorry. That was a strong one.”
“Good,” he said, getting up and kneeling between her legs. “Can I check here?”
She flushed. “What do you mean check?”
“Put a finger in.”
She nodded, closing her eyes, but he put a hand on her cheek, waiting for her to open them.
“Don’t be afraid of me,” he said.
“I’m not,” she said. “I’m afraid of myself. Of the way I’m holding back, even now. Afraid that if I start feeling, I’m going to feel too much and I won’t be able to pull back, and it will destroy me.”
“You’ll never be destroyed,” he said. “Because I’ll be here to hold you together.”
She wrapped her arms around his back and held on. “Okay.”
He slipped a finger down between them and gently felt inside her. When he slipped in, warm, tight, wet velvet encased him, and he nearly lost it right there. So tight, would she fit him?
He tried not to show his alarm as she clung onto him, and he slowly lowered her back to the covers. “It’s going to be fine,” he said. “We’ll take it as slow as we have to.”
She sighed. “Okay. That feels amazing, though.”
A shiver went through him as he tested two fingers this time, and her wet heat tightened around him.
Shit, this was going to be harder than he thought. But somehow, he’d manage it for her. His mate was trusting him.
She thrust up against his fingers, making her hair move across the pillow, beautifully tousled. “So amazing. I want more.”
He grinned. “I want to be careful.”
She leveled her eyes on him. “Screw careful. For once in my life, I’m going for it.”
Before he could process what was happening, her hungry hands ran over his muscles, and he withdrew his fingers so she could wiggle out from under him. She got up on her knees, curvy, naked, and proud, and pushed him off the bed until he was forced to stand next to it.
“Strip,” she said. “Nice and slow.”
He grinned as he reached for the button of his jeans.
“Faster,” she said.
“You said slow.”
“I changed my mind,” she said, flipping her blond hair over her shoulder, looking powerful. “Faster.”
He quickly unbuttoned and dropped his jeans, and she gasped when she looked at him.
“Commando?” she asked.
He looked down at his nakedness. “What does that mean?”
“You don’t wear underwear.”
“It’s scratchy. Sometimes I don’t want to.”
“That’s so… hot,” she said, pouncing to grab him by the hand and drag him back on the bed. He hit the mattress with a thump, and before he could recover, she was climbing on top of him, pinning him with her soft weight.
“Hey,” he said. “Careful.”
“It’s my body,” she said. “I know what I want.” She sat slightly below his member and stared at it admiringly. She touched the base of it and ran her fingers up to his head, and his whole body tightened in response, making him bite his lip.
He didn’t want to jerk too hard. Considering how much bigger he was than her, he was liable to send her flying.
“It’s beautiful,” she said. “So soft. I didn’t expect it to be soft.”
He frowned. “Soft?”
“The skin I mean,” she said. She cupped her hand around it and lightly squeezed. This was torture. “The rest is hard. Is this really going to fit in me?”
He had no idea. He hoped so.
His mate was such an interesting mix of innocent and hungry; he wasn’t sure what to do about it except let her take control, for now.
She ran her hand slowly up and down him and let her other hand explore between her legs. He saw her close her eyes and slip one and then two fingers in, biting her lip as she focused.
He wanted to be the one doing that.
Then, to his shock, she began to climb on top of him, guiding her warm heat over him. He was about to warn her as she propped up herself so his head was teasing her soft entrance, but before he could say anything, she began to lower herself down.
He bit his lower lip at the sheer sensation of it, the tight, yielding heat surrounding him with a perfect, completely enveloping fit. He focused his eyes on her, watching for any signs of pain, but she simply had her eyes closed, breathing rapidly as she slowly came down over him.
When her thighs hit his hips and he was fully encased inside her, she finally opened her eyes to look at him, slightly alarmed by the fullness.
“Wow,” she said.