The Dragon's Bride (A Deal With a Demon 1)

I can’t hear him pursuing me.

Maybe he was so shocked by the suggestion that he’s still standing by the lake, staring after me. Should I go back? Or…

Even as the doubt tries to creep in, a deep roar sounds from somewhere behind me. It reminds me of a show I watched a long time ago where some lord sent his hunting dogs after a woman. They’d howled kind of like that, except this is a thousand times more powerful. It triggers every prey instinct I have.

Suddenly, this is no longer a game.

I’m running for my life.

I pick up speed, ducking between the leaves and flying across the ground. It’s not exactly kind to bare feet, but I barely feel the scratches. Fear bites at my heels, bringing with it a breathless kind of exhilaration. Is this what skydivers feel when they see the ground rushing up to meet them?

Sounds behind me. Something large is crashing through the trees in my wake. I let out a little shriek and run faster. In my time in the keep, I’ve learned that Sol is all but silent when he moves, a true predator who’s accidentally snuck up on me. After doing so the first time sent me into a full panic attack, he’s very careful to ensure I always hear him coming or have some auditory warning that he’s near me.

He’s not trying to be quiet right now.

I look around frantically. Maybe I can climb—

A weight hits me from behind. Another shriek bursts from me as Sol takes me to the ground, creating a cage with his larger body. This should be the end of it, but that fear-exhilaration has me by the throat, and I’m acting purely on instinct. As he rolls, I squirm out of his arms and try to scramble to my feet.

Only for him to wrap a massive hand around my ankle and jerk me back to the ground. I keep trying to get away, my fingers clawing at the dirt, as he drags me backward to him. It causes my dress to rise around my thighs.

We both freeze when the fabric hits my hips. The pause barely lasts a beat of my racing heart, and then Sol wrenches me closer and surges up to cover me with his body. I try to shove him off, but it’s impossible.

I love that it’s impossible.

He flips me onto my back and catches my hands in one of his own, forcing them over my head. I get a look at his face for the first time since I laid this gauntlet at his feet and took off running. Sol looks…feral. There is no logic or reason in his eyes as he digs his claws into my dress and rips it open from the thighs down.

I’ve lost more than a few dresses to Sol’s claws in the past few weeks. I know he can divest me of the thing in a single swipe. He’s doing it slowly now on purpose. My entire body breaks out in goose bumps, and I struggle harder. Even I’m not sure if it’s in earnest or simply because the feeling of him holding me down makes me so turned on, I can’t think straight.

Another rip, and I’m bared from the hips. The force of the next rip jerks my body from the dirt. The fabric of my dress parts around me, leaving me naked beneath Sol’s predatory gaze. It doesn’t matter that I was just naked with him in the lake or that he watched me pull this dress on after we swam.

It feels different.

My breath is fire in my chest, my breasts heaving from panting. Sol is breathing hard too, his hot exhales ghosting against my nipples. Even so, I hear the near-silent snick of his claws detracting the moment before he pushes two fingers into me.

“Fuck!” My back bows so hard, my breasts actually brush his mouth.

Sol strikes.

His jaws close around my throat.

I freeze, torn between true terror and a pleasure so fierce, it makes me dizzy. He works me with his fingers even as his teeth prick my skin. My body can’t decide if I’m going to cum or start screaming and never stop. The sensation of his hot breath against my skin only gets more intense as his tongue flicks against the hollow of my throat.

He presses his thumb to my clit and starts to fuck me with his fingers; long, slow slides that have pleasure building inside me in steady waves. I blink up at the forest canopy, my fingers grasping at nothing from where they splay over his grip on my wrists.

“I can’t…”

He twists his wrist, and that’s all it takes. I orgasm with a scream that seems to shake the very trees around us. Or maybe it’s simply me who’s undone completely.