Kir’s laugh was husky and ultramasculine. He tangled a hand in her hair and drew her face close to his. “Tell me which you prefer. These, with their cold beauty. Or the fire of the family jewels I’ve already shared with you.”
She laughed. “I think I need to weigh the possible answers before I decide.”
She cupped her hand under the one he held the gems in, then slid her other hand between legs. “Mmm,” she said, rubbing him, taking his measure. “I think the family jewels win.”
Growl and groan merged. His hips bucked, sending an answering throb through her clit.
“Behave,” he said, stepping away from her and pushing the gems through the slot in the wall.
There was no sound of a latch yielding. This time the door simply slid open, revealing a room in total darkness. What sunlight entered the other parts of the house through windows didn’t cross the threshold here.
“Ready, beloved?” Kirill asked, reclaiming Jazzlyn’s hand and carrying it to his lips.
She took a deep steadying breath. “Ready.”
They stepped in and the door closed immediately. In less than a heartbeat, less than the blink of an eye, one reality folded completely into another and they stood in the middle of a stone building with window-like openings in the rock.
A cold breeze swept through, its source the snowcapped mountains visible in the distance. Kirill squeezed her hand and she turned toward him. “I must leave this chamber before shifting into my first form. Otherwise I won’t be able to pass through the doorway.”
She nodded her understanding and allowed him to lead her to the opening meant to serve as a door. She’d known by the view that they must be high up, but it didn’t keep her from experiencing pure terror when Kirill stepped out onto the outer platform and she saw just how far it was to the ground below.
He’d have to carry her. That much was obvious.
She trusted him not to drop her. But despite believing in him completely, she couldn’t stop shaking.
I can use my mating talons to render you unconscious, he said, the shock of hearing him speak directly into her mind shattering her fear.
We can talk this way?
He purred in satisfaction, then answered by grasping the neckline of her blouse and pulling it downward far enough to reveal the dragon above her breast, a smaller version of the one on his chest. Our mating bond is sealed. As long as we are in the same realm, we are only a thought away from one another. Are you ready for me to carry you home?
Yes.
The air shimmered silver and blue. And then he was standing there, a creature of fantasy. He was bigger, bulkier than in his human form, and yet when their eyes met, she saw Kirill, the possessiveness and tenderness, with a hint of worry thrown in.
Jazzlyn took another steadying breath and stepped out onto ledge. She put her hand on his chest and found the silver scales warm and smooth. And very, very real.
“I’m one of those people who closes their eyes and hangs on to the safety bar on rollercoaster rides. It might take awhile to change that, but I’d rather stay conscious for this.”
Good, Kirill said, his heart swelling with love and pride at her bravery.
Rather than linger and allow instinctive human fear to return and make her tremble again, he clutched her to his chest and launched them from the ledge.
A small whimper was the only sound that escaped Jazzlyn, though he heard the thunder of her heart. The lair is close, he told her, anxious to get there, his need for her building with each beat of his wings.
As long as I don’t open my eyes, I’ll be okay.
In an effort to make her transition easier, he willed himself into his human form as soon as he landed. He carried her into the outer chamber, setting her on her feet next to the pile of gems serving as his daybed.
She opened her eyes then, and laughed in surprised delight, all traces of fear gone. “Don’t ask me to make a choice between these and the family jewels,” she teased, acknowledging his nakedness with a slow perusal of his body.
“Jazzlyn,” he growled, more than willing to return to their earlier play. Now that she was here, in his lair, he craved an intimate connection so desperately it was all he could do not to pounce.
“Disrobe,” he told her, remembering how she’d tormented him by slowly putting on her clothes before calling Carolyn.
Jazzlyn remembered it too. She remembered more. His threats. His promise to demonstrate how dangerous it was to tease a male dragon.
Her scent gave her away. It was heady, a lush perfume that made his cock leak in preparation for mounting her.
Rather than command her again, he sent his fire. It caressed every inch of her, burning away her clothing and leaving her bare, ready for her mate.
She’d been shell-shocked before. But now, in his lair, her nipples were hard points and her inner thighs glistened.
You know what I want. Get on your hands and knees.
She blushed, something he found adorable in her. If she’d denied him, he would never have forced her. But when she turned her back to him and did as he commanded, parting her thighs to reveal her wet slit, he acknowledged to himself that he might claim to be the master of his human mate, but he was a slave to his feelings and need for her.
He covered her body with his, the magic construct of his second form dissolving as soon as his cock found her opening. She gasped as his human arms gave way to dragon limbs, but her scent signaled her acceptance.
Mine, he said, thrusting all the way in.
Mine, she echoed, her channel rippling along his length, sending ecstasy shimmering through him as she staked her own claim.
About the Author
Jory has been writing since childhood and has never outgrown being a daydreamer. When she’s not hunched over her computer, lost in the muse and conjuring up new heroes and heroines, she can usually be found reading, riding her horses, or hiking with her dogs.
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Also by Jory Strong
Carnival Tarot 1: Sarael’s Reading
Carnival Tarot 2: Kiziah’s Reading
Carnival Tarot 3: Dakotah’s Reading
Crime Tells 1: Lyric’s Cop
Crime Tells 2: Cady’s Cowboy
Crime Tells 3: Calista’s Men
Crime Tells 4: Cole’s Gamble
Death’s Courtship
Ellora’s Cavemen: Dreams of the Oasis I anthology
Ellora’s Cavemen: Jewels of the Nile III anthology
Ellora’s Cavemen: Seasons of Seduction I anthology
Ellora’s Cavemen: Seasons of Seduction IV anthology
Elven Surrender
Fallon Mates 1: Binding Krista
Fallon Mates 2: Zeraac’s Miracle
Fallon Mates 3: Roping Savannah
Familiar Pleasures
Spirit Flight
Spirits Shared
Supernatural Bonds 1: Trace’s Psychic
Supernatural Bonds 2: Storm’s Faeries
Supernatural Bonds 3: Sophie’s Dragon
Supernatural Bonds 4: Drui Claiming
The Angelini 1: Skye’s Trail
The Angelini 2: Syndelle’s Possession
The Angelini 3: Mystic’s Run
Two Spirits
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