Authors: Dahlia Rose
“I’d
like to go there sometime. It sounds wonderful.” Their social structure seemed
almost like nirvana. Human’s strived for that kind of peace while Paladin had
already found it. Raven took a slice of the meat and found it succulent and
flavorful. They certainly didn’t use Mrs. Dash in Paladin. Everything tasted so
fresh and moist as if it had just been picked from the garden.
She
let her curiosity win over and began asking questions as they ate. “Orin said the
people of Paladin know who carries the dragon shifter inside them from eye
color, so does that mean some of the people in Paladin are not dragon natured?”
“That’s
correct. Take
Lleau
and Larissa; they are twins, but
only he received the gift of the dragon,” Raul explained.
“So
women can be dragon?”
“Yes,
Kalv’s
first wife was a warrior and she was a dragon.
She fought beside him and died with their babe in her belly during the first
Shen
war.” Raul frowned. “I was not even born yet, but I’ve
heard the stories and read the scrolls. We lost a lot of warriors, including
the king’s wife who took up arms that day to fight.”
“Would
it be okay if one day I read the scrolls?” Raven asked hesitantly. “I may be
able to transcribe them in such a way that they would never be lost to time.
Like a digital library.”
“I
can ask the king. He has spoke before of trying to be more contemporary about
things in Paladin, yet retain our way of life. You would intrigue him.” Raul
took a bite of potatoes. “So you plan to visit again, with me, maybe?”
“If
you let me…” Raven sighed. “I want to be with you, Raul, more than just sex,
but I won’t pin you down or try to be controlling…”
“You’d
better because if another man or dragon looks at you with nothing but pure
intentions I will have to fight them,” he said seriously. “I want to say the
words you need to hear, but for now will
Shaloh
be enough?”
Raven
nodded. “I can accept that if you know that I am falling in love with you, and
I plan to be around for a long time. You better get used to it, buddy.”
His
lips twitched. “I think I can manage that. It will be a trial since you are
such a precocious female.”
Raven
threw a piece of bread at him and he roared with laughter. He drank down the
rest of his wine and lunged at her, picking her up from her chair while she
squealed.
“Put
me down, Raul. What are you doing?” He began to clear the table putting
everything back in the basket with one hand while securing her over his
shoulder with the other.
“You
threw bread at me. That’s the beginning of foreplay on Paladin,” he explained.
“It
is not… Is it?” Raven asked suspiciously.
He
finished his task and when the table was cleared off, he sat her on it with a
wicked grin. “No, I’m being dishonest, but are you going to stop me from
ravishing you?”
“Hell
no,” she replied and kissed him with delight.
His
laugh broke off into a moan as her tongue twined into his mouth and passion
began to burn inside her. He undressed her slowly as if savoring every dip and
curve of her body and she did the same to him. She loved the feel of him, his
hardness and the feel of steel in the body of a man. His big hands were on her
waist and the heat of his palms seared her skin. Raul cupped the back of her
neck and drew her into his kiss; his tongue played and dueled with hers until
she was lost in the midst of a sensual storm. He pulled roughly away from her
mouth, breathing harshly and his eyes were deep emerald with intensity. With one
fierce growl, Raul’s mouth was on her breasts, tasting and sucking her nipples.
He massaged the globes with urgency, wringing a wanton cry from her and she
arched so he could take more of the mound into his mouth. He groaned and lifted
her higher up on the table.
Raven
gave him a sultry smile. “Taste me, dragon, take your fill.”
One
big hand splayed across her stomach, pressing her back onto the table. Raven
lay back in anticipation and gave a low whimper. She felt his breath on her
pussy before he grabbed her hips and buried his mouth against her sex. Raven cried
out in shock as immense pleasure coursed through her. The feeling was so
intense that her skin had goose bumps. She brought her legs up, knees bent, placing
her feet on the edge of the table. His tongue licked at every fold before she
felt him suck at her clit, making it so sensitive it was almost unbearable. He
slipped a finger inside her and she bucked against him, seeking more of the
delicious sensation he was creating.
“Don’t
stop. Oh, Raul, how are you making me feel so amazing?” she gasped.
He
lifted his head and said in a guttural voice, “My God, your taste is amazing. I
need more of you!”
The
wood of the table was smooth and cool on her back. Each flick of his tongue brought
her closer to the edge. The movement of his tongue was frantic between her legs,
between the folds of her sex. Raven couldn’t help but cry out as he did it
again and again before spearing his tongue deep inside to catch her essence,
penetrating her deeper and deeper. Raven began to pant and moan as Raul played
with her nipples while he tasted her. The sweet ache building inside her was so
strong it stole her breath from the intense feeling of it. He pressed his face
hard against her and sucked at her clit once more, but this time he penetrated
her with his fingers at the same time until she screamed and gave into the
intense orgasm that raged inside her. She felt her body release its essence and
Raul lapped at her greedily.
Raul
moaned his pleasure at her response. “Oh, I do so love how you come. Your body
quakes when you do. Your pussy is so wet; I want to make you come again. Will
you let go for me,
Shaloh
?
”
“Oh,
yes, oh, yes!” she practically screamed.
He
excited her, enflamed her senses and she wanted to feel every naughty thing he
was offering. Raul spread the tender lips of her sex with his fingers and blew
gently and she shivered.
“I
want to see your essence flow,” he whispered. “You’re so pink, so soft, like
the petals of a flower.”
“Oh,
Raul, don’t tease me. Please make me…”
Raven
couldn’t finish the words when she felt his thick finger enter her slowly and go
deep. She moaned and raised her hips to meet the insertion of his finger. He
withdrew the lone digit and when he penetrated her again she could tell it was
two fingers inside her. Raul moved them at a steady pace, each time going a
little deeper until she could feel the coil tightening in her once more. “Harder,”
she gasped. She wanted it all, craved it like she never thought possible. Her
heartbeat raged in time to the carnal movement of his fingers inside her,
furiously taking her to the edge as she writhed in earnest.
“Oh,
God, I’m going to come!”
“Yes,
baby, let me see you give yourself over to it,” Raul said.
He
moved his fingers faster, in and out of her wet sex, wringing a long cry from
her. Raul pressed his mouth against her clit and sucked hard. His fingers
buried inside her once more and he gave her exactly what she asked for until she
screamed his name. Her body bucked with her release and she whispered his name
over and over again. He grabbed her waist and brought her off the table in one
smooth motion until she was straddling his lap and they were both on the floor.
She told him to lie back and she kissed her way down his body until she came to
his erect cock.
Raven
heard him say something in his native tongue as she stroked him before she
wrapped her lips around the engorged tip of his rod. Raul’s groan was long and
deep and she felt him bury his fingers in her hair and urged her head to move
up and down. She caught the rhythm and soon she was using her lips and tongue
to suck him deeply between her lips. Raven heard him call her name and she
raised her eyes to look at him. His head was thrown back in pleasure and his muscles
were tense beneath her. Suddenly, he pulled her up onto his body so she was
straddled across his wide thighs before he positioned his cock at the entrance
of her sex and impaled her onto his rod. She braced her hands on his chest and
rode him with abandon. He called her name harshly and gripped her hips tightly
as he
pistoned
into her each time her hips came down.
“By
the gods, yes!”
Raul
groaned and reached up to grab her neck to bring her down to his kiss. He
grabbed her hips and pumped into her hard and her cries were muffled against
his mouth. Raul moved so quickly she didn’t have time to think before she was
beneath him and he was buried inside her once more. He lifted one of her legs
over his shoulder and began to move once more with urgency, taking them both over
the edge. It was as if the last vestige of control left him and he became a
primal sexual being. His mouth moved from her lips to her neck to her breasts
to suck at them in a frenzied way. When her orgasm took hold, she screamed his
name between loud moans. Raul’s harsh cry signaled his release before she felt
his seed fill her. She felt so relaxed and languid she didn’t know if she could
move and when Raul slumped over her, she knew he was as shaken by the
experience as she was.
After
they had been lying together a while, cuddling, still on the floor next to the
massive table, Raul said, “You need dessert.”
Raven
laughed. “I’d offer to get it, but I think I lost all feeling in my body. There
are no words to describe that experience.”
“Well,
then, let me care for you the way a dragon should take care of his mate.” Raul
lifted her into his arms and walked towards his bedroom.
“Am
I your mate?” she asked and her heart leapt in her chest.
“You
are mine, Raven. No one has made me feel the way you make me feel,” Raul
replied.
He
filled the marble bathtub with warm water, poured a couple of drops of jasmine
oil in, and then helped her in. He washed and scrubbed every part of her gently,
even washing her hair for her, and after drying off, got her settled in bed before
going back to get her dessert. He fed her, refusing to give her the fork to
feed herself. Each time he cut a piece of the pie and placed it to her lips, he
then would cut himself a piece. After the two pieces of pie had been devoured,
he built a fire in the hearth at the foot of the bed and opened a window. She
could smell the sweet Paladin night air. He slid into bed with her and pulled
her into his arms. He hadn’t said the words I love you or called her his mate
outright, but she knew these things came in stages. While she had controlled
her life by staying as far away relationships as she could, he held his
emotions under lock and key. It would take time for him to let go and she was
willing to wait. In her heart, Raven knew he was the one. Her life had led her
straight to him. Some things were not coincidences, and finding him that night
while she was on her dig site was not a coincidence.
He was
her dragon warrior
,
he was her
Shaloh
.
Chapter
Eight
Raven
was sad to leave Paladin, but was even more surprised when they returned to the
hotel in Madison and only eighteen hours had passed. She couldn’t describe how
happy she was. Her body was blissfully pleased and while she recalled other women
saying sex was not good the first time, Raven couldn’t disagree more. Just
thinking about Raul touching her made her stomach clench with delight. She’d
never felt like this. Raven had been taught to use logic and cold, hard facts,
not imagination and fantasy. Maybe that was why she embraced him and his world
of dragons and magic so strongly. But it was also more than that. She found
herself head over heels in love with a dragon shifter, his life and his home.
She wanted to drink in his culture, talk to the elders in Paladin, and document
their lives and memories. She wanted to learn the language, and instead of
searching for a dead tribe, she wanted to memorialize the one she found, one
that was rare and truly real.
Back
in the penthouse, Raul left her with a soul-searing kiss and went back out to
search the night, looking for signs of the
Shen
cell
stronghold. She watched through the window, hoping to spot him in the cold,
dark night. She was worried that he would be ambushed again and she would not
be there to help. Raven was so caught up in her watch that she didn’t hear
anyone come in until someone cleared
their
throat
behind her. She yelped and turned quickly, grabbing the vase off the accent
table close to the window and letting it fly. The tall, dark haired man ducked
and the woman standing next to him smirked. Raven didn’t hear the crystal vase
shatter because the man behind Hawke caught the vase, causing another man
beside him to grin.
Holy shit, I almost
beaned them!
she
thought and placed her hand
against her chest where her heart raced.
“I
told you we should have announced ourselves.” Raven recognized
Daisye’s
Southern drawl. In person, the woman was a tad
lighter in color than her and a few heads shorter. Laughter danced in warm
chocolate eyes and she was holding Hawke’s hand.