She wanted to reach out to him, touch him, feel that zing of energy between them. Instead of doing that she stared at her sneakers.
“Hi.”
“Hello, little flower.” He twisted on his barstool and pulled her between his legs. “Come to give me a kiss before you leave, too?”
Oh, yeah. There was the zing. “Yes, I mean, no. I mean, gah. I don’t know. I thought I’d at least tell you we were going so, you know, you didn’t worry.”
Geez, awkward much? She hated feeling this way. Like one dream orgasm had turned her into a bumbling mess of geeky teenaged hormones. Blech. She needed to get over that right away. How to do that was another matter.
“I will anyway, so you should give me that kiss. It seems to be helping the other men.” Steele wagged one eyebrow indicating toward the couples around them engaged in various lip-locks.
“That’s probably not a very good idea.” She knew it wasn’t because of how badly she wanted to do it. “In fact, I can’t think of anything worse we could do.”
“I’ve got a few ideas.” He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her impossibly closer.
So close, in fact, she could feel something hard pressing against her stomach, and it wasn’t a pencil in his pocket, but it might be a rocket in his pocket.
“You do, huh?”
“Yep. For starters, we could do this.” He licked the shell of her ear.
“Oh, yeah, that’s not good at all.”
“And then we could do this.” He nibbled his way down from the sensitive spot behind her ear to her collarbone.
“Definitely a horrible idea.”
“After that we should—”
“Ah ahem.” Dax leaned on the other side of the bar with his chin in his hands. “While I’m all in for watching you two go at it right here on the bar, you might have to wait to put on your show until later. The enforcers are here for their how-to-kick-demon-dragon-ass training.”
Fleur blinked her eyes bringing herself back from the lustful fog her body had wrapped around her brain. Her friends were gathered in the doorway, and several of them were unsuccessfully stifling snickers.
What in Hades was she doing? She smacked Steele on the shoulder. “I told you it was a bad idea.”
He chuckled, but let her go when she wriggled to get away.
By the time she made it to the group of girls, they were no longer holding in their giggle fits. Zara pretended to sniff her. “Getting one last dose of dragon before the spa?”
“Har har.” So what if she was? It was a good dose too, that would have to last her for a very long time. Because after tonight, she wouldn’t be getting anymore of him.
Now that sounded like a horrible idea.
“You’re going to need a good two-hour soak in a mudbath to get that dragon’s scent off of you.”
She took the girl’s good-natured ribbing in stride. It was either that or break down and tell them all that she was having second thoughts about the mating ritual. No way could she reject their offer, so kindly given. Even worse, she’d be rejecting becoming a part of their family. That was more important. Being a part of something bigger than herself would fill the void in her heart and soul.
“Well, then. Here’s mud in your eye.”
Her friends all laughed at her self-deprecating humor. All except Selena.
A few hours later, she was scrubbed, polished, and buffed within an inch of her sanity. She’d insisted on only all-natural beauty products and had even struck a deal with the spa’s owner to provide them with a line of her own cleansing oils scented only with herbs and spices instead of all those harsh chemicals they’d tried to apply to her.
She might not want to smell like her dragon, but she also didn’t want to repel every shifter this side of the Mississippi.
Wait. Her dragon?
No. That wasn’t what she meant.
Whatever. This was not the time to think about that. The mating ritual was about to begin, and she didn’t see Steele anywhere.
Not that she was looking for him. Better if he wasn’t around.
Fleur stood with a group of the women who had been at the pre-mating party at her apartment. Most seemed carefree and relaxed, excited even.
Not her.
What if none of the wolves wanted her? What if none of them even liked her or wouldn’t consider mating with her?
She opened and closed her fists trying to release this bout of negativity and anxiety that had grabbed a hold of her ever since she’d gotten to the forest.
It was nerves. That was all.
Everything would be fine.
People in the crowd started to hush, like the knew it was time to start. Fleur looked one last time around the groups for Steele. No, he wouldn’t be here. He’d be in the woods, watching, protecting.
Selena walked to the center of the ceremony field, and the gathering went silent. Kosta, Max, and Niko all joined her. Niko spoke, the alpha in his voice ringing out through the night. “Tonight, we bring our three packs together. Through this mating ritual our people will bond, alliances will be made, and we will heal from the wounds of the past. We call upon each of the packs, bring forth the first of your clan to join the mating ritual.”
Selena stepped up. “Rogue, who from our pack joins the mating ritual?”
“We do.” One of the she-wolves from the party stepped into the circle, then another, and another.
“We do.” Three young men joined the women in the circle.
“Serenity Bay, who from your pack joins the mating ritual?
“I do.” A young man, but strong of build stepped into the circle and glanced at one of the Troika she-wolves. Looked like that alliance might already be formed.
“We do.” Another small group of people joined the others.
A new energy charged through the forest. The mood was no longer somber, but an air of excitement pushed against them all.
“Grimm Falls?”
Two more groups of men and another band of women stepped forward.
“Welcome to you all. We wish you well in your search for your mates. Any others who wish to be mated, go forth, greet each other in the ways of our people, and should you find your true mate, may you live happily ever after.”
Whoops and hollers rose up through the air about half the group shifted into wolves who all began circling and scenting each other.
The remaining group of humans in the circle, mostly women, were all approached by shifters who circled and sniffed them. Some giggled, one girl was toppled over by a large blonde man who shifted into his wolf and began licking her face.
Fleur waited and hoped. One wolf stepped tentatively near her, then turned quickly and trotted away. Uh, that was weird. Guess he wasn’t the one.
When two more approached her and did pretty much the same maneuver, she wondered if the spa had snuck a strong-smelling lotion or perfume on her that she hadn’t noticed. Shifter’s sense of smell was sensitive and anything fake or artificial grossed them out.
She surreptitiously turned her head to sniff one arm and then the other.
That’s when she noticed the big-ass green dragon standing a few feet from her in the trees. His scales blended in perfectly with the foliage around him and she might not have seen him at all except for the light coming beaming from her necklace. It seemed to do that a lot around him.
“You smell delicious, little flower.”
The way he spoke into her mind reminded her too much of the dream she’d had with him. That was the last thing she needed to be thinking of on mating ritual night. “Go away, you’re scaring off the wolves.”
He chuckled right into her head. “I know.”
Fleur crossed her arms doing her best to close herself off from him. “Dammit, Steele. I’m never going to get mated if you don’t back off.”
“You already have a mate.” This time his tone was anything but jovial.
What if she didn’t want one? Oh, who was she kidding? She did want a mate and a family. She knew in the
first minute of the mating ritual none of the wolves were going to pick her. Actually, she knew this morning when she’d woken up with daisies sprouting all over her room.
So why was she fighting it so hard?
Stupid destiny.
Maybe destiny could go fuck itself.
“You said we had deal. You told me to come to the mating ritual and see if a wolf wanted me.”
“I told you to come to the ceremony. I never said I’d let a wolf get anywhere near you.”
“That’s not fair.” Yeah, cause life thus far had been fair. Where was fair when she’d grown up without a father and an absentee mother? Where was fair when every relationship she’d tried to have had fallen apart when they figured out she wasn’t normal? And where the hell was fair when destiny decided to dick her around, let her think she’d found a family with the Troika’s and then mated her to a god-damned dragon?
“All’s fair in love and war. Especially when the battle is to win the love of my fair lady.”
Screw destiny and screw Steele, and not in the fun way. “You’re an ass. I’m going home.”
Fleur stomped off, but Steele followed her. “Go away. I’m mad at you.” More like mad at the world.
“I can’t leave you in these woods alone. A dozen other dragon warriors are watching and waiting for the demon dragons to appear and wreak their havoc.”
She might be miffed that a wolf wasn’t going to make her part of the family. But those were still her friends out there. This night meant a lot to them. “Steele. You can’t let anything happen to the wolves or their mating.”
“Don’t worry, my love. If the demon dragons do appear, our warriors will take care of them. The wolves will never know. We will ensure their lovemaking goes as planned.”
“Lovemaking?” She guessed they were, but that wasn’t how she’d thought of this night. In her head, it was family making.
“What do you think is going on all over these woods right now, sweetness?”
Two wolves ran by them, dancing around each other, nipping and dashing about, their animal sides flirting.
She didn’t want to see this. Sure, she was happy for everyone who was finding their mates. But she could be just as happy for them at home with a pint of pistachio ice cream, too. Her car wasn’t parked too far away. She’d be home watching re-runs of Gray’s Anatomy, which was the perfect excuse to cry, in no time.
“Fleur. Wait.” Steele loomed in front of her and before she could dodge him he’d wrapped his wings around her, the same as he’d done in her dream.
She tipped her head forward and rested it against his big chest. Inside this cocoon he’d made for them she could feel safe and secure. Instead she was crying.
Damn. Damn. Damn.
“I understood your anger, but the scent of sadness rolling over you now is breaking my heart.”
She blinked quickly, trying to hold back the tears before Steele noticed. Too late.
His dragon tongue gently touched her cheek, wiping away the streaks.
“Is it really so bad to be my true mate?”
She swallowed back the rest of the tears. “No. It’s just that, I thought I’d figured it all out.”
“Figured what out?”
The wings around her became arms, and instead of scales her cheek lay against a warm human chest.
“Where my life was going. What I was supposed to do. I thought if I mated to a wolf. I’d finally...”
She was stupid. So, so stupid.
“Finally have a family, someone who loves you unconditionally, forever?”
Fleur jerked her head up and saw so much sincerity and vulnerability on Steele’s face it took her breath away.
How did he know?
“I never thought I’d be blessed with a true mate. That just isn’t the way of dragon warriors anymore. We fight, we hold back the evil in the world, we protect the innocent. But what is it all for?” He shook his head and the sad far away glint to his eye hurt her heart.
Steele brought one hand up and brushed a strand of hair from her face. She leaned in to his touch; she couldn’t help it.
“I didn’t know until you. You’re the reason I am a warrior against the dark, and what I will continue to fight for the rest of my life.”
“Steel, I—” She’d never been anyone’s reason for anything. Did he really feel so deeply for her after only one day? She knew there was something inside of her that called for him to open her heart, to let him in.
She’d pushed it down, ignored it, even denied it, assuming it was wrong. Warmth grew in her chest and spread across her body, pooling in a sensual swirls low in her belly. Could this dragon really be both her destiny and her soulmate?
She’d counted on having one, hoping for the other, but ready to settle for less.
“If you don’t feel the same about me, I will do everything I can to be the man you want, that you need. If I have to woo you, court you, wine and dine you to make you fall in love with me, I will. Because I’m never giving you up, Fleur.”
Maybe she didn’t have to settle. For once, it felt like destiny was on her side.
Fleur touched Steele’s cheek and brushed her lips across his. The grief she’d felt for the life she thought she’d lost with the wolves faded as the heat between her and her dragon built.
Yes, he was her dragon.
She wanted to yell it from the treetops, but her mouth and tongue were a little pre-occupied tasting and touching Steele’s right now.
“I want you, Steele.”
A rumble of pleasure resonated through his chest. “You can have me, babe.”
He stripped his shirt up over his head revealing the rippling muscles she’d been crying on only a few minutes before. Sweet Aphrodite, he was hot.
His stomach didn’t qualify as a six-pack, it was more like a twenty-four pack. She was going to lick every single one of them, too.
She was back in his arms before she could decide whether she wanted to start in on his full-case of abs from the top or the bottom. They sank down together to the forest floor.
Steele’s hands were already up under the skirt of the filmy dress she’d worn tonight, and his lips were permanently attached to her neck. She didn’t want them anywhere else. Except maybe her breasts.
She pushed him away long enough to slip the dress over her head. She was wearing a bold floral print matching set of bra and panties underneath.
“I love this look, but I’ll love it even more when you’re not wearing anything at all.”
“Then you’d better take them off me.” Her tone was more flirtatious with just a touch of sexy bedroom huskiness. She liked it.
“With pleasure.”
He grabbed the strap over her should with his teeth and slid it down her arm while unbuckling the hooks in back. Before she could say sixty-dollar lingerie, gentle cycle only, he’d tossed the bra over his shoulder and into the dirt.
She cared only for the point two seconds it took him to fill his hands with her breasts. “I’m generally an ass man, but these gorgeous tits might convert me.”
He licked across the top of one of her breasts, dipped his tongue into her cleavage, and then across the other one.
“Yes, look how they overflow in my hands. Fucking gorgeous.” He lowered his head again, this time taking a nipple into his mouth and sucking hard. A flock of pleasure crashed into her and fluttered its way straight to her clit.
“Ooh. Keep doing that.”
“But the other one will get jealous.” He switched from one breast to the other, playing with one nipple in his mouth and the other with his fingers.
“Someday I’m going to make you come just by sucking on your nipples, but that will have to wait. I’ve got too many other places to taste on you tonight. Lie back. Let’s get these panties off.”
She leaned onto her elbow and lifted her rear as he slid the stretchy lace over her hips and thighs. The panties went the way of the bra.
“Ouch. Rock in my butt.” She rea
ched around underneath her, until she found the boulder poking her bum and tossed it aside. She didn’t want anything uncomfortable about the serious sexy times she was about to have with Steele.
With a wave of her hand, the softest carpet of grass and wildflowers filled in the ground below them. She laid back in the grass and crooked her finger at him.
“Fuck, that’s hot, Fleur. I’d roll around in the grass with you all night.
Fleur was totally down for that. She reached for his pants and opened them up, pulling out his cock. It was already so hard. She stroked him in her fist. “I want you inside of me, Steele. But this doesn’t mean I wouldn’t still like some wining and dining.”
“I’ll wine and dine you as much as you want. I’ll spend the rest of our lives making you fall in love with me. First, I’m going to claim you and fuck you until we both forget our names.”
A whole circle of daisies, fifty or more, sprouted up around them, fully grown, reaching their sweet petals inward as if waiting and watching the fun to come.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Finally Mine
Not one more minute, not another second. Steele would not wait any longer to claim his true mate.
His heart nearly beat out of his chest and flew into the sky to declare to all that Fleur had agreed to be his.
He would still have to work to win her trust, her love, to be allowed into the soft vulnerable part of her soul, but he would do it. He would do everything for Fleur.
The first thing he’d do for her was mark her and claim her, putting her under his protection for ever more. Then they’d celebrate with a few rolls in the hay, or grass and leaves, as the case may be.
To mark Fleur, he’d have to draw his mouth away from her tasty tits and his lips were protesting that idea. They were thoroughly enjoying being attached to her soft rosy nipples.
Just one more taste and he’d work his way up her silky skin to her neck. He flicked his tongue over the hard bud.
“Ooh, yes.” Fleur’s hands pushed into his hair, keeping him in place.
He loved how she wasn’t afraid to direct him to give her the most pleasure. She’d done it last night in their shared dream, and he wanted to satisfy every part of her greedy body.