Drantos

  Fear of him struck Dusti instantly while she stared up into his face inches above her own. His parted mouth showed sharp fangs.

  “No, you didn’t. I’m your mate.”

  “Oh. I thought I’d told you about that. I was married when I was much younger but it didn’t last long. He was a cheating piece of shit.”

  Drantos snarled again.

  “Stop that. You’re scaring me.”

  “I’d never harm you. It just enrages me that you loved before. He was important to you if you made a commitment to him.”

  “You’re jealous?”

  “Yes.”

  Her hands trembled slightly as she reached up to cup his face. He didn’t flinch away but instead pressed tighter to her palms, rubbing against her slightly to encourage her touch. Her fear melted away.

  “I don’t love him anymore, Drantos. It’s in the past. I was younger and came to the conclusion that he wasn’t the man I thought. We ended up being strangers. I think I wanted to love an image he represented, instead of the person he really was. He wasn’t ready to settle down to be with one woman. Do you understand?”

  His anger left as quickly as it had come. His fangs retracted. “You’re my mate. Mine, Dusti. Love me. I won’t ever hurt you.”

  All reservations she had evaporated with his heartfelt plea. Love him? I do, she acknowledged. She nodded and knew she’d made the right choice when he smiled tenderly at her.

  “What does completing a mating take?”

  He lowered down on top of her, pressing her gently between the grass and his firm, warm body. He braced his elbows next to her ribs to keep enough weight off her chest for her to be able to breathe easily. She only hesitated a moment before spreading her thighs to give him access. He sank his hips between them and she wrapped her legs around the back of his thighs to entwine their bodies. The sarong easily parted to allow for close contact.

  “It’s a process. We share blood, have sex, and open ourselves to each other to help the bond lock into place.”

  “That sounds kind of hot except for the blood part. How do we open up to each other?”

  “Don’t hold back from me. Open up to me. Your heart, your mind, and your body.”

  “Okay. I can do that. What about the blood?”

  “You take from me and I take from you during sex. We do that to help become a part of each other. Your VampLycan genes will respond to my blood, as mine will to yours.”

  “You’ve traded blood with different women.” She hated to remember that bit of information she’d gotten out of him.

  “It’s not the same. Please don’t look at me that way. If I’d known it would cause you pain, I never would have done it. It’s how we test to see if we’re mates. It really couldn’t be avoided. Their blood was only a taste in my mouth. Yours is life to me that spreads through my entire body. Do you understand?”

  “You’re really good at knowing what to say to a woman to make her feel special.” She smiled and let his past go; it helped that he wouldn’t taste any more women in his future. “Charmer.”

  “You are special to me. You have no idea.”

  “I was a little confused about what Aveoth was saying when he started talking about history and records but I understood some of it. Is that why your father doesn’t like me? And what does being generous with your blood mean?”

  “He was informing me that if I shared my blood with you while you’re pregnant, that our children will be born strong. I’m the firstborn of my father’s children. It’s my responsibility to give my father strong grandchildren to keep our line intact for future generations. Your being so human could result in our children having more human traits than VampLycan. Aveoth was telling me how to avoid that to get my father to accept you and our future children into the clan.”

  She let that sink in. “You want kids?”

  “Don’t you?”

  “Yes. Just not right away.”

  “Fair enough. We have plenty of time.”

  “Okay, Drantos. Let’s do this.”

  He smiled at her again. “Now?”

  “You’re on top of me and I’m so totally turned-on, I ache. I’ll hurt you if you try to leave me this way.”

  “We can make love without cementing the bond. It’s not a one-shot deal, sweetheart. It can take days. I’d rather we start the process when we reach my cabin. I don’t want any interruptions once we start.”

  “Cabin?” She made a face. “Oh, please tell me it’s got electricity and a computer with internet connection. Satellite or cable television would be a must too. Have I mentioned I’m a city girl? I suck at camping and roughing it.”

  “I have all the modern-day amenities,” he chuckled. “Just because I love to roam the wilderness doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy all the comforts life has to offer. I even have a Jacuzzi tub inside the bathroom in our master bedroom.”

  “You’re perfect.”

  “So are you.” He grinned. “I need to get you home soon. Wouldn’t you prefer us to be on a bed, rather than on the ground?”

  Her legs lifted to hook across his ass. “No. I’m impatient. I guess I should warn you about that. Kiss me.”

  His mouth lowered without hesitation and Dusti lifted her chin to meet him halfway. The instant his tongue swiped hers, the desire inside her changed from an ache into a raging inferno of need. She moaned and arched against his chest. She wished she were naked to feel him skin to skin. The material between their upper bodies nearly hurt. She whimpered.

  He tore his mouth away, concern in his gaze. She released his face to frantically claw at the waist of the shirt she wore. He had to lift up slightly for her to be able to free it from between their bodies. She wiggled and squirmed but eventually tossed the shirt over her head. Her fingers gripped his shoulders to yank him down on top of her again, mouth going for his, and she ground her hips against his pelvis to urge him to enter her. The material of her bunched sarong didn’t bother her so much, since it was high on her hips between their lower bellies. The sensation of her breasts smashed against his hot chest was pure heaven.

  “Slow down.”

  She shook her head, gazing up into his eyes with desperation. “I want you so bad. I’ve never had much patience.”

  “Taking my blood last night started the mating process already.” He looked a little stunned but then adjusted his hips. “It’s rough in the beginning. Passion can flare up suddenly.”

  “I like rough sex. Just fuck me.”

  He chuckled. “I mean the need for sex. It’s near uncontrollable for the first few days.”

  “Don’t talk me to death.”

  She used her hold around his waist to grind her hips, seeking him, and moaned when his hard cock nudged at the seam of her sex. He closed his eyes when she rubbed her pussy against him. A soft growl came from deep in his throat.

  “Slow down or I’ll lose control, sweetheart. You’re too human. You don’t want that. If you think you’ve ever had rough sex before, you haven’t.”

  “I don’t care! Just fuck me,” she demanded. She moved suggestively against the hard ridge of his shaft until she got him to slide across her clit. She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood and threw her head back from the intense pleasure. Her eyes closed. Raw ecstasy tore through her.

  Drantos drove into her fast and deep. The sensation of his thick cock stretching her, filling her, made her cry out again. He froze, buried inside her, and snarled.

  “Did I hurt you?”

  She shook her head. “Felt good. Move, baby. Please? Will you do that bite thing on my neck? You have no idea what that feels like.”

  He growled, buried his face against her neck, and bit down hard enough to send that wonderful jolt of electricity throughout her body. Her vaginal walls clenched around his cock and he snarled against her skin.

  Maybe he does know, she guessed, when he bit again while he started to move inside her.

  Passion roared through her veins to a height she’d never been before. H
e’d mentioned his blood must have triggered the beginning of their mating process. If this was just the start, she doubted she’d survive when it hit full force. She bucked frantically against him, used her legs wrapped around his ass for leverage, and lifted her face to blindly find his skin. She bit him instead of her lip.

  He snarled, his hips slamming into her harder and faster.

  The slide of his cock against all those nerve endings inside her body seemed to amplify the fervor to come. Pleasure and pain blurred in her mind. She felt as if she’d die if she didn’t climax. It hovered just out of her reach but every time Drantos clamped down on her skin with his teeth, the electric jolt shooting through her from head to toe drew her closer to that goal.

  Sweat slicked their bodies, helping them glide against each other smoother; her nails dug into him and she didn’t care if she drew blood. She doubted he would either, with the way he snarled, moaned, and growled against her skin. The sounds he made turned her on more. He wasn’t just a man but part animal at that moment. They both were. She acknowledged it with acceptance.

  His mouth released her but his hips didn’t slow the rapid pace he’d set. “Bite harder,” Drantos demanded. He bit her again on her throat and pain registered. That bite didn’t jolt her but the pain faded quickly.

  She bit him as hard as she could, tasted blood, and an overwhelming desire gripped her. She fastened her mouth on that spot and sucked, her tongue frantically lapping at his taste that filled her mouth. She realized he was taking her blood as well. His knees spread wider as he drove his cock into her a little deeper.

  Dusti blew apart inside. It started at her pussy and spread to her brain in an instant. She screamed against his skin when the pleasure became too intense, too devastating, and so strong her body tensed until she thought her bones would snap. She became too wrapped up in the climax to care if they did.

  Drantos tore his mouth from her skin to nearly deafen her when he roared out his pleasure. She gasped softly from pressure she felt inside her pussy when his cock seemed to swell a little against her vaginal walls clamped tightly around him. When he started to come, she felt the heat spreading inside her. The warm blasts made him shake on top of her with every drop he emptied inside her body, and they drew out her glorious quakes of pleasure until they finally receded. Their bodies slowly relaxed together, their panted breaths mingling, and Dusti smiled.

  “Oh, wow.”

  Drantos nudged her throat, made her turn her head away from him more, and his tongue lapped at the areas he’d bitten. The taste of his coppery blood remained on her tongue. He licked the bites closed. The slight pain the bites had inflicted faded away completely.

  “Look at me.”

  She opened her eyes, turned her head, and smiled at Drantos. He smiled back.

  “You’re my mate. I love you, Dusti. Please love me and don’t leave.”

  The look in his eyes nearly broke her heart. He was still afraid she’d refuse him. It leveled her that she could make someone as fierce as Drantos feel real fear. Her hands slid from his shoulders. She caressed the column of his throat and winced a little at the sight of the ragged wound she’d inflicted with her teeth. She didn’t have fangs so the bite mark resembled two big half-moon shapes with blood welling out of them.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”

  “It doesn’t hurt. It will heal.”

  She forced her attention from what she’d done to him. “I can’t lick you to seal your wounds, can I? I want to.”

  “You can lick me, but no. Those traits weren’t passed down to you. Your human blood likely blocked it.” He held her gaze. “Will you stay with me as my mate?”

  She nodded. “I will, Drantos. I’m your mate.” Her fingertips moved to trace his jawline on both sides of his face. “I do love you.”

  The grin he gave her revealed his pure joy. “You won’t regret it.”

  “I believe you.”

  “I need to get you home.”

  “That means we have to move, right? I’m kind of comfy right where we are.”

  “We can’t remain here. Decker may send more men hunting for you and I won’t risk your safety.” He paused. “There’s a faster way to get home than to walk there.”

  “You want to sling me over your shoulder again? I’m not loving that idea. I know you had to run with me to get away from Aveoth but I really don’t want a repeat.”

  “No.” He hesitated. “I could shift and you could ride on my back.”

  Dusti grimaced. “Shit.”

  “It’s still me.”

  “I know but I like you this way so much more.” She knew he worried about her safety and, as a beast, he could move faster with four legs instead of just two. “Damn. I’m going to need a drink later.”

  He chuckled. “I have a fully stocked bar at the cabin.”

  “You really are perfect. Okay.” She forced a nod. “I can do this. I can.”

  “It’s like riding a horse.”

  “I lived in L.A. I never had access to one. I don’t count being strapped to that asshole when he kidnapped me as a fun experience either.”

  “It will be a fun adventure with me.”

  “Right.” She sighed. “Let’s do this. The faster, the better, before I chicken out.”

  “You’re being very brave for me and I appreciate it. I know you’d prefer not to see me that way.”

  “It’s not really bravery motivating me. It’s the fact you told me you have a Jacuzzi tub that urges me to deal with you in fur a lot faster. Plus, I really am starving. I’m assuming you have food at home.” She hesitated. “Your eyes turning pure black scare me more than the hair or the deadly looking claws do. I also feel a little sick when I hear the transformation. It’s kind of a yucky sound. I don’t want to offend you, don’t mean to, but I want to be honest. I think I’m doing good though, considering a few days ago before the crash I would have just run screaming if I saw you in fur.”

  Drantos lifted up a little and gently withdrew from her body. She hated the feeling of him separating from her but didn’t protest.

  “I can’t help any of that. I know my eyes turn black. It’s me though. Just remember that, and yes, I have food at home. While you enjoy the tub, I’ll make you a wonderful dinner. This won’t be so bad. Just wrap your legs around me and hug my neck. Hold on tight.”

  “Okay but don’t ever ask me to do you in fur because ewwww. You’re damn hot in skin but not the other way.”

  He laughed, lifted totally off her to his knees, and then held out his hand. “You have my word.”

  She put her hand in his. “Good because yeah, that’s just too freaky for me.”

  “I swear.” He chuckled. “It doesn’t do it for me either. Some VampLycans have sex in their animal form but I never have. Not a turn on.” His heated gaze darted down her body. “I love creamy, soft flesh.”

  “Well, I have that in abundance.”

  “I’m happy about that.” He easily pulled her to her feet and then rose to his.

  Chapter Twelve

  Dusti walked into the woods to use the bathroom and when she returned, she faced Drantos in fur. His massive beast body stood perfectly still while he watched her silently with those black eyes that still made her shiver. No sign of the man she loved lurked in their dark depths.

  She realized she’d jerked to a halt. She took a deep breath, moved to the discarded shirt, and bent to shake it out before slipping it over her head.

  “Give me a minute.” She glanced at him. “I need to do something about this sarong thing. I think I came up with a way to make a kind of diaper shape with it, which would be good because I’d like something between my pussy and your fur. No offense but that’s why I trim down there.”

  He sat on his haunches and she swore he grinned when his mouth parted to reveal those wicked-sharp teeth. She smiled at him.

  “You still look terrifying. I don’t suppose you’d consider wearing a collar one day? I can’t tell you apa
rt from the others when you’re like that but you do look bigger.”

  He softly growled.

  “I guess not.” She untied the two ends of the sarong to put it between her legs, and then she tied both sides of the ends tightly at her waist. Her thighs were exposed high on each side but it functioned the way she wanted it to. She focused back on Drantos. “Okay.”

  He eased up to stand on all four of his muscular legs. She held still as he slowly stalked forward. When he reached her, his head lowered near her hand and nudged her palm. She hesitated before running her fingers through the soft black fur behind his head. She refrained from making any jokes, even if she was tempted to call him a “nice doggy”. He didn’t appear to resemble one, besides the shape of his head and the pointed ears. His muzzle turned to bump against her thigh.

  “Got it. Climb on. Okay.” She studied his broad back. “Like a horse. Right.”

  She moved to his side. He wasn’t as tall as a horse on all four legs but his back was still as high as her stomach. She gripped him with both hands and threw her leg over. He lowered just enough to help her straddle him and then he rose up until her toes left the ground. She lunged forward to press her chest against his back.

  “Can we go slow at first?”

  He turned his head to peer at her. The sight of his pitch-black eyes didn’t scare her as much as before. His fur was soft and comfortable. She knew he wouldn’t bite into her or claw her. This is Drantos, she silently reminded herself. He straightened to face forward.

  When he took the first few steps, she realized she needed to wrap her arms around his neck. She hugged him tightly. He paused, and one of his front clawed hands gently pushed on her shin just enough to clue her in that he wanted her to hook her legs under his belly. She hoped she didn’t accidently kick his genitals but his torso seemed longer in this form than in his human skin. His hand dropped away and that quickly, they were moving.

  * * * * *

  Drantos couldn’t deny how proud he felt that Dusti rode his back without fear. She hadn’t exactly accepted all of him yet but it had gone far better than he’d imagined when she saw him in his animal form the second time.