Me and My Shadow

  “May? Are you all right?” Aisling asked. She was tucked into bed, with Drake lounging beside her, both of them with attentive expressions on their faces as I told them about our adventures with Fiat and Baltic.

  I leaped to my feet, every nerve in my body suddenly tingling as I raced out of the room and down the stairs. Behind me, I could hear Aisling asking Drake what was going on.

  “Her mate is here.” His voice drifted out after me, but I paid little mind to my bad manners, intent on only one thing.

  Gabriel met me halfway up the stairs, a frantic, desperate look in his beautiful eyes. I flung myself off the top of the stairs onto him, knocking him backwards into the wall, my arms and legs wrapping around him as I kissed every inch of him my mouth could reach.

  “Mate,” he growled, his normally lovely voice rough with need, dragon fire running high within him. His mouth burned mine, literally burned it, when I dug my fingers into the familiar soft dreadlocks and sucked his tongue as it did an enticing little dance in my mouth.

  “Good evening, May,” a male voice said gently.

  It was an effort, but I managed to stop kissing Gabriel’s face long enough to greet his second bodyguard. “Evening, Tipene. Maata’s in the attic. Nice to have you back.”

  He bowed, struggling to keep his face straight as I returned to kissing Gabriel, the scent and feel of him filling my mind to the exclusion of everything else.

  “Fiat’s here,” I said in between kisses, squirming against his body when his hands stroked down over my behind. “Aisling hasn’t had her baby. Cy has Magoth’s demon lord powers. I need you. Right now!”

  “I need you, too, mate,” he growled, his eyes scorching me as I gave myself up to another one of his breath-defying kisses, the dragon shard humming to itself as it made suggestions, trying to force me to shift.

  I groaned when Gabriel bit my ear, his ragged breath the sweetest music I’d ever heard. His body was tense and hard, and I knew he was just as aroused as I was. Dragons, I remembered, had an overwhelming need to claim their mates when they had been separated, a policy I wholeheartedly embraced. I tried to peel myself off Gabriel so we could at least go to my room, but his scent, that woodsy, earthy, primal scent that made my soul sing, set me alight. I reared back, my legs still wrapped around his waist, and ripped the black raw-silk shirt right off his body.

  “I missed you so much,” I almost sobbed, kissing a hot line across his chest. He moaned, his fingers digging into my behind as I took one adorably pert little nipple in my mouth, and breathed fire on it.

  The dragon shard demanded I give in to it, to do things to him that would be impossible in human form, but I was determined to be in control.

  “Mate, you must stop or I’ll take you right here on the stairs,” Gabriel managed to say, his voice almost hoarse with desire. His body was urgent against mine, a thousand little touches speaking wordlessly of his emotions, of his needs.

  I unlocked my legs and slid down his body, panting with the effort, allowing my eyes to feast on him. He was so beautiful, so uniquely wonderful, it made me want to weep with joy. He was mine, all of him, every last little bit of him, everything from those glittering argent eyes to mobile lips that were the sweetest on earth, right on down his body, every single part of him made to satisfy me.

  “I must have you now,” he said roughly, picking me up and leaping up the stairs. “I can’t wait, little bird. You were taken from me—I can’t wait. Which room are we in?”

  “Third floor,” I started to say, then remembered that although Drake had removed Fiat to a secured room downstairs, he had left Magoth lying across my bed. “Dammit! Magoth is there.”

  Gabriel paused at the head of the stairs, turning first one way, then another. “There must be a room we can use. Sitting room?”

  “Too public. Jim tends to wander at night.”

  “Drake’s study.”

  “Drake is often up at all hours fetching something for Aisling.”

  His fingers tightened on me. “Kitchen.”

  “István and his girlfriend sleep right off the kitchen. They’d hear anything we did there—”

  He growled, actually growled. “There has to be somewhere!”

  “There’s the pool, but I think Cyrene is going to be there for a very long time.”

  “Gah!”

  I slid out of his arms, the emotions and images pouring out from the dragon shard finally too much for me. I took a step back from him, my fingers curling into fists, the sharp claws biting into my palms as I looked away for a moment, trying to gather the strength I would need.

  “I will ask Aisling,” Gabriel started to say, but as he walked past me, I slid a hand down his back. He froze, half-turning toward me, his eyes so bright they warmed my soul.

  I leaned toward him as if I was going to kiss him, pursing my lips to blow a breath on his mouth, instead.

  His eyes widened as he realized what I was doing. “Mate?”

  I turned my back on him, walking to the stairs, the dragon shard cheering within me.

  “Mate,” he said again, his voice an octave lower, the word so full of sexual intent I almost climaxed right there.

  Halfway down the stairs I threw a look over my shoulder. He was still standing in the same spot as if rooted there, his body taut, his eyes aglow, a small ring of fire around his feet. I smiled.

  He sucked in his breath.

  “I love you,” I told him just before I spun around and leaped down the last of the stairs.

  A challenging roar echoed through the house as I raced down the darkened hallway, driven by the urges of the dragon shard, but for a change fully in control of it. It wanted me to play with Gabriel, to treat him as if I were a dragon, to initiate love play, and so I would—but on my terms. Dragon play, I had learned over the last few months, involved chases. Females fled; males pursued. It was all very chauvinistic, my modern mind thought as I dashed through the hall into a pitch-black kitchen, searching frantically for an exit—but it was the way of the dragons, and Gabriel loved it. He loved hunting me, and I loved being found. Usually the dragon shard overwhelmed me, forcing me into dragon form for the chase, but this time, I had it firmly in control.

  “You cannot hide from me, little bird,” I heard Gabriel call. He was close, too close. I caught a brief hint of his scent, and raced through the door that led to the outside of the house, pausing for a moment to consider the layout of the area.

  “You wish to toy with me? To drive me insane with desire for you? You do not have that far to go, Mayling, which you will realize once I find you.” His voice was rich with both promise and passion. I shivered in response.

  I had to find a spot for us, somewhere with privacy, somewhere we both could give vent to the emotions running so hotly through us.

  “Park,” I said softly to myself, remembering that there was a large park just a few blocks away, one with a small lake, a boathouse, and several beautiful garden areas. Most important, it would be closed at night, providing a silver-eyed dragon and his mate room to play.

  I leaped over the trash cans and ran around the side of the house toward the street, where late-night traffic droned softly in the background, Gabriel’s voice calling out over it. “Do you think to lose me in traffic, mate? Do you think you will get away from me?”

  I smiled to myself as I ran as fast as I could, dodging the pedestrians and cars, ignoring both the odd looks and occasional blasts of horns as I dashed across the streets, heading for the bulky black outlines of trees that I could glimpse between buildings.

  “You have never been able to get away from me before. I have always found you, and I will do so this time, as well.”

  As if I wanted to get away from him. Happiness sang in my ears, mingled with a healthy dose of my libido as I raced toward my goal.

  “There will be retribution for this act, you know. Grave retribution.” Laughter was in his voice now, laughter and a tension that bespoke his enjoyment of the play. I just hoped I
’d be able to last long enough to see the chase through to the end, rather than flinging myself upon him as I wanted.

  I found one of the gates to the park at last. The locked gate gave me no trouble, not just because I didn’t stop to unlock it. I simply swarmed up the wrought iron fence, leaping off the top to land on my feet on the other side, taking a moment to get my bearings before I set off toward what I remembered was a traditional English garden located in the southeast corner.

  “Wise little bird. A park. Very fitting. There will be no witnesses to see what it is I will do when I catch you.”

  A little ripple of pleasure went up my back at the velvet edge of his voice. Behind me, I heard the sound of metal on metal, just as if someone else was climbing the gate. I smiled again, and dashed past the boathouse, suddenly spinning 180 degrees to run alongside the boathouse, wading into the water as quietly as I could. It was cold against my now-fevered flesh, and momentarily took my breath away. I held it for a moment, not wanting Gabriel, with his heightened hearing, catching the sound of me gasping, but after what seemed like an interminable amount of time, I grew accustomed to the cold. I swam out under the dock connected to the boathouse, clutching a pillar as I peered around it to see what Gabriel would do.

  I had to wait only a few seconds to see. The moon was not full, but gave enough light for me to see the silhouette of a man as he raced past the boathouse. I held my breath again, not wanting him to hear even the slightest hint of sound.

  He paused, obviously scenting the air for me. “Where are you, little bird?” he asked, slowly turning around toward the direction he came. “You are near, I know. I can feel my fire in you. The breeze whispers your name, so you must have just passed by here. Show yourself to me, and I will take mercy upon you.”

  I grinned. I knew his idea of mercy would involve endless rapture for me, but I also knew just how much he enjoyed anticipating that time. Silently, I dived under the water and swam close to the shore. He had moved a few yards away, taking hesitant steps away from me, but he obviously realized it was the wrong direction.

  “Mayling,” he said again, his voice deep and rich and filled with all sorts of promises. “I appreciate your desire to play with me, but you were taken from me. Our separation was not of our doing, and thus I must reclaim you.”

  I shadowed and quietly hauled myself out of the water, onto the bank behind him, stealthily picking my way down the path until I was about twenty yards behind him.

  “You have to catch me before you can claim me,” I said, deshadowing as I spun around to run for a line of trees.

  He whirled even as he shifted into dragon form, hot on my heels. I ran as I’d never run, relishing the mad beating of my heart, my lungs sucking in the cool night air, a burning warmth behind me that I knew was Gabriel. He was gaining on me, and I couldn’t help myself—I laughed with the sheer joy of it all. Moonlight and dim bluish white lights from nearby streetlamps dappled the ground as I wove through the trees, calling over my shoulder, “You’re losing your touch, Gabriel. The last few times we did this, you had me in under three minutes.”

  “You will pay for such insolence,” he answered, laughing, as well. The line of trees was ending, but I caught sight of a small rock garden to the right. I made a dash for it, but never stood a chance. Silver flashed in my peripheral vision, and then he was on me, flinging me to the ground, his body twisting in midair, curling around me protectively so it was him, not me, that hit the hard earth. He grunted as I landed on him, his body shifting back to that of a human, his hands hard on me, a low growl coming from his lips just before they claimed my mouth. “You hid from me in the water. That was not fair.”

  “All’s fair in love and dragon chases,” I said, sliding my hands up the hard, warm planes of his chest, nipping his tongue.

  “You wish to do this as humans?” he asked, his hands busily removing my wet clothing. I shivered a little, both at the cool night air on my flesh and at the look in his eyes.

  “Yes. Love me, Gabriel. It’s been so long.”

  “Two days,” he agreed, losing any finesse he had and simply shredding the rest of my clothes off my body. “An eternity.”

  “Should we even try for foreplay?” I asked, moaning when his fingers found sensitive flesh. I tugged at his belt buckle until it came undone, quickly releasing him from his jeans.

  “The chase was foreplay,” he answered and, before I could respond, lifted me up over him before plunging me down. I was ready for him, more than ready, and moaned again when he slid into my body, the feel of him so hard and intrusive, and yet at the same time so very much a part of me. He bucked beneath me, his hands sliding up to my breasts, gently palming my highly sensitive nipples until I thought I would come undone. My back arched against the sensation even as my muscles tightened around his intrusion.

  “May, I’m sorry. . . . I must . . . I know you want to do this as humans. . . .” Pain laced his voice as his hips pis-toned upward into me.

  I leaned down to kiss him. “Fire. Give me your fire, Gabriel.”

  He shifted then, his body elongating and stretching, the lovely warm skin shimmering into flowing silver scales. He lifted me off him, twisting as he did so until I was on my knees, with him behind me. I clutched his arm as he parted my legs and came into me again, the hard invasion of him enough to push me over the edge. I cried out his name as he bent me down, his belly on my back, his body making hard, deep thrusts into mine until he tipped his head back and bellowed out my name.

  It took me a long time before I was able to rally my wits. I lifted my head and looked over my shoulder at the man whose body was draped protectively over mine. “I’m not complaining—there’s absolutely nothing in your technique that I could find fault with even if I wanted to, and I don’t—but just once I think I’d like to try traditional foreplay.”

  One silver eye opened to consider me. Gabriel’s chest was still heaving against my back, testament to the fact that he was as exhausted by our lovemaking as I was. “That sounds very much like dissatisfaction.”

  I rolled onto my side so I could face him, my hands unable to keep from touching his chest.“On the contrary. It’s just that . . . well, let’s take your chest, for instance.”

  “I’d rather take yours,” he said with a leer, his hands warm on my breasts.

  I tried to summon up a stern look. “Stop distracting me.”

  He sighed and rolled over onto his back, his arms open wide. “You’ve become a demanding little bird these last few months. You wish to work your feminine wiles upon my human form?”

  “Oh yes.” I got to my knees, sitting back on my heels as I looked over the vast panoply of man lying before me. “Every time I look at your chest, I want foreplay.”

  “My chest?” He lifted his head and looked down at himself, touching the middle of it with a hand. “Why?”

  “It’s just so . . .” I bit my lower lip, then slid my hand down the lovely curves of his torso. Instantly, interest lit his eyes. “No,” I told his eyes.

  “ ‘No’ is not the word I want to hear,” he answered.

  “No, as in no, you’re not going to distract me by making love to me. You told me months ago we could do foreplay.”

  “And you told me you didn’t need it.”

  “I’ve changed my mind.” My hand moved lower, down to his belly button. He sucked in his breath. “Besides, even your mother thinks we should make time for foreplay.”

  He grinned at me. Any other man would be shocked or appalled that his mother and lover were discussing his sexual technique, but Gabriel was not any other man. “My mother has excellent advice, although I seem to recall you being horrified when you found out I had talked to her about my lack of control with you.”

  “That was just because we were newly mated. We’re old hands at this now,” I said, swirling my fingers around his belly button. “Kaawa says that she raised you to be considerate of a lover, and that the fact that you can’t seem to control yourself around
me speaks volumes about you.”

  He made a little face. “Perhaps, but she knows the way of dragonkin. She, as a mate, is aware that there are times when a dragon must have his mate in the most elemental of ways.”

  “Yes, but we seem to have an awful lot of elemental experiences. What I’d like is the chance to experience what other people do.”

  “You mean mortals.”

  “And immortals. Nondragon immortals. Your chest is lovely, Gabriel. I like looking at it. I like touching it. I want to taste it.”

  Fire lit deep in his eyes and body.

  “I want to taste you. All of you. I’ve heard that oral sex can be most gratifying. I’d like to try that.”

  He stopped breathing.

  I smiled a secret little smile and bent down to flick my tongue over his nipple. “It all starts with your chest, you see, because it’s so very wonderful. It doesn’t have a huge amount of hair, but it’s not bare as a plucked chicken, either.”

  “I’m glad you think so,” he said, his voice sounding like he was gargling cement. “I haven’t spent much time thinking about it.”

  “That’s all right, because I have.” I paused, struck by a thought. “Did you choose this form, the way a demon chooses its? Or did you one day shift to human form, and this is what happened?”

  “Human form is always a matter of chance, just as it is for mortals,” he answered, suddenly stilling, his eyes going wary. “You are troubled by the fact that I appear ethnically different from you?”

  “Mortals make much out of differences in outward appearance,” I said, kissing the sudden doubt right out of him. “We are not them. We both look beyond a mere form to the person within.”

  He relaxed, his hands reaching for me again.

  “Hands flat on the ground, please,” I instructed, waiting until he complied before I rewarded him with another kiss, one to each dimple. “Where was I? Oh, yes, this trail of hair, now,” I said, stroking the silky line of hair that gathered in the center of his torso, and headed to regions south. “This trail makes me go all weak in my knees.”