Page 10 of His Brazen Mate

He nodded, not seeing the issue. "Yes, it's where you'll be staying."

She threw up her hands, infuriated. "You couldn't have mentioned that earlier?"

He stepped closer, the space between them charged with unresolved tension. "I would think people would find it odd if my fiancée wasn’t sharing my room. You're safe here, Megan."

Their argument escalated, voices rose as they stepped aggressively toward one another, the intensity of their emotions surging. But as words ran out, something shifted. Drake’s hand cupped the back of her neck, and before she could process it, he pulled her into his body, his lips coming down on hers. The kiss was fierce, passionate, and utterly unexpected. Megan responded, her body betraying her, even as her snow leopard purred, and her mind protested.

When they finally pulled apart, breathless and stunned, Megan could only stare at him, her heart pounding. This assignment had just gotten a lot more complicated.

CHAPTER 6

MEGAN

There was a moment of stunned silence as he lifted his head and looked down at her. Megan half-expected the ground to open and swallow them, or at least her; whole. Instead, they both stood there, chests heaving, breathing heavily, as each waited for some reaction or recognition that everything was teetering on change.

“Oh, Hell To The No,” she whispered, trying to back away.

Drake blinked, his features flickering from confusion to rage so quickly she almost didn’t catch the shift. Megan’s heart hammered against her ribs, bracing for the storm she was almost sure would be forthcoming on his part. His hands, which were still wrapped around her arms, tightened.

“Oh, Hell To The Yes,” he rumbled, the sound skittering along her skin and seeping into the marrow of her bones.

His lips crashed against hers, an act so startling, Megan’s mind blanked of everything but the here and now. Gone was the concern about professionalism. Gone was the focus on her job and figuring out what was going on and who was involved. Gone was the idea that he was some predator—she assumed—alpha, male shifter. Instead, as her snow leopard purred, Megan was quite sure the tongue tangling with hers was that of her fated mate.

Shock jolted through her, a sharp electric buzz that left her senses reeling. All she could feel was Drake kissing her with an intense hunger that scorched all rational thought. This was no mere kiss; this was a declaration of possession and domination. Her body betrayed her mind’s rejection. It responded of its own accord, melting into his embrace like ice on a hot stove.

The taste of him, the feel of his arms, firm and demanding around her, sparked a fire she had never anticipated could exist between herself and anyone—much less a former SEAL commander and the alpha of his clan. But what kind of clan? It didn’t matter. She kissed him back, driven by a fervor born of a strange curiosity for the forbidden—the bonding between different shifters was frowned upon. Allowing him to claim her would mean the loss of her snow leopard, who didn’t seem to mind at all. Megan’s arms wrapped around his neck as she pressed her body tighter to his.

With a low, rumbling growl, Drake spun her around, pressing her front against the cool surface of the closed door. Drake grabbed the waist of her leggings and stripped her bare, including her mukluks. He pulled the hem of her sweater over her head, removing her bra at the same time. Moaning in surrender, a primal sound that seemed to come from someone else entirely.

Drake’s rough hands fondled her breasts as he pressed his lips against the nape of her neck. His tongue flicked out, tracing a line along her neck until he began to kiss his way down her spine, his body trailing down hers so that he had maximum contact with her body.

“I shouldn’t be doing this,” she murmured in vague protest as she pushed her hands against the door.

The words came out as a protest, but Drake didn’t stop. To her shame, Megan didn’t want him to stop, either. His hands spanned her hips for a moment as he kissed her left buttock before his fingers moved to the front of her body, slipping between her thighs, toying with her entrance, increasing the wet heat he found there that began to leak from her core. She wanted to speak, to tell him to stop, but deep down, she knew this was right, that it was meant to be.

“Shh, my mate,” he whispered against her skin. “You are mine. Did you know you have been haunting my dreams ever since I returned from the Navy? In my dreams, you tempt me, taunting me with your snarky mouth and challenging eyes. . A woman who needs to be claimed and possessed by her fated mate.”

“No. Just no. If you want to fuck, fine, let’s do it, but that’s all it is. For fucks sake, Drake, just do it and shut up.”

Her response was laced with the frustration that was building inside her. The moment she spoke, his fingers sank into her, hard and long; better, but not what she had in mind. He pistoned his fingers inside her until her hips began to undulate, moving in time with his fingers, her body giving into what her mind didn’t want. Or did it?

“I will claim you as mine. Once we fuck, there’s no going back. Once you bear my mark, no one will be able to deny me what is mine.”

“No. Don’t.”

“Yes, you know this is meant to be.”

Desperate for any reason that might allow her to get this situation under control, she said, “You are not a snow leopard…”

Drake chuckled. “So that’s the purring I’ve been hearing. It matters not that I am a snow leopard; my kind has always claimed whoever and whatever we want.”

“What are you?” she asked, terrified she knew the answer.

“I am dragon. My clan can trace its ancestry back to some of the oldest dragon clans that ever existed. We predate the Vikings and traveled with them from the old world to the new, but we ruled the skies long before the Earth had cooled.”

Dragon? Fuck. The last thing she needed was a dragon-shifter mate. Dragons were arrogant and powerful. They didn’t take no for an answer.

“You are my mate. We both know it,” he rumbled. “Say it, Megan.” His fingers worked her, stroking deep inside her to hit just the right spot. Her nipples were stiffening, and her back seemed to arch towards him of its own accord. Her snow leopard was prowling back and forth in her mind’s eye, restlessly purring and then yowling as if she was some kind of alley cat in heat.

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