Page 56 of To Spark a Dragon's Love
“Worse, actually.” Malachy chuckled darkly which set off a coughing fit.
He leaned forward and rested his head against my stomach, struggling to breathe. I stood stock-still with my fingers on his silken hair, too afraid to touch him anywhere else when I didn’t know where he hurt.
Then he raised his big hands up and gripped my hips, holding me closer as he inhaled another deep breath. Every part of me froze as Malachy shuddered, releasing a painful sob.
“I didn’t do enough,” he choked out against the fabric of my pajama shirt. “It’s never enough.”
“It’s okay.” I tried my best to soothe him as I smoothed down the strands of his hair, not quite knowing what was wrong, but working on instinct. “If you did your best, that’s more than enough.”
The dark laughter that rumbled from him made my breath catch.
“My best?” Malachy pulled away. His expression was tortured, pleading. “Don’t you see? My best isn’t enough.”
I struggled to come up with a response.
He knew it.
I watched, seeing the moment he was about to close himself off again, and I panicked, grabbing his big, stubbled jaw between my hands.
“How can I help you?”
“You can’t.” The pain that swirled in his eyes wasn’t human, but it called to my human nature all the same.
“The only way I can’t help you is if you don’t let me in,” I said as my frustration finally spilled over. “But that’s not going to stop me from trying anyway.”
Suddenly, he was on his feet and backing me toward the door, all his injuries forgotten. His hand tangled in the hair behind my neck and he tilted my face toward his as his lips crashed into mine.
And I could breathe again.
His kiss was air. A burning spark that ignited a terrifying depth within me. One that couldn’t be filled by any other than him. I drank him in, tasting the fire on his lips and memorizing it in case I never got to do this again.
This right here—whatever it was between us—nothing else mattered.
I was an idiot for denying myself for so long.
His large hands fumbled at my chemise, shoving the material up as my back hit the wall. I hiked up my knee, giving his hips better access as they slammed forward, crushing me with his intensity.
It wasn’t enough.
I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him closer, demanding he take what I was offering.
Bless dragon shifter healing.
I didn’t want him delicate.
I needed this hard and fast to soothe the ache.
Malachy growled as he tore his lips away and he lowered his forehead to my shoulder, panting, as we both caught our breath.
“Tell me to stop,” he said.
In answer, I reached between us, gripping the girth of his hard cock in my hands, claiming what was mine and beyond thankful for dragon nudity in this moment.
“Now why would I do something stupid like that?”
20
Malachy
