Page 37 of Mikhail
“Please, what?” His tone was indulgent now, like a cat who’d allowed a captured mouse to get free, only to hold on to it by the tip of its tail. She bit her lip as he withdrew the finger and gave her ass a lightslap.
There weren’t words for how good that felt. The stinging subsided to a slow burn. He rubbed the spot with his palm, a possessive, affectionate gesture that sent fresh heat flooding through her. He traced her folds with his fingers. The way he owned her was intoxicating. There wasn’t anything outside this room, this breathless struggle between them to reach the heights ofpleasure.
“Such a hot, wet little wench. I wonder how you taste.” He dipped his finger into her again and withdrew it. She glanced over her shoulder and watched him slide his index finger into his mouth. Those gold eyes burned as they met hers, and he popped his fingerout.
“Like ambrosia.” He hissed low, as though he was picturing how it would be to eat her out. She swallowed hard. If he went down on her now, she’ddie.
“Please, Mikhail…” She wriggled her ass, trying to enticehim.
He was no longer smiling; there was only a serpentine hardness to his features as he unzipped his jeans and let them drop to the ground. His massive cock jutted out, and he ran one hand along its length and leaned over her, grasping her by the back of the neck. She buried her face in the bedding again, but her mind’s eye still pictured everything that was happening toher.
The tip of his shaft rubbed along her slit, teasing her as he coated his cock with herarousal.
“You belong to me.” That was the only warning she had. He thrust into her, hard, and she saw stars. He was too big, too full for her sore channel, and for a moment she couldn’tbreathe.
“Oh God.” The words were muffled by the pillow as he shoved in deep, withdrew, and thrust inagain.
They were so deeply joined that she couldn’t remember what it felt like not to be a part of him and he a part of her. The flash of exhilaration made her vision hazy. She closed her eyes, panting as he fucked her the way she imagined a dragon would a mate. That was the only comparison that came to mind. This wasn’t just sex—it was a thousand times more intense than that. Her skin started to burn just beneath thesurface.
Suddenly she could feel the wind across her cheeks and the heavy condensation of clouds freezing along the tips of her wings as she climbed higher…higher. Then the sun was blazing above her, the air gettingthinner…
She came crashing back to the earth. The climax roared through her like a tornado, tearing down every wall she’d built, and something wonderful happened as it always seemed to when she lost control withhim.
Flashes of memory swam across her mind. Memories that weren’t hers. Darkened halls, flickering torchlight, the whispers of a long-dead queen, the stumbling heaviness of a body drugged with wine…and the darkness of a dungeon around her, suffocating her. No, nother…
“Piper!”Mikhail’s voice was a shout, but it sounded so far away, as though through a distant tunnel. It bounced off the walls inside herhead.
“Stay with me!” he shouted. His voice verged onpanic.
Panic? She jolted, her eyes flying open. She was lying on her back on the bed. Mikhail held her in his arms, his hands cradling her face. His green eyes were wide in terror, his fear creating shifting silver glints in theirdepths.
“Piper…you’re safe. You’re safe.” He crooned her name with tenderness as he stroked a fingertip over her lips. “Stay with me, little dove.” He lowered his head and brushed his mouth over hers. The waves of soft, sweet emotions that filled her head made her want to curl up in his arms and forget the outsideworld.
“What happened?” Her voice was hoarse. The memories this time had been too dark, too real. They had choked her with despair. Was that how he’d felt when Elizabeth had imprisoned him? Her heart ached for him, knowing now why his dragon had been driven half-mad all those centuriesago.
“You fainted, I think,” he said. He moved his hand from her cheek and curled his arm around her waist, holding her close. “Your heart rate spiked and then plummeted, and it scared the hell out ofme.”
“I saw something from your memories.” Her eyes narrowed as she tried to remember what she’d seen. “A dark hall with torches. A redheaded woman in a cream-and-orange gown, and suffocating darkness.” Her body shivered at the terrifying finalmemory.
Mikhail blew out a shaky breath. “That was the night Queen Elizabeth betrayed me. She drugged me. I told her where my jewels were, and the next thing I knew, I was imprisoned. For forty-four years I couldn’t shift, and it drove my dragon mad. That must have been what you were experiencing.” He gave his head a littleshake.
“That was incredible…and honestly a little scary.” She closed her eyes, but the images were already beginning to fade, as though they’d never been in hermind.
“I was afraid I was too rough—you shouldn’t have taunted me. I can’t be like that with you. You’re fragile, and I should be gentler with you.” His words were painted with sorrow and frustration. “This was amistake.”
Piper prickled with anger as she faced him. “Oh no you don’t. You can’t pull away from me. I want therealMikhail. I need you to be yourself. The rough, fire-breathing animal that you are. I don’t regret a second of what we did. It was incredible.Youwereincredible.”
She ignored the rising blush in her cheeks and the realization that she was completely naked. The old Piper would have been scrambling for a blanket to hide her curves under. But she was changed now. There was no going back to who she was, who she had been. She wanted to be this new version of herself, and she wasn’t about to let him pull back after what hadhappened.
Mikhail pressed his forehead to hers, and they stayed close and quiet for a long while. Time seemed to be suspended. Even the sunlit motes of dust seemed to hang motionless in theair.
Mikhail coiled a tendril of her hair around his fingers. Piper studied his face, the way a shadow of a beard had already formed across his strong jaw. She trailed her fingertips along this line, letting the faint stubble tickle her. There was nothing more perfect than this moment. She felt giddy, unable to resist asking the question that had sparked the explosive sex they’d justshared.
“So whatisthe difference between werewolves and wolf shifters?” sheasked.
He laughed and kissed her. “Werewolves are bitten; shifters are born. It’s a little more complicated than that, though. Shifters are more like us, their ancient ancestors born from binding to the spirits of animals, while werewolves are creatures of dark magic binding, a corruption that manifested itself to where the ability to shift can be transferred bybites.”
“So werewolves are bad? When you say dark magic…” She shivered at thethought.
