Copyright © 2007 Emily Ryan-Davis
All rights reserved, Freya's Bower.
By reading this excerpt, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age. If you are younger than 18 years old, you must exit this site at once.
Cora shivered. "You don't really need me. You have Salim. He's as good an incubator as any."
"Incubator?"
"Nevermind." She wasn't about to get into a discussion of her grandmother's writings on the dragon-dragonkeeper relationship. Sure, the symbiotic relationship had been necessary eons ago, but the dragons had no hunters anymore. They didn't need keeping. They didn't need reproducing, either. Cora believed in animal population control. How would the current world support a surplus of dragons, anyway?
"Look," she said, feeling around for her slippers. "I summoned you by accident. I was under a lot of pressure. I'm not a dragonkeeper. My life's finally back to normal. No insomnia. No nightmares." No invisible dragons rubbing between her legs and tempting her to very surreal, very amazing sex.
Da'ar Es Saleem shifted his weight, allowing her to leave the bed. She pulled her nightie down to cover her butt, grateful for the dark that hid the skimpy sleepwear.
"Where are you going?"
"To call Salim."
"He had no control over my coming to you. He has no control over my return to him." The dragon's talons curled around her ankle. His palm slid over her calf, not stopping until he held her knee. "Cora, please."
Her pulse increased by about a million beats per minute when he touched her leg. She didn't wear panties to bed, and it would be nothing to spread her feet a few inches and encourage him to touch her higher. Her body didn't like the year of celibacy she'd imposed upon it, and sent a hot, moist signal to indicate its objection.
"I know you don't want this distance," he murmured, and squeezed her knee gently.
She closed her eyes. "You're wrong. I want it very much. I'm not the kind of person who likes the life the two-"
"Three," he corrected, reminding her of the white dragon, the difficult one without a name.
"The three of you lead."
"You assume this is a choice, and it isn't. You can't escape from it. You can turn away, but the connection will be here, and we'll all be drawn to you. More of us as your strength grows."
"More of you?" She shook her head, and pulled against his hold. "No way. Let go."
"We can't." He tugged her against his body, rising up as he did. She expected him to be bigger than a man, but in this form he'd chosen, he was just the right size. Strong. He could lift and take her easily. It might be the only opportunity she ever had to have sex against a wall.
"You believe you're safe, but you're not. He's losing control. Nearly lost control. He can't reach that point."
That derailed her building lust. "Losing control of what? The other dragon?"
"Himself, the other one. Me. And when he loses, we come to you."
She narrowed her eyes. "Is that a threat?"