Claws and Kisses

“Enough, Wendy.” Avel turned his back on me, walking into the bathroom and heading to the sink. “I will speak of this no more with you.”

Instead of remaining where I was like I knew he wanted me to, I followed him into the bathroom and stood beside him, fuming with my arms crossed. “Oh, you don’t want to talk about this anymore? Well, I have news for you, oh great lord. I’m not going to shut up until you listen to me. In fact, I’m going to talk until you get this deluded notion out of your head and start thinking clearly.”

After splashing some cold water on his face, he ducked underneath the counter and opened one of the drawers beneath the sink. He emerged a few seconds later with a bottle of bath salts and some healing oils, determination gleaming bright in his eyes. “Nope. Bath time.”

Scowling at the bottles in his hands, I was the one to turn my back on him and march away from him this time. “No, you lecherous asshole! I am not a child who is simply mollified by the use of warm water and bubbles—”

In one quick, smooth gesture, Avel scooped me into his arms and walked me right back into the bathroom. I yelped in surprise, smacking his chest and demanding to be put down. He did so a few seconds later with a small, delighted smirk on his face as he set me down of the edge of the bathtub. There was already a steaming bath waiting there, and the light, wispy smoke coming from the surface had the hair on my arms rising in anticipation.

Leaning down so that we were eye-to-eye, Avel planted his hands on his knees and trained his violet orbs on mine. “You have two options,” he said, an amused, knowing undertone in his low voice. “Either I can undress you and you get in the tub, or you can undress yourself and get in the tub. What’s it going to be, little tiger?”

I growled in his face, not at all deterred by his ultimatum. “I’ll get in that tub when you take your head out of your ass and put it somewhere useful—ah!”

“Guess I am undressing you.” Even though Avel looked as if he felt bad about it, I saw the wicked glint of excitement burning bright in his gaze. He picked me up once more to spin me around and set me back on the ledge, his fingers at once going to the strings keeping my dress together. He locked his legs around me so that there was no escaping his touch.

I bucked anyway, feeling aroused and angry all at once. “Damn you! Can we not have a serious conversation for two seconds without you . . . ah . . without you . . .”

A quiet moan escaped my lips as he began rubbing warm circles into my back, the palm of his hand meeting bare skin. Even though I could not see him, I still felt the smile curving his lips as he asked, “What’s that, tiger?”

The back of the dress came undone, and I felt Avel’s hands deftly peel the bodice away, exposing my white chest band, taunt with the rise and fall of my full breasts. He hooked his hands underneath my armpits and gently lifted me, causing the silk gown to slide to the floor. Nothing but my undergarments separated us now.

It was not like this was the first time Avel had seen me naked. When the Inner Circle had taken me to the Mermaid’s Lagoon, Avel had ended up having to chase away the mermaids and fish me out of the water with no clothing. However, this time was different. He was undressing me. It felt more intimate than anything we had done beforehand.

His eyes took in my fair figure with hunger, his purple, starry gaze ravenous upon me. Shivers wracked my body at the undivided attention he was showing me. The goosebumps marring my flesh only seemed to spur him further. With distinct, purposeful motions, he removed the chest band, causing my breasts to spring free. With a special kind of reverence, her dragged his fingers down my waist and over my hips to my underwear, which he quickly relieved me of too.

My breaths came in soft, fast gasps. His hands were like fire upon my skin, the flames licking up my body in wild, heated strokes. A fire of my own began to pool in the pit of my core, awakening something that only came alive when Avel was around. As if he could sense where my thoughts lingered, he inhaled deeply, his eyes at once going to the apex between my legs, his lashes fluttering rapidly as he breathed out.

“Tub,” he growled out, his voice no more than gravel. “Now.”

He picked me up and set me down in the steaming water of the tub with a carefulness I did not know he possessed. I almost mewled at the warmth and comfort the bathtub wrought. The sound had Avel’s eyes darkening with something I did not fully understand. As soon as I was settled, he began tugging his own clothes off.

Blushing, I politely turned away from his sculpted figure and swirling tattoos. I thought I heard him chuckle, but I was not able to discern the sound for long before the water was surging upwards around me. A searing hot body slid in behind mine, and my jaw dropped as I felt his legs settled around mine, as well as the thick, long rod that pressed into my backside. I instinctively squirmed in his hold, not knowing how to react as the blush on my face darkened to a hue like that of fine wine.

Avel’s chuckle mutated into a laugh as he settled in the gigantic tub as well. He adjusted my body so that I was more comfortable atop him, and was not so distracted by his excited manhood. Once we were pressed tightly against each other, soaking up the the warmth of the bath, Avel began to pour the contents of the bottles into his hand. The scent of jasmine and rose petals immediately mixed with the salty air of the bathroom.

I groaned as quietly as I could as he put his hands in my hair, lathering the dark curls with soap. His fingers twirled and rubbed in a way that had my eyes fluttering close in contentment, and pleasant sighs escaping from my lips with relish. From the approving rumbles vibrating in his chest, I knew he enjoyed washing me as much as I liked being washed by him.

After a few beats of silence, he murmured, “I like taking care of you.”

His nails scraped against my scalp, sending more shivers down my back. I leaned into his touch, my eyes still firmly shut. “Please don’t do this.”

Reaching around the tub, he grabbed a small pitcher and dunked into into the water. He began to pour the water through my wet hair, working the strands as he washed them of any soap suds. “You are worrying over nothing, tiger. Jericho and I have everything under control.”

My eyes snapped open, and I tried twisting to face him. “You don’t understand. The Drachen Trials—”

“Are not your concern, Wendy.” His hands stilled my movements, and his hands briefly left my hair to rub my back in pleasurable strokes. My bones melted at his angelic touch, and I half-glowered as he continued his speech. “What did the High Lady tell you?”

I gripped the tub’s edge. “She told me that the Drachen Trials would lead to your death and that—”

“No,” he interrupted, cutting me off. He dipped the pitcher and poured it over my head again, this time to silence my words. His hands dived back into my hair, relaxing and controlled. “She told you that the best thing for both of us is to complete the Mating Ritual. So, that’s what we are going to do.”

I suddenly stilled, half-turning to him, meeting his calm stare. “Is this apart of the Mating Ritual?” I gestured to the soap and the water. “Washing me?”

He nodded, nudging me to turn back around. “The Mating Ritual is about strengthening the bond between us as much as possible before we officially mate. Washing you, feeding you, sleeping next to you . . . that and a few other, more specific activities and we will finally be able to complete the ritual and reach the final stage of our mating.”

I turned back around, watching as he grabbed another bottle off the counter beside us. As more soap flowed into his palm, I murmured, “What is the final stage?”

Avel began to knead the soap into my back muscles, causing a bouquet of moans to fall from my lips. He chuckled softly, and used the pitcher to pour more water down my body. “The final stage involves me publicly claiming you in front of the entire horde. Our mating will be consummated for all the dragons in our horde to see.”

Publicly claim . . . The thought travelled slow and thick through my skull, and it took a moment for the true weight of his statement to settle upon my shoulders.

“No. No. No, no, no.” I thrashed amid the tub, unable to move all that much with Avel’s weight fixed around me. “No way. Nope. No. No, no, no, no—”

Avel laughed louder, his hands sliding around my waist to pull me back into his chest. From this angle, his arousal was all too apparent and only stoked the fire building in my own core. I wiggled uncomfortably atop him, searching for a position where we were not so . . . exposed, to one another. My quesiness only amused my mate, as he smiled against my throat and nipped at the skin there.

“Peace, Wendy.” His hands slid to the underside of my breasts, and I sucked in a harsh breath as his hands caressed the swell of my chest, his thumbs flicking over my stiff nipples. The feel of his hands on me travelled directly from my breasts right down to between my thighs. His hot breath warmed the side of my neck as he said, “You mortals have a strange idea of sex. The Drachen are not so . . . adverse to celebrating it in an open fashion.”

“This isn’t . . . fair.” I struggled against his hold, feeling too hot and bothered to think about the implications of his words. “You can’t just say that while I’m . . . and you’re . . .”

“What?” His squeezed my breasts, his palms rough and oh so agreeable against my slick, wet skin. An embarrassing squeal startled from my mouth as he kissed my throat, open mouthed, his tongue matching the rhythm of his skilled fingers caressing my breasts. I gasped again and inhaled roughly at the range of emotions soaring through my body from his precise and unyielding touch.

“Please,” I moaned, not really sure what I was begging for. I gripped his wrists, feeling a primal need pounding through me. Every stroke, every brush of his fingertips had my body roaring for his. I had never felt this way before. I had never wanted someone so bad.

He kissed my throat one last time, humming, “Not tonight, little tiger. Not like this.”

With great effort, he removed his hands from my chest and waist. He stood from the tub, water dripping from his frame in wandering rivulets. One glance at his enlarged cock had me averting my eyes, but he did not let me linger in the bath for long. The damn dragon refused to let me walk on my own two feet, and simply plucked me from the tub himself and set me on the ground, shaky legs and all. He whipped out a fluffy white towel and wrapped it tight around me, so that I was once more cocooned in a bundle of warmth.

He gathered me once more into his arms and walked me into our temporary bedroom. The golden blankets and the golden chandeliers were a bit obnoxious for my taste, but Avel seemed to like them well enough. He set me down on the edge of the bed with a meaningful look. Stay.

I stuck my tongue out at him as he walked into the closet, supposedly to get clothes for himself. As I waited for his return, I studied the water marks left from our footsteps, and thought of how pissed Cindy would be that we had gotten water on the wooden flooring.

Avel emerged from the closet, smelling faintly of jasmine and rose. He wore a loose, plain tunic and matching breeches. There was a comb in his hands and a small, black leather strap.

As he approached, I looked up at him pleadingly, silently urging him to heed my words. “Avel, the Drachen Trials will kill you. I know they will. Please don’t throw me away for some silly little crown and a title. It’s not worth it. Not worth you.”

Without pausing in his trek, he slid behind me on the bed and pulled me between his legs. I protested, struggling to face him so that we could talk face-to-face, but he was not have any of it. The bloody dragon stilled me by locking his hands around my waist, making it impossible to rebel against him in any way. A growl worked its way up my throat, but was overpowered by Avel’s own warning rumble. He pressed his chest tighter against my back so that I could feel every breath and thunderous tremor roiling through him. A small show of his blunt power and strength. It had me wrestling internally as not to strangle him or do something equally reckless to prove to him that I was not a weak little mortal who was easily cowed by a big, strong dragon with anger issues.

However, my body was not one the same page as my mind. His close proximity only had my lower regions dampening with my growing arousal. Based on his sharp inhale, he knew exactly what my body thought about his vitality. The blush that overcame me then was one of both anger and embarrassment.

“Sometimes,” he whispered roughly, pulling my hair to the side so he could access the hollow of my throat. He scraped his teeth against my pulse, eliciting a faint gasp from me. I could feel his smirk as he breathed, “I think we would both be better off if you listened to your body instead of your head.”

“And I think . . .” I bit my tongue hard to keep from crying out as he sunk his teeth into my throat. Not enough to draw blood, but definitely enough to keep me in place as his hands began to roam along all the planes and curves of my figure. I swallowed, trying again to form some coherent thought akin to a sentence. “And I think that we would be better off if you listened to your head instead of your . . . your—”

I cut myself off, not able to get the word past my lips. In response, Avel only pressed himself closer to me, his sex prodding against my lower back in a teasing manner. “Yes, Wendy?”

“Oh, damn you and your stupid . . . thing!”

He laughed, deep and barking. When I tried pulling away with a scowl, he only tackled me to the bed and showered me with kisses until I was smiling along with him. Despite my worries about him, the Drachen Trials, the final stage of our mating . . . I still fell asleep soundly that night, tucked within the comfort of his arms, and with a soft smile on my face.

Oof . . . is anyone else a little hot?

Hello, loves! How are you all doing? As promised, you guys got an early update! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, and I hope you all got a kick out it too. After what feels like forever, we are finally getting some Avel/Wendy action (Whoop-whoop!).

How do you all feel about the final stage of the Mating Ritual? I know it is a weird, kind of kinky (*winks*) idea but it just felt like one of the things that Dragon Lords would do. I got inspiration from back in the good ol' medieval days when kings and queens and other important people used to have their consummation witnessed by friends and family. Blah.

Alright, that is all for today folks. Thank you for all the reviews, the votes, the comments, and the support that you guys show everyday. It is so exciting to have a book being read and (mostly) loved by a group of fantastic people like yourselves. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, and happy Monday. Hope you all are ready for Avel and Wendy's upcoming adventures!

~Elaine