Her Elemental Dragons: The Complete Series

I thought about Blane’s comment as we found a spot to make camp for the night. I had kissed all of them now, although I hadn’t kissed Roth in years. Not since the night of the attack, when our lives changed forever. I wanted to kiss him again, but would he let me?

I’d tried to be supportive after his injury. I’d told him I didn’t care what he looked like, that I loved him no matter what and still wanted to be with him—but he couldn’t even listen to the words without going into a rage. He was in so much pain, both inside and out, and he said that seeing me only made it worse. He asked me to leave him alone, telling me he didn’t want me anymore, and I foolishly listened, hoping he would change his mind once he healed. Now I wished I could go back and force myself to stay, no matter what harmful things he’d said to me.

It was warm enough that we didn’t need a fire, but I drifted away from the group and began practicing my new magic on some weeds growing up from some rocks. The fire came easier now, though it still surprised me every time.

“I thought only the Dragons had magic,” Roth said, his gravelly voice behind me.

“Me too. It seems the Gods can make exceptions.” I tried to snuff out the flames, but when my magic didn’t work, I stomped on the weeds with my boots. “I’m sorry. Does the fire bring back bad memories?”

“It’s fine. We should get back to the camp though.”

I nodded and began to follow him, but then stopped. I was tired of this distance between us. “Roth, wait.”

He stopped and turned toward me, the moonlight highlighting both halves of his face. It made my chest tighten with emotion, and I found myself crossing the distance to him. When he didn’t move away, I gripped his shirt in my hand and lifted on my toes to press my mouth against his. At first he didn’t respond and I worried I’d made a fool of myself, but then he let out a groan and his arms went around me, hauling me against his muscular body. His mouth devoured mine like he was making up for the last two years.

My back pressed against the boulder behind me as Roth’s lips trailed down my neck. Desire swept through me, hot and needy, and I fumbled for his trousers, wanting him inside me again. Gods, it had been way too long, and I’d never stopped aching for him since that night.

He tore his mouth from mine as my fingers rubbed against his hard bulge. “Calla… We shouldn’t.”

“Why not? We’ve slept together before.”

“Yes, but not since this.” He gestured at the burn marring his otherwise perfect face.

“I don’t care about that. I loved you before your scars and I love you now too. If they took over your entire body I would still love you.” He didn’t say anything as I took his face in my hands. “Besides, this side of you is so pretty you need something to balance it out. Otherwise you’d make the other guys jealous.”

That finally got one corner of his mouth to twitch up. “I was always the best looking one in our group.”

I pressed a kiss to both of his cheeks. “I was so happy when I saw you in the crowd this morning. I couldn’t imagine spending my life without you. And now we’re here together, and I’m ready to go back to what we once had.”

He let out a ragged breath. “I love you too, Calla.”

My eyes widened. “You do?”

“I should have said it years ago. I just couldn’t imagine you would still love me when I looked like this, especially when you almost died that night. I figured if I stayed away, you’d marry one of the other guys, who I knew also loved you.”

“They were probably worried about hurting you by being with me.”

“Maybe, though I did a pretty good job of pushing them away over the years. Especially Blane.” He tangled his fingers in my hair. “I was both relieved and jealous when the two of you started seeing each other. I hoped you would be happy together.”

“I didn’t think it was serious with Blane, but now I’m starting to wonder. And I never slept with him, you know.”

“No? What about the others?”

“You’re my first and only.”

His grip on my hair tightened, turning possessive as he looked down at me with hunger. “You’re my first and only too. Although I suspect I won’t be your only much longer.”

“Does that bother you?”

“No. I lost my claim on you years ago.” He glanced back at the camp. “And maybe we all knew, deep down, this was the only way for us to all be happy.”

“I think I knew that too. I was just afraid to admit it, and I worried what people would think of us.”

“Now you don’t have to worry.”

“No, I don’t.” I slid my hands into his thick hair to pull him close again. “But at this moment I only want you.”

His mouth crushed against mine and he pressed me back against the boulder. I wrapped myself tighter around him and his hands slid down to cup my behind, lifting me up and against him. My skirts bunched up around my hips and I wrapped my legs around him, marveling at his strong shoulders, built from working long hours on the docks and on his uncle’s fishing boat. I’d spent a lot of time at the docks watching him, both before and after his injury, staring at his shirtless body as he hauled on ropes and climbed the rigging of his uncle’s ship, remembering what it felt like to touch that tanned skin. The same skin I was touching and tasting now.

Passion and desire made us desperate for each other. With one hand pressed against the boulder for support, he used his other hand to pull open his trousers. I gasped as the head of his cock pushed against my core, which was already so wet for him. I’d been waiting to feel him inside me again for years, and I tightened my legs around him, not wanting to delay another second. His fingers gripped my behind as he entered me nice and slow, filling me up completely and making me stretch around him. Gods, I’d forgotten how big he was and how good he felt inside me.

He began to move with deep, languid strokes that hit me in all the right places. I clung to his neck as his strong arms held us up, the hard stone digging into my back while he pumped into me. He captured my mouth again and the touch of his tongue against mine made me nearly come undone. I’d waited so long to be one with him again, and now I never wanted it to end.

But he demanded more, pushing me further, shifting me higher, until the angle of his movements was just perfect. I was close, so close, and as his lips trailed across my neck I let go, giving in to the sweet friction of our bodies and his hard length filling me. My head fell back as sensation washed over me and I pulsed around him, nails digging into his shoulders as I called out his name. He rewarded me by thrusting harder and faster until he released himself inside me with a throaty groan.

I pressed my forehead against his as we trembled together, overcome with the emotions coursing through us. Soon our lips found each other again, but this time we kissed slowly, our movements unhurried. As if we only now realized we had the rest of our lives to do this again and again. Now that we’d found each other a second time, there was no need to rush.

But then I remembered the other men back in camp. They probably had a good idea of what we were doing, and I couldn’t help but wonder what they thought about it. Would they be jealous…or would they want to join in?