His mate didn’t look the slightest bit sorry she’d snuck out of his bed, escaped his house, and made him spend his time, energy and patience searching for her. And yet his cock didn’t care. It felt as though it would claw its way out of his trousers if he wasn’t fast enough in getting rid of the barrier separating it from Sophie’s cunt.

“Let’s go,” Severn growled, knowing it was the wrong thing to say but unable to keep himself from saying it.

Sophie inhaled sharply. Her body reacted to his words despite what her mind supposedly wanted. An eyebrow arched in response but heat raced through her nipples at the way his face went taut at her silent refusal to jump up and do his bidding.

Heartmate he might be-not exactly the one she would have asked for, but the one she’d apparently ended up with all the same-and she was willing to accept some of the responsibility for what had happened between them, but he had some things to learn too.

“You might as well sit down and stop acting like a fire-breathing dragon,” Sophie said and nearly jumped out of her skin when glass shattered at the kitchen counter.

She turned in her chair and saw Aislinn picking large pieces of a fancy mug out of the sink. “You need help?”
Aislinn hesitated for only an instant. “Severn’s coffee is ready. Why don’t you get another mug and pour him a cup while I deal with this.”

Sophie rose and moved over to the coffeepot. A bolt of panic hit her when Aislinn finished at the sink then left the room with the shattered remains of the cup, as though somehow they warranted a trip to the outside garbage can rather than a hasty drop into the kitchen trash.

Severn followed Sophie to the counter and used it to trap his mate. His palms settled on the smooth ceramic surface so his arms rested against her sides. His chest touched her back. His cock ended up in a torturous heaven, pressed against her buttocks and separated from its home by her thin sundress and his summer trousers.

“You learned who I was and so you ran?” he asked, deciding to take a different tack with her now that he was close enough to feel her heat and smell her arousal.

He’d purposely left her underwear behind when he’d carried her to his car the previous night. Now he thought about what he’d find if he lifted her dress.

His nose told him she would be slick and wet and swollen. His imagination saw her without panties, available for him as she should be.

Sophie shivered. She only barely managed to keep herself from moaning and leaning over the counter. A fantasy of begging him to lift her dress and pierce her with his cock flickered through her thoughts. He’s your heartmate, Sophie. Of course you couldn’t resist him, Aislinn had said but this went way beyond anything she’d ever expected or experienced.

“I ran because you drugged me or…something…then took me to your house without asking my permission and then I learned who you really are.”

His mouth found her neck. This time she couldn’t restrain her whimper.

“You belong to me, Sophie Marie Alexander.” His voice had a sharp edge to it. “You belong in my house, in my bed.”

“I know you’re used to getting what you want and ordering your little kingdom of employees around, but a night of sex, Severn Makar Damek, does not give you ownership rights over me.”

A low growl sounded in his chest. Sophie tensed. She had only a second to worry that she’d pushed him too far before his hand was at the front of her sundress and jerking the heartmate necklace into view. “Do you deny what the heartstone says? You are my mate, Sophie. Mine! You knew it last night before accepting my invitation to dinner. You knew it when you invited me into the apartment. You knew it when I shoved my cock in you.”

He pressed closer and the heat of his erection seared through their clothing and sent a flood of arousal to Sophie’s inner thighs. He was outraged male and rippling masculine power, yet his aggression fed desire and not fear.

She wanted to turn in his arms and press her lips to his in appeasement. She wanted to whimper and plead and feel him inside her. But she fought the urge to give in without first finding a safer middle ground on which to begin a relationship. She needed to be sure she could really handle his dominance without losing herself.

“I know the necklace responded to you,” she admitted, keeping her voice low and steady, proud of herself for sounding so calm. “I know the crystal is supposed to come to life and glow when I’m around my perfect mate. But that doesn’t mean I have to accept the man. And it certainly doesn’t mean I belong to him like a piece of property.”

Fire threatened to erupt from most of the orifices in Severn’s body, but in particular from his mouth and cock. By The Great Shared Ancestor, his mate was trying his patience. If she weren’t very, very careful, she’d soon feel the erotic edge of his temper. He already longed to fuck her so thoroughly she couldn’t rise from his bed. It took no effort at all to add the fantasy of punishing her first then tying her wrists and ankles so she lay spread-eagled on his sheets.

He had claimed her. He had coupled with her as a male dragon takes not just a willing human female, but a chosen mate. He had injected his serum into her. Her body was even now adapting, changing so she could one day bear his young.

His cock ached. It was already engorged. The rings beneath the head of his penis were exposed and the brush of his trousers against them was excruciating. Yet she dared to pretend she had the option of refusing him!

“Let’s go, Sophie,” he growled again, close to pulling her skirt up and mounting her in the half-elf’s kitchen.

Sophie closed her eyes against the need rippling through her. In another second she’d lean further over the counter and pull her dress up herself. “I’ll leave with you on one condition,” she said, somehow managing to force the words from a body that was in meltdown. “We don’t go to your house. We go to my apartment.”

Severn’s nostrils flared but his instant denial died before it could take the form of a bellowed, No. The rational part of his mind quickly overrode dragon instinct. Yes. He would let Sophie take him to her lair. Doing so would serve several purposes. She would feel more comfortable there and it would allow him time to more thoroughly mate with her before they returned to his home and faced his dragon mother and Audriss.

“Agreed,” he said. His mouth went to Sophie’s neck. His hands moved around to cup her breasts and massage their firm, pouty tips. The heat of his aggravation became a fiery burn of satisfaction as she responded to his touch and melted in his arms. “Will it anger you if I carry you to the limo?” he purred against her skin.

“I can walk. But you need to stop touching me.”

The breathless quality of her voice made Severn’s cock jerk in warning. His teeth gripped her neck lightly and he couldn’t stop himself from pressing his erection more tightly to her buttocks. His. She was his and he would never allow her to escape again.