Sass Me Read online

  It was nerves. That was all.

  Everything would be fine.

  People in the crowd started to hush, like the knew it was time to start. Fleur looked one last time around the groups for Steele. No, he wouldn’t be here. He’d be in the woods, watching, protecting.

  Barbara and Tristan walked to the center of the ceremony field, and the gathering went silent. Tristan spoke, the alpha in his voice ringing out through the night. “Tonight, we bring five packs together. Through this scenting ceremony our people will bond, alliances will be made, and we will heal from the wounds of the past. We call upon each of the packs, bring forth the first of your clan to join the scenting ceremony.”

  Barbara stepped up. “Wolfe, who from our pack joins the scenting ceremony?”

  “We do.” One of the she-wolves from the party stepped into the circle, then another, and another.

  “We do.” Three young men joined the women in the circle.

  “Central, who from your pack joins the scenting ceremony?

  “I do.” A young man, but strong of build stepped into the circle and glanced at one of the Wolfe she-wolves. Looked like that alliance might already be formed.

  “We do.” Another small group of people joined the others.

  A new energy charged through the forest. The mood was no longer somber, but an air of excitement pushed against them all.

  “Golden Falls?”

  “Vegas?”

  “Rahound?”

  Two more groups of men and another band of women stepped forward.

  “Welcome to you all. We wish you well in your search for your mates. Any others who wish to be mated, go forth, greet each other in the ways of our people, and should you find your true mate, may you live happily ever after.”

  Whoops and hollers rose up through the air about half the group shifted into wolves who all began circling and scenting each other.

  The remaining group of humans in the circle, mostly women, were all approached by wolves who stuck their noses right in crotches and butts. Some giggled, one girl was toppled over by a large blonde wolf who began licking her face.

  Fleur waited and hoped. One wolf stepped tentatively near her, then turned quickly and trotted away. Uh, that was weird. Guess he wasn’t the one.

  When two more approached her and did pretty much the same maneuver, she wondered if the spa had snuck a strong-smelling lotion or perfume on her that she hadn’t noticed. Shifter’s sense of smell was sensitive and anything fake or artificial grossed them out.

  She surreptitiously turned her head to sniff one arm and then the other.

  That’s when she noticed the big ass green dragon standing a few feet from her in the trees. His scales blended in perfectly with the foliage around him and she might not have seen him at all except for the light coming beaming from her necklace. It seemed to do that a lot around him.

  “You smell delicious, little flower.”

  The way he spoke into her mind reminded her too much of the dream she’d had with him. That was the last thing she needed to be thinking of on scenting ceremony night. “Go away, you’re scaring off the wolves.”

  He chuckled right into her head. “I know.”

  Fleur crossed her arms doing her best to close herself off from him. “Dammit, Steele. I’m never going to get mated if you don’t back off.”

  “You already have a mate.” This time his tone was anything but jovial.

  What if she didn’t want one. Oh, who was she kidding. She did want a mate, and a family. She knew in the first minute of the scenting ceremony none of the wolves were going to pick her. Actually, she knew this morning when she’d woken up with daisies sprouting all over her room.

  So, why was she fighting it so hard?

  Stupid destiny.

  Maybe destiny could go fuck itself.

  “You said we had deal. You told me to come to the scenting ceremony and see if a wolf wanted me.”

  “I told you to come to the ceremony. I never said I’d let a wolf get anywhere near you.”

  “That’s not fair.” Yeah, cause life thus far had been fair. Where was fair when she’d grown up without a father and an absentee mother? Where was fair when every relationship she’d tried to have had fallen apart when they figured out she wasn’t normal? And where the hell was fair when destiny decided to dick her around, let her think she’d found a family with the Wolfe’s and then mated her to a god-damned dragon?

  “All’s fair in love and war. Especially when the battle is to win the love of my fair lady.”

  Screw destiny and screw Steele, and not in the fun way. “You’re an ass. I’m going home.”

  Fleur stomped off, but Steele followed her. “Go away. I’m mad at you.” More like mad at the world.

  “I can not leave you in these woods alone. A dozen other dragon warriors are watching and waiting for the demon dragons to appear and wreak their havoc.”

  She might be miffed that a wolf wasn’t going to make her part of the family. But, those were still her friends out there. This night meant a lot to them. “Steele. You can’t let anything happen to the wolves or their mating.”

  “Don’t worry, my love. If the demon dragons do appear, our warriors will take care of them. The wolves will never know. We will ensure their lovemaking goes as planned.”

  “Lovemaking?” She guessed they were, but that wasn’t how she’d thought of this night. In her head, it was family making.

  “What do you think is going on all over these woods right now, sweetness?”

  Two wolves ran by them, dancing around each other, nipping and dashing about, their animal sides flirting.

  She didn’t want to see this. Sure, she was happy for everyone who was finding their mates. But, she could be just as happy for them at home with a pint of pistachio ice cream too. Her car wasn’t parked too far away. She’d be home watching re-runs of Gray’s Anatomy, which was the perfect excuse to cry, in no time.

  “Fleur. Wait.” Steele loomed in front of her and before she could dodge him he’d wrapped his wings around her, the same as he’d done in her dream.

  She tipped her head forward and rested it against his big chest. Inside this cocoon he’d made for them she could feel safe and secure. Instead she was crying.

  Damn. Damn. Damn.

  “I understood your anger, but the scent of sadness rolling over you now is breaking my heart.”

  She blinked quickly, trying to hold back the tears before Steele noticed. Too late.

  His dragon tongue gently touched her cheek, wiping away the streaks.

  “Is it really so bad to be my true mate?”

  She swallowed back the rest of the tears. “No. It’s just that, I thought I’d figured it all out.”

  “Figured what out?”

  The wings around her became arms, and instead of scales her cheek lay against a warm human chest.

  “Where my life was going. What I was supposed to do. I thought if I mated to a wolf. I’d finally...”

  She was stupid. So, so stupid.

  “Finally have a family, someone who loves you unconditionally, forever?”

  Fleur jerked her head up and saw so much sincerity and vulnerability on Steele’s face it took her breath away.

  How did he know?

  “I never thought I’d be blessed with a true mate. That just isn’t the way of dragon warriors anymore. We fight, we hold back the evil in the world, we protect the innocent. But, what is it all for?” He shook his head and the sad far away glint to his eye hurt her heart.

  Steele brought one hand up and brushed a strand of hair from her face. She leaned in to his touch, she couldn’t help it.

  “I didn’t know until you. You’re the reason I am a warrior against the dark, and what I will continue to fight for the rest of my life.”

  “Steel, I—” She’d never been anyone’s reason for anything. Did he really feel so deeply for her after only one day? She knew there was something inside of her that called for him to open
her heart, to let him in.

  She’d pushed it down, ignored it, even denied it, assuming it was wrong. Warmth grew in her chest and spread across her body, pooling in a sensual swirls low in her belly. Could this dragon really be both her destiny and her soulmate?

  She’d counted on having one, hoping for the other, but ready to settle for less.

  “If you don’t feel the same about me, I will do everything I can to be the man you want, that you need. If I have to woo you, court you, wine and dine you to make you fall in love with me, I will. Because, I’m never giving you up, Fleur.”

  Maybe she didn’t have to settle. For once, it felt like destiny was on her side.

  Fleur touched Steele’s cheek and brushed her lips across his. The grief she’d felt for the life she thought she’d lost with the wolves faded as the heat between her and her dragon built.

  Yes, he was her dragon.

  She wanted to yell it from the treetops, but her mouth and tongue were a little pre-occupied tasting and touching Steele’s right now.

  “I want you, Steele.”

  A rumble of pleasure resonated through his chest. “You can have me, babe.”

  He stripped his shirt up over his head revealing the rippling muscles she’d been crying on only a few minutes before. Sweet Aphrodite, he was hot.

  His stomach didn’t qualify as a six-pack, it was more like a twenty-four pack. She was going to lick every single one of them too.

  She was back in his arms before she could decide whether she wanted to start in on his full-case of abs from the top or the bottom. They sank down together to the forest floor.

  Steele’s hands were already up under the skirt of the filmy dress she’d worn tonight, and his lips were permanently attached to her neck. She didn’t want them anywhere else. Except maybe her breasts.

  She pushed him away long enough to slip the dress over her head. She was wearing a bold floral print matching set of bra and panties underneath.

  “I love this look, but I’ll love it even more when you’re not wearing anything at all.”

  “Then you’d better take them off me.”

  “With pleasure.”

  He grabbed the strap over her should with his teeth and slid it down her arm while unbuckling the hooks in back. Before she could say sixty-dollar lingerie, gentle cycle only, he’d tossed the bra over his shoulder and into the dirt.

  She cared only for the point two seconds it took him to fill his hands with her breasts. “I’m generally an ass man, but these gorgeous tits might convert me.”

  He licked across the top of one of her breasts, dipped his tongue into her cleavage, and then across the other one.

  “Jesus, look how they overflow in my hands. Fucking gorgeous.” He lowered his head again, this time taking a nipple into his mouth and sucking hard. A flock of pleasure crashed into her and fluttered its way straight to her clit.

  “Oh, yes. Keep doing that.”

  “But, the other one will get jealous.” He switched from one breast to the other, playing with one nipple in his mouth and the other with his fingers.

  “Someday I’m going to make you come just by sucking on your nipples, but that will have to wait. I’ve got too many other places to taste on you tonight. Lie back. Let’s get these panties off.”

  She leaned onto her elbow and lifted her rear as he slid the stretchy lace over her hips and thighs. The panties went the way of the bra.

  “Ouch. Rock in my butt.” She reached around underneath her, until she found the boulder poking her bum and tossed it aside. She didn’t want anything uncomfortable about the serious sexy times she was about to have with Steele.

  With a wave of her hand, the softest carpet of grass and wildflowers filled in the ground below them. She laid back in the grass and crooked her finger at him.

  “Fuck, that’s hot, Fleur. I’d roll around in the grass with you all night.

  Fleur was totally down for that. She reached for his pants and opened them up, pulling out his cock. It was already so hard. She stroked him in her fist. “I want you inside of me, Steele. But, this doesn’t mean I wouldn’t still like some wining and dining.”

  “I’ll wine and dine you as much as you want. I’ll spend the rest of our lives making you fall in love with me. First, I’m going to claim you and fuck you until we both forget our names.”

  A whole circle of daisies, fifty or more, sprouted up around them, fully grown, reaching their sweet petals inward as if waiting and watching the fun to come.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Finally Mine

  Not one more minute, not another second. Steele would not wait any longer to claim his true mate.

  His heart nearly beat out of his chest and flew into the sky to declare to all that Fleur had agreed to be his.

  He knew he would still have to work to win her trust, her love, and be allowed into the soft vulnerable part of her soul, but he would do it. He would do everything for Fleur.

  The first thing he’d do for her was mark her and claim her, putting her under his protection for ever more. Then they’d celebrate with a few rolls in the hay, or grass and leaves, as the case may be.

  To mark Fleur, he’d have to draw his mouth away from her tasty tits and his lips were protesting that idea. They were thoroughly enjoying being attached to her soft rosy nipples.

  Just one more taste and he’d work his way up her silky skin to her neck. He flicked his tongue over the hard bud.

  “Ooh, yes.” Fleur’s hands pushed into his hair, keeping him in place.

  He loved how she wasn’t afraid to direct him to give her the most pleasure. She’d done it last night in their shared dream, and he wanted to satisfy every part of her greedy body.

  He scraped his teeth across her flesh and she arched her back wanting more. He’d promised to taste her all over tonight, and he would. After he made her his forever.

  He gave her one last tug with his teeth, loving her moan, and then kissed his way up her chest and to the supple skin between her shoulder and neck. She laid her head back and to the side, giving him more room to explore and find exactly the right spot.

  Just above her collarbone her skin tingled in his mouth, and he knew he’d found where her body wanted to be marked.

  Steele spread her legs, reached between them and stroked her pussy. She was already wet for him. “You are mine, mate. The one created for me and me alone. I give my heart, my soul, my love, and my life to you. Wear my mark and show the world that we belong only to each other.”

  Her eyes were liquid heat, dark pools of green and black. “Yes, Steele. Make me yours. Be mine.”

  He bit down, grasping her skin between his teeth and at the same time he pushed his cock into her.

  Her body squeezed him tight, her muscles pulsing around him. He could hardly wait to feel her coming on his cock.

  “Mmm. Steele. You feel so good inside of me.”

  The dragon part of himself chanted inside his head. Mine, mine, mine, mine.

  She was his, forever.

  His dragon wanted to fuck her and come inside of her. Steele wanted to make this good for her, make sure she knew how much he cherished her and her body. He corralled the animalistic need. He slowly withdrew and pushed back in, setting a slow steady rhythm to drive her crazy.

  Fleur moaned and wrapped her legs around the back of his thighs and her arms around his shoulders. He would stay this way forever if he could, wrapped in her body.

  The world around them lit up with the glow from his shard and her necklace, the light danced in swirls around them, played with her flowers and blew through the trees.

  With each thrust, he sunk his teeth a little deeper into her skin, the dragon pushing him to finish it, mark her, claim her. The connection between them was so evocative, and it coursed through his body, urging him to move faster, take her harder and deeper.

  Joining with Fleur was so powerful it overwhelmed him. The way her body not only accepted his, but needed it. Her sweet moans and th
e way she whispered his name. Everything before this was pure play, practice, pretend compared to this. It was as if his own soul was pouring out of him. But, he wasn’t losing it to her, he was sharing it, bonding the two of them together as one.

  Fleur ran her fingernails over his back. “Please, Steele. More, I need... please, more.”

  This was exactly where he wanted her, so close to coming, needing him to push her over the edge into ecstasy. He moved his hands down, cupping her ass and tilted her body up, setting up a new angle he knew would propel her toward coming.

  He thrust deeper into her, the head of his cock grazing the roof of her channel, rasping across her g-spot.

  “Holy Mount Olympus, yes, yes. Gods, yes.” Fleur threw her head back, and he wouldn’t be surprised if he had his own bruises from her grip on his shoulders.

  He wished he could whisper in her ear, tell her to come for him, but there was no way he could remove his mouth and teeth now. After he marked her he’s spend the next few hours telling her all the dirty things he would do to her, and then he’d do them all and more.

  “Oh, don’t stop. I’m so close. Please make me come, Steele. Now. Make me come.”

  The tight grip her pussy had on him squeezed and fluttered around him. Fucking hell, he wouldn’t last any longer the way she was milking him with her sweet sex. His balls gathered tight, ready to pour into her. He pounded his cock into her, out of control, and his dragon took over.

  Now, she is mine.

  He bit down, his dragon fangs extending, piercing her skin. The coppery taste of her blood melted across his tongue and his dragon roared out.

  Both of their bodies let go, Fleur seizing around him as he pounded into her, shooting his seed deep into her, coming hard, skyrocketing into bliss.

  They lay tangled together, her body still convulsing around him, her body holding him tight. Both were breathing hard, and Steele’s mind wanted only to hold on to the warm pleasure of her body. But, his teeth were still embedded in her. He withdrew his teeth and his cock at the same time.

  “No, not yet,” Fleur whimpered.

  “Shh, baby. I’m not going anywhere.” He licked over the wound he’d given her and blew a puff of Dragon’s breath to speed the healing.