Koshi Read online

  He watched as she moved her hands gently over the old scar. “A cave troll broke through the gate.” A groan escaped his throat as she ran her fingernails over the spot. “They’re quite resistant to lava and magic. It was the size of a small house. We fought for three days.”

  “In these tunnels?”

  “Yes. Yes! Do you plan on torturing me all afternoon?” The glide of her nails over the tender new scales growing beneath the dry skin would have him at her mercy.

  “Will I have the saji before I leave here today?” She ran the brush over the edges of his scar where nothing itched.

  He stretched his back, reaching forward with his neck, trying to find some relief. “You’ll see it. I promise.” His bellow shook the cave. But he’d only comply after he fucked her into oblivion and showed her exactly who she teased.

  She scoured until old scales floated past his submerged head. He had decided it was best she didn’t hear anymore of his pleasure noise. However, he couldn’t control that damn back leg.

  Breaching the surface, he glanced her way.

  “Don’t look at me like that. The spot is scrubbed clean.” She waved the brush at him before doing a cannonball off his back. The splash sent a small tsunami over his nose. She had used his weakness to coerce a deal from him. Part of him was proud, and the rest wanted to drown her.

  He stomped out of the pool and lay on his side as he observed her leisurely swim to the shore. When she exited the water, all thoughts of murder vanished since the blood main-lined straight from his head to his cock.

  Her wet t-shirt clung to her curves and the cool cave air perked her nipples to hard, suckable nubs. The transparent lace of her bra hinted at how perfect those breasts would appear above him, bouncing as she rode his hard–

  “Where do you keep the oil?” She swiped her hair from her face.

  He hid his arousal by lying on it, pain throbbing through his cock at the mistreatment, and he dragged his gaze back to her face. “Over on those shelves.” She held him captive. Him! He shook his head and wished the hot springs were filled with ice. Instead, he focused on memories of his mother. A couple of those should freeze his heart, let alone his balls.

  Small bare feet climbed his spine until Sandra settled with the oil bottle in hand. She poured it directly on the spot and massaged the area with firm, hard strokes.

  He buried his face under his claws to stop a moan of ecstasy, and resorted to desperate measures, a vision he had tried to burn from his mind for centuries, walking in on his parents as his father mounted… A shiver wracked his body.

  “Are you cold?”

  “I am now.” Right down to his soul.

  She slid off his back and set the empty bottle on the floor. Rubbing her arms, she approached him. “It is kind of cold after being in the pool.”

  He kept his gaze pointed over her head. “Let’s find you something dry to wear.” The last thing he wanted to do was terrify her with a dragon boner.

  She appeared so small and shivery by his feet.

  Tossing a glance over his shoulder, he checked out his hide. “You did a very nice job.” He couldn’t resist nudging her closer. To share his body heat. “Thank you.”

  She pressed against his scales and made a happy noise in her throat. Oh yeah, baby.

  “Climb aboard. We’ll go faster this way.” And she wouldn’t spot his hard-on from his back. No point in fighting it. She wasn’t leaving his nest today, tonight, or tomorrow. Her anxiety of his dragon form seemed better. He carried her to his living quarters and into his bedroom. “Why don’t you undress?” He shifted to his human form. “Let me help you.”

  Chapter 9

  A fluttery, empty sensation took over Sandra’s stomach at Koishi’s offer of undressing her.

  He was, of course, naked. Why didn’t this shock her more?

  She fought with her gaze. It kept wandering south along his well-defined chest, to his abs… She jerked her chin up once more and cleared her throat. The edge of the bed hit her mid-calf as she retreated, causing her to sit hard on the mattress.

  Koishi followed until their knees touched. She couldn’t avoid his erection from this vantage point and he was formed like a dragon should be. Thick and hard, made to give a girl a hot flash and beg come on baby, show me what you can do.

  Heat radiated around her face as a blush ignited over her cheeks.

  He tugged the edges of her t-shirt from her jeans. “You’ll catch a cold in this.” The concern in his voice sounded so genuine she had to laugh. “You don’t think so?” With one swift motion, he slipped it over her head. It landed on the floor next to the bed, discarded with no thoughts to allowing it to dry.

  The cool air pricked her skin and sent a shiver through her limbs.

  Trailing his fingertips over her goose-bumped flesh, he traced her collarbone. “How will I warm you?” He gave her a gentle push, laying her across the mattress, and followed.

  “Koishi.” She whispered his name before all the air vanished from her lungs. Pressed into the bed, her body went from ice cold to boiling in seconds.

  He leaned over her, a mere fraction of an inch from touching, his gaze locked on hers. “Ishi,” he whispered back. “I should be Ishi to you. This form is just a pebble of what I am.”

  She took a shaky breath as the intensity of his dark gaze bored into hers. What he said was true. This male was so much more than the one she’d first met on the dock, and the more time she spent with him, the faster she fell. Good thing he knew how to fly.

  His fingertips traveled to the necklace around her neck. “What does this mean to you that you hesitate to part with it?” He fingered the heart-shaped pendant.

  Fisting the blanket under her, she resisted the urge to pull it from his grasp. “It’s the symbol of my parents’ love.”

  “They loved each other very much?” A tender smile pulled at his lips.

  “Yes, as well as my sister and me.”

  He kept running his fingers over the necklace, his gaze intent on it. “Family can be…complicated. My parents tolerated each other’s existence.”

  She nodded, unable to speak around the knot in her chest. Reaching around the back of her neck, she unclasped the necklace.

  Ishi leaned away as she set it around his throat and locked it closed. He bent his head to stare at it. “It is a heavy burden. There’s a lot of love in this metal.” He closed his eyes as if basking in the sun.

  “You can sense that?”

  “Sure, I’m a stone dragon after all. Metals are from the earth and have a special bond with my kind. This necklace has a link to you, too.” He leaned and set a gentle kiss on her lips. “It’s like having you by my heart.”

  Any hint of her resistance to this charming dragon melted. “You’re very good at this.”

  He purred a rough rumble in his chest and caressed her breast with a firm hand, giving it a squeeze. “I’ve barely begun.” Bending, he sucked her budding nipple through her white lace bra.

  She arched at the sudden electric sensation as it traveled from his mouth straight to her core. How long had it been since she’d been with a man? Way too long. She gasped as he bit and rolled the nub between his teeth. Never with a dragon. Oh God, please let this be screaming-until-she-lost-her-voice good. Hooking a leg around his hip, she pulled him against her.

  The action jerked her nipple from his clenched teeth, giving her an extra sharp zing to her pussy. He landed on top, hunger blazing in his glare.

  “Don’t hold back.”

  “I wasn’t planning to.” He took her mouth, his lips crushing hers as he forced his way inside. Hot and moist, his tongue along hers, he coaxed her to explore. Kisses were meant for affection, but this one set her on fire from the tip of her curled toes to her flaming ears. Ishi cradled her head within his hands as he nipped at her lips, then flicked his tongue back inside, claiming her once more.

  With a groan, she followed his gifted mouth as he retreated from her and she caught a glimpse of her bo
dy. “Why am I not naked yet?” She reached for the front clasp of her bra.

  He chuckled and scooped her in his arms. “You’re trouble, Sandra.”

  To her horror, she squealed a little at his manhandling. “Me?”

  Setting her against the headboard and those mysterious handholds carved into it, he straddled her legs. “Seducing me with your little games.”

  She ran her hands along his strong thighs, digging her fingers into his flesh to reassure herself this wasn’t a dream. “I’m not the one who played games, Mr. Trickster.”

  He rolled his hips, inviting her hands to wrap around his hard cock.

  She squeezed as she stroked him.

  “Oh yeah, that was me. You’re the one who wants to make deals with dragons.” He grinned and thrust his hips in time with her touch, his breaths becoming more rapid. “Open your mouth.”

  “Wha…?”

  He rose to his knees and presented his cock to her lips. “I won’t hurt you. Trust me?”

  She swallowed reflexively and tried to calm the flutter in her chest. She’d given BJs before, but not in this position. It left her vulnerable to his control and Ishi liked to lie.

  He ran the tip over her lips, a playful twinkle in his eyes.

  She had to laugh. With Ishi in this mood, how could she not want to please him? She licked the tip before letting him slid it between her lips.

  In and out, he teased her by barely entering, but the twinkle faded, consumed by something hungrier.

  This position left her hands free to explore his body, yet it exposed her to his will and his control. How much of it did she want him to lose while at his mercy? She leaned forward while clutching his ass with her long fingernails, and sucked him deeper.

  With a hiss, he gripped the headboard.

  She wanted to add making a dragon gatekeeper her sex slave to her resume of life experiences. As if possessed by Aphrodite, she put her back into deep-throating, and clung to his thrusting hips as he whispered words she didn’t understand in a breathy voice.

  “Enough.” He yanked away from her arms and sat back on his heels, breathing hard.

  * * * *

  When was the last time he’d had a lover? Too long to recall. Females of his race didn’t understand his sense of humor, and most left in a puff of flames. However, sweet Sandra kept coming back.

  She’d searched him out at his small farm, climbed the mountainside, jumped him when the gate teleported him among goblins to fight, and after all that, still returned to sing to him.

  The saji either meant very much to her or maybe…he mentally shook himself. He wasn’t going to travel down this path. It only led to pain. Better to enjoy what he could in the present.

  Gazing at her eager, beautiful face, he caught his breath. He had much better things to do than worry about his feelings, like convincing a certain human female she never wanted to leave his den.

  With a sharp tug, he snapped the latch on the front of her bra open and let her rounded, firm tits tumble loose. They were even better than he’d imagined, and he had a pretty good imagination. He swept her into his arms and brought those perfect globes closer for a better inspection.

  She gave a small cry of surprise at the sudden motion. Her chest rose faster. “You’re still very strong in this form.”

  He licked one hard bud.

  Gasping, she buried her fingers in his hair and clung to him.

  Tender skin caressed his taste buds. So soft and bitable. He sucked on the nipple until she writhed in his arms, then he moved to the other. Silly of her to continue thinking of him as human after everything she’d seen.

  “Koishi.”

  He growled low in his throat and nipped her sensitive bud.

  “Ow! Ishi, I meant Ishi.” She pulled at his hair, trying to flee his teasing suckles.

  Spreading his hand over her spine, he had an excellent hold. She could fight all she wanted, but there’d be no escape. He grasped her breast in his free hand, molding it, enjoying the weight, while he ran a wet tongue over her swollen areola. Cream and silk slid over his tongue. How could a creature be so soft?

  Wet jeans scraped against his chest as she spread her thighs. Words like Oh God and please kept slipping from between her lips.

  He blew over the damp skin of her nipple and watched it harden even more.

  She went silent as a shiver ran through her body and she arched her back.

  Watching her lean form captured within his arms in a moment of ecstasy, he couldn’t pry his stare away. The way she lost herself to the passion threatened to sweep him in her wake. Like a storm, she’d rolled over his life and would leave him in shambles. Releasing his hold, he set her upon the mattress and yanked on her wet jeans. They stuck. With a jerk and a gnashing of teeth, he finally peeled them from her like a second skin.

  Pink lace covered the apex of her thighs. A noise close to a purr rolled in his throat. The entrance to tantalizing flesh and the doorway to hours of pleasure, all wrapped in a pretty package. He bent between her legs, setting her heels to rest upon his back so she wouldn’t tire. He had plans for her energy later.

  Tracing the edge of delicate material with his tongue, he slipped inside long enough to steal a sweet taste of his Sandra. He glanced at her face. His? His gaze traveled from between her thighs and along her heaving breast until it met hers.

  The desire within her eyes flared.

  Very much his. Her panties didn’t have a chance. He hooked his finger under the crotch and tore them from her hips with a sharp jerk. His balls ached as they clenched at the sight of her fragile flesh. He leaned closer and licked between her labia, searching for her sweet spot.

  Long ago, in Outremer and in Inverness before the gates were guarded, virgins were tied to altars as a sacrifice to appease dragon kind. He was too young to have experienced that type of worship, but the way Sandra lay across his bed made him wish such traditions continued. Then he could demand she be his forever.

  She ran her fingertips through his hair, allowing his locks to slide between them.

  The intimate gesture curled around his heart as if she caressed him there instead. How could he want Sandra to stay against her will? His stomach curdled. He wanted her to stay of her own free will. His kin would accuse of him of being around humans too much. Was it so terrible that he needed her to want him? There was something to be said about love, as evidenced by the necklace around his throat.

  Latching on to her clit, he fondled it with teeth and tongue. He loved the little nonsensical noises she made.

  She squirmed and pulled at the sheets on the bed.

  “Take me,” she cried and tried to wiggle beneath him.

  With a chuckle, he planted his hand on her abdomen and kept her in place. So eager and easy to please. Such behavior should be rewarded. Grasping her nipple with his free hand, he twisted it and simultaneously flicked her bud with his tongue.

  Her moans turned into a sharp gasp. Pumping her hips, she struggled for breath while repeating, “Yes” over and over. She gripped his hair as if he were the only handhold while she dangled from a cliff.

  Before her orgasm dissipated, he crawled over her and rolled them so she sat straddling his hips.

  She blinked at him, a little dazed.

  “Ride me.” From below, he drove his cock into her wet and ready pussy.

  Tight, silken flesh gripped his rod as she convulsed around it. She threw back her head, sweat gleaming on her skin with the torchlight of his chambers.

  He pushed deeper, in time with her strokes. Breathing became difficult. “Wait.” He didn’t want to come, but the sight of her bouncing breasts as she arched back undid him. He grasped her hips and let her take them both over.

  As if kicked from behind, he thrust hard and spilled his seed while she cried his name and milked his cock.

  Slowing her thrusts, she slumped, then curled onto him, her chest heaving.

  He stroked and cradled her against his drumming heart. Who would have kn
own that such a change came on the wake of the storm that brought her to his island? Not him.

  He’d spent a large part of his life protecting the gate, an honor bestowed on only the greatest of warriors, except he fought for all the wrong reasons. He’d done it for the title and the glory of battle.

  What if something broke through and hurt this world? His Sandra? How could he expect her to stay by his side when danger lurked in his den? Gatekeepers kept the balance of two worlds, yet one little human female could distract him enough to forget his duty.

  Maybe the gates chose the greatest warriors not only for their skills, but for the isolated lives they lived. Odd, how empty his existence seemed now.

  She traced her necklace where it lay on his chest. “I never thought I’d be willing to part with it.”

  His heart twisted. The metal weighed heavy and he had trouble breathing.

  “I’m glad you have it.” She placed a kiss upon his skin next to it. “You understand how precious it is.”

  He took a deep, shaky breath and squeezed her close. “Come let me give you the saji.”

  Chapter 10

  Sandra’s brain was shutting down one system at a time, so she didn’t catch exactly what Ishi had said.

  Exhausted muscles trembled in her limbs as she lay across his warmth. She never wanted to move again. His hard body was the best mattress she’d ever rested on. She didn’t want to return home; she’d found everything she craved in life here.

  Sighing, she rolled off and sprawled across the blankets, staring at the cave ceiling. She had to leave. Her desires didn’t matter, saving her sister’s life did. She glanced at Ishi, who stared at her with such interest it broke her heart.

  “Come on.” He nudged her shoulder. “The treasure room isn’t far.” His gaze traveled from her face, caressing her nude form as it moved along her body. “I could carry you.”

  She laughed. “I’m not that worn out.”

  He buried his face against her neck. “Not yet.”