Forever Rowan (8 page)

“Rowan, Luv why didn’t you tell me?” He felt shamed by his rush to be inside her, even as his Dragon roared its approval. He tried to pull out, but she hooked her legs around his.

“Aidan, please don’t.”

“Rowan, why didn’t you fuckin’ tell me?”

“Technically, I’m not a virgin.” She flushed pink and refused to meet his eyes. “I’ve just never had a lover before.” She turned her eyes back to his and he became lost in their honeyed depths.

“I would have taken more time...”

She placed a hand upon his chest. “I wanted you as you are. I don’t want you to be careful. I wanted to feel the real you.”

He bent forward and kissed her gently, savoring the sweet taste of her lips. She tightened her legs even more around him, signaling that she was ready. Unable to resist her, he thrust. Slowly this time, filling her with exquisite tenderness. He bent his head and suckled her nipple while his cock drove into her gently, allowing her to adjust to him. When he was fully seated, he brought her face up to his.

“I am going to bite you again, Rowan. It’s something I will probably do every time we make love. It’s the way of my people. I promise you this time it won’t hurt.” He thrust slowly, a few short strokes before making them longer, deeper.

The pain in Rowan’s core ebbed and went completely away. In its place was a throbbing need that was only sated when Aidan was deep within her. Her body was a series of live wires ready to explode with his every touch. The mark he’d left on her shoulder was pulsating now, making ready for his mouth.

He lifted himself up a little and grabbing her hand, he placed it between their bodies.

“Rowan, I want you to rub your clit while I’m in you. I need to feel you come apart around my cock, baby.”

She was embarrassed, but she’d masturbated enough in her twenty-nine-and-a-half years to know how to bring herself to orgasm. And the thought of him watching her was crazy hot. She rubbed while he stroked, his thrusts becoming faster and shallower.

A few quick strokes, and he started pummeling her with his cock. Hard and deep, his speed was unbelievable and her body was spiraling out of control. Liquid heat poured down her thighs, and she didn’t even try to hold back her scream as his mouth came down and he bit into her shoulder again.

Her legs slid up his body and clenched him tightly around his ass, pulling him deeper. His arms slid underneath her, so that he was as close to her as possible. Chest to chest, hips to hips, cock to pussy. In that moment she felt an uncontrollable urge, before she realized what she was doing her mouth was open and her teeth were sinking into his shoulder.

Aidan’s roar of triumph filled the room, echoing off the bare walls. Long before he’d expected it, his mate was marking him. In that moment he and Rowan were surrounded in the amethyst light of their combined auras. They truly were one body, one soul. As their shared orgasms ripped through their bodies, their pasts ripped through each other’s minds.

He felt her pain, humiliation, her disgust with herself. Her death wish, her love for her sisters and her hatred for her father. He absorbed every one of her emotions as they sank into his skin. They melded and became a part of him, just as his were becoming a part of her.

He watched as her face changed with each new feeling she was experiencing from him. Just as he’d seen her soul, she was seeing his. Every hate-filled moment since Fiona’d been taken. Every minor victory and every major defeat. She witnessed each without flinching.

He knew of this sharing, every young dragon was instructed in the ways of mating when they reached sexual maturity. This was a joining between mates which only occurred when their emotions needed release, during times of deep love or severe stress. He guessed theirs was the latter. He and Rowan had been alone for so long, sad and empty. Now they were filling each other up. Their souls were trying to drive away their pain. He wasn’t sure that was possible for either of them. He couldn’t imagine them in the real world, beyond their prison walls. At thirty-five, Aidan was set in his ways. He didn’t know how to share his life with a female. But, God, this felt so sweet. Fuckin’ scary as hell, but so very, very sweet.

He lay there trying to catch his breath, his hand grasping hers and lacing their fingers. He felt raw, naked. He’d shared who he really was with her. All his secrets were now her secrets.

When his breathing finally calmed, he rose and helped her to the bed. He kissed her on the forehead and went into the bathroom. Returning with another strip from his t-shirt he sat down next to her. He needed to take care of her, an urge he’d never experienced before with a lover.

“I need you to open your thighs for me.” She complied, but not before he watched her skin pinken. He loved when she became shy. The women he surrounded himself with were never modest in any form, and he’d always liked that about them. But Rowan wasn’t just any woman. She was his
munin
. His mate. His wife.

She’d gifted him with her virginity. It was considered a sacred and rare gift among his people. Their sexuality was so open that virgins were a rarity by the time a dragon reached his or her wedding night. Rowan would never know what an honor she’d bestowed on him.

He wiped the evidence of her innocence on the rag, cleaning her, as was tradition with his people. It fell to him to prepare her meal and bath. He would take care of her this night, give her what she needed, and then he would make love to her again. This time slowly, properly, with the care a woman of her position deserved. How proud his father would be of him at this moment, following the dictates of a society he’d shunned for over fifteen years.

He left her to dispose the torn t-shirt. As he returned, he heard the outer door’s slot rattle, and the unmistakable sound of a tray being pushed through. He retrieved the food left for them and headed for the bedroom.

Rowan had pulled the sheet up to her chin. Sitting down in front of her he removed the sheet, letting it pool around her hips.

“Don’t ever hide your body from me, Rowan. I prefer you naked in bed,” he ended on a chuckle.

He placed the tray of food between them and they both dug in without a word. He watched her eat with gusto and it made him smile. It was important for her to stay nourished; after what they’d just shared they both needed to be replenished.

When she pushed her plate away, he took it into the main room, and when he returned he found Rowan fast asleep on her stomach. He lay down next to her and studied her back. The pain she must have experienced over the years swamped him, filling him with a red rage that triggered blinding pain at the base of his skull. He took several long, deep breaths, forcing a calm he didn’t really feel.

Leaning over he inhaled deeply. Her skin carried his scent now. Lying back, he couldn’t help the joy he was feeling for the first time in many years. He let it wash over him, warming his blood. His chest felt light, as though the weight of the world was suddenly a little easier to bear.

Aidan still felt the guilt, the anger over his sister. Revenge was still a priority for him. But it was tempered now, because of the woman asleep next to him. She had taken some of his pain into herself, locking it in her heart.

Closing his eyes he started the deep breathing exercises that would help him to sleep, and for the first time in twenty years, as slumber claimed him, he no longer saw Fiona, tiny and frail being ripped from his grasp as a bullet slammed into his chest. Now he saw Rowan, lying beneath him, her body open for him, taking pleasure in what he offered.

Rowan lay still and silent, eyes closed, and took stock. She ached, but nowhere near as much as she should. In fact, she didn’t ache where she should, either. Yes, her back was a low, nagging pain, but the searing agony she expected was missing. No, the ache that caught her attention was the one deep in her core. The one centered between her thighs.

An odd feeling of euphoria teased at her, and she slowly opened her eyes. She was lying on her side and there was a massive back in front of her. Aidan. She squinted as she studied the large tattoo that ran the entire expanse of his back. From shoulder to shoulder, nape of his neck to the base of his spine, stretched a Celtic cross, the name Ghallager written in Old English letters above it. One of the arms of the cross bore the name Fiona. Who was Fiona? A tiny charge of jealousy jabbed at her, but she shoved it away. She didn’t have time to ponder as something else caught her eye in the design. Down the middle of the cross was a blue diamond. The familiar symbol made her stomach knot up. She traced the diamond pattern across his skin.

“Do you like it?” Aidan’s voice was drowsy, his accent even thicker than usual.

“Who is Fiona?”

His shoulders stiffened at the question. She continued to run her hand along his back and they relaxed infinitesimally. She’d noticed that he enjoyed being petted.

“She was my sister.” His reply was terse, causing her to flinch. She withdrew her hand, but Aidan turned to face her. His arm snaked out to capture her and pull her back into the safety of his embrace.

“When I was twelve, my baby sister was taken by hunters.”

“Oh God, Aidan. I’m so sorry.”

He kissed the top of her hair. “I didn’t save her.”

”You were
twelve
.” She gripped his arm. When they’d shared themselves she’d felt a great sorrow from him; now she understood why.

“Doesn’t lessen the guilt. Doesn’t erase the memory of my three-year-old sister being jerked by her hair into a van.”

“It’s a beautiful way to honor her.” She rubbed her hand down his chest. He felt so warm, so alive. He was vitality and passion, manifest in this body.

“I designed it myself.”

“Really?” Rowan turned her face up to his. “Because I’ve seen that blue diamond shape before.”

“Do you know others from my clan?”

“No, you’re the only Dragon I’ve ever met. My little sister Erin has this same thing on her back.”

Rowan watched as all the color drained from Aidan’s face. He sat up, dragging her with him, gripping her arms brutally. “What are these lies you’re telling me? It’s impossible for another to have this pattern on their back, unless it’s a tattoo.” He hissed.

She tried to wriggle out of his grasp. His grip on her arms was painful and she was starting to lose the feeling in them. “They aren’t lies. My parents adopted Erin when she was really young. Father said that it was some kind of birth defect, or birthmark. That her mother consumed the shifter drug Domin while she was pregnant”

His expression grew more menacing. His blue eyes darkened to an eerie kind of grey. “How old was she when your father brought her home?”

She didn’t answer. She couldn’t. No words would form, he was terrifying her.

“Dammit, Rowan, answer my fuckin’ question!”

“Three, I think. Maybe four?”

He released her so suddenly she fell back against the mattress. He lunged to his feet and paced the room, muttering in a language she didn’t recognize--Dragon? As he paced, his rant grew louder, until he stopped suddenly and yanked free the shirt he’d covered the camera with and roared directly into the lens.

When he’d finished yelling, he turned and slammed his fist into the wall.

She felt helpless to stop him as he continued to pummel the concrete until his knuckles were bleeding. It was almost a relief when he turned his thunderous gaze back on her. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Instead, his eyes rolled up in his head and he crumpled to the floor.

“Oh, no,” Rowan cried as she flew off the bed and landed next to him. She checked his pulse; his heart was pounding violently, but he was still breathing. She let out the breath she was holding. The chip. Aidan’s anger was so great that it must have caused the chip to knock him out.

Rowan wondered if that were a blessing or a curse.

Nic Alero sat back in Aidan’s office chair, Jenna Stone, his One, held securely in his lap. “It’s been over a week,” he argued. “I’m completely healed. It’s past time to go in again.”

Jenna squeezed his hand, and watched him with dark, worried eyes. “Father will have moved them by now. Security will be very tight around them. Nico, I’m afraid it’s too late.” Her words stabbed him in the heart, not only because she’d be devastated if she lost her sisters, but because of his own guilt and grief over the loss of Aidan. The Dragon was an ass, no doubt, but he was also one of Nic’s closest friends, second only to Sebastian, Nic’s Blood Brother. He squeezed his eyes shut and held Jenna closer. “We
will
get them out.” Nic’s eyes snapped open at the deep voice. Remy Monroe, the Dragon Prince, stood in the doorway slightly behind Bas. The older Vampire wasn’t a small man, but the Dragon Prince dwarfed him. He spoke quietly, but his voice rolled through the room like thunder, compelling all who heard him to stop and listen. His Irish heritage was plain in his pale, milky skin, the rich blue-black of his hair, and his dancing blue eyes.

Nic had met the Prince once when he’d stopped in to visit Aidan. Whatever had passed between the men had left Aidan pissed for weeks, but the stubborn dragon refused to talk about it.

Nic lifted Jenna gently to her feet, then stood and gave the bigger man a slight bow. “Prince Monroe, we are
extremely
happy to see you.”

“Bah,” the larger man rolled his eyes. “I’m Remy.” Sharp, bold eyes swept the room before the Dragon Prince addressed them again. “Your mate--your One?” Nic nodded at the question in Remy’s voice. “She is as lovely as Sebastian told me.”

“She is even more beautiful on the inside,” Nic assured him as Jenna flushed at his side.

“Then I understand why you’d risk everything to save those she loves.”

“Well, I’m not willing to risk Aidan,” Jenna interjected tartly. “Even if he is an insufferable ass,” she added in a mutter. Nic grinned as Remy burst into laughter. Even Bas gave a small smile. Nic’s Blood Brother had been unusually quiet and somber since Aidan’s capture, and evaded all Nic’s questions. Nic suspected Jenna knew what was troubling the older Vampire, but she wasn’t talking, either.