Mate's Kiss: Royal Dragon Curse Read online

  Levi spread her legs and gently licked her lower lips. Eden’s back arched, and her legs involuntarily drew in. Levi managed to surprise her with his tenderness. They were such strong and fiery beings, and yet when it came to going down on her, he was patient and gentle. It was so blissfully pleasurable, leaving her sex begging for more attention.

  His arms snaked around her upper thighs, and in a swift motion, he suddenly pulled her warmth closer. His tongue pressed inside her, swirling around, moving in and out before withdrawing completely. Eden’s stomach muscles tightened, and she found grip within his soft, dark locks. Levi was truly spoiling her with attention. She was starting to think she could become addicted to his touch. He cared so much about her needs within the short amount of time of knowing one another.

  As Levi ran his tongue up and down her slick seam, Eden began moving her hips back and forth, having to bite down on her lip to contain herself. It was so erotic. Eden felt her thighs start to tremble as Levi focused on her clit, flicking it with the very tip of his tongue. Ecstasy started to build in her center when two fingers pressed into her entrance. Moans freely escaped her, unable to contain herself any longer. Her hips twitched, writhing in pleasure. Her thighs locked around Levi’s head as she came to a climax more powerful and earth-shattering than anything she had ever experienced.

  Once Eden caught her breath, Levi pried his face away from her pelvis and moved her legs from around his head to his waist. She lay beneath him, looking up at his handsome face, which had a schoolboy grin on it. She loved how pleasing her appeared to please him as well. Angling his hips, Levi pushed the tip of his member against her before sliding in the entirety of his shaft. Her slick, swollen sex greeted him excitedly. Levi groaned, gripping Eden’s hips as he thrust his in an intoxicating rhythm.

  “I’ve waited so long for this,” Levi whispered in her ear, biting her earlobe and moving down to her neck. Eden couldn’t help but moan in agreement, feeling his manhood deep within her. She had wanted this with Levi for quite some time. The connection and vibe between them were so strong, and this act was allowing them to grow closer and become complete. Eden could feel the pace becoming faster, but the intimacy was ever stronger.

  Soon, however, it became too much for her to bear. Levi grabbed her legs, putting them over his shoulders while he began to thrust rapidly into her. Eden moaned loudly, her sex already tightening around his member. Levi’s hands traveled from her hips, up towards her thighs, and to her knees. He pushed them together, getting a better angle. His lips seized hers, kissing her deeply. His movements became rougher, thrusting as deeply as he could with every stroke. The growing climax was driving her mad. She craved him painfully.

  Pushing him off her and onto the seat himself, Eden climbed on top of him. Levi let out several short, desperate breaths as she rode him sensually. She was teetering on the very edge of climax, having to attack his lips with hers to keep from getting too loud. Then, Levi snarled and tightened his grip on her hips, taking control back so he could move her pelvis in rapid pumps. Eden’s fingers dug into his scalp and practically screamed into his lips as she released. Already, she could feel her thighs were dampened by her own excitement. Levi kept her pressed down against him, and then his body froze for a moment, followed by a shudder. Afterward, he kissed all over her neck and shoulders as they both focused on catching their breaths.

  “You’re amazing,” Eden breathed, a dopey smile on her lips, nuzzling his nose.

  Levi pulled back with a smirk. “You’re pretty good yourself.”

  They looked deeply into each other’s eyes. They had proven just how real and true their feelings were.

  As they lay in Levi’s truck, naked and holding each other tight, Eden’s worrying thoughts started to pour in once again. What were they going to do now? Where were they even going? As much as she was enjoying the position they were currently in, she needed to know what position they were going to be in next. Levi kissed her nose and opened the door, getting out and picking their clothes from the ground. Eden tried to cover her questioning thoughts with a nervous and cute smile as she dressed herself once more.

  “So… a plan,” she finally said.

  “There aren’t many options, honestly,” Levi replied, climbing back into the truck, dressed again. “Run or confront it, and both are dangerous.”

  Eden chewed her lip, allowing herself to think things through. “What if I go back alone and try to talk to my father myself?”

  “He would lock you up.”

  “But If you come with me, they’ll kill you.”

  Silence fell over them as they leaned against the truck, each of them trying to map out different scenarios, trying to find the one that would work best. The storm of hormones and emotions had subsided, though it still lingered in the way their cheeks were flushed and their fingers intertwined.

  “What if we head that way in a little bit?” Eden asked. “Most of the men will be out looking for us, and I can call my dad and tell him I’m coming by myself to speak with him about everything. We actually go together and try to talk to him.”

  “Do you think there is any talking sense into him?”

  Eden shrugged. “Honestly, no. But maybe he will at least call off the hunt, and we can… can figure something out.”

  Levi stared out the windshield for a while before he nodded. “Great plan, babe.”

  “I’m ‘babe’ now?” She grinned.

  He shot her a wink before starting the engine. “Driving out here gave us good timing. Call him when we’re close so that he can’t call his men back to him.”

  12

  As Levi and Eden drove back to the Tallant estate, the anxiety was palpable. Levi could tell it was making Eden sick, her face losing any trace of color as she rested her forehead against the cool window. He slowed down a bit and never let go of her hand. When they were just twenty minutes away from the estate, Eden placed the call.

  “Father? It’s me… Look, I know you’re mad. Okay? Reasonably, too… I’m not calling to—” Her jaw set in place. “Father, can you please listen to me? I’m close to the estate. I want us to talk alone about all this, okay? No guards. I don’t want to be ambushed. I just want it to be us… I’m scared, yeah. I want this all to be over with, but I’m not going to come back if you don’t promise it’ll only be us… Thank you. I will see you soon.” Her face fell into her hands, and she let out a loud groan. “He is the most frustrating person on the planet.”

  Levi extended his arm to rub her back.

  “I bet you he’s going to have at least a few guards with him.”

  “Well, good thing you aren’t showing up alone,” he attempted to soothe her. Levi was trying to be strong for them both. He was as certain as she was that Carlyle would pull some sort of trick. This might be it. This could be the stunt he pulled that finally ended with him being murdered. The odds were still stacked against them, but at least they had gained control of the situation to the best of their abilities. He lassoed Eden back into his side and kept an arm locked around her. Pressing a kiss to her cheek, Levi whispered to her, “I’m here for you, Eden. We’re going to get through this.”

  “You’re worth all of this to me,” she whispered back.

  He melted. Levi had been trying so hard to get her to accept their bond, and she had, at last, let herself embrace it—embrace him. Bringing her hand to his lips, he kissed it sweetly as his hands continuously shifted from her to the road.

  “I’m going to make you fall in love with me.” His tone made it clear that it was a promise for the future: he was going to get them out of it.

  Tears rimmed Eden’s eyes. “I look forward to it.”

  When Levi looked back to the road, his eyes widened, and he locked an arm around Eden, who had unbuckled her seat belt at some point. Then he slammed on the brakes. Yards away, a man stood in the middle of the road, arms down by his sides and staring them straight on. As soon as the truck came to a stop, Eden was out of the cab. Levi’s eye
s went wild. What in the hell was she doing? He wasted no time to follow her, gaining distance on her easily.

  “What the hell are you doing, Darian?!” Eden yelled. Freezing midstride, Levi stared at the back of her head. Wait… Darian? For the first time, he bothered to give the man a look.

  If Levi wasn’t so composed, his jaw would have dropped. Darian looked vaguely familiar, but in a memory that was still relatively fresh. As if he hadn’t gotten a good look at him, but still good enough to have a shadow of a memory. Images of men standing under a streetlight came to Levi. Was he one of the guys who had been after him just weeks ago?

  He continued walking forward, needing to get ahold of Eden before she got too close to the warrior. As soon as his hands locked around her biceps, she stopped and looked at him questioningly.

  “Keep away from him,” Levi firmly insisted. He wasn’t going to take any chances of him actually being one of the men who had followed him. Beyond that, Darian was the equivalent of a hired gun for Carlyle. Who was to say he wouldn’t use force and claim it had been necessary?

  “I’m allowed to be near my fiancée,” Darian smugly inserted, sauntering forward.

  Levi looped Eden against his chest and held her tightly. “Don’t you come near us.”

  “Darian isn’t going to hurt me. He knows better,” Eden stated as if to assure him, even if she didn’t sound too pleased.

  “Yeah, unlike a rogue,” Darian said. “You are the one who needs to get away from her.”

  “Darian, he’s not going—”

  “Is he who you’ve been sneaking off with?” Darian questioned, stepping closer. Levi took a step back.

  “Excuse me?” Eden demanded, her tone both indignant and alarmed.

  “Don’t play coy, Eden,” Darian answered. “I knew you were seeing someone. You’ve never left the estate for more than a couple of hours. Yet for a week straight, you left by yourself for ten, twelve hours at a time. You don’t think I looked into that?” He laughed, as though it was the most absurd thing that Eden hadn’t picked up on him spying on her. “But him? Really? Were you going after the largest aneurysm you could give your father?”

  “My life is still none of your business. We’re not even engaged, Darian! I never accepted it. I never said yes.”

  He shrugged. “Do you think that I care about some technicality? We’re getting married. I’ve worked too hard and waited too long for this. You’re going to end this fiasco, and we will put this behind us.”

  Eden let out a dry, bitter chuckle. “I was right about you. The entire time.”

  “Don’t pat yourself on the back too hard, Eddie. You were beginning to accept me. Heck, you may even have begun to like me.” Darian looked at Levi out of the corner of his eye before turning back to Eden. “Then you have to go and do this. Do you know how much bad press we’re going to have and how long it will take people to forget about this? ‘Princess Found in Bed with Rogue Savage.’” His inflection was that of reading a newspaper headline.

  “I don’t care that people will know, if they don’t already!” Eden cried. “Anything is better than being married to you! I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

  “You could do a lot worse, obviously,” Darian smirked, glancing at Levi again. “How’s the chest, by the way? Still healing? Or did Miss Tallant work her magic hands on you?”

  Like a switch going off in his head, Levi gently moved Eden to the side and began rolling up his sleeves. Before he acted, however, Eden was rushing for Darian and getting right in his face.

  “What kind of monster are you, huh?!” she screeched. “Why would you attack him?!”

  “Why do you think? Bringing the head of the most wanted man in the Kingdom to your dad?” Darian replied matter-of-factly. “He would hold me in an even higher esteem than he does now. I would be the second most untouchable man in the Kingdom.”

  “You act like he’s some criminal,” Eden hissed, “when all he wants is to be left alone to live his own life, away from politics and war! How is that so bad?”

  “Why are you defending him so much? Don’t tell me he has hypnotized you with less than adequate sex in such a short amount of time. Is that all it would have taken? I would have gladly found my way into your pants if—”

  There was a whack, promptly followed by a croaky gasp for air from Darian. Levi couldn’t stand by and listen to the pompous, arrogant, sexist man speak any longer, and he had smacked him before he could think too much about the consequences.

  “Don’t you ever talk to her like that,” he growled.

  Darian had stumbled back, but he easily regained his balance. With a chuckle, he returned the favor and took a swing at Levi. Only, Levi was quicker than that. Within moments, the men were full on fighting. Dodging swings and gritting his teeth through lucky blows Darian would land to his face and kidneys, Levi managed to tackle him to the ground and pin the man’s shoulders with his knees before slamming his fists against Darian’s face.

  Levi was so enveloped in the act of beating the life out of the man who had tried to kill him, as well as betroth his soulmate, that his guard was down. A blunt force struck him, and he was launched several feet away. Darian had managed to rock his body and knee Levi hard in the lower back. Wincing, Levi reached a hand to his back. He wasn’t sure how Darian had managed to use so much strength at such an awkward angle, but he knew he wouldn’t forget that.

  As Levi tried to get to his knees, a foot pushed his head into the cement. He could feel his face grow warm from blood as his skin was scraped off by the abrasive surface. Small fragments of rock and dirt dug into his flesh. He could hear Eden screaming nearby. When the pressure was removed, Levi attempted to lift his head, but it was as if gravity itself was forcing it back down. The world was spinning so hard that he couldn’t make anything out. It took a few long moments of slow blinking and deep breaths to regain himself. When Levi looked up again, the world tripled, but he could make out the shapes.

  Once again, Eden was in Darian’s face. With a groan, Levi worked himself through the process of standing. He felt relatively fine, but he was disoriented and dizzy, causing his balance to evade him. After a few failed attempts, Levi staggered to his feet and headed in their direction. They were screaming at one another, but Levi couldn’t focus enough to pick apart what they were saying. His vision finally aligned, and his balance started to come back to him as he witnessed Darian raising a hand far above his head.

  With no hesitation, Levi dove at him and tackled him to the ground. There were only a couple of punches exchanged before the two were morphing into their dragon forms while still locked onto one another. Soon enough, it wasn’t fists and feet, but teeth and claws. Eden was screaming, and Levi only hoped she had the sense to stay away. There was no way Levi was letting Darian win this fight.

  The two massive beasts rolled around on the empty road outside of the estate. It was almost as if they took turns with being in control, constantly flipping one another and landing a few good hits before getting tackled themselves. Then they were both on their feet, rushing at one another with teeth bared and claws ready to strike. Even with their armored scales, large gashes and puncture wounds opened up and bled freely.

  Never had Levi experienced a fight so equally matched. Generally speaking, a man would have an area of fighting that wasn’t as well-rehearsed as the others. Levi could spot this within just minutes of fighting and could exploit it for his gain. Darian was one of the most experienced warriors he had ever met, and he was a well-rounded fighter. There must be a way to take him down.

  Suddenly, Darian’s weakness became clear to Levi: his ego. When Darian landed one clean strike across Levi’s face, Levi leaped on the opportunity. He could have shaken such a hit off, but instead, he took the fall. He stumbled backward before crashing hard onto his back. To that, he mentally cursed himself.

  Darian was immediately on top of him, and Levi braced himself. Blistering heat consumed the entire side of Levi’s face that
was in Darian’s direction. It took every ounce of willpower and strength for Levi not to scream. He kept himself stoic, his eyes staring off into a distant spot in space. Darian ceased his attack after only a few seconds when he realized Levi wasn’t moving anymore. Giving him one firm push, Darian appeared satisfied when Levi slumped over.

  Without any further inspection, Darian turned away from Levi and moved toward Eden, who had sunk to her knees in front of the truck. She had her hand to her mouth, covering and muffling her screams of agony. Levi wished he could have somehow let her know that he was okay, not wanting to cause her such heartache. He forced himself to keep still as he watched Darian shift back into his human state and approach Eden. When she hid her face to conceal her tears, Levi suspected that to be the perfect time.

  Ever so quietly, he flipped himself over and got back up. Stalking over to Darian, Levi’s chest filled with pride, knowing that it was going to be over in moments. All it took was one swipe of his clawed hand to send Darian flying through the air. Eventually, his body dropped to the ground and tumbled like a ragdoll before coming to a stop. Levi stood over Darian with one foot pressed against his chest. In his compacted human state, it would have only taken a single stomp to crush his bones. Just a few, and he would be dead.

  Levi slowly added pressure, his eyes glowing with hatred and anger. Could anything else give him such satisfaction? His thoughts returned to the steamy afternoon he and Eden had shared. He couldn’t think of that now, but he knew that sweet revenge would be the next best thing.

  “Levi, don’t!” a soft, familiar voice called. His gaze reluctantly ripped away from Darian to see Eden standing just beneath him. Levi wished he had the ability to give her a questioning look. Why was she asking him not to finish the prick off? He had tried to kill him just for the sake of status and played such horrible games with Eden’s fate. “I’m not trying to protect him,” she clarified, like she could read his thoughts. “I just know that this is what he and all the warriors would do: try to teach a dead man a lesson. You’re better than them, Levi! You don’t need to kill him!”