Platinum (Date-A-Dragon Book 3) Read online

  He looked at her lips. “Ultimately desirable.” He leaned forward and kissed her, and she felt it all the way down to her toes.

  When he pulled back, she scooted back on the bed and he pushed her down onto it, propping himself on all fours above her, making her feel small and safe and protected.

  “Beloved,” he said, his hands running along her sides, and cupping her breasts. “Exquisite.” He leaned down to kiss one captured nipple that was pressing against her bra. She arched and let out a little cry and his eyes lit with pride.

  “And mine. That’s the most important one. Mine. Forever.”

  “Forever,” she said, reaching toward him to cup her hand against his face. It was amazing the difference just a few days could make. Amazing that she’d gone from fear, to confusion, to accepting a whole new world simply because he was in it. Though she supposed she would have had to eventually because Taylor was in it too.

  She didn’t want to think about what would have happened if Sever hadn’t come to them.

  “Don’t think about it then,” Sever said quietly. “I couldn’t have not come. Those letters called to me. I didn’t know it then, but it was fate, bringing me to you. To my mate.”

  “Explain the mate thing again?” she asked.

  “We only get one in a lifetime,” he said. “Our dragons know them. They are more important to us than our own hearts. You are more important to me than anything in the world. I would die for you. Live for you. Fight for you, to my death if needed.”

  “I don’t think so,” she said. “I don’t know who would try to take out a dragon.”

  His eyes grew stormy. “There are those who would try, if they could. There is a lot going on in my world, a lot changing. And there are still things about my past you don’t know. Things that happened before I met you. Things that—”

  It was her turn to put a finger up to his lips. “I trust you,” she said. “It’s like you said. It’s not our past, it’s our future. If you want to share those things with me, then great, I accept them. But if you want to move on with me, eyes focused on the horizon, then I’m okay with that too.”

  He sighed. “How did I ever get so lucky?” He raised her hand and looked at the ring on it. “I know that working in jewelry, you may have certain preferences. I promise to get you whatever you want.”

  She shook her head. “I love this. And since you make metal, maybe something else if you choose to make it.” She wound her arms around his neck, pulling him closer for a kiss. “I want everything to do with you. I want to be part of your world. I want to be at your side with what you and your friends are fighting.” She leaned in close to his ear. “Make me yours, dragon.”

  Sever couldn’t believe his own ears, as Lori’s lips brushed against him, telling him to take her.

  He looked down at her, curvy and beautiful and home.

  She’d accepted everything here so wonderfully. Been so strong for Taylor. Held her own with Adrien (who visited a couple of times) and Dante.

  It helped that she got along with Ella, who could help her understand their world too.

  Still, he guessed it shouldn’t have surprised him that a woman who would be brave enough to leave her life behind to help out the grieving child of a friend would then be willing to move once again.

  But despite the move, despite him trying to give her some space, she still hadn’t told him she loved him. He felt she did, saw it in her eyes when she didn’t think he knew she was looking at him.

  He felt her desire.

  He’d seen her relief when he came back from the fight unharmed. He’d seen her eyes well with emotion when he’d found and talked to Taylor, that day he’d first transformed.

  But for some reason, it wasn’t enough. He wanted to hear the words from her. And he wanted her to be his and his alone, officially and forever.

  That meant one more claiming after she’d accepted his ring.

  He pulled his shirt over his head and saw a gleam of approval in her eyes. “Are you sure?” he asked, as her hazel gaze roved over his muscles. “There’s no going back after this.”

  “I’m sure,” she said, unbuttoning her blouse and shrugging out of it. The sight of her curvy, soft body still drove him nuts every time, like it was his first time seeing it. “Besides, didn’t you say it was already permanent?”

  “Well, the ring is the first step. After this, it’s complete. We’re together. I guess to humans it would be like marriage. Do you want to get married?”

  She shook her head. “I mean. We could, for legal reasons. But there is so much going on right now. I’m okay with both of us knowing. As long as we’re proper in the shifter world.”

  He nodded. “There is nothing more proper. Or sacred,” he said. He started working on the button of his jeans, but she pushed his hand away, wanting to do it for him.

  “Dang, you’re huge,” she said.

  “Dang, you’re tiny,” he said.

  “What?” She gestured to herself, grabbing a handful at her waist. “No one has ever accused me of being tiny.”

  “No,” he said. “Not tiny that way. I don’t want you tiny that way.” He knocked her back into the bed, nuzzling against her, loving the soft feel of her body under his. “I mean you’re tiny in general, at least compared to me.”

  She sighed and threaded her hands in his hair, then grinned up at him. “As long as you like it.”

  “I’d like you however you were. I know dragons like curves, and I’ve heard it’s the same for other shifters, but I promise, my love is for you, no matter how you look.” He stared at her, noting her pert nose, her soft lips, her little freckles. Her heart-shaped face.

  He traced a hand down to her camisole and slid one strap off, tracing a finger over one smooth shoulder. “But you do look extremely perfect to me.”

  “I’m glad,” she said. “Because I couldn’t picture any better.” She slid her camisole the rest of the way off and then reached around to unhook her bra. He reached for her pants and slide them off, his pulse rising, body growing more eager with every second.

  When she was naked beneath them, when he’d flicked even her panties away with a single claw, he took a moment to just take it all in.

  Then, he shed the rest of his clothes and came over her, spreading her legs beneath him. Her warm, wet center greeted him, and his cock twitched at the thought of being inside her. But he focused on her face, on her expression, welcoming and aroused. On the heat between them, the tension in the room.

  And the love he felt for her, as he slowly guided himself inside her, her hips gently urging him on, as he brought them together as well.

  When he was finally seated, she looked up at him in wonder, and he found himself staring back. Just being together like this was so wonderful, and now they would have a lifetime of never being apart.

  He could do this with her every night, feel this closeness, this bond.

  He began to move slowly, intentionally, and she arched back against the bed, her hands twisting helplessly in the covers. As he increased the tempo, her arms shot up to wind around him, and her legs wrapped around his back, as if trying to pull him closer. She began to move with him, eager and panting, her breath coming faster as he felt the tension inside him begin to build.

  She began to writhe faster, letting out little gasps and moans every time they came together, clashing like waves at high tide. Every time they were one he felt like bursting, but he held back, watching every expression on her face, every moan, every lip bite. The way she kept struggling to be even closer to him, lifting herself up so she could wrap her arms further around his neck.

  Her movements were becoming frantic, her floral scent in the air tantalizing, and as she bit into his shoulder, he could tell she was close.

  He slowed things for a second, pulling out until he was just barely inside her, and let them both breathe for a moment. Then, he drove in, bringing them as close together as they could possibly be, and she cried out, arching back as release
took her.

  She screamed again and again, thrashing beneath him as he pumped a few more times and then found his own release, shuddering as hot pleasure overwhelmed him. As he watched her through the haze of his own orgasm, he felt utter love overwhelm him. Pure protectiveness, as she slowly calmed in his arms, glowing from the effects of her release.

  She grinned up at him, watching avidly as he finished, and then she pulled him down into her arms for a kiss.

  He was still shaking from the power of everything that had just happened, still aware of the roar of triumph in his heart that she was totally his.

  Then she whispered in his ear the words he had longed for.

  “I love you, Sever. I love you so much.”

  He curled an arm around her and resisted the urge to weep from how lucky he was. After so many years of searching, he had finally found what he was looking for. He could die a happy dragon, if he didn’t have so much to live for.

  “I love you, too, sweetheart,” he said, rolling onto his back and pulling her onto him, holding her closer.

  “You’re not going to let me go for a while, are you?” she asked, turning in his arms as she lay on his chest, facing him.

  He brushed a hand through her hair and shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. You’re stuck with me now.”

  She laughed but he moved his hand to cup her face gently, loving the feel of the most precious thing in the world in his arms.

  “You know,” she said. “In jewelry, they say platinum lasts forever. You can dent it or scratch it, but the metal just moves out of place, never chips or falls off like gold. Most feel it just becomes more beautiful with time, as the scratches form a patina.”

  “So you’re saying I have a patina, is that it?” he asked, reaching a hand out to take hers.

  She shook her head, entwining her fingers with his tenderly. “I do know some of what you’ve been through. I’ve been living in a house with Dante and Ella for two days, so I know about Mercury. And Amelia.”

  Sever’s eyes shuttered. “I was tricked. I swear I—”

  “So I’m just saying it makes sense that you’re platinum. Because you’ve been through so much, lived two different lifetimes, and you’re still here with me. Steadfast, gorgeous, and strong.”

  He didn’t know what to say to that. It was so accepting, so loving, and he had never expected to hear it from her lips.

  So he just kissed her, trying to let his touch communicate all the things he couldn’t find the words to say.

  That like platinum, his love for her would last forever, and get better with time. Over the years, the memories sustained between them would become a kind of patina that was uniquely theirs.

  He looked forward to creating that beauty together.

  I hope you enjoyed the third book in the Date-A-Dragon series! If you enjoyed Sever and Lori’s story, I hope you’ll leave a review to help other readers find it. I really appreciate all your support.

  Citrine’s story is out now!

  Citrine (Date-A-Dragon 4)

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  Sincerely,

  Terry

  Sample of Citrine (Date-A-Dragon 4)

  Citrine considered himself the most practical of dragons. He’d never needed a collar. He’d never fallen out of line. He’d done everything the oracle asked of him, helped many dragons find their way, and fought alongside his friends in epic battles with perfect precision.

  He’d never been one to lose control. Considered gentle by some, terrifying by others, he’d always prided himself on being above petty, overwhelming emotions.

  That was before he found his mate.

  He adjusted the radio in the car he’d gotten sick and tired of driving during his searches through the mountainous regions of Washington. When he found nothing but static, he turned the radio off to be alone with his thoughts.

  He was getting close now. So close. And the closer he got, the more his heart pounded in painful memory of the day he’d realized he did have normal emotions.

  That under the right circumstances, even a rational, logical male could be whipped into a storm of rage and frustration that could cause him to act stupidly.

  Thus, he now had a collar around his neck.

  Luckily for him, it was the collar made for the original awakened dragons and would allow partial shifting and use of powers if someone were in danger. If it were the more restrictive collar used for the metal dragons (brute Vikings that they were), then he would be in a lot more trouble.

  Because he was headed into wolf country and an almost sure confrontation with one of their powerful alphas, and he couldn’t afford to lose.

  Not if it meant losing Robbie.

  He ran a hand through his dark, collar-length hair that had become slightly disheveled the past few weeks on the road. Robbie had lied to Kelsie about living only an hour from Seattle. But it made sense that she couldn’t tell a human who had no idea about shifters that there were isolated wolf packs hiding in the deepest pockets of forest nested all around the mountains.

  He hadn’t known about it himself, and he prided himself on knowing a great deal of shifter culture. Then again, there was general knowledge and there was regional knowledge, and—

  He let out a huff and decided that babbling, even in his own head, was unnecessary.

  What would it be like to see her again? What would he say? Was he presentable? He looked in the mirror as he followed the winding road up into the mountains and saw slight dark circles under his eyes.

  It made sense. His mate was out there, possibly being claimed by someone. Possibly alone or hurt or being forced into something she didn’t want.

  She shouldn’t have just left like that. He supposed he hadn’t faced his feelings because he always kept himself tightly locked up and because he’d had a job to do with the other dragons before he could think about his own situation.

  But he’d thought he had time…

  It was getting shadier overhead as the towering trees surrounded the road, which was narrow and bumpy. A few minutes later, light burst through as he pulled into a clearing and saw a small sign pointing right, a road curving up in a circle. He turned onto it, and as he curved around, a tiny town came into view, nestled a little lower amongst trees.

  He pulled an address out of his pocket. The most recent lead he’d gotten from the oracle. If this was the right town… if this was the right place, he would soon be seeing Robbie.

  He continued to drive into the town, looking at the numbers on the quaint, quiet houses, observing the few people walking outside who looked back at him with wary eyes. He didn’t know that he’d ever seen such a small town before.

  Minutes seemed to pass in seconds, and his chest felt tighter as he got closer to his destination. Despite his dragon being restrained inside him, Citrine could feel it roaring. His mate was here, in these woods.

  He kept driving until he got to a private driveway with a gate. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to ring the button, so he parked in the shade, got out of the car, and looked through the bars. A nice, older, largish house stood back from a large garden, set back from the town a little bit.

  He could ring the button by the gate, but he decided he wanted the element of surprise, so he walked to the wall by the side of the gate and scaled it easily, planting one hand at the top and leaping over. He didn’t have dragon strength for nothing.

  He strode up the front drive, staying in the shade of the trees, and when he saw the steps leading up to the front door, slightly chipped by age but so welcoming, he wanted to let out a sigh of relief.

  This was her home. This was where his mate had grown up.

  He took a deep breath, stepped up to the door, and knocked.

  He waited, knowing his knock had come off a little harder than he’d meant, but that was what weeks of waiting and sheer worry did to a male.

  When the door began to open, he prepared himself fo
r the fact that he could see anyone. Her mother. Her father. Her fiancé. He wanted to spit at that word.

  But no, as the door opened, he saw Robbie, and his heart felt as if it breathed a sigh of relief for the first time in so long.

  “Robbie,” he said, relieved. He took a step forward, wanting to pull her into his arms, but she stepped back slightly.

  His eyes narrowed as a man stepped up beside her. He was tall with brown hair and very light-blue eyes, a stocky, tall build characteristic to shifters, and a glint in his eye that said he very much sensed a threat on his territory.

  If this guy thought Robbie was his territory, he had another thing coming.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, and there was quiet censure in her voice.

  Looking her over, Citrine realized he’d been so overjoyed to see her face that he hadn’t noticed this wasn’t the Robbie he knew so well.

  Instead of bold red lipstick, she wore something soft and pink and translucent. Instead of a bold hairstyle, her dark, curly hair was in a low ponytail. Instead of sky-high heels and a business suit, she was wearing jeans and a soft, oversized flannel shirt that hid her curves.

  But all of that together wouldn’t have bothered him if it didn’t look as though the light had gone out of her eyes.

  “I need to talk to you,” he said.

  She sent him a pleading look. “Citrine… I’m kind of in the middle of something, and—”

  The douchebag at the doorway stepped in front of her and faced Citrine, pushing his chest out. “Yeah. I don’t know who you are, but you can leave.”

  “Bryson, stop it,” Robbie said, showing a little of her old spark as she shoved at the tall bully beside her, pushing him out of the way so she could open the door more fully. She gestured at the room behind her, and Citrine saw two pairs of adults, probably her parents and his parents, sitting on opposite couches in the living room.

  He also noted that her house had pink carpet.

  He looked at her again, wondering what she was trying to tell him.