Drantos Read online

  “That’s horrible.”

  “It’s life here. It works. I know it’s very different from what you’re used to but it’s necessary.”

  She contemplated that. “I’m going to end up getting whipped at some point.” A shudder ran through her.

  “Never,” Drantos rasped. “I wouldn’t allow it.”

  “You couldn’t even stop them from whipping you.”

  “I chose to take the punishment, and I’d do the same for you.”

  “That makes it worse. So I mess up and you get your back torn up again?”

  He reached out and curled his fingers around hers. “I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

  “I don’t even know when I’m breaking laws.”

  “You’ll learn, Dusti. Just don’t fight with anyone and listen to me when I tell you to. It will be fine.”

  “Am I allowed to fight with you? Because couples do that.”

  “We won’t. We’re true mates.”

  “What’s a true mate mean?”

  “What we are. It’s when two people come together who are so compatible that they begin to feel and think what the other does. Does that make sense?”

  “I guess.”

  “For the ones who mate when it isn’t true, we call that settling. It’s when they take a mate without the true bonding. It usually only happens when they can’t find the right person or their true mate has died. They don’t want to be alone for the rest of their lives. They can love each other but it’s a shadow of what they could have. It would be as if two humans joined together in a relationship.”

  “You make that sound insulting or something.”

  “I don’t mean to but human relationships are different. You’ll understand once our bond strengthens. We’ll be able to sense what the other is feeling. It’s as if we’ll become one person in two bodies. Do you understand?”

  “You said my grandfather killed his mate. How is that possible if they were bonded?”

  “He’s a cold bastard. Maybe he settled for her. I don’t know. I wasn’t around them enough to judge what kind of bond they had. He has no heart. He kills without mercy.”

  She held his hand, playing with his fingers. “How much pain are you in? Can I do anything?”

  “Just stay close to me. I’ll recover soon.” He turned just a little, tried to hide a wince from the pain but failed. “Something has been on my mind. I didn’t mean to hurt you in the woods. It bothers me.”

  “I like rough sex. I said that.”

  “Not that. It hurt you when you realized I’ve bitten other women. You’re the only woman I love, Dusti. I had sex with women, and it’s considered polite in some cases to test a mating. There wasn’t an emotional attachment involved and we weren’t monogamous.”

  She hated the idea of him ever being with anyone else. “So have you been with a lot of women I’m going to be running into around here?”

  “No. I hoped one day I’d find my mate. I learned from my father’s mistake.”

  “What does that mean?”

  He hesitated before explaining. “He slept with just about every unmated female in our clan. When he found my mother and brought her home…well, let’s just say it wasn’t easy for her to be around a lot of jealous females who seemed happy to hurt her feelings. It’s considered an honor, and the most powerful position a woman can obtain, to be with the leader of a clan. They tormented her with the details of his past sexual exploits to get even with her for being his mate. I remember her crying when I was a child, and my father’s regret. He suffered, watching what she went through. You can’t hurt without it hurting me too.

  “No one dares bring it up now. Mom started to beat on anyone who even looked at her wrong. Yonda is the only female in this clan I’ve ever touched. I didn’t want my mate to face that. Though I never thought she’d be a problem. We were friends.”

  “Past tense, right? I have to tell you the idea of you hanging out with her is not going to sit well with me. I’ll trust you because you said you can’t get hard for another woman but I still don’t want her anywhere near you.”

  “It won’t happen. She ended that friendship when she insulted you.” He paused. “She’s never been inside my cabin either. If you were VampLycan, you’d be able to pick up scents inside my home. I purposely never brought any woman here except my mother so if I were lucky enough to find my mate, she wouldn’t smell any lingering traces of past sex partners.”

  Dusti smiled. “Seriously?” She had to admit she found it touching that he’d be that thoughtful, and again, it set him apart from any of the men she’d ever known in her life.

  “Yes. I built all this with my mate in mind. I’d never dishonor you by allowing another woman into our bed.”

  She glanced at the black comforter. “You’ve never had sex in this bed?”

  He grinned. “Not with someone else present.”

  It took her a second to understand his meaning. Her eyes widened. “You admit you jack off?”

  “Of course I do.”

  She grinned. “Human guys usually don’t admit to that.”

  “They lie if they have a sex drive and deny it.”

  “Women do it too.”

  “Do you?” His hand slid a little higher up her thigh. “I’d really like watching you touch yourself.” He moved to turn on his side to face her more but then groaned. “In a few hours I’ll be healed enough to enjoy it more, when I can take you afterward. I want you but will open my wounds if I fuck you. I know you don’t like the sight of blood.”

  His hand so close to her pussy affected her. His touch did that to her body. It turned her on until she ached. Her nipples hardened and she glanced down his body, where he’d lifted enough on his side for her to see just a hint of his aroused cock.

  “Can you turn just a little more?”

  He nodded, a slightly confused expression on his handsome features. He released her thigh. “I want you to curl into me.”

  She winced a little with him when he eased onto his side. It still prevented him from touching the wounds on his back to the comforter while also giving her access to the front of him. He expected her to burrow into him but instead she released his arm to wiggle down the bed. His dark blue eyes widened slightly but he groaned when she wrapped her hand around the base of his hard shaft.

  “I bet I can distract you from the pain.”

  “Dusti.” He growled her name.

  She met his passion-filled gaze, licked her lips, and lowered her attention to the tempting sight in front of her. Her tongue darted out to swipe across the tip of the crown. Drantos groaned softly in response and his cock twitched in her hand.

  She took him slowly inside her mouth, tested his thickness to make sure he cleared her teeth before wrapping her lips around him. A hand tangled in her hair but he kept a loose grip. She moved cautiously at first, taking a little and sucking him in deeper until he threatened to choke her. She backed off to set a steady pace of using her mouth to suckle him. With every caress of her tongue, he growled.

  Men who growl are hot, she thought, her entire body responding to the animalistic sounds she drew from him. She knew he’d hardened even more, the texture of his arousal undeniably stiffer, and his hand tugged gently on her hair in an attempt to make her stop.

  She pulled back and released him. Her gaze lifted. “What? Don’t you like this?”

  His eyes glowed light blue. “Flip, sweetheart. If you stop I’ll die, but I want access to you. I need your taste on my tongue.”

  She hesitated. “Your back…”

  “Trust me. Sixty-nine position on our sides. I’ve been hurt far worse than this in the past. I can take a little discomfort.”

  “Are you sure? This is about you.”

  “I smell you,” he snarled. “I want and need your taste. Give it to me.”

  She eased up and then readjusted her body until she faced his lap, with hers in front of him. She paused, unsure what to do.

  Drantos gripped her thigh