In a move he'd mastered many times in his fights with Zayn, he twisted his wrist and broke free.
A gasp tore out of her.
The next moment, she was on her back, and he was leaning over her.
15
Hope
Cobalt-blue eyes blazed at her. This close, she could make out the swirling black of his irises. The blue was startling in comparison.
He grasped her arms and held them up over her head, shackling her wrists.
Dense heat from him poured over her, and she gasped. Her dragon reveled in his nearness.
The woman in her responded to the sheer animal magnetism of the male who held her down.
He had his knees bent on either side of her waist, but no part of his body touched her. He kept his weight off her, knowing he was heavier than her human form.
She'd thought she was stronger than him. She'd underestimated him.
The rational part of her was angry she'd let him distract her, even as her dragon chuckled at the immortal's ability to get under her skin.
Her muscles strained.
She tried to yank herself free and found she couldn't move. She was at his mercy. A primitive part of her thrilled at his strength.
The warrior in her raged at being brought down. She wasn't going to give in, not without a fight.
She growled. The vibrations shuddered up her throat.
Her dragon was turned on. The beast was enjoying this challenge. It was an excuse to get close to her immortal.
Her immortal?
Her dragon was laying claim to him. She was straining against the psychic leash Hope had on her.
His gaze dropped to her lips then slid down to where her chest rose and fell. Her nipples hardened. Heat sizzled through her veins.
He was touching her with his gaze, marking her with his nearness.
She was surrounded by his scent.
His possessiveness sank into her skin. Marking her as his.
Her dragon lashed out and broke through. Gritting her teeth, she slammed down a secondary psychic shield over it, caging it.
She hated herself for doing that, but she had no choice.
His eyebrows furrowed. It was as if he'd sensed her dragon's struggle. But that had to be impossible. There was no link between them on the psychic plane.
Not yet.
She intended to keep it that way.
Fear twisted her insides. It was time to move.
Raising her chin, she licked her lips. "Kiss me."
His gaze fixed on her lips. "What?" Red stained his cheeks. He stayed where he was.
"You know you want to." Bending her knee, she brushed her thigh against his inner thigh.
Her leg connected with the solid length of his hardness.
A nerve throbbed to life at his temple. "You’re playing with fire." A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead, down his nose, and plopped on her chin.
"No, you're playing with a dragon, baby." Lips widening in a smirk, mirroring his earlier move, she twisted her wrists and pulled free.
Scissoring her legs around his waist, she heaved him off her.
Muscles groaning with the effort, adrenaline pumping in her blood, a growl was torn out of her as she flung him away.
His body crashed down. The vibration of the impact shuddered through her. With a cry of triumph, she leaped to her feet. Face angled, she looked down at the fallen man.
His eyes were open, his gaze fixed on her. The sheer pride on his face mirrored the exhilaration pumping through her.
She'd been sure that his self-esteem would have been hurt at being defeated by a woman. Dominant male that he was, he would surely want to turn away from her after this. She'd underestimated him again.
He held out an arm, not breaking the intensity of his gaze. The air between them was alive with unsaid emotions—and with something more that she didn't dare put a name to.
As if in a dream, she reached out. Grasping his hand, she pulled him up.
His touch sizzled straight to her womb.
As if it were a signal her dragon leaped. It struck the secondary psychic shield she'd wrenched on it.
Breaking through, her dragon reached out to Aaron on the psychic plane.
16
Aaron
Blistering heat galloped up his nerves, only to crash against his psychic senses in an explosion of silver light.
It was so profound, it simply broke through his natural psychic blocks, sinking into that part of him he'd kept protected for so long. The part that he'd not even shared with Zayn, his twin.
He stood, heart stripped bare. In that second, he realized this woman, this proud warrior, was his mate.
The sand scraped his feet, and the sea breeze pulled at his skin.
His mind cleared.
He was still mourning his twin. He wasn't ready to move on. He wasn't ready for what he felt for her.
Wasn't ready to admit he needed Hope so much, for doing so would make him disloyal to his own twin.
When Zayn had been alive, Aaron had never needed another in his life. For so long they had defined themselves against each other; together they'd been whole.
He'd found his mate while Zayn…Zayn was dead. His twin would never find his mate. He'd never live to know what it was to find the other missing part of his soul.
He wasn’t ready to let go of the grief he carried inside for Zayn. Wasn’t ready to let Hope fill that wound.
Dropping her hand, he took a step back.
Without another word, unable to express what was going through his mind, he turned to leave.
Hope ran up to him and gripped his upper arm. Heat from her fingertips bled into his skin, the touch sizzling straight to that part of him that was still very turned on by her nearness.
He knew he couldn't dare risk showing her how much he desired her. Not when he wasn't sure about his feelings for her.
"You won." He looked at a point over her shoulder. "I won't fight you anymore."
He wanted her, yet he didn't know if he was strong enough to face up to the feelings she evoked in him. For once he accepted her, there was no turning back, not for him.
He glanced to where Hope still gripped his arm. "Your choice, dragon shifter. Do you want to partner together in this search for the Elysians?"
Her hand dropped away. Face stripped of all emotion, she gave a curt nod. "Partners. Just until we rescue Mira."
Aaron knew that the moment she could, Hope would break their tenuous alliance…as would he.
17
Hope
The chemistry between them had been racing since the two of them had first met, but what had taken place last night was something else.
Her dragon had leaped for him on the psychic plane and brushed up against the blue flame of his spirit.
The instinctive surge of energy from him had rushed to meet her. Had he felt her dragon call out to him? Had he sensed her dragon on the psychic plane?
But that should be impossible, for only a mate could touch her dragon on that intimate a level.
He couldn't be her mate.
There was no way she could consider that.
Not when she was duty bound to mate with Jason.
She furrowed her eyebrows as her mind raced through the events from last evening. In the early morning light, she waited at the pier.