Filed To Story: A Claim of Fortune Book PDF Free by Jaymin Eve
“Do you have any other questions?” I asked as the stadium appeared in the distance.
Emme was quiet, and when I looked over again, her cheeks were pink. Her scent wafted strongly through the cab, and now I was invested in whatever she wanted to know next. “Spill,” I commanded, wishing for the hundredth time that my dominance worked on her.
Even though I’d absolutely go mad with power if I could control her.
“Uh,” she started, and when I shot her a long stare, she hurriedly continued, “Your piercings… how does that work with your touch aversion? Is it the same as the tattoos? And… do they come across in dragon form?”
Of everything she could have asked, that wasn’t what I expected, and I found myself almost taken by surprise. Though the pink cheeks made sense now. “I do enjoy pain with my pleasure,” I admitted, relishing the deepening of her blush. “Self-pleasure that is, as I’ve never allowed another to touch me that way.”
Emme choked on that statement, and she was basically fire-engine red now, leaving me with a desperate urge to see if that pretty blush extended down the rest of her body. After almost three decades on this planet, this was the first shifter I wanted to push through my touch aversion to be with. If only it wasn’t dangerous for her, and maybe the entire world to do so.
“You’re a virgin?” she asked, her breaths rapid though she didn’t sound surprised. She sounded intrigued, and I could smell her arousal, which had my beast clawing at me.
“Yes, Snow. I’ve never found a shifter who I even wanted to try and overcome my touch aversion for.”
Until you, little mate. Until you.
She shook her head a few times, as if shaking off that comment, and then cleared her throat. “Back to the piercings…”
It was clear she wanted the change of subject, and I didn’t fight her. “I held myself while Finley pierced me,” I said, voice rougher as I fought a base instinct to devour Emme. In what way? Well, who the fuck knew. “Fin wasn’t particularly happy about it, but I enjoy the sensation of the barbs in my dick. My favorite was while they were healing, but they still give pleasure-pain now as my body tries to reject them.”
I was caught in the snare of her wide blue eyes, the pupils blown as her tongue darted out to moisten her lips. Pulling to a halt in the parking lot, I leaned in and murmured, “And my dragon’s dick is barbed. It’s designed to hook on to his mate, so we can stay inside until we’ve bred to our satisfaction. My piercings are in the exact same position, so it depends how technical you want to get in coming across in my other form.”
“Goddess have mercy,” she breathed, still unable to blink or move.
“No mercy for you, Snow,” I replied, unsure what the fuck I was doing playing this game with my unstable beast, but I couldn’t seem to stop.
Needing my own distraction now, I sucked in a breath heavily filled with her sweet scent, and looked around the parking lot. It was filled with cars, and I saw that my enforcers, along with Warrick’s, were already here.
“Come on, Emmeline,” I said, opening my door, desperate to cleanse her scent from my beast before he lost control. “Question time is over. Now we train.”
On her side of the car, I cleared the snow under her door and she jumped out into the patch. “Thanks for answering my questions,” she said, the flush of her embarrassment easing and her cheeks returning to a golden hue. “Ever since we got back from Texas, you’ve been distant. It was nice to feel close to you again.”
My beast roared, but I shut him down fast. “I’ve always kept a certain distance between us,” I said, reminding her of our relationship’s limitations. Or maybe I was reminding myself. “With my dragon’s instability, the most I can offer is protection and companionship. Not a full bond.”
No matter how incredibly tempting she was.
Emme pressed her lips together, and when the shine of her eyes dulled, I wanted to kick my own ass. My intentions were never to hurt her, but it would be worse to lie when I wasn’t sure I could ever complete this bond-complete it and keep her safe.
Reaching out, I caught her hand, barely registering the very mild negative response from the touch. Emme turned her torso toward me, though her line of sight dropped to our clasped palms. When she finally met my gaze, staring up from under her thick lashes, I couldn’t logic away the need that roared to life in my body.
I wanted her. Every part of her.
Forcing out a long exhalation, I said, “It’s not you, Emme. The goddess fated you to be mine, and she chose very well. There’s no one else in the world I would want other than you, but despite our deepening bond, I haven’t changed, and neither has my dragon. He’s never to be fully trusted, and for that reason,
I can’t be trusted with you. You’re too precious to risk. Do you understand?”
The blue of her eyes was piercing as she stared up at me, and though her expression remained neutral, her lower lip trembled. “What if it’s a risk I’m willing to take?” she replied harshly, and I had to acknowledge the logic in that response.
“To some degree, it is your risk,” I agreed, “but I’m the one who has to live with the consequences. You’re my responsibility to protect. A responsibility I’ve failed at more than once.”
She shook her head, her laughter bitter and broken. “I’m only here because of you. You’ve fulfilled your responsibility to me plus more. If you weren’t beating yourself up so hard, you’d see that. You saved me when Blaine took us to Silver City, and then again in Texas when you were strong enough to knock Talon out and fly off with him before Fletcher returned. You’re my fucking savior.”
When she stepped into me, my dragon rumbled loud in my chest, and my dick kicked in my pants. The dragon’s rage wasn’t new, but the arousal was, and only ever around Emme.
Calm the fuck down, both of you.
“Are you no longer afraid of what bonding to all of us would mean?”
Reminding her of why she’d avoided us for years was a low blow, but my resolve was crumbling under her scent, earnest expression, and those perfect freckles drawing my gaze. She was the drug I craved, and I’d probably have to kill myself to stay away from her for eternity.
Which I’d do if it kept her safe.
Emme gave my question great consideration. “I think I’m more afraid now of what it would mean to not be fully bonded in our pack. We’re weaker this way, which is allowing Fletcher to take advantage of us. I won’t stand for that any longer, even if it means I have to share my power between the five of you to defeat him.”
The very thought was enough for the fires in my gut to flare, and I barely toned them down before Emme was scorched by the blowback of heat. I know she caught the flash of dragon in my eyes, her gaze drawn to my face as she gasped.
But she didn’t back away.
My brave little omega took another step closer until she only had to breathe deeply for her chest to touch mine. I wasn’t sure what would happen if she initiated the touch, and with that in mind, I released her hand and swung away, heading into the training facility.
Her exhalation of annoyance was audible from behind, but she followed without another word, as if she knew we were at an impasse. An impossible impasse. Unless something changed between me and my beast.