All too soon, Bram moved his hands behind her and unhooked her bra. As he removed the last shred of material between her breasts and his eyes, his voice was like a whisper against her skin. "So pretty."

She was about to tell him to cut the crap when he leaned down and took her nipple into his mouth. He swirled, nibbled, and sucked her deep. She threaded her fingers through his hair, pulling him closer. "Harder," she whispered.

He growled and the vibrations against her sensitive skin shot straight to her pussy. At this rate, she'd soon be dripping down her legs.

As if sensing her thoughts, Bram reached between her legs and rubbed between her folds. Then he let her nipple free with a pop and she let out a sound of protest. "What? Why? If you're doing this to make me beg, it's not going to work."

Bram chuckled. "Oh, you'll beg eventually. But I think you'll like this."

He removed his fingers from her folds and rubbed her wetness on her other nipple. The sight of it on her breast was oddly arousing.

Then Bram leaned down and lapped at her juices on her skin. Bloody hell. The man was lapping as if he'd die if he didn't catch every last drop.

Holy crap, she was close to coming from his tongue...on her breast.

After one last nibble, Bram stood up and said, "My dragon is about to break free, lass, and I need to remain in control for tonight's dinner at the great hall. I need to fuck you. Now."

As much as she wanted to see his dragon break free, she had meant what she'd said earlier about never trying to take time away from anything important. She laid a hand on his chest. "Well, in that case"-she took his hand and tugged-"follow me."

She half expected him to growl and tell her no. But surprisingly, Bram let her lead him to his desk. She hopped up and spread her legs. "Since this is where we first kissed, I think we should also make it the place of our first fuck." Widening her legs, she massaged her breasts as she said, "What do you say?"

Bram's dragon was raging inside his head. Brand her hard. She must stay with us. Convince her. Hurry.

With a growl, he didn't fight his dragon's urges. Instead, he unbuttoned his jeans and unzipped them as he made his way to Evie perched on his desk.

Fuck, her arousal was strong. He'd had the merest taste of her sweet honey earlier. But as much as he wanted to lap between her legs, his cock was hard and pulsing. Combined with his dragon's pounding need, he didn't have the strength to show patience. He'd make his female come, but with his cock and not his tongue.

He quickly shucked his jeans and stood naked from the waist down. As Evie's eyes went to his cock curling up against his belly, a drop of precum seeped out.

"Eyes up here, human female."

Evie smiled as she met his eyes again. "Maybe next time I'll let you stare at my boobs if it means I can stare at your cock."

His inner beast roared. Fuck her now, talk later.

If he resisted much longer, he would lose control of his beast for the first time in nearly fifteen years. Still, he couldn't help but say, "We can experiment with that later." He moved between her legs, rubbing up and down her plump thighs. "For now, it's my job to make you forget how to speak."

As she opened her mouth, he positioned his cock and thrust inside her pussy. His dragon hummed at the combined heat and tightness. Spreading his female's legs wider, he pulled out slowly and pistoned back inside her. "I think I'm succeeding."

On the tail end of a moan, Evie whispered, "Just shut it and fuck me, Bram. We can take turns debating who can control whom later."

He smiled. "I'll win."

Evie opened her mouth, but he started moving slowly and deeply. She grabbed onto his biceps in response. When she spoke, it was, "Is that all you got?"

His dragon hummed. I approve of her. Comply.

Moving his hands from her thighs to her hips, he pounded harder. From the way Evie's nails dug into his arms to the tightness of her pussy around his dick, he loved every bit of it. Never had a female felt so perfect.

She is ours.

As Evie's moans grew louder, sweat formed on his back. His own orgasm was close, but his female needed to come first. Adjusting his grip, he touched her clit and pushed hard. Evie's nails dug deeper into his skin right before she screamed. As her pussy clenched and released his cock, Bram eased his restraint and increased his pace.

Brand her. Now.

Not sure if it had been him or his dragon to say those words in his head, Bram gave a few more strokes and stilled as he filled Evie with his seed.

When the last spasm left him, Bram leaned his forehead against Evie's. His voice was thick to his own ears. "Did that sate you, human?"

She made a noise in her throat. "It was nice."

He pulled back. "Nice?"

Evie's eyes danced with amusement. "Is nice such a bad word? Shall I say spectacular? Or, how about earth-shattering? Will that ease your ego?"

Pulling her close, until her hard nipples brushed his chest, he murmured, "One day, you'll think 'earth-shattering' is too tame a word for what I will do to you with my cock."

Evie smiled. "I look forward to that day."

While his dragon was half-asleep from their orgasm, he piped in. She thinks of us in the future. She wants only us. She will stay.

Bram wasn't as optimistic as his dragon. After all, Finlay Stewart could be a charming bastard when he tried. Still, he'd made a good start. It was time to make even more progress because he wanted to keep this female. She was his.

He squeezed her waist. "As much as I'd like to stand here with your tight, wet pussy around my cock, you'll get cold once you start coming down from your post-orgasm high. Let's get cleaned up and you can ask me what you like."

The mischief returned to her eyes. "Anything?"

"That would be a dangerous promise, given your tendency to surprise me, lass. How about we say most things?"

"I suppose that'll do for now. Although, give me a little time, and I may find a way to revoke your veto."

He shook his head. "I don't doubt it, Evie Marshall." With great effort, he pulled out of her and tugged her off the desk. She stumbled into his chest, and on instinct, he hugged her tight. The way her soft body fit against his sent blood to his cock again.

Bram had a feeling that if he wasn't careful, he could become addicted to this female's body. As it was, he was already addicted to her sass. He only hoped she didn't betray him. His dragon was confident she would stay true, but the bastard still refused to say why and that made him uneasy.

Chapter Five.

As Evie finished cleaning up, she tried to concentrate, but the wonderful soreness between her legs was making it hard for her to think about anything but the way Bram had fucked her downstairs on the desk. She'd had her fair share of sexual fantasies, some of which had included a dragonman or two, but none had compared to the real thing.

Not that she would let Bram know that for a while. Teasing him and poking his ego was fun.

Yet she still knew so little about him. While her gut said to trust the dragonman, her head wanted more information.

Opening the door, she paused as she was met with a very naked and aroused Bram lying on his bed. He'd suggested they use his room and bathroom to clean up. She was starting to think he had ulterior motives behind it.

Determined not to let his long, hard cock distract her, Evie leaned against the door jamb and focused on Bram's face. "Expecting something, dragonman?"

He glanced over and smiled. The sight made her heart thump an extra beat.

Bram said, "You straddling me would be nice, but you're the one who wants to talk."

Images of her riding the dragonman popped into her head and it took everything she had to push them away. Focus, Evie. Sex can fade. Find out more about the man and what he does.

She arched an eyebrow. "Well, you can start by telling me about this Neil Westhaven. You seemed angry, and since he was assigned to the human sacrifice, I'm guessing you're angry at both Neil as well as yourself."

His expression turned unreadable. "Bloody former inspector. Your perception is not going to make things easy for me."

"Of course not. Just like I can tell you're trying to change the subject. Get to the point, dragonman."

A smile tugged at his lips and Evie nearly let out a sigh of relief. For a second, she'd thought Bram would close himself off to her. Promise or not, he was clan leader and was used to doing things his way.

Bram said, "You'll definitely keep me on my toes, lass." Evie opened her mouth to steer him back on track, but he beat her to it. "As for Neil, you're right. I fucked up with that one. Everything looked good on paper, and while I know all of my clan members, some I know better than others. Neil was so determined to get a human sacrifice, mostly because he interpreted it to mean he'd obtain a slave, he even had his references and coworkers lie about him."

"Why would they do that? Surely they knew you'd find out the truth eventually."

"Yes, but from what I can gather, Neil figured I would never toss him out of the clan. He was wrong about that. What he did to that poor human female...you should've seen her, Evie. Cait could barely hold a conversation with anyone until Melanie Hall showed up."

While she knew Melanie was happily mated, a slight flare of jealousy flashed through her body at the other human's name.

Evie glanced to Bram's cock and reminded herself that he was hard and ready for her, not Melanie, and she was able to rein in her temper. Glancing back at Bram's face, she said, "We all make mistakes, Bram." Taking a deep breath, she pushed forward. "I have cost two women their lives in the end."

Bram patted the bed. "Sit and tell me, lass, because I have a feeling it wasn't intentional."

"I've come to terms with that, but you need to do the same."

He patted again. "We'll discuss me later. Tell me what happened. What was it you said? That you didn't want to mate a stranger? I think sharing how we both caused people to die might just be the first step in getting to know each other."

Despite herself, Evie smiled. "That's a hell of a way to do it."

He put out a hand and Evie took it. The warmth of his hand was enticing, and rather than sit on the bed, she snuggled up against him. "No funny business. I'm a little cold and you're warm."

Hugging her tight, he murmured, "I'll promise, for now."

She looked up at his face. "Just like that? No arguing or bargaining?"

"Oh, that will come later. Right now, having you laying on me helps to calm my dragon."

Studying his face, she didn't see his eyes flashing to dragon slits. Part of her had wondered earlier what his dragon had been doing since Evie knew she couldn't be Bram's mate; their first kiss hadn't brought on a frenzy. Yet his earlier behavior contradicted the rumors and reports she'd read about his ironclad control.

She'd ask him about that later. For now, she didn't want to break the little bubble of truth-telling and sharing. Given all the shit going on with the dragon hunters and Cait's death, Evie didn't know when she'd next get the chance to just talk with the dragon leader. Even if the topic was difficult, he was right. Sharing was the first step in gaining his trust.

Taking a deep breath, the words rushed from her mouth, "They were both sacrifices. The first woman, Jenny, was my very first solo case as a DDA inspector. I was to check on her and make sure she wasn't being abused. The woman was quiet to begin with, but it was only when they found her in the bathroom with her wrists slit and a note nearby that I understood the enormity of her silence. She'd been unhappy, but I hadn't been able to see it."

Bram stroked his hand up and down her arm. "Some people are good at hiding their true selves."

She wondered if his words had a hidden meaning. "I understood that later, after doing more thorough interviews with her family. But for the first few days after I heard the news, I locked myself in my flat and nearly quit the DDA."

"But you didn't."

"No. Interviewing her family helped, as did learning she'd lied about her bouts of depression. Still, it was a blow to my confidence. It took me nearly a year to regain it."

"You have it in spades now."

She smiled against his chest. "With you, it just happens. I had my lapses of confidence with Marcus Jones down south."

Bram's growl rumbled in his chest. "If that bastard laid a hand on you, I will take care of him myself."

Looking up, she propped her chin on Bram's muscled chest. "Really? You'd throw away everything you've done for your clan for some half-arsed vengeance?"

"Anyone who hurts my female will feel my ire."

Evie frowned. "Your female? You haven't even agreed to let me be your mate yet. Have you changed your mind?"

He grunted. "Tell me about the other female first and I'll answer your question."

Searching his eyes, she knew the dragonman wasn't bluffing. From what she'd learned so far, her stubbornness was only second to his. "Fine. The other woman was Imogen. At twenty-one, she was one of the youngest sacrifices I ever had to monitor. She survived her term and the birth, but a few weeks after she returned to the human world, she left a desperate voice mail saying she wanted to meet me. I tried to convince my superior to let me go, but due to departmental meetings and commitments, I had to postpone our meeting by three days. By the time I was free to check in on her, it was already too late. She'd taken a bottle of pills and overdosed."

Imogen's death had hit her harder than Jenny's simply because she'd tried to help but had been overruled by her boss, who believed bureaucracy must be followed to the letter, no exceptions. That man was now the Assistant Director of the entire Department of Dragon Affairs. If Jonathan Christie ever became Director, the dragon-shifter clans would suffer.

Bram poked her stomach and said, "Tell me what's on your mind, human. I don't like being kept in the dark."

Evie's distant look morphed into a glare, and both man and dragon were glad. His female talking about the two women's deaths wasn't easy, but she'd been keeping her spirit up until the very end. Despite their new, fragile bond formed through sharing secrets, he wasn't about to let her stew on her own. If they were to be mates, he wanted to know all of her troubles.

His dragon grunted. We will always look after her.

I don't know if she'll agree to that.

I don't care. We will do it anyway.

He barely resisted a smile at his inner beast's certainty. Instead, he poked Evie again. "Well?"

Her brow pinched further. "I know you're used to getting what you want as clan leader, but would it kill you to ask me instead of demand?"

"Oh, wonderful human female beyond compare, would you honor me with your enlightened thoughts?"

The human's glare slipped and her lips twitched. "So you do have a sense of humor."

"Oh, aye. But stop changing the subject. What has you so lost in your thoughts?"