“Well, look,” Bael said. “There is one way to be sure.”
“What’s that?”
He cocked his head. “Actually, two.”
Kett stubbed out her cigar. “Go on, then.”
“Well, you could have sex with someone else. If you’re my mate, that should be impossible.”
Kett opened her mouth to tell him there wasn’t anyone within a fifty-mile radius she’d even consider having sex with, but then it occurred to her the idea had merit.
She had to pick up Striker and Chalia tomorrow and take them to Elvyrn. She hadn’t planned on staying, but maybe if she did, she might find someone to hook up with. Nuala was always trying to set her up with someone. The idea of a single woman in her thirties seemed to be completely unnatural to her stepmother.
Yeah. She’d go to Elvyrn, endure the family Yule gathering and shag some stranger. Then she could prove to Bael that this was all bollocks.
Shag a stranger. She used to do it all the time when she was younger. Why in the Realm had she stopped? It was always so-
Empty.
Exciting!
Sordid.
Liberating.
Sad.
Cool.
Childish.
Adult.
Pathetic.
She sighed. “Okay, what’s the other option?”
“Well, you could have sex with me.”
Kett snorted. But Bael seemed to be serious.
She tried to ignore the stab of heat that came from the idea. “What would that prove?”
“That I’m your mate.”
“Er, no. It wouldn’t.”
Although, it would be an excuse for more of those fireworks Bael had given her last time… No. Bad Kett.
“Well, it would to me.”
“You’re not the one who needs convincing!” She hoped her hard nipples weren’t visible through her shirt.
“Yes, I am. I need to be convinced my penis isn’t broken,” Bael said plaintively.
Kett laughed. She couldn’t help it. She clinked her mug against his and stood up. “Well, you try, I’ll give you that.”
“This isn’t funny,” Bael said, standing too.
“Is to me. And look at it this way. If I didn’t think it was funny, I’d probably be beating you up. Bael, you’re a nutball. I’m not sleeping with you. End of story.”
Chapter Six
“This doesn’t mean anything,” Kett moaned as his mouth closed around her nipple.
“Mmm,” Bael agreed, a rather wonderful vibration.
“I’m just horny. And like I said, there are no other men around here. Or I’d be letting one of them suck my tits.”
His hand slid around her waist, under her shirt, and his fingers dipped under the edge of her dragonskin jeans. The cold wind bit against her skin and she gasped.
“Whose idea was it to have sex outside?” she demanded breathlessly, her head falling back against the cold stone of the pub wall.
Bael raised his head and the wind chilled her wet nipple.
“Yours,” he said, his voice husky. “Still, it’s one way to ward off the chill.”
“Speaking of,” she said, “I’m about to get frostbite to the nipples.” And she pushed his head back down to her breast. Bael laughed and ran his hot tongue around her cold flesh, making her see stars. His gloved fingers started unfastening her fly.
I must be mad, she thought. Having sex outside in the snow with a man who is clinically insane and thinks I’m his destined mate. This is totally-ooh, that’s nice.
That’s very nice.
Bael had taken his glove off, which in other circumstances might have engendered frostbite, but he was keeping his fingers warm by burying them between her legs. His thumb caressed her clit while his fingers slid inside, stroking her slick pussy.
Kett wasn’t even really aware her own hands were moving to his fly until she felt his cock thud heavily against her fingers, thick and hard. She ripped off her glove and wrapped her hand around it. Gotta keep it warm, she thought vaguely as Bael’s fingers did wonderful things to her, or it’ll get cold and drop off, and I want it fucking me.
“Sweet fuck, Kett, that’s good,” Bael moaned, even though all she was doing was holding his cock. “Gods, I want to be inside you.”
His teeth scraped her nipple, and Kett yelped, “Yes, me too. Inside me. Now!”
Bael didn’t waste any time. He shoved her jeans down, pulled her bare right leg around his waist under his coat and pressed his hot cock against her wet, desperate pussy.
“It’s you,” he breathed, and surged into her. “It has to be you.”
Kett wasn’t really listening. He filled her up, all the way in, so thick and long and so damn good. Maybe this mate thing wouldn’t be so bad. She’d get fucked by Bael every night. Get that wonderful big cock ramming up inside her whenever she wanted it. Those magic fingers working her clit, just like they were doing now, oh dear gods…
With each thrust he pushed her back against the wall, nearly shoving her off her feet. Well, foot. Her right leg was wrapped tight around his waist, pulling him deeper inside her with every stroke.
She braced her hands on his shoulders and hopped her other leg up, clenched tight against his hip so she was being supported solely by his cock.
“Oh gods,” she moaned, as Bael’s hands gripped her hips tight. “Oh fuck, yes. Harder!”
Bael obliged. Every slide of that huge, thick penis inside her was wonderful, so slick and hot, filling her up and stroking pleasure into her. It was getting unbearable now, heat spiraling up inside her, consuming her, and her body started to shake. Someone was crying out and it sounded like her, but Kett wasn’t really sure and she didn’t really care either, because she was coming, coming hard out in the snowy yard behind the pub with Bael’s cock plowing deep into her.
She felt him come too, the wetness and heat inside her, and then they were both slumped against the wall with the snow coming down on them.
“That was great,” Kett said breathlessly. “Thanks.”
“Great?” Bael lifted his head. “It was fucking awesome.”
“Ego much?”
They were both silent for a minute or two, breathing hard. Then Bael pulled out of her, fastened his jeans and helped her get dressed again without landing in the snow. They started up the hill toward the forge and Bael took her hand.
“Just so you know,” she said, her skin still tingling, “that was a one-off.”
“It was?”
“Yeah. I’m still not subscribing to this mate thing.”
“Right.”
Silence. The snow fell some more.
“So, when we get back to the forge, you’re going to make me sleep on the floor?”
She lifted her chin and ignored her body’s cry of dismay. “Yes. It’s what you deserve for all this bullshit.”
“Well, okay. You have your own room, right?”
“Of course.” Hastily, she added, “Too small for you to sleep on the floor there.”
“Right. So I’ll sleep in the forge.”
“Right.”
Bael nodded thoughtfully. “Well, that’s good.”
Good? “Why good?”
“Well, because it’ll keep me warm. I don’t have any pajamas, you see. Packed in a hurry. Well, didn’t pack at all. Really only have what I stand up in. Besides, I hate pajamas. I always sleep nude if I can.”
Kett swallowed at the memory of what he’d looked like nude. No, Kett, stop it. You do not want to encourage him. Having sex up against the wall of the pub was bad enough, but continuing to shag him senseless would only compound the problem. Encouraging his delusions would be a bad idea.
“I wouldn’t think it’d bother Jarven, would you?” Bael went on, and Kett tried not to think about how many pieces Jarven would carve Bael into before he fed him to the dragons if he found him lying naked by the forge.