Claimed by Two Navy Shifters Page 17

  Melinda thought about the first time she met Roth, and how she felt she knew him from somewhere. Uh-oh. “Okay…”

  “Once we have consummated the attraction, it becomes permanent. We can feel one another even when we are apart.”

  Like the way, I could still feel him inside me, days after our first time. Melinda threw her arm across her eyes and groaned. Oh my God – is that what this is?

  “You have felt it, as well,” Roth said. “For me.”

  She lifted her arm and peered out at him. “I think so,” she confessed. She sat up again, flipping her hair back off her shoulders. “But for the record? I am not Meztli. I may be her great-great-great…whatever…but I’m not her. I’m me. Melinda.”

  He smiled. “I know.” Shifting, he leaned in toward her until their lips almost touched. His voice dropped to a purr. “I want you, Melinda.”

  Melinda felt desire surge through her, fueled by the longing she had struggled with every day after her first time with Roth, and the hunger that gnawed at her even when they argued in that holding cell. “I want you, too,” she breathed.

  A soft cry of joy broke from her throat only to be swallowed up a second later as Roth’s mouth covered hers in a deep kiss. She hooked an arm around his shoulders and dragged him down with her.

  Roth broke away long enough to discard his clothing. Melinda grinned. Eagerly, she threw off the covers and opened her arms to welcome him in.

  They rolled around on the bed, kissing and touching, playfully trying to see who would win control. Melinda got the upper hand when she got Roth down on his back and bent over him, stretching her full lips around his cock. She loved his helpless moans, and the way his fingers carded through her hair. Using mouth and hands, she soon had him at full mast, standing high and hard.

  Melinda sat up and licked her lips. “I’ve never ridden a dragon before,” she said, smiling down at him as she swung a leg over him. She rubbed the swollen tip of his cock against her already wet pussy. “Think I should give it a try?”

  “It will be a ride you will not soon forget,” Roth said, grinning. He held her hips and guided her down onto his cock.

  Melinda’s eyes fluttered as she took in every wonderful, thick inch. Leaning forward, she planted her palms against his hard pectorals and began rocking back and forth in a smooth, easy gait. Roth’s hands glided over the full, rounded curves of her ass before sweeping up over her back to caress her shoulders. She tossed her head and smiled down at him. Her hair fell around her face like an ebony curtain. Roth reached up and buried his fingers in it before grasping a fistful of it and pulled her down for a kiss.

  Melinda broke away, sitting up again. Her breasts bounced and swayed as she rose and fell along Roth’s amazing prick. “Feels so good,” she said, cooing with pleasure.

  “This will feel even better.”

  Wrapping an arm around her middle, Roth lifted Melinda and carried her over onto her back. He maintained eye contact as he hoisted one of her legs over his shoulder.

  Melinda gazed up at him, content to let him take over. For a moment, she thought she had started to fall into the trance, the vision-memory of Roth fucking her in the Aztec temple merging with the reality of being under him now, looking up at his handsome face, feeling him moving inside her.

  She lifted her hips to meet every thrust, spreading her legs open as wide as she could. Roth leaned over her, braced on one arm; his other hand dipped down between them, his thumb rubbing her clit in small circles. The added stimulation had Melinda whining for more. Her hips started to jerk.

  “Please,” she said. Her lips trembled. “Please, Roth – yeah – like that, baby. Like that.”

  To her surprise and dismay, he stopped suddenly and pulled out completely. She started to protest only to yelp when he flipped her over and hauled her ass up into the air. She tried to get up on all fours but a firm hand applied between her shoulders communicated what Roth wanted.

  Obediently, Melinda rested her cheek on the bed and moaned when she felt him push back into her. She dug her fingers into the sheet as every fast, hard stroke drove a happy, shuddering whimper out of her.

  In no time, he had her flying down that road again, racing toward climax. Impatiently, she pushed herself up and this time he allowed it. She slammed back into him, moaning.

  “Fuck me, baby…fuck me hard…”

  He ran his hands over her back and then under her, fondling her pendulous breasts with one while the other found its way back to her clit. Melinda could not hold out any longer.

  The instant he began fingering her, she cried out and tried to curl in upon herself. Roth would not let her pull away. She could feel him inside her, still hard. He continued to pound into her, twisting one of her nipples between thumb and forefinger until the lines of pleasure and pain blurred.

  He didn’t let up on her clit, either. He frigged her mercilessly, while Melinda’s legs flexed, desperately trying to snap shut. She began to laugh and sob as her orgasm rolled on almost endlessly. In that instant, when she thought she would pass out, she entered into another trance.

  She laid on her back, gazing up at the wonder of the night sky, a cool breeze drifting over her sweaty, naked body. From time to time she would let out a little squeak or a sigh.

  Her lover’s hair brushed across her skin as he suckled at her nipple. She squirmed and shifted her hips while two of his long fingers eased in and out of her, the slick, wet sound almost lost amidst the sound of the jungle around them.

  She groaned when the pad of his thumb began to glide up and down her clit with the same agonizing slowness as the digits pushing into her.

  They had finished coupling an hour ago. Shortly after, he began to touch her again. She had offered to reciprocate but he told her no.

  “This is for you,” he said. He kissed his way over to her other nipple, nuzzling the valley between her breasts. “My beautiful, soft, woman…round and full as the moon.”

  “Mm, my wonderful Morning Star,” she purred. She shuddered with pleasure. “The constant in my sky.” She tugged at his silvery hair and he lifted his head to smile at her. “You give me so much…now, I have something to give to you.”

  “And what is that?”

  “This.” Pulling his hand from between her legs, she placed his palm against her round belly. Her dark eyes looked up at him, the stars reflected in them, and she grinned. “A child grows inside me,” she said. “Your child.”

  He stared at her in wonder and his face split in a wide grin. He kissed her lips. “I love you,” he whispered.

  Melinda let out a loud gasp, ripped back to the present by the sheer force of her climax. She shoved herself onto Roth’s cock and took him deep just as that familiar pulsing heat filled her.

  He had a fistful of her hair, which he had grabbed as he pounded into her during his final sprint toward completion. Melinda had already experienced at least two orgasms by that time.

  They lay together afterward, side by side on their backs. Her body twitching with random aftershocks, Melinda found herself feeling a bit wistful over this most recent vision.

  If I inherited all my ancestor’s genetic traits, does this mean I could get pregnant? She wondered. What would a half-human, half-dragon baby be like? And one of the biggest questions that plagued her mind: Will Roth ever love me as much as he loved Meztli?

  “So, now what?” Melinda asked once she had managed to catch her breath. “Am I going to have to go back to that temple and be the Oracle?”

  Roth rocked his head on the pillow. “No. Oracles cannot have a unique bond with a single Volosian.” He took her hand, threading their fingers together. “You are tied to my energy, now.” He looked over and smiled at her. “As I said before – you belong to me.”

  “You don’t have to be so smug about it,” Melinda chided, reaching across to pinch him. “And as I said before, I belong to myself. Not to you or anyone else.”

  “Very well,” he conceded. He pointed across the room and
a door slid open. “There is the exit. If you think you can walk out of here, feel free to do so.”

  “You’re assuming I can walk at all, after what you just did to me.” Smirking, Melinda decided to rise to the challenge. “Okay.” She rolled off the bed and got to her feet. As she suspected, her legs felt a little on the rubbery side. “Damn.”

  “Go on,” he said, waving his hand.

  “Give me a minute, okay? Fuck…” Shaking her head, Melinda started for the door, determined. With each step, however, she felt an ache…a longing…a pull.

  She frowned and tried to push on. She failed. I need to be with him, she admitted. Every part of me, right down to my fucking DNA. She gave up, her groan dissolving into laughter.

  “What have you done to me?” She turned around to face him. “I can’t leave.”

  He smiled. “Yes, you can.” Swinging out of bed, he stood and walked toward her. He had a sexy walk to him, especially when naked. “This is all about power – willpower. If you really wanted to leave, you would, just as I would leave you. But neither of us wants that.”

  He took her face in his hands and gazed down into her eyes. “I desire you, Melinda. Not because of your bloodline. For you. Athan could have killed us both but you stood up to him. You called upon the strength within you and combined it with the power within me, and you used it to save us both.”

  He stroked a thumb across her plump lips. “A woman like that is one who I would have at my side for all time…if she would have me, at hers.”

  “Am I going to slip into a trance every time we have sex?” she asked, brows tilting upward.

  He shrugged. “I suppose there is only one way to find out.” Leaning down, he covered her mouth with his own.

  Melinda returned the kiss. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she allowed him to sweep her up and carry her back to the bed.

  Chapter Twelve

  Melinda had to admit she was a bit nervous about Roth meeting her family. She did not often bring home boyfriends, not because she was embarrassed of them, but mostly because she was embarrassed by her family. Her family was really out of touch with the world outside of their little town, but then again Roth was an actual alien so he was pretty out of touch with everything on Earth.

  It had been an interesting trip coming back to Earth and Melinda was thrilled that Roth wanted to do it. Even though she had pretty much accepted that the two of them needed each other and that she was free to go as she pleased, she was still apprehensive that Roth might get nervous about her going back home or stepping back for even the smallest glimpses into her former life. But surprisingly he was fine with it; it had even been his idea.

  Her mother and father had been a bit taken aback by him, but she could tell that her mother and sister were practically drooling over how sexy Roth was. Even though Melinda had always considered herself attractive, even if she was a bigger girl, her family always thought it was odd that she was able to get very attractive men interested in her. It was not something they had ever directly said to her, but she could tell by the remarks they made to each other and the way they were always surprised that her boyfriends were sexy. Of course, Roth was by far the best looking she’d ever been with; the man made Liam Hemsworth look like an average Joe. He was immaculate looking.

  Her mom had made a huge feast for her arrival. It had been a long time since she’d been home. She almost expected her mom and dad to resent her for leaving, but they had come to grips with the fact that they had a very independent-minded daughter who was very much her own person and not going to live her life according to the rules set forth by anybody else.

  Roth was learning that too.

  After the dinner, her mom cornered her to talk about a few things.

  “So, how are you, Melinda?”

  “I’m fine,” Melinda replied. “Why do you ask? Do I not seem fine?” Of course, she had been almost murdered a few days ago by a psycho, but she decided not to bring that up at the moment.

  “You do, but it’s just strange that we hardly hear from you and when we do you show up with the find of the century,” her mother Julia said.

  Melinda had to smile. “I know; he is something isn’t he?”

  “That he is,” Julia replied. “What does he do for work?”

  Melinda thought quickly. “He is a traveling salesman,” she said.

  “Really? Like the pharmaceutical guy?”

  “Kind of, but he sells life insurance. His company is expanding and he is about to embark on a big road trip where he goes from state to state working with the local branches there to teach the sales techniques to be used to drum up more business.”

  “Well, that is interesting, I suppose.”

  Melinda smiled. “I know it’s not, but he likes it. And he is really good at it; he has this way about him that helps to lure people in.”

  “Is that what happened to you?”

  “No, I was lured in by his killer smile and sparkling eyes,” she said.

  Her mother laughed and shook her head. Hearing her daughter speak of sexual attraction had always embarrassed her mother to death. It was funny to make her mother blush that way.

  “I’ve missed you mom,” Melinda said.

  “We’ve missed you too, sweetie. When are you coming back home?”

  Melinda sighed. “I’m still working on getting into film school and saving the money. I’m not going to give up on it, mom. I love it too much and I love living out there. It’s amazing. There is so much going on; it’s not like here. I need more than this. You know how restless I get.”

  Her mother shook her head. “I know. Your father does too, and we both support your decision. But you have to understand how hard it is for him. You are his little girl after all.”

  Melinda smiled. “I know.”

  They walked in silence for a few minutes more, the cool air felt strange against Melinda’s skin after being gone for so long. It was like her blood had thinned out and she could not handle the cold the way she once did, but then again she had always hated the cold which was another reason why she moved to southern California, to begin with.

  “I’m going to be gone for a while; not just in California, but in general. Roth as asked me to go with him on this trip. His company is pretty much paying for everything—meals, room, car, gas. It will be several months, maybe five or six.”

  “Oh, wow. This thing is getting pretty serious. How long have you dated Roth?”

  Melinda thought about lying and saying it had been months, but she didn’t like to lie to anybody, especially her mom.

  “Not long. I’m sure you think this is all too fast, and maybe you are right, but I have to discover things on my own and go by what feels right to me. That’s how I’ve always been, so this should not be a surprise.”

  “No, you are right; it is not a surprise. You are one of the most level-headed women I have ever met sweetie. I’m proud to be your mother. And I know you will be fine.”

  Melinda felt the tears well up in her eyes. “I love you momma,” Melinda said hugging her mom tightly.

  “I love you, too.”

  Epilogue

  The west-facing Temple of the Feathered Serpent – or as the locals called it, Templo de Quetzalcoatl – stood in the center of San Juan Teotihuacan, an hour northeast of Mexico City. Dark-colored steps of a once-grand staircase came to a broken end several tiers from the top, forcing one to scale the remaining distance of the crumbling pyramid in the same manner as climbing a mountain.

  “I’ve got this,” Melinda said, grunting as she made her way up the last few feet to the top.

  “Are you certain?” Already at the peak, Roth watched her with an amused look on his face. She paused to glare up at him and he laughed. “Come on,” he said, offering his hand to her.

  Reluctantly, she took it and allowed him to help her conquer the final steps. “I’m pretty sure we shouldn’t even be up here,” she said, still winded from the climb.

  “Why not? It is my
temple, after all.” He drew her close, wrapping his arms around her as they stood together at last atop the ancient building dedicated to him long ago, by a culture that had revered him as a god.

  “Wow,” Melinda breathed. The warm breeze actually felt good against her sweaty face as she took a moment to look out at the land around them. A few strands of hair that had escaped her braid blew across her face and she brushed them away. She pointed to two structures located to the north.

  “What are those?”

  “The Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, respectively,” Roth said.

  The wind played havoc with his white-blond hair, as well, but he didn’t seem to mind. His wild mane danced around his head like the feathered crests of the stone serpent heads circling the temple.

  “The Moon, the Sun, and the Morning Star,” Melinda mused.

  She shook her head and leaned back into him, her arms resting over his as he enfolded her from behind.

  “It’s weird how different it all looks, now, compared to how it did in my visions.” She recalled the first one she had, of the two of them making love on this very spot. “There used to be a room up here at the top, but it’s gone.”

  “It was a long time ago,” he said and kissed her neck. “But I agree. There had been more trees, then…and the temple had been intact, not in its current state of deterioration.”

  Melinda reached into the pocket of her denim capris and tugged out a folded brochure. “According to this,” she said, opening it up, “the Aztec people had waited for Quetzalcoatl to return. They even thought he had, when Cortez showed up from Spain.”

  She craned her neck to grin up at him. “Kind of funny how that’s my last name.”

  “Appropriate,” Roth mused. “After all, you did conquer my heart…”

  “Oh my God.” Melinda laughed and rolled her eyes. “Can I get some wine with that cheese?” She relaxed into his arms and rested her head against his shoulder. “At any rate, they were expecting you – the sky-serpent who came from the stars – to come back. And here you are.”