Sherrilyn Kenyon: Dragonswan

He'd barely finished the words before his teeth grew long and sharp and his eyes darkened to the color of obsidian.

"Sebastian?"

"Don't be afraid," he said as he bared his fangs. "It's the dragon wanting to bond with you, but I have control of it."

"And if I want to bond with you?"

He hesitated. "Do you understand what you're doing?"

Channon paused with him inside her and locked gazes with him. "I've lived alone all my life, Sebastian. I don't want to do it another day."

He sat up, keeping them joined.

Channon hissed at how good he felt as she wrapped her free arm around his waist and he pulled her against him with his.

She lifted her hips, then dropped herself down on him.

"That's it, love, claim me as yours." Sebastian let her ride him slowly as he waited for more of his powers to return. He needed to be in total control for this.

Their marked hands still joined, he held her close to him so that he could feel her heart beating in rapid time to his.

When he was certain his powers were perfectly aligned, he leaned his head forward and sank his teeth gently into her neck.

Channon shivered at the feeling of his hot breath and teeth on her, but oddly enough, there was no pain at all. Instead, it was an erotic pleasure so intense that her entire body exploded into a sensation of colors and sound. Her head fell back as she felt the strength of him moving through her, the smell of him engulfing her. It was electrifying and terrifying.

Her sight grew sharper and clearer, and she felt her teeth elongate.

Growling, she knew instinctively what she was supposed to do. She clutched feverishly at his shoulders, pulling herself up in his arms. Then she leaned forward and sank her teeth into his shoulder.

For an instant, time stood still with them locked together. Channon couldn't breathe as her body and mind joined his in a place she'd never known existed. It was just the two of them. Just their hearts beating, their bodies joining.

Sebastian hissed as he felt their bonding. The air around them sizzled and spun as they came together in an orgasm so intense, so powerful, that they cried out in unison.

Panting and weak from it, he kissed her lips, holding her to him as he felt her teeth recede.

"That was incredible," she said, still clutching him to her.

He smiled. "Too bad it's a one-time thing."

"Really?"

He nodded. "You're fully human again. Except you have a long life ahead of you."

She bit her lip and gave him a hot, promising look. "And my own pet dragon."

"Aye, my lady. And you can pet him any time you want."

She laughed at him. "You know, since the moment I saw you, I keep having this strange feeling that all of this is just some weird dream."

"Well, if it is, I don't want to wake up."

"Neither do I, my love. Neither do I."

Channon left the podium, her heart pounding in triumph. Every historian in the room had been left completely speechless by the paper and research she had just delivered to them. She'd done the one thing she'd always wanted to do.

She'd solved the mystery of the tapestry, which now hung back in the museum.

"Brilliant research, Dr. Kattalakis," Dr. Lazarus said, shaking her hand as she left the podium. "Completely ground-breaking. This takes us into a whole new area."

"Thank you."

She tried to step past him, but he cut her off.

"How ever did you find those answers? I mean that Book of Dragons, you said it was from the Library of Alexandria. How did you ever find it?"

She looked past his shoulder to see Sebastian leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest, waiting patiently for her. Dressed all in black, he cut a fearsome pose.

Still, she missed seeing him in his armor. Something about the mail over those luscious muscles…

She needed to get back home. Real soon.

She returned her attention to Dr. Lazarus and his questions.

The Book of Dragons had been her birthday present from Sebastian last year. He said he'd swiped it the day before the fire that burned the ancient library. With that book and Antiphone's tapestry, she had been able to concoct an entire mythology based on his people that was guaranteed to keep any «experts" from ever discovering the truth of the Draki people.

The Arcadian Draki were safe from human curiosity.

"The book was found in an estate sale. I've handed it over to the Richmond Museum." She patted his arm. "Now, if you'll please excuse me?"

She sidestepped him.

But before she could reach Sebastian, Dr. Herter stopped her. "Have you reconsidered coming back to work?"

She shook her head. "No, sir. I told you, I'm retired."

"But after that paper you just delivered—"

"I'm going home." She handed him the pages in her hand. "Publish it and be happy."

Dr. Herter shook his gray head at her. "The Myth of the Dragon. It's a brilliant piece of fiction."

She smiled. "Yes, it is."

As soon as she reached her soulmate, Sebastian wrapped his arms around her and drew her close. "I don't know if you helped us or hurt us with that."

"We can't let the humans know of you. This way, no one will question the tapestry anymore. It's preserved as you originally wanted, and the academic community can stop nosing around for the truth."

She looked up and saw him staring at the tapestry on the museum's wall. Anytime he thought of his sister, he always looked so incredibly sad. "It's a pity the Fates won't let you guys change the past."

He sighed. "I know. But if we try, they make us pay for it tenfold."

She hugged him tightly, then pulled back so they could leave.

"Well," he said, draping his arm over her shoulders as he walked her out of the museum, "tonight's the full moon. Are you ready to go home?"

"Absolutely, Sir Dragon-Knight. But first…"

"I know," he said with a long-suffering sigh, "it's the Buffy marathon torture that you always put me through whenever we visit here."

She laughed. He'd been very patient with her on their infrequent visits to her time period, where she caught up on all her favorite shows. "Actually, I was thinking there is one thing I do miss most when we're in Sussex."

"And that is?"

"Whipped cream loincloths."

He arched a brow at that, then smiled a wicked smile that flashed his dimples. "Mmm, my lady, I definitely like the way your mind works."

"Glad to hear it, because you know what they say?"

"What's that?" he asked as he opened the door for her.

"Be kind to dragonswans, for thou art gorgeous when naked and taste good with Cool Whip."