Free Tested by the Night by Maxine Mansfield Page B

and quickly jerked her foot away. Glancing down at the end of the bed, she spied Pearl, the snow-white dragling, sleeping contently on top of the furs between her and Talon. She chuckled. So much for being the big, brave barbarian type. She sighed yet again. Perhaps she wasn’t big and perhaps she wasn’t so very brave after all, but she was determined.
    She took two really deep breaths and commanded herself to fall asleep. Morning would come soon enough, and with it, perhaps the start of her quest. And if nothing else the start of her classes. She didn’t wish to face either exhausted.
    Sleep wouldn’t come, however. She tossed and turned a couple of times, fluffed her pillow, punched it for good measure, and scrunched her eyes tightly closed. She could hear the sound of Talon’s breathing. She could remember the feel of being held in his arms. She could smell and taste the essence of the man upon the tip of her tongue, and her mouth watered with the urge to savor him once more.
    She shivered as his heady scent of moonlight, musk, and sandalwood filled the room to the point the throbbing between her thighs ignored her previous orders and became a steady staccato deep within her pussy. And her heart did a double take as it realized she was in trouble. She probably already liked Talon Starkweather more than she should. Though she wasn’t in love with the big stubborn barbarian—yet—she was well on her way. The thought disturbed her.
    She opened her eyes and starred at the dragling who was now scowling right back at her. “What? It’s not my fault I can’t sleep. Blame it on your master. If he didn’t smell so VoT good, and if he didn’t kiss and touch and fuck so very, very exceptionally well, I’d have been sound asleep long ago.”
    As a response, Pearl glared, burped, and farted.
    “Gross.” Mia covered her head with the fur.
    The other side of the bed moved, and then she heard Talon chuckle.
    She punched at him. “It’s not funny, and it’s your fault. You’re the one who allowed her to eat two whole bowls of Aunt Laycee’s toxic chili.”
    This time he laughed out loud. “And whose idea was it to go to the Shortz household for dinner in the first place?”
    She giggled. “You do have a small point, I suppose.”
    He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close. “Do you really wish to further discuss whose fault it is the dragon stinks, or would you rather I toss her out of the room and kiss and touch and fuck you until we both pass out from exhaustion? That is, considering I do all of those things so very exceptionally well and smelling VoT good while I’m at it?”
    She punched him again.
    Pearl growled.
    Talon jumped from the bed and scooped the dragling up into his arms. “I don’t care if you’re jealous, and no, you may not bite her, and oh, VoT no, you’re not going to watch.” He opened the door and set her gently on the floor. “Stay.” He shook a finger at the dragling. “I’ll let you back in when we’re done. I promise.”
    In response, Pearl farted again, and Talon closed the door.
    Mia gulped as, naked as the day he’d been born, Talon strode across the room, flipped back the bed’s furs and climbed in beside her. Turning toward her, the sliver of light from the second moon of Albrath illuminated the gloriously chiseled contours of his body, and she sighed. Even in the near total darkness, Talon Starkweather was more beautiful to gaze upon than was barbarianly fair. It made her feel bland and dull in comparison.
    Then he took her in his arms, and his skin melded with her own. His mouth descended upon her lips and ravished without mercy. She forgot her own name let alone bothering to worry about being dull.
    His hands and mouth were everywhere. A finger grazed a nipple while his teeth nibbled an ear. She shivered as tiny sparks of excitement skittered down her spine to land deep in her belly. Her heart stuttered and her pussy pulsed.
    Suddenly, he stopped and looked