Chapter 357: Twenty Minutes (M)

The golden dragon remained exactly where he was, making no move to touch any of the more dangerous places his hands clearly wanted to go. Instead, he simply looked at the mirror, quietly taking in the reflection of Riley’s naked body.

Very slowly.

And Kael didn’t bother pretending otherwise.

The golden dragon looked his mate over openly, his gaze moving slowly from Riley’s throat all the way down to his toes. There was nothing casual about it. His eyes lingered, heavy and unblinking, making sure Riley saw exactly how those golden irises devoured him through the reflection.

It quickly turned into a quiet battle of wills.

Wherever Kael’s gaze settled, Riley felt it like a phantom touch along his skin.

His body reacted instinctively to the shared desire that flowed through their bond, the connection between them amplifying every little reaction. Through it, Riley could also feel something else from Kael that was almost overwhelming in its weight.

Adoration.

It wasn’t just hunger or desire. It was something deeper, something almost reverent, mixed with an unmistakable pride that made Riley feel like he was being admired with such extreme devotion.

The intensity of it made Riley’s face burn.

Yet at the same time, it made him feel strangely bold.

Knowing he could draw that kind of look from his one and only mate did something dangerous to his confidence. Instead of shrinking away, Riley held his ground. His chest rose and fell as he breathed, and he met Kael’s gaze directly in the mirror even while his legs trembled slightly beneath him.

Behind him, Kael stood fully erect.

He still wasn’t using his hands for anything particularly scandalous, but the solid heat of the dragon lord pressing firmly against Riley’s backside was already enough to raise the temperature of the room.

Then Kael’s hands finally moved.

Riley’s breath caught immediately.

His hips shifted forward on instinct as he braced himself, fully expecting those fingers to finally grab hold of him where he most wanted them.

Instead, Kael’s demented palms simply settled on the sides of his waist.

That was all.

His thumbs traced the gentle dip of Riley’s hips, moving with a slow, deliberate pace that felt almost painfully innocent. From there, his touch traveled upward, gliding lightly along Riley’s ribs before sliding back down toward the small of his back.

Nowhere near the center.

Nowhere near anywhere Riley actually wanted him.

The extremely obedient golden mate was simply following the twenty-minute break to the letter.

But there was nothing harmless about the way he was doing it.

Every movement of his hands felt like a tease. His fingers brushed along the sensitive skin of Riley’s inner arms as they moved, sending a sharp jolt through the black dragon that made his back arch without permission.

Riley sucked in a sharp breath.

“You!”

“Mn?”

“!”

“…You said you needed twenty minutes, honey,” Kael replied smoothly.

His voice was low, the sound of it vibrating softly near Riley’s ear as he leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on Riley’s cheek. His expression remained perfectly calm, almost disciplined, even while Riley looked completely bewildered.

Kael never once looked away from the mirror.

He simply continued watching Riley’s reflection, quietly observing the way Riley’s own body betrayed him.

At that point, the supposedly steadfast black dragon could only come to one conclusion.

Was that man seriously trying to kill him?

__

Riley stood there for a moment longer, watching the slow play of Kael’s hands in the mirror until the realization finally settled in.

The bastard was doing this on purpose.

Well, two could play that game.

Riley’s eyes shifted in the reflection, the hazy confusion sharpening into something darker and far more deliberate.

If Kael wanted to test him, then Riley would simply return the favor.

He shifted his outlook, deciding to see exactly what this dragon heritage could do.

He drew in a slow breath and leaned inward toward the bond that connected them, letting his awareness sink into it as he allowed his own pheromones to rise. They spread thick and warm around them, sweet and heavy with the unmistakable scent of an obsidian dragon in heat.

And Riley didn’t stop there.

His thoughts wandered freely, deliberately drifting toward the most distracting things he could imagine. The feeling of being filled to the brink again. The slow, overwhelming weight of Kael’s body pressing against him. The way those large hands would inevitably abandon their very innocent path and reach for the places they clearly wanted from the beginning.

The thrill of it made Riley’s pulse race.

But what made it even better was seeing the way Kael reacted.

In the mirror, Riley could see the tension gathering along Kael’s neck, the muscles there tightening as though they were holding back something dangerous. Even the hand resting against Riley’s waist seemed strained now, the dragon lord’s control clearly being tested.

And that realization made Riley feel unexpectedly powerful and undeniably aroused.

His face was flushed, his lips slightly parted as he breathed in the warm scent filling the room, and the look in his eyes was unmistakably hungry. Slowly, Riley tilted his head back until his gaze met Kael’s.

They were dangerously close now.

Their faces hovered barely inches apart, close enough that they were breathing the same heated air as the tension between them stretched thinner and thinner.

Neither of them moved.

They simply lingered there on the edge, waiting to see who would break first.

Riley didn’t look away. Instead, very slowly and very deliberately, he ran his tongue across his lower lip while keeping his gaze locked on Kael’s through the mirror.

Kael growled.

“This little cheat.”

His voice cracked slightly as the words left him, the dragon lord’s famed self-control finally splintering under the strain.

So much for waiting twenty minutes.

He couldn’t. They couldn’t.

The dragon lord surged forward, capturing his mate’s mouth in a kiss that was hungry, desperate, and completely lacking in restraint.

The “little cheat” in question didn’t waste a second either. His hands dropped immediately, grabbing Kael’s wrists and dragging those large palms exactly where he wanted them, guiding the dragon’s touch with absolutely no hesitation, molding Kael’s touch to his own aching hardness.

The careful restraint from earlier disappeared instantly.

Now, they were just frantic.

Frenzied.

They came together in a rush of heat and movement, their kiss turning fierce as Kael pressed closer. In between heated kisses, Kael grabbed Riley’s chin and forced him to look back toward the unassuming mirror, his breath brushing hot against Riley’s ear as he positioned himself behind him.

“Look at us,” Kael murmured.

His breath hitched slightly before he continued. “Tell me, Riley… how exactly were we supposed to survive twenty minutes of waiting while looking like this?”

Riley looked.

In the mirror, he could see everything: the way his own body arched instinctively backward in desperate search of contact, and the way Kael stood behind him like a man possessed.

But then there was Riley’s face. His very own expression.

There was really only one honest answer.

“Yeah,” Riley muttered honestly. “…Definitely not.”

Most definitely not.

Not when he looked like that while Kael drove into him from behind.

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