Page 47 of Daughter of Garnet

I find myself moving closer to him until our bodies are nearly flush together.

"Is that what you crave?"

His fingers flex on my hip, and I can hear his breath hitch. "I've never desired power."

"Then what do you desire?"

"People with power." I close the distance between our bodies, and he wraps his arm around my waist and tilts my chin toward him. His mask keeps us farther apart than I want to be. "I find them intoxicating and am liable to do whatever they ask for a crumb of attention."

At this moment, I do feel powerful, and it has nothing to do with my dragon.

The obvious erection that pushes against me is proof that he wants me in the way I do him.

How did we get here? It is like there is a magnetic pull, erasing the space between us and pulling our attention away from our conversation and onto something more base. I thought that recognizing Dominic as my scent match would dampen my attraction to others, but that is not the case. If anything, I am feeling more now than I have in ages.

This stranger is an Alpha. He smells like sticky toffee, and it makes my mouth water. How many sweets did he eat for the scent to cling to him like that? Would his lips taste of it?

Is this what being an Omega is like? Will close proximity to an Alpha always bring forward this type of reaction? I've lost all desire to question him about his knowledge of my Goddess, my focus reduced to the places our bodies touch.

The heat between us reaches a boiling point as he drags his hand up my exposed thigh. The touch leaves shockwaves in its path, and I lose my grip on dignity.

"Touch me, please." The words come out of me in a soft, desperate voice. I'd be embarrassed if my body wasn't on fire for him. He reaches behind him, pulling at the back of his mask, but I stop him before he can remove it. "This stays on."

He pauses, but doesn't move his hand. "How will I kiss those plump lips with the maw of a crocodile?"

"You won't. That isn't what this is. I don't want to know who you are."

I whine as he removes his hand from me and steps back. "Not what this is? I want you to know who I am."

I am weeping between my thighs for his attention. Have I ever been this desperate for a man before? It feels as if I am sharing control with my dragon, because I can almost hear her purring in my mind, her desire fanning the flames of my own, and I am tempted to let her guide.

"This night needs to be a fantasy. Things can't be awkward between us if we don't know who one another are. We could be classmates and need to work together in the future. It's easier this way."

He pushes a strand of hair behind my ear with a gentle hand. "What if I already know who you are?"

I knew this was likely. My mask does little to hide my identity, and I find I don't care that much. The fantasy is in him staying anonymous, not me.

"Then you'll have something to think about every time you see me around campus."

For a moment, I think he is going to turn and walk away, that keeping his face covered is too big an ask for him.

The masked man proves me wrong, taking me by the hips and pressing me against the tree.

"You're sure?" He slides his hand under the slit of my dress, caressing my inner thigh but missing the spot where I crave his touch the most.

"Very."

As the words leave my lips, his fingers find my soaked panties and stroke me through them. He growls low in his throat.

"Oh love, you're dripping. Does being taken by a beast turn you on?"

"Shut up and take me."

His fingers slide under the fabric, and the moment they touch my clit, I have to fight back a scream of pleasure. It's so intense, more than anything I've ever felt before, that it feels like an electric current is running through him. He's shuddering, shoulders twitching in little jerks as he strokes me. I go to wrap my arms around his neck when he pins me by the wrists above my head.

"I'm the one who's going to do the touching today."

My momentary disappointment is blown away by the feeling of him sinking a finger inside of me. I struggle against the hand holding me captive, but he holds firm and curls his finger inside me. My sounds join the ones coming from the bonfire. He slides in a second finger and rubs my clit with his thumb as he thrusts them into me.