“The shard can take a flying leap as far as I’m concerned,” I said, my body tight with anticipation as I struggled to control the rising demands that built up inside me. I wanted to tease and run and play and do all sorts of things to Gabriel that seemed both foreign and yet so right. My fingers dug into the thick pile of the carpet as Gabriel’s mouth touched me, the heat of his tongue almost causing me to lose the control I just barely held.

“Too much?” he asked, looking up at me.

“Almost,” I said, my voice thick and unfamiliar.

“Do you want me to stop?”

I closed my eyes for a minute, concentrating fully on reining in the demands of the dragon shard. “No. I think I’m OK.”

“You’re more than OK, but that conversation is for another time. First we have this to explore.”

Stars seemed to explode behind my eyes as he slid a finger into me just as his tongue made a swirling motion. The orgasm rippled through me, my fingers elongating as the red claws dug deep into the carpet.

“Keep ahold of the emotions the shard generates,” Gabriel said, moving over me as he kissed his way upward. “Use it, but don’t let it take over.”

I struggled to do just that, the claws fading back into fingernails.

“Can you take more?” he asked, and I saw in his face just how much control he was wielding over his own needs.

“Let’s try,” I said, twining my legs around his as I dug my fingers into the thick muscles of his butt, pulling him where I wanted him.

“I’ll stop if it’s too much for you,” he said, biting my neck with a groan when he sank into my body. “It may kill me, but I’ll stop.”

I held him tight to me as our bodies moved, praying I could do this without succumbing. The dragon shard wanted me to do more, to make Gabriel move faster, to satisfy urges that were too numerous to count.

It wasn’t until his movements became more agitated that the thin control began to unravel. As the orgasm built up inside me, I flexed my inner muscles, urging Gabriel to finish before I lost it completely.

“Mayling, I’m trying to go slow for you, but if you do that, it will all be over,” he said, panting as his chest rubbed against mine, his hips making long, slow movements that both thrilled and tormented me.

“Now!” I said, feeling the dragon shard take over as another climax crested. “For the love of the twelve gods, Gabriel, finish now!”

He shifted, his cry of my name echoing in my ear as his body elongated and changed, and within me, the dragon shard rejoiced and started forcing me to change with him.